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~ Nine writers on reading and writing.

ninevoices

Monthly Archives: June 2015

Summing Up

29 Monday Jun 2015

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Elizabeth, Writing competition

Tabulating my ninevoices colleagues’ scores in our recent short story competition was considerably more informative than simple arithmetic would suggest. We have been together as a group for ten years and know one another well. We get along without (much) argument despite differences in genre, style and approach to writing. But reviewing the score sheets really brought home to me how very individual we are. Some of us were universally generous, others more reserved. A few felt the need to justify their scores, although only the numbers went into the calculations. And a couple of others sought greater precision (and to confound the tabulator) by scoring to two decimal places.

There was also a variety of presentation styles: in order of preference; in order of receipt; in no particular order (which did more to confuse the tabulator than decimals).

As far as the stories went, there were the expected differences of opinion, but there were also some surprises. Some fought hard for stories that failed to impress others and lively debate ensued. In the end we managed to achieve near unanimity. All of us are happy with the three prize winning stories that will be revealed to you on Wednesday.

One big lesson we learned from this exercise is that were we nine agents instead of nine writers, we each would have chosen a different story to publish. So there must be an agent out there for each of us, if only we keep at it

Nearly there

27 Saturday Jun 2015

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We’ll be publishing our prize-winners on Wednesday 1st July. Yay!!!

exhausted2

OOPS… Corrections to June Short Story Competition Deadlines!

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

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Maybe I’ve spent too many late nights reading stories, but I’m afraid I’ve misled you on two competition deadline dates:-

The William Soutar Writing Prize deadline is 23rd June – NOT 30th June. So not a lot of time left for that one.

Conversely, The Writers Bureau Annual Short Story Award deadline also is NOT on the 30th June – but is instead on the 30th November. Lots of time for fine-tuning.

So sorry about this. Please take the precaution of always checking the website for exact details on competitions. We wouldn’t want you to miss out because of an error from ninevoices.

The Shortlist cometh

16 Tuesday Jun 2015

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Woohoo!  The shortlist is here.  You can find it on the Shortlist 2015 page. The link is also up there in the banner.

We were amazed at how many countries our entries came from.  New Zealand is probably the furthest, but we had entries from across Europe, the Middle East, and the USA.  The internet is a wonderful thing.

We were also thrilled with our more youthful entrants.  In particular, ‘The Sword of Life’, from eight-year-old  Arjun Deepak of London, impressed us hugely with its drive and imagery – a writer we’ll be hearing more of in the future, we don’t doubt.

Congratulations to the twelve authors on the shortlist – you were a joy to read.

Commiserations to those who haven’t made the shortlist – some of you were just a whisker away.  Keep writing, and thanks to all of you.

 

 

 

Nearly there…

15 Monday Jun 2015

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We’re just about ready to post the shortlist for the short story competition.  We know what this is like – anxiously checking a website, or your email, or asking the postie if she could just have another look in her bag.  Usually – all nine of us have been there – the shortlist appears, and the power of ego tells you within nanoseconds that your own name isn’t on it.

Suddenly your day is slightly less bright than it was before.

For anyone who’s about to find themselves not on our shortlist, can we offer some consoling words?

The fact that your story wasn’t chosen, doesn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t good.  It really means that the judges-du-jour had particular likes and dislikes, and your story may not have been championed by quite enough people on the day.  Some stories we received were adored by one person, and made little impact on other judges.  Other stories polarised the judging chamber, and if they don’t end up on our list of winners, we’re sure those stories will triumph elsewhere, in time.  Some pieces were beautiful, but didn’t quite meet our criterion of ‘story’ – those pieces will find their way to a more fitting place, we’re sure.

So please don’t feel discouraged if your story isn’t on the list.  Writers need thick skins and the will to grit their teeth and persist in the face of the world’s rejection…

…although of course, we’re never really that thick-skinned.  And this, may we say wholeheartedly, is where a group of writing friends is INVALUABLE.  Your writing mates won’t snort and suggest you take up silk-painting instead.  Other writers understand how hard it is, and keep each other’s spirits up.

Sharing work with other writers is also the best way to catch all the spelling mistakes, wrong grammar, plot howlers, anachronisms, out-of-date slang, and places where your hero’s name has changed, not to mention the colour of his hair and what he does for a living.  Blush.  We’ve all done it.

To get properly hard-nosed about rejection, you might check out this blog page.  Rachael Dunlop blog

Good luck, everyone.

‘Journeyman’

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

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Ben Smith, football, Hereford

One genre that has not featured in this blog till now is the footballer’s memoir.  Journeyman, by Ben Smith, is one such, but not what you’d expect, one of Premiership salaries, visits to exotic locations, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, all ‘as told to …’.  No, Journeyman is at the other end of the scale. Wages are hundreds of pounds a week not tens of thousands.  The book’s subtitle is ‘One Man’s Odyssey through the Lower Leagues of English Football’. 

Ben Smith was on Arsenal’s books as a schoolboy, but like many others he didn’t break through to the big time.  The books recounts his spells with Southend United, Reading, Yeovil Town, Hereford United, their arch-rivals Shrewsbury Town, Weymouth, Hereford United again, Cambridge United (briefly), and Crawley Town, with spells on loan at Kettering, Woking and Aldershot Town. As a Hereford United supporter I relished his account of some of the memorable games my son or I attended – such as a heroic win at Leeds United in the FA Cup, and the exciting afternoon we spent at Brentford in 2008 which clinched promotion to League One.   

One brush with the stars in the football firmament is his account of his match at Old Trafford when Crawley Town were drawn away to Manchester United in the FA Cup – an occasion that deservedly gets a whole chapter. 

Here you can read the realities of life in these lower leagues: the grubbiness of pay negotiations, the sometimes eccentric behaviour of football managers, merry dressing-room japes, and the ever-present risk of injury.  The account of Ben’s dislocating his shoulder makes painful reading.  Interestingly, not much is said about the fans, though when writing about a visit to Luton Town he writes “The crowd is right next to the pitch and you can smell the pungent aroma of beer, burgers and fag breath – the way football ought to be.” 

Interspersed with Ben’s times at the different clubs are extracts from his diary from 2012, when his footballing career has ended and he is working as a teacher at a secondary school.  This he hates, and he is frank about his failings as a teacher.  

He has an easy to read style.  I saw that he had a column on football in a recent edition of The Big Issue.    

Journeyman, published in 2015 by Biteback Publishing Ltd.  ISBN 978-1-84954- 854-0  RRP £12-99

Competitions that close in June

04 Thursday Jun 2015

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short stries

As we don’t want you to rest on your laurels – here are some competitions for you to enter that have a closing date in June:-

British Czech & Slovak Association. Short stories and non-fiction, up to 2,000 words, exploring the links between Britain and the Czech/Slovak Republics. Free Entry. Prizes: £300, £100, publication in the British Czech and Slovak Review. Closing date 30 June. Website for details: http://www.bcsa.co.uk

Writers Bureau Annual Short Story Award for stories up to 2,000 words on any subject. Entry fee £5. Prizes: £300 plus Writers Bureau course worth over £300; £200, £100, plus publication in Freelance Market News. Closing date 30 June. Website for details: http://www.wbcompetition.com

William Soutar Writing Prize for short stories, up to 2,000, ‘in English or Scots’. Free entry. Prizes: first, Arvon writing course,; second £100 book tokens. Additional £50 book tokens for best entry from Perth and Kinross. Closing date 30 June. Website for details: http://www.pkc.gov.uk/library.

British Fantasy Society Short Story, including magic realism and horror – up to 5,000 words. Entry fee £5, free for BFS members.Closing date 30 June. Prizes: £100, £50, £20, plus a year’s membership of BFS. Website for details: http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk

Finally – with only ten days to go – Mslexia Women’s Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions. For poems of any length or style, or collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems. Prizes: £2,000 plus additional prizes to be announced, £400, £200. All winning entries will be published in September 2015 Mslexia. Pamphlet: publication plus complimentary copies and royalties from sales. CLOSING DATE 15 JUNE. Check website for entry date, which may have changed, entry fee and full details: http://www.mslexia.co.uk

Our Short Story Competition is Now Closed

02 Tuesday Jun 2015

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Wow! Aren’t you all wonderful! Thank you for so many great entries to our competition and for all the support for our charity.

Judging has started – lots of wet towels round heads – and we expect to print a short list in about mid-June, with the final results in July.

So many different stories. So much talent out there. We’re proud of you all.

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