16 Wednesday Aug 2017
Posted in Bestsellers, Maggie, Short stories
Many best-selling authors started their careers by writing short stories.
I don’t believe this particular young man succeeded with ‘O Henry’s Corner’ on this occasion, but I suspect his liking for obituary columns proved inspirational for his later books.
So – write a short story. There are plenty of competitions around. Hint, hint…
29 Saturday Jul 2017
Posted in Competitions to Enter, Maggie
I was nurdling my way through the streets of Bergen recently, after a rather fine seafood meal and a walk across the damp earth of one of the city’s many green spaces, when I saw this displayed in a shop window. Petrichor is apparently a Norwegian manufacturer of men’s raincoats. How appropriate, when the old English word refers to the smell of damp earth before or after rain…
This is an admittedly clumsy way of reminding everyone of ninevoices’ own flash fiction competition, which closes at the end of this month. Details are pinned above, but require a story of between 99 and 199 words using as many as possible of those evocative listed words that are at risk of vanishing for ever. The entry fee is £5 (with all profits going to charity) and the prize is £100 for the one we like best. Plenty of time to create something, as long as we receive it by owl-light on the 31st August.
We have some entries already, but we’re greedy: WE WANT MORE.
Ilkley Literature Festival Competition. Deadline August 1st. (SOON) Story: 3,000 words. Poem: 30 lines. Fee: £5. Prizes: story £200; poem £200; £100; £75. Details: http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk
Costa Short Story Award. Stories up to 4,000 words. Prizes: £3,500; £1,000; £500. FREE ENTRY. Closing date August 5th. Details: http://www.costabookawards.com
Hysteria Writing Competition. For a poem of 20 lines; short story of 2,000 words; flash fiction of 250 words. Fees are £3 for a poem; £5 for a short story; £3 for Flash fiction. Prizes: poem £75; story £150; flash £75. Open to women only. Deadline: 31 August. Details: http://www.hysteriauk.co.uk
Earlyworks Press Flash Fiction Competition. For 100 words on an open theme. Fee: £3.50, or £15 for up to six entries. Prize: £100. Deadline August 31st. Details. http://www.earlyworkspress.co.uk.
Exeter Flash Fiction Competition. Up to 250 words. Entry fee: £4. Prizes: £150; £100; £50. Deadline August 31st. Details: creativewritingmatters.co.uk
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award. Short fiction entries should be no more than 2,000 words. Poetry should be no more than 40 lines. Works previously published are accepted. Prizes: £1,000 poetry; £1,000 short fiction. Sixty finalists, including a winner from each category, will be selected for publication in Aesthetica Magazine. Entry fees: Poetry £12. Short fiction £18. Deadline August 31st. Check details at: http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/cwa
Come on guys – remember all those resolutions about entering lots of competitions this year… ?
(But PLEASE check all rules and entry details first)
28 Friday Jul 2017
Posted in Maggie
Tags
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Easyjet, Hetty Feather, Jacqueline Wilson, Penguin Puffin, Peter Pan, The Railway Children, The Wizard of Oz, Wave Me Goodbye
Apparently EasyJet is placing thousands of children’s classics – selected for them by bestselling author Dame Jacqueline Wilson – on its planes throughout the summer holidays.
Their ‘flybraries’ initiative, in a deal with Penguin Puffin, includes Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and The Railway Children. ‘On selected flights we have put a Puffin Classic in the middle seatback pocket of every row’. The idea is that children can start reading the books on the flight and, after they land, download free samples of other classics to sample. Wilson’s own latest bestseller, Wave Me Goodbye, will also be available to download.
What a great idea. Well done EasyJet!
02 Sunday Jul 2017
Posted in Competitions to Enter, Maggie
There are a surprising number of competitions this month, with the holiday season upon us. But editing a draft, or tinkering with the idea for a new short story is a pretty constructive way of passing a flight if you don’t fancy the movies on offer. So, no excuses accepted.
The Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition closes on July 10. Word count: 1200. Fee: £5. Prizes: £200; £100; £50. Details: wrekinwriters.wordpress.com
H G Wells Short Story Competition. Deadline 16 July. Word count: 1500-5000, The theme is ‘LIGHT in its broadest interpretation’. Prizes: £250 for authors of 22 years of age or over with an entry fee £10. £1,000 for authors 21 years of age and under, with FREE entry. Details: https://hgwellscompetition.com/
Cinnamon Press Debut Novel/Novella Competition. First 10,000 words. Fee: £12. Prize: year’s mentoring, publishing contract and 100 copies of the book. Details: http://www.cinnamon-press.com
HISSAC Short Story And Flash Fictions Competitions. Story: 2000 words. Flash: 500 words. Fee: story £5: £12 for three, £18 for five. Flash: £5, or £12 for three. Prizes: £250; £50; £25. Details: http://www.hissac.co.uk
Norwich Writers Olga Sinclair Competition wants stories on the theme of ‘strangers’. The winner will receive £400, with a second prize of £250 and a third of £100. Ten runners-up will receive a signed copy of Strangers: A History of Norwich’s Incomers, by local historian Frank Meeres. The winner and runners-up will be published in an anthology. Entry fee: £8. Closing date 31 July. Details: https://norwichwriters.wordpress.com/
The Ledbury Poetry Festival is offering a first prize of £1,000 and a course at Ty Newyyd, with runners-up receiving £500 and £250, for unpublished poems up to forty lines in any style and on any subject. There is an entry fee of £5 for the first poem and £3.50 for any subsequent poems. Closing date 13 July. Details: http://www.poetry-festival.co.uk
As usual, I urge you to check all details before entering.
Although the above features competitions happening this month, do please take a look at ninevoices’ own competition for a story using some delightful, but obscure, old English words. You don’t need to use them all! One would be sufficient, if it is used imaginatively. Our prize might be modest, but we are unlikely to get the mass entries that the bigger competitions receive – which gives you better odds… You have until the end of August.
27 Tuesday Jun 2017
Tags
Recently, Elizabeth and I visited the Hokusai Exhibition at the British Museum.
Widely regarded as one of Japan’s most famous and influential artists, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) produced work of astonishing quality right up until his death at ninety. Indeed, he believed that the older he got, the greater his art would become, considering that he hadn’t painted ‘anything useful‘ until he was seventy. He even added his age as part of his signature: the self-styled Old Man Crazy to Paint: Gakyo Rojin.
The Exhibition displays his work from the iconic Great Wave, to the delicacy of a minuscule frog hiding among the leaves of a flower. And being accompanied by a lady who lived in Japan, speaks the language, and was able to give me her own insights as we walked round was an added delight.
I am enthused by Hokusai’s conviction that age can be an advantage in creative efforts. Writing has parallels with painting, surely? Which means that I have decades ahead in which to keep up my pursuit of that elusive agent…
Tickets to the Exhibition are selling out fast, but if you aren’t able to snaffle one BBC4 is showing a programme on Hokusai TONIGHT, at nine o’clock. Well worth watching, or recording.
05 Monday Jun 2017
The 2017 Reith Lectures by Dame Hilary Mantel (long sold out) will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over five weeks from Tuesday 13 June at 9 am. Their subject will be: ‘whether there is a kind of truth only fiction can tell‘.
I am a huge fan of Wolf Hall (see my earlier post of 21 March 2015 Don’t Get Hung up on Your Beginning) and have already put the details in our family diary.
The Lectures will be available as podcasts and there will be accompanying content on the Radio 4 website.
31 Wednesday May 2017
Posted in Competitions to Enter, Maggie
Whether you’re a novice, or more experienced, writing competitions offer a wonderful opportunity to put your work out there. If you can’t win the Bridport, why not try the more modest Henshaw Short Story Competition? This quarterly competition is for stories up to 2,000 words, with an entry fee of £5. Prizes are £100, £50 and £25, with the prospect of publication in one of their anthologies – which raise much-needed cash for Save the Children. The current deadline is 30 June. Details: http://www.henshawpress.co.uk
This is an achievable goal. I had a stab a couple of years ago and have just taken delivery of the anthology containing my winning story – Till Death Us Do Part – featured at the top this blog under ‘Writings’.
Wells Festival of Literature are seeking stories between 1,000-2,000 words on an open theme. Prizes are: £750, £300, £200, with an entry fee of £6. Closing Date is 30 June. Details can be obtained from http://www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk They organisers are also looking for poems of up to 40 lines. Prizes: £750, £300, £200. Entry fee: £6. Details as above.
National Literary Trust. Do you have a new take on a classic fairy tale? If so, yours could be one of the 10 winning stories that will be published in an ebook anthology by Bloomsbury, publishers of titles by J K Rowling, Neil Gaiman and Louis Sachar. There is also a £200 prize for each winning story, plus the right to use the ‘Short Story Prize 2017 Winner’ logo on your website, social media and publications. Submit your re-imagining in a 2,000-4,000 word story for 8 to 12-year-olds by midnight on 25 June. Entry is £30. Details from: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/shortstories
We mustn’t forget the British Czech & Slovak Association Competition which seeks short stories and non-fiction, up to 2,000 words, exploring the links between Britain and the Czech Republics at any time. The suggested, but optional theme for 2017 is Brexit. Prizes are £300, £100, plus publication in the British Czech & Slovak Review. ENTRY IS FREE. Closing date is 30 June. Details: http://www.bcsa.co.uk. Before you dismiss this as too obscure, maybe you’ve had an eventful visit to Prague (a stag or hen ‘do’, or student trip?) that might form the launching pad for a story.
Bath Flash Fiction want 300 words by June 11. They are offering prizes of: £1,000, £300 and £100, plus two commended at £30. All entries will be considered for publication in and end of year anthology. Details: http://www.flashfictionfestival.com/
WORDS MAGAZINE (sold in aid of the RNLI) are asking for stories of up to 2,000 words on the theme of: Christmas. Prizes: First £50; Second £25, with all entries considered for publication in the magazine. Entry is FREE. Closing date 30 June. Details: http://www.wordsmag.com
Segora International Writing Competitions 2017. Organised by Jocelyn Simms, 1 rue de la Sevre, 79380 St Andre-sur-Sevre, France. (Proceeds donated to Medecins Sans Frontiers) Short stories from 1,500-2,00 words. Entry fees: £6 for 1, £11 for 2, £15 for 3. Prizes: £300, £50, £30. One-act plays: up to 35 minutes running time. Prize £100. Entry fee: £12. Deadline 15 June. Details: http://www.poetryproseandplays.com
Impress Prize for New Writers. Full-length debuts from unpublished fiction and non-fiction writers. Submit book proposal and sample chapter totalling no more than 6,000 words. Prize: Publication by Impress Books. Entry fee: £15. Deadline: 30 June. Details: http://www.impress-books.co.uk
British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition. For any kind of fantasy: magical realism,horror, SF, etc., up to 5,000 words. Prizes: £100, £50, £20, plus a year’s membership of BFS and web publication. Entry fee £5. Deadline 30 June. Details: http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk
Do remember to check that the details are correct before entering!
29 Monday May 2017
Tags
Bloomsbury Publishing, Francine Toon, How to Edit Your Work, Jennifer Kerslake, Kylie Fitzpatrick, Orion, Sceptre, Wiedenfeld & Nicholson
Tanya and I recently attended a workshop at Bloomsbury Publishing‘s offices in London’s elegant Bedford Square: How to Edit Your Book. Over forty aspiring novelists split into two groups to spend the morning in tightly constructed sessions led by professional editors and writers. In the afternoon, we got to spend fifteen minutes with an editor of our choice discussing a 2,000-word extract of our own writing that had been submitted beforehand.
My group was led by the excellent Francine Toon and Jennifer Kerslake. Francine, who is a published poet, became an editor at Sceptre in 2015 and concentrates on literary and reading group fiction. Jennifer, an editor at Weidenfeld & Nicholson (part of Orion), also specialises in literary and reading group fiction. Exactly the kind of people we were desperate to know how to impress!
Both editors dispensed handouts and practical advice – sadly too much to regurgitate here – that emphasised the need to become a reader of your own work as well its writer. Try printing out your stuff in a crazy font and/or colour; persuade someone to read it out loud to you; get a frank appraisal from someone whose opinion you trust. Francine provided a great analogy: to get that perfectly cut fringe, you need to hand the scissors to someone able to step back and see it in perspective.
They also stressed the importance of limiting description to highlighting your novel’s theme, or taking its plot forward. Don’t paint a picture of a garden just because you can; see it through the eyes of someone grieving; suffering from heartbreak; fearful; or dizzy with love.
Jennifer then generously shared with us her own line-edit of a manuscript currently on the brink of publication. We were astounded at the degree of input both needed and generously given. If I’d put that much into something, I’d want my name on the front cover.
I was struck by the commitment of the participants. I suppose if you’re prepared to pay £149 and sacrifice half a weekend, you’re going to take it seriously. But these women (I noticed only two men), were bright, focussed, modest, and fun. They were prepared to take criticism of their work, but also surprisingly supportive of one another. Maybe that’s because writers need to be observant, thoughtful and empathetic if they’re going to be any good. Plus, of course, if you love reading you’re going to want to encourage a stream of first rate novels to keep hitting the bookshops.
Buffet lunch provided the opportunity for the two groups to come together for networking. Our mentors didn’t disappear into some private lair, but sat down with us, chatted and answered our sometimes impertinent questions.
Then came our one-to-one sessions. Mine was with Kylie Fitzpatrick, a historical novelist and creative writing tutor who has worked as a freelance manuscript editor for ten years and is also a lecturer at Bath Spa University’s Creative Writing degree. We went through my own offering, on which Kylie had pencilled notes (including the crossing-through of two embarrassing adverbs), discussed whether or not I should keep my prologue (not a deal breaker, she assured me) and talked about how I could get across that my protagonist – an eighteenth century servant girl – was not typical of her class. Her suggestions have already been put into practice.
I could go on – I have pages of scribbled notes – but how long do we have?
Was it worth it? It was the third such workshop I’ve attended (see my post of 7 July 2016 : Writing Historical Fiction) and I considered it excellent value for money for those without the resources or time for an MA in Creative Writing or one of those on-line novel writing courses. Writersandartists.co.uk have a line-up of similar events. Do check them out.
22 Monday May 2017
Posted in Imagination and the Writer, Maggie
Tags
Apparently Anthony Horowitz, author of Foyles War and the popular Alex Ryder series of teenage spy novels, is bemused at being told by a US editor that ‘it’s inappropriate to draw from experiences other than his own’. In other words, he must write only about Jewish gentlemen currently in their sixties.
Really?
It is true that Jane Austen’s brilliant works were based on acute observation of her milieu, that Dickens had first-hand experience of the darker side of Victorian London, and that Tolstoy’s own father, as a veteran of The Patriotic War of 1812, would have shared his experiences with his son.
But what is this blinkered editor thinking:
I am as bemused as the talented Mr Horowitz. Maybe these writers are simply all wizards.
26 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in Competitions to Enter, Maggie
Tags
Bath Short Story Peggy Chapman-Andrews, Bridport, Bristol Short Story, Cinnamon Press Short Story, Frome Festival Short Story, New Voices First Novel Competition, Winchester, Yeovil
For those of us slaving into the night on our novels (who groan at also having to produce an enticing agent letter, plus possibly an elevator pitch) competitions for debut novels do at least omit these. You usually need the dreaded synopsis, of course, but that can hardly be avoided. Unless you’re Hilary Mantel: no agent would surely have the nerve to demand one from her…
May is the month for the Bridport’s Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award. Required are the opening chapters of the novel – a minimum of 5,000 words and a maximum of 8,000 words, plus a synopsis of 300 words. First prize is £1,000, plus a written report from the judge, while a runner-up will receive £500, plus a full manuscript appraisal from The Literary Consultancy. The entry fee is £20 and the deadline is midnight on May 31st. Full details from: http://www.bridportprize.org.uk
Next up is the Yeovil Literary Prize. They’re asking for your opening chapters and a synopsis, up to 15,000 words. Prizes are: £1,000, £250, £100, with a modest entry fee of £12. Closing date is May 31st. Full details: http://www.yeovilprize.co.uk
The Winchester Writers’ Festival 2017 want only the first three pages, plus a 600 word synopsis. Prizes: an editorial meeting with Little Brown, plus £70-worth of books; £30-worth of books. Entry fee is only £6, or £16 with some constructive feedback. This would be perfect for someone embarking on a first or new novel and the feedback offer sounds incredibly good value. Deadline May 15th. Details: http://www.writersfestival.co.uk
New Voices First Novel Competition. 50 pages of a novel, ready for submission by a first-time writer. Prize: Start-up mentoring package worth £550. Entry fee: £10. Deadline May 31st. Details: http://www.adventuresinfiction.co.uk
And for the short story writers:
Winchester Writers’ Festival 2017 are also looking for a 1,000-word short story with a MURDER theme. Prizes are books to the value of £60, £40, £20. They also want open-themed short stories between 1,500-3,000 words. Prizes: a telephone consultation with Janklow and Nesbit ‘to receive editorial report’; book prizes for second and third places. Winchester also have competitions for a picture book for children, a memoir, a book for children aged 8-12; flash fiction, and a competition for young writers. Each entry is £6, with the same offer of an included critique for £16. Lots of opportunities on their website: wwwwritersfestival.co.uk
Frome Festival Short Story Festival is seeking stories of 1,000-2,200-words on an open theme. Prizes: £400, £200, £100, with winning entries published on their website – and also possibly sent by them to Women’s Weekly for consideration. Entry fee: £8. Deadline May 31st. Details: http://www.fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
Bath Short Story Competition want up to 2,200 words on an open theme. Prizes: £1,000, £200, £50, plus a £50 prize for the best short story by an unpublished writer. Winning and shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology. Entry fee is £8, and the closing date (SOON) is May 1st. Details: http://www.bathshortstory.org.
The Bristol Prize is for a 4,000-word short story. Prizes: £1,000, £799, £400, £100. Fee £8. Deadline (SOON) May 3rd. Details: http://www.bristolprize.co.uk
Bridport also have a short story prize (5,000 words), plus one for a poem (42 lines maximum) and another for flash fiction (250 words). Fee: £10 story; £9 poem; £8 flash. Prizes: story/poem: £5,000, £1,000, £500, 10x£100; flash: £1,000, £500, £250, 3x£100. Deadline May 31st. Details: http://www.bridportprize.org.uk
Yeovil are also offering prizes for a short story, up to 2,000-words and a poem, up to 40 lines. Prizes: £500, £200, £100 for stories/poem. They also have a ‘Writing Without Restriction’ competition (see website for further information on this), with prizes of £200, £100 and £50. Entry fees: £7 for short stories and/or one poem, £10 for two, £12 for three. Writing without restriction: £5. Deadline: May 31st. Details: http://www.yeovilprize.co.uk
Storgy Magazine 2017 Short Story Competition. Stories up to 5,000 words. Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250. Entry fee: £10. Deadline: May 31st. Details: http://stogy.com
Cinnamon Press Short Story Prize: 2,000 to 5,000 words. Prizes: one year’s free mentoring, place on a Ty Newydd course. Publication. Entry fee: £12. Deadline May 31st. Details: http://www.cinnamonpress.com
There are so many opportunities in May that I’m going cross-eyed, so PLEASE check all details carefully. I’ll certainly be entering several of these competitions (ever the optimist), as will other members of ninevoices.
Remember. If you don’t enter, you can’t win.
