Writing Magazine - December 2016

THE UK’S BESTS ELLING WRITING MAGA ZINE DECEMBER 2016

BEAT WRITER’S BLOCK Busting the myth and dealing with the reality

INCLUDING

20 PACKED PAGES OF

STEF

PENNEY STAR INTERVIEW

Intimate emotions, epic landscapes

REVEALED

WM’S BOOKS OF THE YEAR

• WIN £50,588 in writing prizes • Opportunities to get published • Insider know-how and much more…

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E D I TO R ’ S L E T T E R

THE UK’S BESTS ELLING WRITING MAGA ZINE DECEMBER 2016

BEAT WRITER’S BLOCK Busting the myth and dealing with the reality

INCLUDING

20 PACKED PAGES OF

STAR INTERVIEW

Intimate emotions, epic landscapes

REVEALED

WM’S BOOKS OF THE YEAR

9 770964 916259

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Dear Reader

We’ve had a fun time leading up to this issue in the WM office, building cityscapes of proof and advance copies on our desks of all our favourite books from 2016 (and some we’re itching to cover in 2017). But we weren’t

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• WIN £50,588 in writing prizes • Opportunities to get published • Insider know-how and much more…

STEF

PENNEY

Welcome...

24/10/2016 15:11

Published by Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JD, UK Main office: 0113 200 2929 Fax: 0113 200 2928 Subscriptions: 01778 392 482 Advertising: 01354 818012 Editorial: 0113 200 2919 Marketing: 0113 200 2916 Creative Writing Courses: 0113 200 2917 Website: www.writers-online.co.uk Publisher: Janet Davison Email: [email protected] Editor: Jonathan Telfer Email: [email protected] Assistant editor: Tina Jackson Email: [email protected]

just enjoying hiding out in Booktown for its own sake, although given a chance we would. We’ve been putting together our collection of the best books from 2016 for this issue, and what a great year it’s been for books, from Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney to Emma Cline’s The Girls, from Augustown to The Bright Edge of the World. Do you agree with our choices? What would be your recommendations? We often beat the drum in WM that the foundation of good writing is reading, and lots of it, so why not set yourself up for the long winter nights ahead and check out some of our recommendations? Try a few titles

TAP HERE TO WATCH

A WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR

outside your regular tastes. Regardless of genre, we’ve singled out books that are all well-written, and you might find reading something you wouldn’t normally consider will give you a different perspective on your own work. So what are you waiting for... get reading!

Jonathan Telfer Editor

Senior designer: Nathan Ward Email: [email protected] Editorial designer: Mary Ward Email: [email protected] Editorial designer: Laura Tordoff Email: [email protected] Marketing: Lauren Beharrell [email protected] Advertising sales: Sarah Ng Email: [email protected] Tel: 01354 818012 Advertising copy email: [email protected] Subscriptions: Collette Smith [email protected] Creative Writing Courses: [email protected] Competitions: [email protected] Competitions Department, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JD, UK Typeset by: Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD Printed by: Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH Distribution to the news trade by: Warners Group Publications plc, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH

When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it

JAMES BATCHELOR James Batchelor is a journalist in the video games industry and has spent ten years working on B2B publications such as MCV, Develop and GamesIndustry.biz. In his spare time, he continues to work – slowly – towards his dream of becoming a published novelist, and has helped to edit and self-publish four charity anthologies for Essex-based writing group Writebulb. He stubbornly denies that he prefers ebooks to paperbacks.

SUSIE KEARLEY

JEFF LYONS

Susie Kearley is a British freelance writer and journalist, working for magazines, newspapers, and book publishers in the UK, USA and internationally. She covers a wide range of subjects including healthcare, gardening, and travel. She has a regular column in her local newspaper, The Bucks Herald, and is a keen photographer. Among her best known clients are the BBC, IPC Media, and DC Thomson.

Jeff Lyons is an author and screenwriter with more than 25 years’ experience in film, television and publishing as a writer, story development consultant, and editor. He teaches craft-of-story workshops through Stanford University’s Online Writer’s Studio, guest lectures through UCLA Extension Writers Programme, and is a regular presenter at entertainment and publishing industry conferences in the US and UK. www.jefflyonsbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Warners Group Publications plc. No responsibility can be taken for artwork and photographs in postage. Whilst every care is taken of material submitted to the editor for publication, no responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage. Email submissions preferred. All mss must be typewritten and accompanied by a sae for return. © Copyright Warners Group Publications plc. ISSN 0964-9166 Warners Group Publications plc are not able to investigate the products or services provided by the advertisers in Writing Magazine nor to make recommendations about them. Readers should make sensible enquiries themselves before sending money or incurring substantial costs in sending manuscripts or other material. Take particular care when responding to advertisers offering to publish manuscripts. While few conventional publishers seek a financial contribution from authors, many such advertisers do seek a payment (sometimes thousands of pounds) and readers should remember there can be no guarantees such publishing arrangements will prove profitable. There have been cases in which subsidy publishers have provided unduly optimistic reports on manuscripts to encourage authors to commit themselves to financial contribution. Readers should be aware of this and should not allow their judgement to be blurred by optimism. Manuscript advisory services do normally charge for their time, but agents normally do not (although some agents do quote a reading fee). While Warners Group Publications plc cannot act as a licensing or accreditation authority, they will investigate complaints against advertisers. Complainants must, however, send complete documentation and be willing for their names to be disclosed.


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A PUBLISHING DEAL

In this issue ... INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

See page 11

WIN!

33 A place at Iceland Writers Retreat including flights and accommodation worth £1,500

11 On writing: John Fowles

39 £500 in cash prizes and publication in our latest open short story competitions

36 Beat the bestsellers: JL Carr: The style and technique of twice-Bookernominated self-publishing pioneer JL Carr

61 £250 in cash prizes and publication in our latest subscriber-only short story competitions

44 Shelf life: Peter Robinson The crime writer shares his top five reads 74 Crime file: Cath Staincliffe

WRITERS’ NEWS

75 How I got published: Annabel Abbs A writing competition launched The Joyce Girl’s author

88 Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets, opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news

86 New author profile: Jules Grant A criminal justice background informs the seedy underworld of Manchester author Jules Grant’s debut 108 My writing day: Andy Jones Rigorous routines and Pavlovian triggers help the former copywriter stick to his writing targets

STAR INTERVIEW STEF PENNEY ON THE COVER

The Costa Book of the Year-winning author discusses striking a balance between artistic imagination and historical accuracy

BOOKS OF THE YEAR ON THE COVER 26 Writers need to be readers first, and we’ve rounded up our picks of 2016’s publishing highlights for you to read by the fire this autumn

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WRITING LIFE ON THE COVER 12 Writing life: Blockbusters

Hollywood script doctor Jeff Lyons doesn’t believe in writer’s block, but he’s still going to help you beat it 42 Talk it over: Start write Advice on getting from idea to page 43 Novel ideas 46 The business of writing: Festive frustrations As Christmas draws near, three writers talk about managing their writing businesses during the festive period 68 Writing life: Copy protection Even an accusation of plagiarism can ruin a writer’s career. We offer a cautionary tale and suggest how to guard against the possibility and defend yourself if the worst does happen 110 Notes from the margin: The truth of the matter Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction... especially if you ask your readers


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CONTENTS

SELF-PUBLISHING 20 Self-publishing: Createspace publishing, step by step How to sell your book in the world’s biggest bookshop by publishing it through Createspace 22 Self-publishing: Kindle ebooks step by step Follow these instructions to sell your ebook in the biggest bookshop in the world 25 Self-publishing: DIY SOS For some writers, the idea of going it alone seems daunting, but there’s help at hand with self-publishing services such as Silverwood Books

POETRY 64 Poetry workshop: A pudding poem A festive poem explores the way food can evoke past times and experiences 65 Poetry in practice Try out some light verse with these ideas 66 Poetry primer: Poetry from A-Z An alphabetic guide through the language of poetry 67 Poetry competition: Open invitation Set yourself up for a strong performance in the year’s most popular WM poetry competition, the Annual Open

AUTHOR EXPERIENCES 52 Subscriber spotlight WM subscribers share their publishing success stories 58 Circles’ roundup Writing groups share their interests and activities

COMPETITION WINNERS AND EXERCISES 32 Train your brain: Red editing pen 40 Open short story winner Read the winning entry in our writing for children competition 59 Circles’ roundup: What’s my line? Exercises to get your group writing 62 Subscriber-only short story winner Read the winning entry in our Three Words short story comp

FICTION 38 Beginners: Turn to the dark side Don’t be afraid to explore edgy characters and situations 48 Under the microscope James McCreet puts a reader’s first 300 words under the critical lens 50 Fiction focus: Kill your darlings Killing off characters can be cathartic and creatively helpful, but don’t wield the axe indiscriminately

76 Fantastic realms: Light, speed, progress Can science-fiction really keep up with science-fact – and does it have to?

PUBLISHING 10 Grumpy Old Bookman A lesser-known On Writing inspires Michael Allen 11 From the other side of the desk Literary agent Piers Blofeld peers behind the scenes of one of publishing’s biggest annual events

RESOURCES

TECH

for writers: 34 Technology with Gaming nerds Games writing Step this way... ? ways with words for writers: 78 Technology cial media on so Get the ting lf and your wri se ur yo Promote ce vi ad r ou online with eb watch 80 Writers’ w

6 Miscellany 8 Letters

56 Editorial calendar 74 Behind the tape 81 Computer clinic 82 Helpline

NON-FICTION 72 Features desk: I time Journalists usually try to avoid featuring in their articles, but sometimes an I is exactly the focus you need 83 Going to market 85 Research tips: Official secrets The Government makes vast amounts of useful information available online if you know where to look 103 Travel writing know how


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70 Writing for children: Mistakes to avoid: After publication You’ve finally got your children’s book in your sticky mitts. Avoid these ten mistakes to ensure you’ll soon be pressing into customers’ hands instead

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MISCELLANY

THE WORLD OF

WRITING

Archaic argot, unwanted updates, wrong routines, cosy cookbooks and library loan lock-ups – it’s a right ranty read in the wide world of writing

The problems of a literary night owl Lionel Shriver, the author of thirteen novels, including her latest The Mandibles: A Family 20292047, told Alex Clarke of the Observer that her work-sleep routine puts her out of sync with the rest of the world. She explained that she likes to work until 10pm, then go for a run, have a meal after midnight and go to bed about 4am. ‘The main problem with this routine is all these people who want to do things in the morning.’ The rest of the working world is shocked to find her still asleep in the middle of the day. ‘The disapproval is unbelievable. Even from delivery people. If I scramble into my robe and hustle downstairs at 10.30am – and they probably got up at 5am – the contempt drips off them. I have to stop myself from saying: ‘You don’t understand, I’m not some layabout. I actually have a job. I just keep different hours.”’

Figures of speech

Library book overdue?

GO TO JAIL In an effort to recoup about $200,000 worth of overdue books, staff at the Athens-Limestone, Alabama, USA, public library decided to enforce a new policy that includes fines of $100, a city jail term of thirty days or possibly both. The local newspaper, the News Courier, explained that library director Paula Laurita said the harsh new rules were necessary because offenders were effectively stealing from the library and taxpayers. ‘Sometimes we hear, “I lent my library card to my cousin,’” Laurita said. ‘I just want to ask, “Would you lend your cousin your credit card? If they go and get $700 worth of clothing and you’re responsible for the bill, would you do that?’” The local newspaper added that library customers can end up owing large sums to the library because they are able to take out up to 25 books at a time, which could have a retail value of $25 each.

Accent on change draws down the curtain on toads, brown bread and neets out A Guardian subeditor added an appropriate headline to a story about the demise of local vernacular: ‘It’s the end of the frog and toad for regional slang, says report’ The author of the news piece, Maev Kennedy, obviously warmed to the subject too: ‘It’s not just Cockney that’s brown bread: a new report on the homogenisation of spoken English predicts that by the year 2066 the distinctive Brummie G – as in Birmingam – will have followed it down the apples and pears, along with dialect words and regional pronunciations such as Glasgow’s bampot, slarty and stooshie, and Newcastle’s neet out on the toon.’ Maev said that the report, The Sounds of 2066, ‘suggests that “talking to machines and listening to Americans” will soon kill

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off cherished regional accents and phrases and lead to a more universally informal spoken English. It cites the probability that keyboards will soon be as dead as a dog and bone landline, replaced by voice recognition technology, as among the key drivers behind a less diverse English.’ The author of the report, commissioned by HSBC bank, to mark the launch of their voice biometrics security technology, suggest that ‘within fifty years any proud owner of a new vehicle in London may be greeted with: “Hey bruv, I totes fink that car is a booty.”’ The report also said that: ‘We’ve come to realise that speaking in such and such a way isn’t necessarily a sure sign of someone’s intelligence, or competence. This improves opportunities for people from a wider variety of social and educational backgrounds.’

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MISCELLANY

Turning the clock back on Blyton’s Famous Five stories Cookery books are the recipe for a good read, says writer Author and journalist India Knight confessed in the Sunday Times magazine that she worried about the fate of cookery books. ‘The younger people I know don’t own any. If they want to make something, they Google a recipe for it. This is marvellous in terms of immediacy and scope, but it loses all the charm and romance of reading a proper recipe, written and introduced with care by someone who knows what they’re doing, or from an often beautiful physical book, or indeed from a dedicated blog. ‘I’m probably atypical here, in that I look forward to the publication of some cookbooks much more than I look forward to the publication of novels. I like curling up on the sofa and reading cookbooks as though they were a story. This is partly because it is incredibly difficult to write well about food, and I revere people who can, and partly because on a bleak winter evening, there’s simply nothing cosier…’

Famous Five stories censored to suit modern sensibilities were a total flop, ‘thank goodness’, declared Ariane Sherine in The Spectator, as she urged publishers to stop censoring Enid Blyton. Ariane recalled that six years ago, the publishers Hachette ‘took the well-meaning yet preposterous step of making “sensitive text revisions” to Enid Blyton’s classic Famous Five books. So “tinker” was changed to “traveller”, “mother and father” to “mum and dad” and “awful swotter” to “bookworm”’… The Spectator article reported that ‘Unsurprisingly, given that all the charm had been stripped out of them’, the revised editions flopped, Hachette were reverting to the originals. The publishers conceded that the updates had proved ‘very unpopular’. Ariane Sherine reported: ‘But Hachette isn’t the only culprit. Earlier this year, I bought my five-year-old daughter one of the Blyton titles I had enjoyed most as a child, The Magic Faraway Tree. I read it aloud to her, expecting to feel warmly nostalgic, but I merely felt baffled and irritated to discover that the publishers, Egmont, had also made several unnecessary changes. ‘The names Fanny and Dick had been changed to Frannie and Rick. At first, I thought this was a misguided effort to avoid schoolchildren giggling at unintentional innuendo, but then I found that the names Jo and Bessie had also been pointlessly updated to Joe and Beth. Even more annoyingly, the disciplinarian Dame Slap had been renamed Dame Snap… The article concluded: ‘Children should not be patronised or mollycoddled – they should be free to read all about the amusingly quaint ideas, thoughts, words and names from the olden days, however sexist, unpalatable or wrong these may be considered now. They can learn from the past – but only if it remains uncensored.’


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TITLE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We want to hear your news and views on the writing world, your advice for fellow writers – and don’t forget to tell us what you would like to see featured in a future issue... Write to: Letters to the editor, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD; email: [email protected]. (Include your name and address when emailing letters. Ensure all

STAR LETTER Budget retreat I’ve just had a fantastic writer’s retreat weekend. All I’ve had to do is spend the time writing, enjoying mild exercise in between –the odd walk, a few yoga moves – and it didn’t cost much. Okay, it wasn’t an exotic location, but the service couldn’t have been better. Where did I go for this dream holiday? Actually, I stayed at home among my treasured possessions and comfort of my own bed. I had all meals sent up to my study (yes, sometimes if I make a stand, my family will take pity and pamper me) and revelled in two full days of perfect peace where I completed all those MSS that were half finished. What a treat. And as your letter from Linda Tyler (WM, Nov) refers to some of the extortionate competition entry fees, think of the money saved... enough to finance a good few entries. My added bonus: the sun shone all weekend, providing even more inspiration. LINDA Y KETTLE Portsmouth, Hampshire The star letter each month earns a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2017, courtesy of Bloomsbury, www.writersandartists.co.uk

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letters, a maximum of 250 words, are exclusive to Writing Magazine. Letters may be edited.) When referring to previous articles/letters, please state month of publication and page number.

VALU€ ISN’T ALWAYS CA$H I recently broke my own rule and wrote something that I will not be paid for. I was reminded of the fact when I read the piece by Lora Bishop (What’s your Writing Worth?, WM, Oct). Now I am no green beginner, willing to work for nothing just to see my work in print. On the contrary, I have written articles for a wide variety of local and national magazines for more than thirty years. I have always been paid for my work. Even if it was just a cheque for a small filler piece. Sometimes this has meant chasing late payers, but I have had no qualms about doing this. I am also a recovering alcoholic and my freebie article was written for Share, the magazine of Alcoholics Anonymous. By passing on my own experiences, I hope to help my fellow recovering alcoholics. Even if only one person reads my piece and benefits from it, I will have achieved my aim. That is worth any amount of money to me. BRYAN WOODS Petersfield, Hampshire Liam Bloomfield wrote to Helpline (WM, Nov) asking how ebooks could make a profit. In addition to what Diana Cambridge replied about marketing and royalties, I would like to point out that not all the benefits of self-publishing an ebook can be measured in terms of cash and sales figures. Self-publishing an ebook can also prepare a writer for traditional publishing. He must study the market and decide what genre his work is. He must find a ‘hook’ on which to hang the book’s blurb. He must write an attention grabbing, snappy sales pitch. He must learn to talk about his book and deal with feedback, both negative and positive. All of these things are skills that can be used when pitching a subsequent book to an agent and taking the traditional publishing route. SALLY JENKINS Sutton Coldfield, West Midland

A reader writes... My approach to getting my work, and other writers’ and artists’, noticed is unconventional. My magazine, which is named Pen Ultimate is written and drawn by hand. It is not online. It means that contributors do not have to use any social media platforms, or indeed own or use IT equipment, to submit their work. All they need is a pen, paper, envelope and stamp, and if writers enclose an sae, I will respond immediately, by hand. I will be approaching a printer soon so I can publish the first edition. It may sink like a stone, or it may be a small seed in the literary jungle that flowers and bears fruit. I will let you know either way. I am gathering material for the second edition – this initially will be a bimonthly magazine – and would welcome short stories, poetry, articles and drawings, preferably written or drawn in black ink or marker on A5 paper PAUL LEACY Polegate, East Sussex www.writers-online.co.uk

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L E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R

GROUP BENEFITS I found myself nodding in agreement as I read Lora Bishop’s article Hell is other writers (WM, Nov). Over the years, I’ve been a member of a variety of creative writing groups, yet the last local one I attended had to be one of the worst. I was immediately criticised for having my short stories published in national magazines. Writing to a formula? I wasn’t doing myself any favours, apparently. After I’d read out my latest story, I was told quite rudely: ‘Well you’ll never sell that.’ Talk about encouraging! This was from someone who knew absolutely nothing about womag requirements. Despite regular meetings for several years, there wasn’t an impressive history of publishing success. is other To my dismay, they seemed perfectly content to stay at hobby level. I There was no talk of setting goals or working towards them. Possible markets weren’t mentioned either. As I’m naturally ambitious, I didn’t feel that I was good fit for them so I didn’t go back. Thank goodness for my own online womag writing group. I set this up six years ago and it’s still going strong. I take into account Jeff Lyons’ comments but my group does actually work – members have secured sales after feedback. (And this includes me.) Yes, I could fork out for professional critiques, but my group is free to join. Most members are at pro or semi-pro level, anyway. I know I can trust their honest feedback. SHARON BOOTHROYD Brighouse, West Yorkshire

Scarier than two skydives, abseiling or climbing up a 200ft cliff front. No, this was far riskier. Having thought of myself as a writer since I was eight years old but never having any likeminded or more experienced people around me to confirm or deny my suspicions – here they finally were. People who knew what I wanted and what I was on about, people who got ‘it’ and people who would either encourage me in my endeavours or tell me to choose some new ones! It was only a two-hour thing, nicely punctuated by tea and pleasant conversation, but my hands never once stopped shaking. When I recount that memory now they laugh at me, wondering were they really so scary? Another member asked, has my self-belief improved now along with my actual writing? The short answer is yes. Because it went the way I wanted it to, they encouraged me to keep going and confirmed that yes I am a writer after all! One thing we all seem to have in common is that the creative aspiration has been with us from an early age, deep down we’ve known this about ourselves all along, but previously I at least was always too shy to say writers it out loud. That is one thing that has changed. Now, whenever I’m asked what I do or what I want to do my opening answer is always the same; I am a writer. Brixham Writers group is the single best thing to happen so far in my journey to becoming what I want to be. It is the highlight of my week and the inspiration for much of what comes after it. Thank God for them all. And thank God I took the risk. CATE FRANCES Brixham, Devon

Hell

Some writers’ groups are better than others, but most (hopefully) manage to avoid what Lora Bishop found at her local session

t’s recently dawned on me that I haven’t written anything more creative than a fake sick note for my daughter’s school in some time. I have tried various ways to increase creative output; I’ve started listening to classical music, supposedly able to increase concentration and other cognitive functions. (It’s debatable if this effect actually exists, but of all the things to try sticking a few symphonies and sonatas on YouTube required the least amount of effort on my part.) I’ve burnt diaries in an attempt to rise out of the ashes like some gleaming innovative phoenix. I’ve banned television to free up more writing time. I’ve meditated (napped), written by hand (as opposed to Word document), written drunk (any excuse), set up a desk for myself, hung around coffee shops in my glasses trying to look all arty and intellectual with my ring-binder and selection of HB pencils... and I am still not writing the way I want. Lightbulb moment! What I need is a writing group where I can oil the somewhat stiff creative cogs. Added incentives are one evening a week away from the kids and the huge spider who recently moved its suitcase into my daughter’s dolls house. Feeling positive, I research some local events. One group immediately looks promising in that it 46

meets in the function room above a pub. I go to their Facebook page. The first post I see is this: ‘Hi Sir, me have written some poem that cannot publish due to some problem that I do not know. You tell me little bit where I want to approach? Need help. You help?’ I know instantly that I HAVE to go to that group and sit next to that guy. (And then write about it for WM. See how calculating writers have to be?) The next scheduled meeting is entitled ‘learn how to best utilise social media as a writer’, something I hardly need assistance with since poncing about on social media is probably one of the main reasons I consistently fail to hit my writing targets. Nonetheless, I rope an unsuspecting babysitter into looking after my offspring and oversized arachnid for the evening. The group meeting is due to start at 7.30pm. I decide to give it until 8.30pm and if it’s lousy I can slip away to the bar downstairs, all the time insisting to myself that I’ve given it my best shot. I walk into the room certain that everyone in it can hear the violent churning in my stomach. Being a newbie is never fun. You are regarded as an unknown quantity who must earn the trust and/or respect of already established group members. (Or am I

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‘It can be scary starting something like this for the first time, can’t it?’ Linda asked this week during our writers’ group meeting and all heads turned to look at me. No longer the newest member, I am still the youngest and ONE of the newest. I think my face said it all. My first writers’ group meeting was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.

Pay to enter?

over-analysing?) There are about twenty of us. I look around wondering who might be the ‘me have written some poem than cannot publish due to some problem’ person. People seem to be looking at me suspiciously. Everyone is very casually attired. I feel a bit of a plonker in my black halter-neck dress and red sequin shoes. (Well it is a night out of the house.) I start to crave alcoholic fortification from downstairs. Fortunately Diane, the group’s organiser, with whom I have already exchanged a couple of emails, comes over and we have a brief chat. Have I been to a writing group before? Yes, although it was in 1996 and everyone there seemed old to my sixteen-year-old eyes... and the guy running it seemed only intent on selling his self-published book entitled How to Write and Publish Your Book to us all. I am babbling nervously. Have I published anything? (I had my first publication in a national magazine at the age of eighteen. It was the first time I had ever submitted a short story anywhere. I thought it was always going to be that easy.) Was I writing something at the moment? (Erm, sort of, this and that, I’m not sure it is commercially viable...) ‘Well,’ says Diane brightly, ‘I hope we can meet some of your needs this

As both a writer, and member of an organising committee for an annual national short story competition in February (Nottingham Writers’ Club), I thought Linda Tyler might be interested in a few insights into competitions charges and entry criteria (Letters p9, WM, November). Every competition entry that fulfils the rules must be read; so while readers and judges are doing that important task they aren’t writing themselves, and if your writing is an income source then payment is not unreasonable for your time and skill. Many competitions allow online entry, but they still need to be printed out for the readers. I doubt few writers would want to read 40+ stories on a computer screen. Add in postage for sending manuscripts to and from the judge, plus prize money for the winners, it all adds up.

26/09/2016 10:33

In my experience writing groups can be an extremely valuable resource. I have been a member of several over the last few years, some served to provide inspiration at the very beginning of my writing journey, and two critique groups now serve to help me hone my craft. With their help I have improved several pieces to a high enough standard to have them published – including Lacey, which took second prize in one of Writing Magazine’s subscriber competitions. I would urge everyone to try as many as necessary until you find one with a professional approach that suits you. Start your own if you have to. After all we should not forget that a writing group gave us both Narnia and Middle Earth. If that is not proof of their value I don’t know what is. SARAH HINDMARSH Barrowby,

Entry criteria too open can swamp you, lengthening the time for a result; too specific and you won’t receive enough entries. The aim is to balance the scales so everyone wins and costs are covered. A profit is not guaranteed. Many newer and developing writers won’t enter some competitions (among the wide variety listed in the useful WM Competition Special) because they will be up against more experienced and successful writers, so entry criteria can have a positive effect for timorous entrants. This is why Nottingham Writers’ Club defines a professional writer in our annual competition rules. With so much choice, be selective, start small and build on your competitions successes. CAROL BEVITT Nottingham


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DECEMBER 2016

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GRUMPY OLD BOOKMAN

Dialogue talk A lesser-known On Writing inspires Michael Allen

I

t was in 1955 (or thereabouts) that I first began to read books about the art and craft of writing. That being the case, I was slightly surprised recently to come across one such book which I can’t remember having seen before: it’s called On Writing, it’s by George V Higgins, and it was first published in 1990 in New York. George V Higgins, you say? Never heard of him. Ah, but that’s because you’re so young. Briefly, Higgins was a Boston Massachusetts man. Born in 1939, he died young, just before his sixtieth birthday, and he is best remembered as a top-rank crime writer. However, he had several other careers, all of them successful. Early in life he wrote for some leading newspapers, including the Boston Globe and the Wall Street Journal. Then he switched to the law, and soon rose to be Assistant US Attorney for Massachusetts; in which capacity he was heavily involved in the fight against organised crime. All of this must have kept him busy, but he had developed a yen to write, and he wrote fourteen novels in the seventeen years which passed before he had one accepted. I know nothing about the nature of those early novels, but Higgins himself in due course destroyed them, so I suspect they were literary books – the result of reading too much Eng Lit in his college days. Eventually, however, Higgins was smart enough to recognise that the world of crime was the one he knew best, and he wrote his later novels accordingly. Finally, towards the end of his life, Higgins became a Professor of English at Boston University, where he taught creative writing. His first novel to be published was The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972). This was both a critical and commercial success, which is always a neat trick to pull off if you can. Critics 10

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were much impressed by his ‘realistic dialogue’, which they often attributed to the author’s experience as a criminal lawyer. The Times Literary Supplement compared his work to that of James Joyce (very odd!), and Elmore Leonard simply said that it was the best crime novel ever written (hmm, well, maybe). In terms of sales, the book made the bestseller lists, and movie rights were sold to Hollywood. What then, did such a man have to offer us when he came to produce a book about fiction? The first point to make is that On Writing is an oddly structured book. It has no contents page. There are nine chapters, none of which has a title, and the reader is given little clue as to what a chapter might be about. And there is no index either. Second, this is an American book to its core. The author, a Boston lawyer, was about as American as they come. Virtually every writer he mentions is an American. True, he does refer to Charles Dickens, but that exception aside one might be forgiven for thinking that, for Higgins, European culture did not exist. Third, Higgins makes such points as he wishes to make largely by discussing the techniques used by other writers. He quotes at length – by which I mean whole short stories, or whole chapters – from writers such as F Scott Fitzgerald (‘vastly overrated’) and John O’Hara (‘there are so many wonderful O’Hara stories’). And then he asks us to observe how those writers achieved their effects. Given the huge praise which was heaped upon Higgins for his own dialogue, it is instructive to see what he has to say on that subject (which he spells as dialog, naturally). He

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certainly regarded it as important. Even before he was a teenager, he says, he discovered that nothing could damage a fictional character’s credibility as quickly as bad dialog. ‘A man or woman who does not write good dialog is not a first-rate writer.’ Good dialog, for Higgins, evidently meant dialog which sounded natural and convincing but which conveyed a wealth of implied information for the reader. The critics seem to have concluded that Higgins had acquired his own talent for convincing dialog by listening to endless hours of covert tape recordings while he was a US Attorney. Recordings, that is, made by the police and others, of real criminals planning real heists in bars and other dives. But the truth, says Higgins, is that anyone who has spent a few minutes listening to such real-life tough guys would know that their conversations were hopeless as models for crime fiction. The bad guys would ramble, mumble, lose their way, forget names, communicate through winks and nudges rather than through words, et cetera. For Higgins, writing ‘natural’ dialog for underworld characters is very much an acquired skill rather than just the result of hiding microphones in bars. So, what’s the verdict? Is Higgins’s On Writing a book worth tracking down? Well, at the time of writing, Abebooks.co.uk will offer you a choice of secondhand copies for about £6 including postage, and it’s certainly worth all of that. But if you’re really hard up you can easily find Stephen King’s 2000 publication with the same title, and that’s a better investment – particularly if you’re mainly interested in short fiction.

Writing ‘natural’ dialog for underworld characters is an acquired skill rather than the result of hiding microphones in bars


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ITLE AGENT OPTIN ION

On writing “”

I am a great believer in diaries, if only in the sense that bar exercises are good for ballet dancers: it’s often through personal diaries… that the novelist discovers his true bent...

Agent Piers Blofeld peers behind the scenes of one of publishing’s biggest annual events

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JOHN FOWLES

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OTHE R SIDE OF THE DESK

© Giovanni Giovannetti/effigie

Tony Rossiter explores great words from great writers

From the

here are at least three good reasons for keeping a diary. First (like bar exercises for dancers, scales for pianists, or warm-up exercises for athletes), it can help to get your mind and your body prepared for the task ahead. It can help as preparation for the sometimes difficult business of settling down, getting started and getting stuck into a piece of writing. These days, of course, blogs, tweets and other social media may fulfil the same kind of function. But a personal diary is the real deal – the place where you can record stuff you may not want to share with the rest of the world. Second, putting into words (either on paper or on a computer screen) something you have done or felt in the recent past – importantly, without much thought or reflection – can produce a piece of writing that is more immediate, more lively and more authentic than something you have thought about and worked on over a longer period. Your diary entries can help you to develop an individual writing style. Finally, diaries can make hugely entertaining reading. One of my own favourite books – a strong contender if I were ever put on a desert island and allowed only one book – is The Assassin’s Cloak, an anthology of the world’s greatest diarists (2000). Samuel Pepys, James Boswell, Nella Last, Beatrix Potter, Tony Benn, Alan Clark, Alan Bennett and many, many more – they’re all here. The very first entry, recording something we all do every day – waking up in the morning – makes me smile. On 1 January 1662 Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary: ‘Waking this morning out of my sleep on a sudden, I did with my elbow hit my wife a great blow over her face and nose, which waked her with pain, at which I was sorry, and to sleep again.’ Evelyn Waugh was another writer who commended the practice of keeping a diary: ‘It is not necessary to be in touch with famous people in order to write a valuable diary… Nobody wants to read other people’s reflections on life and religion and politics, but the routine of their day, properly recorded, is always interesting and will become more so as conditions change with the years.’ How right he was.

ctober – in publishing – means the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest publishing trade fair. It is quite a spectacle if only for the sheer size of the venue and the astonishing quantity of publishers there are around the world. Football pitch-sized floor after football pitch-sized floor crammed with the stands, some large, some small, of publishers from everywhere from Azerbaijan to Kwazulu Natal (actually I made that last one up, but you get the picture). Back in the days when I was unfortunate enough to have to go, (thank you foreign rights team!) Frankfurt meant five days of bad food, terrible coffee, too much to drink and not enough sunshine and epic quantities of talking. There’s a huge amount of nuts and bolts business done at Frankfurt – it’s where publishers will meet up with their distributors around the world, with the Hong Kong printers who do their illustrated books, with sub-agents and scouts. It is this, the unglamorous side of the publishing business, which is in many ways the bulk of the real work at the fair. But what everyone talks about – what makes agents and publishers pulses quicken – are the rights deals. Frankfurt is the key acquisitions window in the year and being ‘the book of the fair’ can be a huge windfall for an author, and agent. In the age of email the excitement is less feverish than it used to be in the days when the hot manuscript would literally arrived in five or six mimeographed sheaves to be handed out to excited publishers who would read it overnight and offer the next day. Things are sadly not so heated now, but it is still a period when competition is fierce and that can be very exciting. One of the more unexpected elements of the book fair is the ever so slight tension between the English speaking publishers of the US and UK and the rest of the world. In part that is simply a function of the fact that we English speakers do all tend to be so very monoglot and they are not, but there is also a hint of deeper differences. Up until recently US and UK publishers were literally separated in their own exhibition hall – and to be honest we were mostly fine with that, but it was felt to be too divisive and moves have been made to try and make us more part of the team… The trouble is that however much one might lament our lack of interest in other cultures, there are strong business reasons that underpin it. Authors writing in English have a huge advantage and the kinds of global market that, with some notable exceptions, authors from other languages do not. Go into bookshops in those countries and the bestseller lists will often be dominated by British or US authors. So long has this gone on that we no longer really notice the fact that the Germans, the Italians and the French will even buy novels set in Tudor England or during the Napoleonic Wars (told from a British point of view, with the French as the bad guys). That really is pretty much entirely a one-way street – so however much we might lament the cultural insularity of us Anglophones, we should be very grateful that for writers it can be a huge advantage. Certainly, the book of the fair is much more often in English than any other language.


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WRITING LIFE

BLOCKBUSTERS Hollywood script doctor Jeff Lyons doesn’t even believe in writer’s block, but he’s still going to help you beat it

s writers, we all have come to accept certain maxims to be true, or at least we have grown so familiar with the consensus memes of the creative writing world that we have become unwitting suckers, blindly accepting them, without exercising personal discernment and healthy skepticism as artists. The memes I’m speaking of have become normalised and homogenised, so much so that we accept them as if they are true, have always been true, will forever be true:

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• Good stories write themselves • Characters write themselves • It’s enough to be talented • Writing conferences will make you a better writer • Good stories always rise to the top and the list goes on... But, the biggest meme of all, the one that almost all writers swallow hook, line, and sinker is that of writer’s block. There isn’t a writer I know who hasn’t drunk this Kool-Aid. ‘But wait,’ you say incredulously, ‘I’ve experienced it! Writer’s block is real; it exists; it is the devil’s work.’ Well, yes, writers can get blocked, but that blockage is so easily handled and so uncomplicated that, once they understand it, many writers will be shocked by the simplicity of what is really going on. To appreciate this, allow me to first 12

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explain the consensus viewpoint on writer’s block. The man we have to thank for the pernicious idea that we writers have a special neurosis all our own is a long-dead psychoanalyst named Edmund Bergler. He first coined the phrase ‘writer’s block’ back in 1947, as only one example of what he called ‘unconscious masochism’. The psychoanalytic analysis of writer’s block is impenetrable in its own right, but that the term’s origins came from the world of psychoanalysis – the Holy Grail for the neurosis model of emotional unwellness – should be our first red light as to its illegitimacy. The consensus view of writer’s block is that it manifests when a writer feels stuck; unable to write; bereft of ideas; and feeling left hanging in the wind by the creative process, helpless, and hopeless. The form it takes is universally recognisable, but the causes of writer’s block are as legion as the devils of Hell. Some of the more popular reasons for writer’s block that have also become writing memes in their own right, and include: • You have a blank mind and no ideas come whatsoever; the well is dry • You’re afraid of making a mistake • Beyond just making a mistake, you fear total failure • Fear of being judged by others for what you write • Pressure to produce, deadlines and expectations of others

• Your brain is at fault, under stress the brain goes into ‘fight-flight’ and is not creative • And on it goes... So, the consensus blames creative void, fear, stress, neurological and physiological complications, in short: writer’s block is multi-faceted, multicausal, and multi-problematic. The phenomenon has taken on such a life of its own, that something that is in essence quite simple, has been turned into a multi-headed Siren that will lure you into the rocks of process interruptus. The good news, gentle writer, is that you do not have to buy into this; you do not have to listen to the Siren’s call.

Break it down Instead, listen to the simple logic of a reasoned argument. Writer’s block is 99.9% smoke and 0.1% percent substance. The 99.9% part is the consensus meme of writer’s block (the multi-headed Siren) and you can’t really do anything with it, because it isn’t based in anything related to story or the writing process. The only part you can do something with is the 0.1% piece, which is directly related to writing and creative process: You have too many ideas; the creative pipeline is full, and you don’t know where to begin or what to write. You are so full of things to say that you can’t say anything at all, or you don’t know where to focus your attention.


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WRITING LIFE

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. All the other ‘reasons’ (the 99.9-percent part) are manifestations of other problems that have nothing to do with writing. Anxiety, fear of failure, stress, etc, are not writer’s block. They are life blocks that may need to be addressed, but they are not writer’s block because they are not sourced from writing or creative process. They may affect your writing, but they are not sourced from writing, or writing process, so they cannot be considered writer’s block. The only legitimate reason to be ‘blocked’ in your writing is because you are too filled up and can’t prioritise, or find the right path to say what needs to be said. Even so-called blockage due to character development problems, or plotting problems, or story structure issues are not writer’s block. These are simply story or writing problems. They are part of the writing process every writer has to deal with when they write any story. These things might slow you down, and you will have to work through them – you always have to work through them – because they are always there to one degree or another. It’s part of writing, not part of being blocked. I repeat: it is only when you are so clogged with creative ideas that you don’t know what to do next – only then does your writing drag to a halt and get stuck. It’s not because you can’t pay the bills, it’s not because your lover left you, it’s not because your mother dropped you on your head at eighteen months. Those may all be problems, but they are not creative process problems, they are life problems affecting everything in your life – including your writing. Many may find this ‘reductionist’ definition of writer’s block offensive, because we all experience life problems that affect our writing and productivity as creative people. And for someone to come along and say ‘writer’s block is a bunch of hooey’ can feel dismissive and insensitive. This is not the intent. Your feelings of frustration and anxiety and even anger at not being able to write are legitimate and need to be honoured. But, it does you a disservice, as an artist, to cater to the fiction of writer’s block, and not offer a factual and practical analysis of what

is really going on under your creative hood, in order to give you the tools you need to discern the smoke-andmirrors of memes and myths from real process, productivity, and solutions. To that end, consider these scenarios: • When a professional musician is on stage and the pipes get stuck, the music doesn’t come, and he-she can’t deliver (and it happens) what do they do? Throw their hands up and walk off stage? Hardly. • What does a professional actor do when the cameras are rolling or the audience is watching and the juice is gone, the character leaves them, and they can’t deliver? Do they run off to their trailer in a snit or walk off stage? Well, sometimes – you know actors, but not really. • When a professional athlete is exhausted, spent and at the end of their physical limits how do they safely get to the finish line, or sink that put, or swing that bat when every fibre of their being wants them to just shut down and stop? Do they crumple in a heap and give up (rarely)? When creatively blocked, professionals know what to do, they do it seamlessly. They don’t take a yoga class, they don’t write in their journals, they don’t doodle, or take long car rides into the countryside, no – they fall back on craft skill and technique. The musician has skill and technique and this saves them. The actor has skill and technique and it is always there for them. The athlete has muscle memory and technique that are second nature. Once they tap this resource (technique), the juices will flow and they will ‘be back’, blockage removed. That’s how professionals deal with ‘musician’s block’, ‘actor’s block’, or ‘athlete’s block’.

Break right through So, what should a writer do? The same thing! Fall back on craft. For writers that means story structure. Story structure is your craft skill. It is the airbag that will catch you when you fall. It is always there and is always available, because story structure doesn’t depend on you. It is there for you to depend upon it. What am I talking about when I say story structure? Well, there are many ‘systems’ out there offered by www.writers-online.co.uk


so-called story gurus that teach story structure (including mine). If you have one you like, then use it. If you don’t know what story structure is, or why it’s important, then you will have to educate yourself – the resources are out there, or covered in other issues of WM. But, what I’m referring to when I say story structure are the critical ‘elements’ that any story needs in order to be told well: • Protagonist with a problem: you have a main character that drives your story and this character is driven by an internal problem that makes him-her act badly toward others (moral component). • Focal relationship: the relationship made up of your protagonist and some other character (the buddy, lover, main ally, etc) that drives the drama through the middle of your story. This other character is not another protagonist! • Desire: your protagonist wants something and they will get it at the end of the story (the money, the girl, something tangible). • Opposition: there is a main opponent in the story trying to stop the hero-heroine from achieving their desire. • Midpoint complication: halfway (more or less) through the story, something happens that raises the stakes for everyone in the story, while also raising the personal stakes for the protagonist in the core relationship driving the middle of the story. • Doom moment: the point near the end of the story where all seems lost, the protagonist is alone, defeated and appears to have no hope. • Evolution-de-evolution: How the protagonist changes at the end; he-she either grows up or disintegrates. The ending doesn’t have to be happy. A writing problem requires a writing solution; a story problem requires a story-development solution. Writers block – real writer’s block – is a storyrelated problem, so storycraft, ie, story structure, is the only solution to writer’s block. Just like the musician, or actor, or athlete the writer falls back on craft and technique, and that means: story structure.

Turn over for Jeff ’s 7-step process to busting writer’s block

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THE 7-STEP PROCESS FOR

k c o l B s ’ r e t i Busting Wr hat follows are the concrete steps you can take, using your craft as a solution to being blocked, rather than bath bubbles, binge eating, or a marathon on Netflix. This is a process that illustrates how craft and technique are the writer’s salvation, not handcuffs of constriction or limitation. This process will always work to get you unblocked.

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STEP 1

Figure out if you are dealing with a life problem or a creative-process problem. Remember, life problems can affect your writing, but they are not writer’s block. They are part of the 99.9 percent, and need to be handled, but you’re dealing with something bigger than just being creatively blocked. This process won’t help you. Go and get other help – talk to a friend, call your mother, get therapy. If, however, you’re clear this is a creative problem and not a bigger life issue, then move to the next step; you’re in the right place.

STEP 2:

Tell yourself the truth: this block is a good thing. You have so much flowing you can’t think straight. Be grateful and thank the writing gods. Really, take some time and think about and feel that gratitude. This isn’t psychobabble. You are not just ‘turning that frown upsidedown’ – this is a critical shift of your mental-emotional state that is essential to move forward. Own your creativity, own your authority to solve the problem, and be grateful for the ‘problem’.

STEP 3:

Filled with gratitude, or at least no longer feeling suicidal, look to your story’s structure. Take a piece of paper and map it out as best you can. Write down your story’s structure, as best you know it: protagonist with a problem, desire, central opponent, focal relationship, midpoint complication, doom moment, and the protagonist’s evolution-de-evolution. Define these steps as best you can and work with them until you have the big picture solid in your head. Even if you know all these steps, do this anyway. If this is all Greek to you, then go and educate yourself, and when you have a grasp of story structure come back and try this again. This step is about getting in touch with your story and its structure – up close and personal.

STEP 4:

Assess the output of step three. You are blocked. You are blocked at a certain point in your process. Think about where you’re stuck in your story and look at the list of structure steps you just completed. Where does the point where you’re stuck fall in the list of structure 14

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steps? Which step does it relate to most closely? Get your bearings for the location in your structure where your clog is stuck. If you are just starting your story and the page is blank and you haven’t done the basic structure work ahead of time, then DO IT NOW. Write out your premise line and structure the story. Otherwise, now is the time to locate the physical blockage in your process. The story will tell you – listen.

STEP 5:

Once you get your bearings, once you find specifically (or as closely as possible) where in the structure you are stuck, then pull this out and work with it separately. Meaning: brainstorm scenes, possibilities, scenarios, but all of this needs to be geared toward moving you forward to the next story structure step from where you are stuck. For example, if your protagonist doesn’t have a goal for the story, then solve this structure step and then think about the next step: who’s trying to stop him/her from getting what they want (ie, the opponent)? Just write. Maybe everything you write is gibberish. That’s okay. This is where you have to just force yourself. Like the musician or actor earlier – just do it. Don’t censor, don’t correct spelling, and don’t judge it, just write. DO NOT STOP. No breaks, no interruptions.

STEP 6:

At some point the writing will stop being gibberish, it will start making sense. Keep going until you feel you have moved forward – even if you can’t fully define what that means. The feeling of it is enough to break the jam. This might take two pages, five pages, or ten pages. Keep writing until you make that breakthrough. Once you do, you’re unblocked. Celebrate and get back to writing. If you get to page thirty and all the writing is still nonsense, then stop because you’re just playing a game with yourself and this is now a form of self-sabotage. Back off and come back when you are ready to really be done with this. Go back to step one and start over.

STEP 7:

Drink lots of coffee. You’re unblocked, so you need caffeine! This is a serious step, by the way. This process always works. Writer’s block is 99.9% smoke and 0.1% substance. So, don’t fall for all the hype about writer’s block; that only feeds the monster. If you are blocked, it is a good thing, because it means you have ideas and creativity ready to flow. Use this process, trust in your story’s structure to break the logjam –and bust the myth of writer’s block once and for all.


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Polar attraction Striking a balance between artistic imagination and historical accuracy is essential for Costa Book of the Year-winning author Stef Penney, she tells Tina Jackson

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riting and exploration go hand in hand for writer and filmmaker Stef Penney – quite literally, in her new novel, Under a Pole Star. A lead title for its publisher Quercus, the epic historical tale of rival Arctic expeditions marks a return to the bleak historical territory of her game-changing, Costa-winning 2005 debut, A Tenderness of Wolves. ‘My wanting to write about polar exploration goes back to my research for The Tenderness of Wolves – I did a lot of reading about 19th century Arctic travel then, and I’ve always found such accounts deeply compelling,’ says Stef. Stef adapted Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s classic account of his experiences as a member of Captain Scott’s Polar expedition team, The Worst Journey in the World, for the BBC. It was first broadcast in 2008. ‘More specifically, that made me start thinking about explorer rivalry. When I got stuck into reading about the American quest to reach the North Pole, something crystallised. The accounts of [rival explorers] Frederick Cook and Robert Peary, and the controversy about who reached the Pole first (if at all), got me thinking about what sort of people explorers are, and why they might lie.’ Crawling out, as she puts it, from ‘under the weight of all that research’, Stef created her central character, Flora, the

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daughter of a Dundee whaler, who leads British Polar expeditions in the 1890s. Similarly to her creator, Flora is a self-defined Scottish woman who thinks on a wide scale and chooses her own path. ‘Why did I want to write about a woman explorer? Isn’t it obvious? It felt like a massive gap waiting to be filled,’ says Stef. Like Mrs Ross in A Tenderness of Wolves, who heads out from her isolated home in 1860s Canada into the wilderness to clear her son’s name, Flora has agency. ‘I’m not interested in writing characters whose fates are decided by the agency of others, so Flora couldn’t just be someone’s wife, someone’s daughter, tagging along or waiting at home. Also, the fact that she is a woman in a very masculine world leads to interesting conflicts and possibilities.’ Interest in Arctic exploration was at its height at the end of the 19th century. ‘And I always meant to write about a female explorer,’ said Stef. But she didn’t want to fictionalise real events, or retell existing history with a woman as the central character. ‘For me it was never an option to “novelise” the history – I’m always made uncomfortable by attempts to put fictional words and thoughts into the bodies of real people.’ Flora’s childhood, spent in the Arctic with her whaler father, leaves her with wide experience of people and places, and puts her at a far remove from the more conventional expectations of late Victorian womanhood. She has no real-life historical counterpart, but her story is credible because the possibilities for women’s lives at that time were opening up. ‘In the 1890s, on the cusp of the modern age, it becomes just about feasible to have a woman do these things. There was no female Polar explorer then – the first were in the late 1920s (Scottish botanist Isobel Wylie Hutchison, US anthropologist Frederica de Laguna) but there had already

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been women mountaineers, and further education had begun to open up to young women studying science, so there was a chink in the door.’ Stef is well aware of the complexities surrounding her creation – and her historical theme. ‘Almost everything I say leads to contradiction, but I think that’s the nature of a) fiction, and b) exploration.’ For instance, the social and cultural conditioning of the period led to certain types of behaviour, and attitudes towards women and indigenous people, from the explorers of the time. ‘The real Arctic explorers of the time were men, and they were extremely keen on being “manly” – the word is used over and over again by Robert Peary, Captain Scott and the like, but in the case of the Arctic, they were going to places where Inuit women lived their whole lives, and did things that were just as difficult and uncomfortable as the men. So for those explorers there was a cognitive dissonance – and that gap was filled by their attitudes – that the women as well as men were savages; “child-like”; almost like wild animals in their fittedness for the climate but wholly incapable of leadership, ambition or any of the higher mental processes. Disconnects of this sort are usually filled by some sort of “ism”.’ Encompassing big historical themes, vast expanses of territory and passion in its various forms – for knowledge, for discovery, and in the shape of American geologist Jakob, for human love – Under a Pole Star is epic in scope and delivery. ‘I didn’t at all set out to write such an epic story – I’m not quite sure how that happened!’ exclaims Stef. ‘I think it was partly a need for context – I felt we needed to see Flora’s unusual childhood in order to appreciate how she gets to be what she becomes, and then Jakob’s story also took off – I didn’t know

It’s probably obvious that I love research – that’s one of the bonuses of historical fiction, learning things I didn’t know. It makes writing an exploration – you follow signs, you find yourself in places you didn’t know existed.

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I would be writing about Brooklyn in the 1880s, or university education in fin de siècle London...’ She blames her own passion for research for dictating what had to be included in the book. ‘I get fascinated by aspects of the research – one thing leads to another – and I want to include them. Then it’s a balancing act, deciding between what’s enriching, and what’s tedious and unnecessary. It’s probably obvious that I love research – that’s one of the bonuses of historical fiction, learning things I didn’t know. It makes writing an exploration – you follow signs, you find yourself in places you didn’t know existed.’ Famously, Stef didn’t travel to Canada to research The Tenderness of Wolves, but did her research in London libraries. ‘I didn’t even think about going there, because I was agoraphobic,’ she says. Neither did she visit Greenland for Under a Pole Star, though her reasons are slightly different. ‘I still am agoraphobic, though to a lesser extent, so the prospect of going to the far north of Greenland felt out of the question. For me it was prohibitively difficult and frightening, as well as wildly expensive (and you can’t get really far north without being attached to the military, or a scientific expedition. Or you can go trekking on Ellesmere in summer if you’ve got £20,000 you just don’t know what to do with...) Whatever. To be honest, it didn’t feel like that much of an issue. It’s fiction; you make stuff up. That’s where imagination comes in, I suppose. If accuracy is more important than that, then you’re writing a travel book.’ Under a Pole Star comes ten years after the publication of A Tenderness of Wolves, one of only five debut novels to win the Costa Book of the Year Award in its 45 years. ‘Of course it was a massive advantage – it changed my life, it gave me a security, validity and freedom I’d never experienced,’ says Stef. ‘Having a success like that meant that subsequently I could write as I like to write – slowly, and not under contract – basically write as I like, and be beholden to no one. I really can’t think of any drawbacks!’ However, she acknowledges that writing in the wake of such a lifechanging win was an entirely different

process. ‘For a while I was thrown off kilter after that, in that I had previously written a book without telling anyone – not even my agent – so I really didn’t care what anyone would think about it,’ she confesses. ‘My agent said something brilliant to me when I was moaning about it – she said, “Well, you’ll never have to follow up The Tenderness of Wolves again.” And it’s true. Time passes, attention drifts away – and you can just get on with things.’ Her second novel, 2011’s 1980s-set noir thriller The Invisible Ones, reflects its characters, who are Romani, in that it is the least ‘visible’ – much less-known than its predecessor – of Stef ’s books. ‘The Invisible Ones was a story I’d had in my head for years – initially as a screenplay. I’m obsessed with the film Chinatown, and this was my attempt at a sort of noir, and at doing something with plot that I’d never attempted before and wasn’t at all sure I could pull off.’ Having chosen to set her book in the world of a marginalised people who are cautious about outsiders, Stef, who closely guards her own privacy, respected their position even though it made her research process difficult. ‘It’s such a marginal culture, little known or understood, and myths proliferate around them. And yet it’s very close to us. But it turned out to be really difficult,’ she admits. ‘Initially I approached various groups to talk to people in the community, but when I explained what I was doing, I hit a blank wall. I felt embarrassed to be asking for details of people’s lives to further my career, because if someone approached me asking for the same thing, I would have resisted too. I dislike “using” people’s experience as fodder for fiction. I wouldn’t say it was unethical, but it’s borderline exploitation, for me. For a while I thought about giving up, but I was so caught up in the story I kept going, turning to library accounts, sociology texts and so on. I’m good at library research. I’m also much more comfortable being at one remove from raw experience.’ Stef ’s three books are very different but all of them feature women who are not conventional. ‘If there is anything that I particularly do want to write, it is stories about women

“” When I imagine things,

people, settings, action and so on, I can see everything; so a big part of writing is putting down what I’m seeing

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24/10/2016 16:49


LISTEN TAP HERE to listen to an extract from The Tenderness of Wolves

who reject traditional roles,’ she says. ‘That’s neither new nor unique, but it feels as though it needs stating over and over again. In some ways it feels as though feminism has gone backwards since I was a student – we’ve seen the rise of the religious right, social media bullying, tabloid hysteria over reproductive rights, the increasing importance of a perfect appearance... these things are, at least, being debated, but a lot of the time it doesn’t seem to make any difference. Researching the Victorians made me aware that we live in an age that’s both conservative and sentimental – and I’m pretty pissed off about it. The only thing I can do is write characters like Flora, Mrs Ross, and Christina in The Invisible Ones, who fight and struggle to do what they want – and succeed, even though they’re as human and fallible as the rest of us.’ Mrs Ross, who first appeared as a character in one of Stef ’s early screenplays, shares a panic disorder with her creator, and The Tenderness of Wolves includes accounts of her past experiences in an asylum. ‘She was in an asylum because I wondered what would happen to someone with a panic disorder at that time, and that seemed a likely outcome. It was one, rare, instance of putting something of myself into a character. It’s not that it was important exactly – it wasn’t even really a choice – it was who she was.’ She has realised, too, that each book includes gender-fluid characters. ‘I’ve noticed – it took me a while – that in each book there is at least one character whose gender is unclear to others – and perhaps themselves – at some point. Perhaps that’s because I never felt like a girl, growing up, and if I was made to feel that I was a girl, it made me furious. One of the most interesting political things that’s come about recently is the non-gendered movement. It’s about affirming the right of individuals to define themselves as they wish, and that feels truly revolutionary.’ In Under a Pole Star, Stef ’s urge to convey female sexuality with honesty meant she wanted to write the kind of sex people actually have, rather than literary sex scenes that make readers look askance. ‘It became very important to write about a sexual relationship that convinced me. As with writing about anything else, I tried to be precise, truthful, economical; to try and avoid cliché, not to repeat myself.’ [For more on Stef ’s approach to writing and researching sex scenes, visit http://writ.rs/wmdec16] Writing Under a Pole Star was, she says, hugely rewarding – and hugely challenging. ‘It was the best writing experience I’ve had, and the most

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difficult. Plotting something that covered so much space and time was really hard – sometimes it felt impossible.’ She literally mapped it out on paper. ‘The only way I know how to plot a big novel is to keep a diagram of scenes and timeline, and then try and maintain some sort of balance.’ But in retrospect, she realises that in fact, she was working it out all the way through the process. ‘Perhaps the answer is, I don’t know until after I’ve done it – I don’t know if I’ve got it right until I’ve had a reasonable amount of time away from it. It helps getting people you trust to read and criticise – there was consensus this time that I should cut down large, draggy sections near the beginning of the book, so, being very obedient, I did.’ Stef ’s background as a film scriptwriter and director gives her fiction writing a wide-screen feel. ‘When I imagine things, people, settings, action and so on, I can see everything; so a big part of writing is putting down what I’m seeing. Being trained in film also affects the rhythm of what I write; I think of chapters as scenes that you see, how they would be juxtaposed, where they would end.’ In each book, the landscape takes on a primary role in the narrative. ‘Landscapes are definitely characters, and like many people, I’m drawn by the distant, difficult and exotic. Also beautiful. But I hope that even the rainy, flood-prone English landscape in The Invisible Ones was a character.’ Stef ’s three books are all very different, each presenting its own challenge in the writing process. ‘Most of the time I don’t know what I’m doing,’ she admits. ‘The thing I rely on is instinct. It’s pretty much all you’ve got.’ Her books are character-based, and so is her writing process. ‘I don’t sit down intending to write about a theme, or have any motive other than to tell the story of particular characters who won’t get out of my head. In the research and writing processes I’m constantly learning about them and the setting, and things can change enormously from first hazy ideas to final page. That’s what’s exciting. If I knew exactly how to write something before I started, what would be the point in doing it?’ The process of exploration is key for her, and what she wants to transmit through her pages. ‘What’s important to me as a reader is to be immersed in a world that’s unfamiliar to me, to learn something new, but also to be swept along, and to feel something for the characters. As a writer, it’s exactly the same.’ DECEMBER 2016


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Createspace publishing, step by step

Sell your book in the world’s biggest bookshop by publishing it through Createspa ce. Susie Kearley shows you how

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odern self-publishing services have opened up fantastic opportunities for authors, enabling them to reach new readers, and build their profile, with little or no financial outlay. This reduces the risk associated with self-publishing dramatically, and has attracted millions of people to platforms like Createspace and Kindle Direct Publishing since their launch by Amazon in 2007. Since those early days, the user interfaces on these platforms have become more userfriendly, e-reader demand has peaked and fallen, and other platforms such as Nook and Kobo, have tried to get in on the act, with limited success. So where are we today? Well, paperbacks are making a comeback. And that’s why it’s a good idea to get your head around paperback publishing if you’re serious about your sales figures. Amazon’s Createspace enables you to publish a paperback book on Amazon for free, and to make it available through other sales channels if you wish. There is no catch. They simply take a commission on any sales you make, and pay out any royalties you’re due, once a month. It’s easy to upload your manuscript, and the step-by-step instructions enable anyone to become a published author, without any financial outlay.

How to publish on Createspace Go to: www.createspace.com. Press the blue ‘Sign Up’ button on the left of the screen. A form will appear. Type in your details, 20

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and when it asks, ‘What type of media are you considering publishing?’ choose ‘Book’. Make a record of your password, and when you’ve filled everything in, press ‘Create My Account’. You will then be taken to the terms and conditions. Read, agree, and continue. You have to verify your email address, so Createspace will send you an email. A link in the email will take you to a page where you can start creating your book. The ‘name of your project’ is your book title. Choose ‘Paperback’, and select the ‘Guided Set Up’ process.

Fill in your name under Primary Author. Ignore ‘Add Contributors’, unless there’s another author involved in your project. You can skip the rest if you wish. Just press ‘Save and Continue’. Choose ‘Free CreateSpace-Assigned ISBN’. Click ‘Assign Free ISBN’ and then press ‘Continue’. Black ink on white paper is the default setting, so you don’t need to change anything, unless you want to publish in colour, which would increase the purchase price of your book considerably. You can select cream paper if you prefer. You do need to choose the size of your book. Createspace recommends 6”x9”, but you can ‘Choose a different size’ if you wish.

Underneath the ‘Choose a different size’ heading, is a link to a template. Once you’ve chosen the size of your book, click on ‘blank template’. This will open a Word document in the correct dimensions. Just copy and paste your manuscript straight into it.

Formatting your manuscript If you scroll down the screen in Createspace, the next stage is to ‘upload your book file’. So you need to prepare your manuscript for publication. This will take some time. First you need to ensure that all the necessary information is included in your Word document. So at this stage, you might want to add a title page, a copyright notice, a statement about the author, a dedication page, and a contents page. Look at another book to see what they include, and ensure you include everything you want to see, in your own manuscript. Then you need to decide how you want it to appear in print. I’d recommend single line spacing. Books vary in the font they use. Choose one that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, Tahoma, Garamond, or similar. Font sizes 10, 11 or 12 points are generally fine, unless you are producing a large-print edition of your book. Some books have chapter headings that are left justified, but many books have them centred. Lay your book out according to your own preferences. Paragraphs in books are usually indented and there is no space between paragraphs, except when a new section begins. Take a look at a commercially published novel to see what I mean. To indent your paragraphs in Word, highlight the paragraphs you want to change. Then select ‘Format’, ‘Paragraph’, and in the ‘Special’ box, select ‘First Line’. Then where it says ‘By’ type in 0.5cm. Press OK. You can format whole chunks – or whole manuscripts – in this way.


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SELF-PUBLISHING

The thing to remember is that indentation doesn’t usually apply to the very first paragraph in a new chapter or a new section. A space between paragraphs exists instead. If you’re unsure, do reference commercially published novels to see how the professional publishers lay out their books. To add page numbering, click ‘View’ on the menu in Word, then select ‘Header and Footer’. On your manuscript, scroll down to the footer, click into it, and then click on the hashtag in the ‘Header and Footer’ toolbar. This inserts a page number into the footer. Justify the page number left, right, or centred, as you wish. You’ll need to do this for odd and even pages, remembering to mirror odd and even page formats if your page numbering isn’t centred. If you want a header, insert it in the same way.

press ‘Get Started’, and use the arrows to scroll through the book, checking that it looks good inside. If you’re happy with the interior, press ‘Save and Continue’. If you’re not happy, you can amend the original Word document, and upload the new document on Createspace, replacing the old one. Just repeat the process until you’re satisfied. When you’re happy with the book’s interior, press ‘Continue’. If you change your mind, you can go back and change it at any time.

Get it covered

Now let’s look at the layout. Is the font you’ve chosen looking good on the page? Do the headings appear where you want them? Do the page breaks appear where you want them? Do you want a contents page? Do you want justified text throughout? Make changes to the document until you are satisfied with it and save it. Tip: If you’ve left two spaces after a full stop all the way through your manuscript, delete the second space for better presentation. This is a bad habit that goes back to the days of typewriters, and it has no place in modern publishing.

Back to Createspace Once you’re happy with your book’s interior, scroll down in Createspace, and upload your book file, by clicking, ‘browse’. Select your book. If you’ve logged out, log back into Createspace and click on your book title. Then click on the interior page, where you can upload the file. It takes a little while for your book to go through Createspace’s ‘Automated Print Check’, so be patient. When this process is complete, press ‘Launch Interior Reviewer’,

Now move onto the cover design. Choose a matte or glossy cover. Click ‘Build your Cover Online’. Then ‘Launch Cover Creator’. When a screen of book cover templates appears, double-click on a template that you like. You can experiment with different options, and change your selection at any time. Click on the links on the left of the template to change the text. Your changes will then appear on your book cover template. Click on any part of the template to open the relevant edit box on the left. You can also change the default photograph here if you wish. Once you are happy with your book cover, press ‘Submit Cover’. If you have any problems, or prefer to upload your own design, you can save your own cover as a PDF, ensuring it meets the size specifications for your book, and ‘Submit’. With your cover submitted, press ‘Continue’. Then, if you’re happy with everything on the final summary page, press ‘Submit files for Review’. This sends your book to Createspace to check. They will inform you by email if anything needs fixing. Otherwise, within 24 hours, you should have a proof waiting for you to view online. You can order a hard copy proof if you wish. These are shipped from the USA so proofs are expensive. If you are reasonably sure that your book is okay, it’s actually cheaper to publish it on Amazon, and buy a copy from Amazon in the UK.

The final details Before you publish, you will be asked to set a price, add a description, choose categories, set keywords, and select distribution channels. These are all found under the ‘Distribute’ www.writers-online.co.uk

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heading at the top of the screen on Createspace. You can change them at any time. When choosing distribution channels, you should be aware that sales through Amazon’s ‘Expanded Distribution’ pay much lower royalties, and these sellers usually end up selling on Amazon marketplace, undercutting the price you’ve set. The benefits of expanded distribution then, lie in what other distribution channels these sellers have, which could increase your volume of sales. When your book has been approved by Createspace, and you’re happy with the final proof, press ‘Publish’ in Createspace, and it will appear on Amazon, usually within 24 hours. Orders are printed on demand and delivered quickly by Royal Mail. You can still go back into your book, and make changes at any time. If you ever need to change your personal information, postal address, bank account details for royalty payments, or review other details on your account, click on ‘My Account’ (near the top of the screen) and ‘Edit Account Settings’ to review the information and make changes. Having mastered Createspace publishing, putting your book onto Kindle is child’s play. Createspace creates a Kindle-ready file, and at the touch of a button, it’s automatically uploaded onto Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Just select the ‘Publish on Kindle’ option, under Createspace’s ‘Distribute’ menu. This is a simple process. They send your book to KDP and then direct you to your ‘KDP Bookshelf ’. You sign in with your Amazon account, or create a new account. Your book will be waiting there, for you to check the details, and complete the publication process in KDP. Allow 24 hours for it to appear on Amazon. (If you want to publish as an ebook only, see p22.) Createspace is a very user-friendly, straight forward, and intuitive tool. The instructions are given on the screen as you go. It offers a fast, efficient way of getting your book into print, and it’s free! What’s not to like? DECEMBER 2016

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Kindle ebooks

step by step Sell your ebook in the world’s biggest bookshop, with step by step instructions from Susie Kearley

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ublishing on Kindle is really easy. It’s easier than publishing a paperback book, because you don’t need to worry so much about formatting your pages. Different Kindle readers will have page breaks in different places, depending on text size, type of device used, etc. So things like headers, footers, and page numbers are redundant, and much of the formatting you’d do very carefully for a paperback book isn’t necessary. Let’s get started.

Set up a KDP account Go to https://kdp.amazon.com/ Do you already have an Amazon account? If you do, sign into Kindle Direct Publishing

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(KDP) using your existing Amazon username and password. If you don’t have an Amazon account then click ‘Sign up’ on the KDP homepage, type in your email address, and select ‘I am a new customer’. Then enter your name, choose a password, and press ‘Create account’. Read the Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions. Scroll down and click on ‘Agree,’ to proceed. The next screen says, ‘Your account information is incomplete’. Click ‘Update now’. Under the heading, ‘Company/Publisher Information’, fill in your name, address and phone number. Under the heading, ‘Tax Information’, click ‘Provide tax information’. You will be taken to the Tax Dashboard. Click on the yellow ‘Take Interview’ button. I’m assuming most readers are British. So when you see the question: ‘For US tax purposes, are you a US person?’ If you are not a citizen of the USA, type ‘no’. Press Save and Continue. Under ‘Type of beneficial owner’, select ‘Individual’, unless you are publishing on behalf of a bigger organisation, and then you should choose that type of organisation from the drop down list. Under ‘Country of citizenship or country of residence for tax purposes’, select ‘United Kingdom’, or your own country of citizenship, if it’s not the UK.

Then enter your permanent address, and your mailing address. ‘Are you an agent acting as an intermediary?’ If you select ‘no’, then you must answer some questions. Go through the options, and tick any boxes that apply to you. Under the heading, ‘Tax identification number (TIN)’, there are four options. If you’re a British citizen with a unique tax identification number from HMRC, select the following option: ‘I have a foreign (non-US) income tax identification number’. If you don’t have a tax identification number, tick ‘I do not have a US TIN or a foreign (nonUS) income tax identification number’. Or perhaps one of the other options applies to you. Select the correct option, then press Save and Continue.


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If you don’t have a tax identification number, your royalty payments will be taxed at 30% by the US government. If you do have a tax identification number, then on the next screen, under ‘Treaty Benefits’, check that they’ve selected your country of residence, then tick the box, to say you qualify as a resident of the country for income tax purposes. Under the heading ‘Tax identification number (TIN)’, you need to supply your tax identification number. For British citizens, this is the number supplied to you by the Inland Revenue (HMRC) when you file your tax return. Tick the box stating, ‘I confirm that my foreign (non-US) TIN is correct and is used for income tax purposes’. Press Save and Continue. You are then asked to review the information you have supplied. Press Save and Continue. Select your preference for paperwork – paperless or paper delivery. Then select ‘I consent to provide my electronic signature’. Read through the declarations, and providing they are all true, tick the boxes, sign your name in the bottom, date, email address and capacity (an individual probably). Then press ‘Submit’. Scroll to the bottom of the page and press ‘Exit Interview’. You will be asked to sign in again, and then you will be directed to ‘Your Account’ page. Scroll down to the ‘Royalty Payments’ heading. You must add a bank account in order to receive royalty payments electronically into your bank account. When you enter your bank details, ‘checking’ is the term used to describe a current account. Your IBAN number and BIC code can be found on your bank statements. Once you have added all this information, click ‘Save’, and you will see a message, ‘your account information has been successfully saved.’ You’re almost ready to publish.

something worth experimenting with, but you don’t have to decide whether or not to join now. You can join later if you want to. So scroll down, and enter your book’s title, subtitle, contributor (author’s name or pseudonym), and write a description. Take your time writing a good description as it’s important – it will encourage people to buy your book. You can add more contributors if you have a co-author or illustrator to add. ‘Verify your publishing rights’ means, ‘Did you write the book?’ If you did, then click, ‘This is not a public domain work and I hold the necessary publishing rights’. The alternative option, ‘This is a public domain work’, means either that the book is out of copyright because the author died more than seventy years ago. Or that the work was created under a Creative Commons Licence, so the author has relinquished the copyright and anyone is allowed to reprint it. I think it’s safe to assume that most Writing Magazine readers have written their own books, and should choose the second option. The heading ‘Target Your Book to Customers’ is where you ‘add categories’, or genres to help buyers find your book. Select the categories from the drop-down menus. You can add age ranges too if that’s relevant. Then add up to seven keywords, each separated by a comma. These are search terms for your book. They are important because they will help people find your book. ‘Select Your Book Release Option’ enables you to offer pre-ordering if your book’s not quite ready for release yet.

How to publish on Kindle Direct Publishing Scroll to the top of your screen and click on ‘Bookshelf’. The top left has a ‘Create new title’ option. Click on it. You will be introduced to the concept of KDP Select. If you choose to join KDP Select, your book will be available to ‘borrow’ by thousands of Amazon Select subscribers. You earn a tiny fee for every page read when a book is borrowed, and you have access to Kindle Countdown deals and other perks, which might help drive sales. However, you do have to give Amazon exclusivity to join this programme, and refrain from publishing your book on other platforms, such as Nook or Kobo. Also, not every author wants their book available as a free ‘borrow’ because it potentially loses you sales. It’s

Next you need to ‘Upload or Create a Book Cover’. Unless you have a flare for graphic design, you’ll probably want to use the Cover Creator. So click on ‘Launch Cover Creator’, press Continue, then select an image, or skip to the next step. Choose a template you like, and click on it. Then you can click on the image to move or resize it. Or click on the text to change the colour or size of the words. Play around with the options and when you’re happy with the cover, save and www.writers-online.co.uk

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submit it. You can change your mind later if you decide to use a different cover design. Under the heading, ‘Upload Your Book File’, are digital rights management (DRM) options. Enabling DRM adds a layer of security to your book so that it cannot easily be transferred from one device to another – or sold online by pirate websites. Choose ‘Enable digital rights management’ if you want that extra protection. It’s not unbreakable, but it helps. Now you need to upload your book file.

Preparing your manuscript First you need to ensure that all the necessary information is included in your Word document. So at this stage, you might want to add a title page, a copyright notice, a statement about the author, a dedication page, and a contents page. Look at another book to see what they include, and ensure you include everything you want to see, in your own manuscript. Your manuscript for Kindle doesn’t need headers, footers, or page numbers. The cover page will be added separately. Kindle e-readers indent the first line of all paragraphs, so you don’t even need to worry about paragraph indentations, but if they’re in your manuscript already, that’s fine. Use single line spacing, and just one paragraph return at the end of each paragraph, remembering that each new paragraph will be indented on an e-reader. Don’t worry about selecting a nice font, as Kindle devices display a standard font for a consistent and reliable reader experience. You can include pictures in your ebook if you want to, but they must be low resolution or the file won’t successfully upload into KDP. So with standard fonts, standard indentation, and single line spacing, what do you need to do to a Word document to format it for KDP? Well, delete any unwanted gaps between paragraphs, and insert page breaks before new chapter headings. Also consider inserting live links from your contents page to the chapter DECEMBER 2016

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OK. Your hyperlink will appear. This will take your readers to each chapter, at the click of a button – assuming you repeat the exercise for each chapter in your document. It’s easier than it sounds – honest! An alternative method, only suitable for people using PCs, can be found here: http://writ.rs/tableofcontentsinword

Back to Kindle Direct Publishing

headings. This is a useful feature for readers who want to skip straight to a certain chapter on their e-readers. To do this, place your cursor at the start of the first chapter. Then click on the ‘Insert’ menu in Word, and select ‘Bookmarks’. A box appears. Type ‘Chap1’ into the box, and press ‘Add’. This will register the location of Chapter 1. Now go to your contents page, highlight Chapter 1, click ‘Insert’, then ‘Hyperlink’. When the ‘Insert Hyperlink’ box pops up on your screen, click on the second tab on the left, labelled ‘Place in this document’, then click on Chap1, and press

Once you’re happy with your manuscript, and ready to publish, go back into Kindle Direct Publishing at https://kdp.amazon.com. Click on your Bookshelf, and press ‘Continue setup’. You can continue from the point where you stopped earlier. Scroll down to ‘Upload Your Book File’. Click on the ‘browse’ button, and pick up your manuscript, then wait while it loads into Kindle Direct Publishing. This might take some time! All being well, you should get a ‘conversion successful’ notice appear on your screen. This means your book is okay! Scroll down to preview your book file, then use the arrows to scroll through the pages, and ensure you’re happy with the result. If you find errors, or want to change anything, you can change the file as often as you like. Use the ‘back’ button on your browser to take

you back into Kindle Direct Publishing. From here, you can upload a new file, or if you’re happy with the appearance of your manuscript on Kindle, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and press ‘Save and Continue’. Now you need to ‘Verify Your Publishing Territories’. Do you want to publish worldwide? If so, go for global distribution with ‘worldwide rights’, which is the default setting. Scroll down to set your pricing. You can get a 70% royalty if you price your book at $2.99 USD (approx £2.28) or higher. But if you want to sell your book for less than that, say 99p, you will only get 35% royalties. You can change the price at any time. Click on a royalty option and set your price in US dollars. The system will automatically set prices for other countries at the same relative value. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, tick the tick box to agree to the terms and conditions (do read them if you’re unsure), and press ‘Save and Publish’. Your book should appear on Amazon within 24 hours – usually much sooner. And remember, you can change the manuscript, the cover, or un-publish your book at any time. You are now a published author. Congratulations!

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S P O N S O R E D F E AT U R E

For some writers, the very idea of going it alone seems daunting, but there’s help at hand with self-publishing services such as SilverWood Books.

ccording to SilverWood Books, there are undeniable benefits to using a selfpublishing service. SilverWood has established a reputation as one of the UK’s most professional and supportive publishing services companies, publishing a wide variety of titles in popular genres and formats. Prolific authors choose to work with the team repeatedly because they find that, in the long run, working with the right company saves time and is often more cost-effective. Most writers who choose to work with SilverWood simply want to write, not learn how to be publishers. Publishing director Helen Hart and her team say this is because the biggest benefit to using a company to publish a book is that writers themselves don’t have the worry of running the project. Nor do they have to invest their valuable time and money in learning the many processes involved. To make a mark in an already overcrowded marketplace, the self-publishing writer must become accomplished and experienced in a wide range of important areas: • editing • proofreading • page layout formatting • book cover design • project management • publishing administration • printing • distribution • sales and marketing • and customer service (readers are customers, and so too are bookshops, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers). Trying to cover all these roles can become more than a full-time job, especially for someone wishing to produce a complex book to a high standard, perhaps as part of their business. Reaching professional standards

in all areas of publishing is rarely practical for the self-publishing author. It’s distracting, hard work, and expensive in either time or money – often both. In reality, the genuinely ‘self ’ publishing author is rare. Even among those who class themselves as an indie author, it’s common to hire professional help. Many self-publishers out-source editing, proofreading and cover design. However, it can be a challenge to find people with the right level of expertise and experience. It takes time to shop around and make the right selection. That’s where a company like SilverWood can lend a hand. We’ve been publishing high-quality books for almost ten years. Our team takes inordinate care over the design and layout process, and goes to great lengths to make sure books are the best they can be before publication. All of us on the SilverWood team have huge respect for authors who DIY self-publish, and do it well. The production of a high-quality, retailready book is a serious commitment. There’s a lot to do and learn, not to mention the countless potentially costly pitfalls. When publishing a book, we’re acutely aware of how critical it is to get every element right – however small – and our training programme for new publishing assistants is a minimum of three months. Every day is packed with learning opportunities, rigorous industry protocols, and an increasing number of quality-control processes. Even the most experienced members of the SilverWood team are still continuously developing and honing their skills. Publishing is always evolving. Rapid advances in technology, exciting new software, and interesting social media trends mean the

SilverWood team has to adapt and change in order to keep up to date and identify fresh ways of reaching a readership. Each member of staff is constantly learning, and there are frequent discussions about new developments in ebook capability, design trends, changes to software, proofreading anomalies, and the selection of fonts that can handle the demands of more complex page layout requirements. For an author who just wants to write, it can be challenging to keep abreast of everything that’s needed. What can working with the right company can bring to your publishing project?

5 key benefits: • Skilled and efficient professionals in editing, proofreading, design, and publishing management are all in one place – there’s no shopping around. • Everything is done to a high standard, in the right order and at the right time. • You are supported by someone who has taken the time to personally understand what you’re trying to achieve. • You benefit from valuable experience and impartial advice – avoiding stumbling blocks, snags, and expensive pitfalls. • You can devote your time to promoting your current book, and writing the next. “When I decided to self-publish, I discovered that it’s not as easy as one might think to find a reputable company to go with. When I contacted SilverWood I felt an immediate rapport. Helen Hart and her staff were there for me the whole way, guiding me whenever I needed it to produce a well-edited, top-quality product equal to anything a good traditional publisher would do. The SilverWood team are also there for their authors long after the book has been published, and foster a great sense of community with their authors.” – Kathryn Gauci, historical novelist

CAN SILVERWOOD HELP YOU...? We’re a small friendly team who love working with talented writers. To discuss your latest project and find out if we’re the right company for you, please email publishing assistant Rowena Ball: [email protected], or call 0117 910 5829.

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Professional Self-Publishing Self-publishing services Editing and proofreading Book cover design Paperbacks and ebooks Wholesale distribution Book marketing

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THE BOOKS OF 2016

THE BOOKS OF

2016

Make room on your Christmas list as Writing Magazine highlights our favourite reads of 2016

THE GLORIOUS HERESIES Lisa McInerney (John Murray) Before she was the author of one of last year’s most powerful and original debut novels, Lisa McInerney wrote an invective-laden blog called Arse End of Ireland. The winner of the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction 2016 and the Desmond Elliott Prize for Debut Fiction, The Glorious Heresies is an exuberant, hilarious, foul-mouthed story where living in the arse end of Ireland (a rundown estate in Cork) overshadows the life of five misfits who get caught up in a messy murder. At its heart it begs serious questions about morality, faith, sex and family relationships, but it rollicks along at a cracking pace, fizzing with energy and sweeping up the reader in its idiomladen prose and pitch-black comedy.

THE GIRLS Emma Cline (Chatto & Windus) The summer’s standout debut was US author Emma Cline’s reimagining of the Manson Family, The Girls. In Cline’s hands, it’s a tense, febrile imagining, told through the voice of Evie as she recalls the events she got caught up in during the hot, bored summer of 1969, when she falls under the spell of a group of slightly older teenage girls whose wild, almost feral behaviour draws her like a magnet away from the stifling conventionality of her home life. One in particular exerts a hold – Suzanne – as they take her to The Ranch, where they orbit round the charismatic Russell as 26

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THE LONEY Andrew Michael Hurley (John Murray) There’s folkish, Wicker Man-esque quality to Andrew Michael Hurley’s widely acclaimed debut that marks it out as being a particularly English kind of gothic. A sinister set up involves a murdered child, a dead priest and a group of oddballs on a Catholic pilgrimage in the countryside, but readers anticipating a spookfest have been disappointed: this is a slow-burning, literary chiller that is more about creating a deep sense of unease than a white-knuckle ride on the ghost train. It’s a relentlessly bleak story, recounted by Andrew Smith as he looks back on the events surrounding a childhood retreat to a grim coastal pilgrimage site. Involving religion, family, folklore and a sinister vision of the English countryside, it’s also endlessly dark, with horror lurking on every page – not gore, but the creeping, mounting sense of something unspoken and dreadful.

events spiral towards catastrophe. Conveying the fault lines caused by peer pressure, impressionability and the allure of slightly older teenagers, it evokes the way teenage time either stretches out endlessly or passes in a frenzied rush. Concentrating more on the in-group culture of Russell’s teenage acolytes than on the inner circle of the Manson family and the murders, The Girls is a subtle, restrained and beautifully textured telling of one of pop culture history’s most luridly hideous moments, with a heightened, dreamlike quality that tips irrevocably into nightmare. www.writers-online.co.uk

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BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016

GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS Max Porter (Faber) Grief is the Thing with Feathers actually first came out last autumn but it was a game-changing title in 2016. Strange, surprising, and utterly gorgeous, Max Porter’s dazzling, genre-defying novella-length meditation on love and grief is unlike anything else. What story there is involves a bereaved father and sons and the arrival of Crow, a foul-mouthed trickster of a bird who has come to help, in his anarchic way, with their grief. Pages of dizzying words – part prose, part poetry, part interior monologue – recount the grieving process from the perspective of the Ted Hughes-obsessed Dad, the Boys and Crow himself. It’s heartbreakingly sad, howlingly funny, unflinchingly dark and unforgettably beautiful. It has captured the attention not just of the literati, but the reading public, and in its small, defiant way, proves there will always be a place for writing and writers that make their own rules and do things their own, unique way.

THE QUEEN’S CHOICE Anne O’Brien (Mira) Making the little-known queens and princesses of the high medieval period relevant for modern readers is leading historical fiction author Anne O’Brien’s speciality, and her latest, The Queen’s Choice, is packed with page-turning scandal and intrigue that’s all based in historical fact. The heroine is Joanna of Navarre, a powerful French noblewoman whose second husband was Henry Bolingbroke, who became King after he seized the throne from his cousin, Richard ll. After Henry’s death, Joanna was accused of witchcraft, and Anne O’Brien brings her brilliantly to life as a strong woman whose highly-charged relationship with an ambitious man was fraught with difficulties during and after his life because of the politics and power struggles behind the throne.

“A historical novelist has to step beyond the facts. The facts are essential – history is the bedrock of it all – but we have to ask, what would she do, what would she say, how would she react?” - ANNE O’BRIEN

WHAT IS NOT YOURS IS NOT YOURS Helen Oyeyemi (Picador) Time shift, narrators shift, even the boundaries between human and non-human blur in this baroque, Borgesinfused collection that will intrigue and delight readers interested in what the short story form is and what it can do. Each story has a labyrinthine, fairy-tale logic of its own – in the first story, books and roses, a procession of narrators are thematically linked by the books and roses of the title; in is your blood as red as this the narrative perspective moves, with seamless, subtle sleight of hand, between puppeteers and puppets. Engaging with these strange, beautiful and sometimes baffling stories is all about immersion in the flow of ideas and the experience of reading as Oyeyemi’s gorgeous prose leads the reader like a cerebral trail of crumbs from one rich, evocative line to the next. www.writers-online.co.uk


More recommended reads of 2016 THE NOISE OF TIME Julian Barnes (Vintage) Set in Stalinist USSR in the 1930s, Julian Barnes uses the true-life story of composer Shostakovich as the basis of this beautifully-wrought exploration of the relationship between art and totalitarianism.

ZERO K Don Delillo (Picador) Underworld author Don Delillo retains his position as one of the greats of contemporary American literature with this speculative novel that takes in cryogenics, terrorism, biomedical advances and new technologies to ask profound questions about human life.

THE SECRET Kathryn Hughes (Headline Review) The follow-up to Kathryn Hughes’ No1 bestseller The Letter is a gripping and moving family drama that will tug at the reader’s heart with its revelations about Mary, Beth and the life-or-death secret that links them.

NIGHT SCHOOL Lee Child (Bantam) The 21st Reacher novel from the master thriller writer of our times is a gripping prequel that takes his hero back to his army days, and to Hamburg in 1996 on a perilous undercover adventure with potentially devastating global repercussions.

THE BUTCHERS HOOK Janet Ellis (Two Roads) The debut novel from former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis takes its readers far away from the wholesome world of children’s TV and into a dark, violent, visceral coming-of-age story set in Georgian London.

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THE BOOKS OF 2016

A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS Matt Haig (Canongate) Written for his own children, Matt Haig’s Christmas tale is a future children’s classic: both a heart-warming seasonal adventure about the back story of Father Christmas, and a rites-ofpassage story that visits disturbing emotional territory with a light touch, and the humanity and compassion that have become watchwords for Matt’s work, which includes The Humans and his memoir of surviving depression, Reasons to Stay Alive. It’s vivid, lively and has lots of silly jokes as eleven-year-old Nikolas’s quest to escape his evil aunt Carlotta and find his missing father leads to his transformation into the legendary redsuited figure who devotes his life to making children happy.

“In children’s fiction as well as fiction for adults, to write a hopeful book you have to acknowledge the dark stuff in life. A Boy Called Christmas includes the deaths of both parents, horrible evil relatives, danger, despair and grief. If you’re a child –or an adult – going through a hard time, it’s more nourishing, and comforting, to have that awareness.” - MATT HAIG

SWING TIME Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton) There are layers of riches in this story of a two childhood friends, Tracey and the unnamed narrator, who are brought together because they come from the same north-west London estate and share their mixed-race skin tone and a love of dancing. Swing Time charts their complicated friendship and its fraught aftermath with incisive clarity in a novel that moves from West London to Africa and whose themes of roots, belonging and cultural politics are given a sharp contemporary focus by the narrator, whose own identity is always overshadowed by the more colourful, creative and forceful personalities around her – Tracey, her autodidact, feminist mother and the megalomaniac pop star she works for as a personal assistant. Swing Time is subtle, intelligent and questioning, and packed with insight and emotional resonances as well as social comedy that veers, when it deserves it, into satire. Swing Time is deservedly this winter’s most anticipated ficiton: Zadie Smith’s warm, vivid, thought-provoking fifth novel is a book that makes you fall in love with reading all over again.

SIX TUDOR QUEENS VOLUME 1: KATHERINE OF ARAGON, THE TRUE QUEEN Alison Weir (Headline Publishing)

“It’s about the lies we tell each other and the lies we tell ourselves.” - FRANCES HARDINGE

Alison Weir, the UK’s bestselling female historian, launches her new six-book novel series on the wives of Henry VIII with Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen. Many Tudor history fans feel they know Queen Katherine, Henry’s first wife whom he divorced after she failed to provide him with a male heir. But there is so much more to the story and herein lies the strength of this book, which combines new research with Alison’s emotional interpretation of the facts. It is almost impossible not to feel sympathy for Katherine, who arrived in England as a young bride, became a widow at the age of sixteen and then married her dead husband’s brother, before experiencing a distressing series of miscarriages and infant deaths. Katherine famously refused to be supplanted by Henry’s new love Anne Boleyn, and Alison shares the reasons for this with great skill; the queen came from a long line of royalty and had a steadfast belief in her destiny to rule. Katherine is portrayed as a woman who believed the best of everyone, even her love rival, and it was this optimism, along with her trust in her husband, which would lead to her being supplanted, and Henry’s mind turning to the second of his six marriages.

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THE LIE TREE Frances Hardinge (Macmillan) Costa Book of the Year The Lie Tree is Frances’ Hardinge’s least fantastical novel but it is fantastically imaginative: a complex and thrilling Victorian gothic murder mystery that’s unafraid to ask unsettling questions about truth, lies and morality. Set just after the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species, it starts when Faith Sunderly and her family move to a remote island after a scandal involving her naturalist father. After his death in mysterious circumstances, Faith turns sleuth and discovers in his belongings a tree with the disturbing ability to feed off lies and reveal secrets. Spiky, clever, questioning Faith is a terrific misfit heroine in the Jane Eyre mould, and her struggle to transcend Victorian ideals of what girls were supposed to like is a high point of this original and enthralling book that will appeal to adult readers as much as younger ones.


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More recommended reads of 2016

STREETS OF DARKNESS AA Dhand (Bantam) AA Dhand gives an authentically gritty voice to the Northern city of Bradford in the first of his Harry Virdee novels. Harry’s a hard man, a detective inspector known for his ruthless ability to track down a suspect – but as the book opens, he’s been suspended for going a bit too far on the job. His chance to redeem himself comes when the murder of a powerful local politician threatens to be the spark that fuels riots as bad as the ones that took place in 2001. AA Dhand’s Bradford is all darkness and not much heart: a grim, run-down, post-industrial ghetto city divided on racial lines and the atmospheric Streets of Darkness, involving racism, corruption, nationalist politics and drugs, is a tense, noirish page-turner that never lets up from a stunning new voice in British crime writing.

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press) Maggie O’Farrell’s much-anticipated seventh novel is a triumph, ranging across times and places to detail the relationship between American academic Daniel and cult film star Claudette with subtle precision. Maggie O’Farrell is a matchless chronicler of the small, apparently insignificant moments in a life that have wide-ranging implications, and here she displays her trademark intuitive emotional intelligence as she presents the reader with vignettes of events in Ireland, China, Sweden, America and more. There’s no chronological timeline, and the reader is rewarded for the satisfying task of weaving together the book’s multiple narrative threads and complex cast of characters with an unputdownable, unforgettable story of human loves, losses, flaws and frailties.

UNDER A POLE STAR Stef Penney (Quercus) The third novel by Stef Penney returns to the wild Arctic territory of her Costa Book of the Year-winning debut A Tenderness of Wolves for a page-turning epic of rival Polar expeditions at the end of the 19th century. Its themes encompass passion, exploration, the lengths to which ruthless ambition can drive someone, and a star-crossed love story, intimately conveyed against the novel’s backdrop of vast themes and landscapes. As ever with Stef Penney, the characters are multi-layered, intelligently written and subtly resistant to conventional norms, with Penney’s female explorer, the independent and unconventional Flora Mackie, a particularly fascinating creation as she challenges late Victorian ideas of acceptable femininity in favour of following not just her heart, but her ideals.

“When I imagine things, people, settings, action and so on, I can see everything; so a big part of writing is putting down what I’m seeing.” - STEF PENNEY www.writers-online.co.uk


MONICA WOOD The One-in-a-Million Boy (Review) An uplifting one-in-a-million story about friendship, magic, music, love, loss and belonging, centred on the amazing and unexpected friendship between an eleven-year-old boy and a 104-year-old woman.

THE PLAGUE CHARMER Karen Maitland (Headline Review)

Karen Maitland is the go-to writer for gruesome medieval murk, and in her latest, she plunges readers into the horrors of a pandemic as fear turns to hysteria in the plagueridden village of Porlock in 1361 as the lethal Black Death strikes for its second epidemic in thirteen years.

LEGACY Hannah Fielding (London Wall Publishing) Lovers of sweeping romantic novels should make a beeline for the third in the award-winning romance writer’s Andalucian trilogy, which matches American scientist Luna with Spanish doctor Ruy in a tempestuous tale encompassing fueding families, fiery passion and flamenco.

THE MANY Wyl Menmuir (Salt) Wyl Menmuir’s bleak, haunting debut, published by quality indie Salt and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is a deep, unsettling story of anguish and animosity, set in a decaying Cornish village where the arrival of incomer Timothy provokes hostility.

THE MUSE Jessie Burton (Picador) The follow-up to international bestseller The Miniaturist, The Muse intricately fuses the story of Odelle, working in an art gallery in 1967 London, via a painting, with the 1930s-set narrative of Olive, the daughter of a Viennese art dealer. DECEMBER 2016

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THE BOOKS OF 2016

AUGUSTOWN Kei Miller (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

ORPHANS OF THE CARNIVAL Carol Birch (Canongate)

Bursting with ideas and narratives, the 223 pages of Forward Prize-winner Kei Miller’s outstanding new novel weave together themes of racism, injustice, love, tragedy and legend into a spellbinding, unforgettable mix. Set in a Jamaican shanty town, the novel relates the events set in process when a school teacher cuts off the dreadlocks of a six year old pupil, but this is just one layer in a Miller’s angry, lyrical, eloquent storytelling that works backwards into Jamaician history to tell the story of Bedward, the ‘flying preacher’ who paved the way for Rastafarianism. The rich literary text involves mysticism, magic realism and metafiction, and Augustown is a memorably emotionally intelligent, brilliantly original novel from an inspired writer at the height of his powers.

Carol Birch was Booker-shortlisted for Jamrach’s Menagerie in 2011, and in this humane, evocative book she returns to the world of Victorian sideshows. Orphans of the Carnival fictionalises the life of Julia Pastrana, a singing, dancing Mexican known to 19th century audiences as the ‘ape woman’ or ‘the bear woman’ because she was covered in hair – one of the most bizarre and tragic true stories in the strange history of freak shows. Orphans of the Carnival is a wonderful, moving story that brings its cast of carny characters to rich, believable life and humanises the people behind the sensational sideshow posters that portrayed them as human curiosities – it is impossible to read this story and not love Julia, and suffer with her as she wonders aloud if she is actually human. Woven into the narrative is the 1980s-set story of Rose, who amasses found items in her rented room and lavishes more love on the broken objects than she is able to give to human beings. Their parallel stories make this rich, gorgeously textured novel one of the most original and peculiarly beautiful books of the year.

“There can never be enough stories about the world. It could be ambition, it could be arrogance, but it should be possible to write large literature about a small island.” - KEI MILLER

HER LAST TOMORROW Adam Croft (Thomas & Mercer)

I SEE YOU Clare Mackintosh (Sphere)

Reissued with expanded sections featuring the voice of wife Tasha alongside husband Nick, this psychological thriller from selfpublishing superstar Adam Croft is a taut and menacing domestic nightmare that never relinquishes its grip. In lean, spare prose, Croft ratchets up the tension in a gripping story that lives up to all the malevolent promise of its tagline: Could you murder your wife to save your daughter? Nick is the hapless narrator whose momentary error of judgement leads to five-year-old daughter Ellie being kidnapped and him being placed in the hideous position of having to make a choice whose life he values most: daughter or wife? The original version was written from Nick’s perspective, but the addition of Tasha’s voice for this new edition, from Amazon mystery and thriller imprint Thomas & Mercer, adds a new layer of interest and an insight into the many faultlines in their marriage. Neither Nick nor Tasha are likeable characters but they are compelling ones, and Croft has an exceptional ability to create a contemporary scenario of such plausible awfulness that it’s impossible for a reader to put this down until the book reaches its denouement.

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“A lot of real life goes into my writing – real relationships, real emotions, real fears.” - CLARE MACKINTOSH

Former police inspector and one-time WM columnist Clare Mackintosh became a leading light of the grip-lit genre of psychological thrillers with her page-turning debut I Let You Go. In its chilling follow up, I See You, she ramps up the tension in a terrifying tale that takes the fear of being followed and amplifies it into a nightmare of cyber-stalking. Tension and paranoia mount as commuter Zoe finds her photograph in the classified section in a free newspaper and takes it upon herself to find out how it got there and what it is doing. Clare’s hallmarks – her gritty, authentic take on how the police operate and compassion for the victims of crime and abuse – give this plot-driven thriller depth as well as an edge; her detective’s instinct to delve deeply into the background to a crime serve her wonderfully well as a writer who knows how to create believable backgrounds whilst simultaneously driving the narrative with a sure hand through a series of shocking developments to its conclusion.


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TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD Eowyn Ivey (Tinder Press) The parallel adventures of 19th century explorer Colonel Forrester and his pregnant wife Sophie make To the Bright Edge of the World, the follow-up to Eowyn Ivey’s international bestseller The Snow Child, one of the richest and most rewarding – as well as the most anticipated – reads of 2016. The setting is the same – the bleak, spectacular wilderness of Ivey’s native Alaska – but where The Snow Child was intimate, this is an epic story that begs questions about the way we define adventure and bravery. The narrative is ambitiously multi-layered, using letters and diaries to seamlessly weave together historical events and their present-day resonances, and shot through with beautiful evocations of nature and flashes of magic realism that blur the boundaries between reality and imagination. All the voices are compelling and convincing, but Sophie’s story of endurance and dawning creativity is particularly so. Bleak, brutal and beautiful in equal measure, this is storytelling at its most breathtaking and enchanting.

“I hope this book is about, ‘What does adventure mean?’” - EOWYN IVEY

RAGDOLL Daniel Cole (Trapeze) This dark, shocking new crime thriller, published in February, introduces detectives Wolf and Baxter as they attempt to track down the ‘Ragdoll Killer’, who has stitched together the dismembered parts of six victims, and releases the names of his victims to the media in advance.

THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE Katherine Arden (Ebury Publishing) Blending historical fiction with magic realism, this beautifully wrought literary fairy tale for adults, published in January, takes its inspiration from Russian folk and fairy tales to tell the story of spirited heroine Vasya.

LITTLE DEATHS Emma Flint (Picador)

THE FRENCH LESSON Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday) The second of acclaimed historian Hallie Rubenhold’s Henrietta Lightfoot novels sees her heroine leaving her life as a kept women in England to search for her missing lover, Lord Allenham, in Paris. Escaping from a roué, Henrietta finds herself the pawn in a struggle for power between two influential courtesans. Set against a backdrop of the French Revolution at the height of the Terror, The French Lesson is a darkly scintillating, elegantly written pageturner with a dark, sexy sparkle that effortlessly draws its readers into a deadly intrigue featuring real-life historical characters. Henrietta narrates her own misadventures in the underworld with great charm and it’s a pleasure to accompany her through her rake’s progress from innocence to experience, the reader rooting for her throughout this sophisticated tale as she learns the hard way that not everyone has her best interests at heart.

DEATH IS A WELCOME GUEST Louise Welsh (John Murray) The second book in Louise Welsh’s Plague Times trilogy is a gripping example of how to keep the suspense going – and keep the reader hooked – in the middle of a threeparter. Chillingly evoking a post-pandemic dystopia, the storyline centres on aspiring comedian Magnus, slung into prison for a crime he didn’t commit just as the Sweats are wiping out the UK’s population. After a terrific jail-break set-piece, Magnus tries to make his way home to Orkney, but finds the UK in meltdown as he travels through a lawless landscape where fear and fanaticism hold sway. It’s an intelligent ride through terrifying territory, and we’re eagerly awaiting the final instalment. www.writers-online.co.uk


Novels to look out for in early 2017

Taking place in Queens, New York in 1965, this stylish, atmospheric tale combines police procedural, historical fiction, psychological tension and a film noir aesthetic in a story of missing children, a rookie reporter and Ruth Malone, a femme fatale who may not be what she seems. Published in January.

THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS Ruth Hogan (Two Roads) The feelgood factor is turned up to ten in this warm, charming story of short story writer Anthony Peardew’s quest to reunite a lifetime’s collection of found objects with the people who lost them. Published in January.

THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS Laurie Frankel (Headine Review) All families are different, and this touching, compassionate novel of a family whose youngest son becomes a girl looks at the ways childhood can be complicated – and the ways love binds families together. Published in February. DECEMBER 2016

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T R A I N YO U R B R A I N

Red Editing Pen Each month, we give you a few sentences which would all benefit from some careful use of your red editing pen. As writers, and regular readers of Writing Magazine, you should not find any of these too difficult. But if you would welcome a little help, you can always check out Richard Bell’s suggested solutions below. Here are this month’s sentences:

1 2 3

In the first instant, he thought the book, that was now in its third edition, was still selling well irrespective of its age. Did the manuscript have more than rather minimal potential? wondered the editor. When all was said and done, it covered ground that had already been well explored. Wendy’s editor as well as her agent were urging her to try her hand at romantic fiction but she felt that these kind of books needed a lighter touch than hers.

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

1

There can sometimes be confusion between the words instant and instance – as in the start of our sentence one. ‘Instant’ refers to immediacy but it is ‘Instance’ that can refer to a series of reactions; it is therefore ‘in the first instance’ that should be used at the opening of our sentence. Let us move on to the phrase that was now in its third edition. Should we be saying ‘that was now’ or ‘which was now’? There is a difference, and it can broadly be described as that being used to define while which is more often used to describe. So we can say ‘this is the book that I was talking about’ when we want to define the book more exactly – it is the one I was talking about. With which, we mostly use the word to give more information about the book – for example, it is the book which is in its third edition. To that extent, we are using which to describe. On this basis, our sentence should be saying which was now, rather than that was now. Finally in this sentence, we have the word irrespective which is being used as an adverb qualifying the verb selling. However, it is best not to use irrespective adverbially and regardless would be a better option here.

2

The first problem with our sentence two is that we should not use a modifier with the word minimal and we should not therefore use the phrase rather minimal any more than we should say quite minimal, or very minimal. Best option is to omit the modifier (in this case rather) altogether. The other difficulty here is the use of the mid-sentence 32

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question mark after potential. This is never comfortable for the reader because the question mark acts as a full stop, causing readers to stop half-way through the sentence. This is easily dealt with in this example. For a start, there is a convention that you can push the question mark to the end of the sentence if the sentence closes with a word that indicates a thinking process – which wondered certainly does. So we can happily end the sentence with …the editor wondered? Alternatively we can recast the sentence to read, for example, The editor wondered whether the book had more than minimal potential. Moving to the second part of this sentence, we start with a quite meaningless cliché with When all was said and done. As with so many clichés it can be omitted completely without any loss of meaning. Perhaps the best option in this example would be to link the two sentences by having: The editor wondered whether the book had more than minimal potential because it covered…

3

When two nouns (or pronouns) such as editor and agent are joined by the conjunction ‘and’ they require a plural verb. So we would have: Wendy and her agent were urging. However, a singular noun (such as editor) followed by ‘as well as’ requires a singular verb. So the first verb we find in our sentence three should be was rather than were. Another problem in this sentence is our use of these kind of books where the plural these should not be followed by the singular kind. However this (singular) kind of books would be fine.


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WIN a place at

Here’s what last year’s winner thought! “Iceland was the perfect setting for a writers’ retreat – it was impossible not to be moved by the landscape and the collective enthusiasm for all things literary – and I’d love to go back another time and explore the country further.” 2016 winner Jennifer Moore

WORTH

£1,500

including accommodation AND flights from the UK We are offering one lucky reader a chance to explore Iceland’s rich cultural heritage and expand their literary horizons at Iceland Writers Retreat, 5-9 April 2017

THIS PRIZE INCLUDES: • Attendance at five small-group workshops, other author events, and lunches on workshop days • Four nights’ accommodation in the Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura, including breakfast • A welcome dinner on the first evening • A literary walking tour of Reykjavik and day-long coach tour through the Icelandic countryside with a local author • Return flights from the UK To find out more about what the Retreat offers, see the website: www.icelandwritersretreat.com

To win this fantastic prize just send us up to 500 words of prose or poetry on the theme of ‘Elements’.

Enter online at £5 per entry

The closing date is 2 December and the winner will be notified by 6 January. You must be over 18 to enter, and available to attend the retreat between 5 and 9 April. Flights are only available from UK airports.

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Images © Roman Gerasymenko


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B R E A K I N TO

S TO RY M O D E Discover new narrative possibilities in video game writing, and how to get started in the industry, with leading writers Steve Ince and David Gaider, interviewed by James Batchelor

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hile Grand Theft Auto V may be notorious for its violent content, less discussed is its central plot of a man in witness protection struggling to avoid slipping back into a life of crime. The Last of Us appears to be another zombie game, but tells a touching tale of a man’s growing relationship with the girl whose blood may save humanity. The episodic Life is Strange has yet to become a multi-million seller but its mix of teenage drama with time travel has been widely celebrated. These are just three examples of how far storytelling has come since Mario set out to rescue a princess. ‘In the last few years there have been some really strong narrative experiences, praised as much for their writing as their gameplay,’ says David Gaider, former lead writer on bestselling fantasy series Dragon Age, as well as author of multiple tie-in novels. ‘Writing has started to become more of a recognised art within games. ‘Not that many years ago, games like Telltale’s The Walking Dead – which is very narrative with no action sequences – would have no market. But the industry has discovered that 34

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story can be a selling feature.’ Even text-centric games are making a comeback, thanks to mobile titles such as 80 Days, a steampunk interactive novel based on Jules Verne’s classic, and Lifeline, where players guide a man trapped on an alien planet via SMS. ‘One of the assumptions for a long time has been that the player doesn’t want to read, but this isn’t true,’ says David. ‘Maybe you won’t get a game that sells 20 million, something that hits the masses, but there is definitely a market for them.’

Team effort As standards continue to rise, there is higher demand for experienced writers to lend their expertise to the developers. However Steve Ince, videogames chair at the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain with multiple game credits to his name, warns that it requires a strong understanding of the medium. ‘If you want to be a screenwriter, you watch films and learn the art of screenwriting,’ he says. ‘It’s the same with video games: you have to play them, understand how dialogue works for different genres. Something that works for a first-person shooter is not going to work for a casual puzzle game.

Steve Ince

Life is strange, Chloe’s room

A few people struggle with this, thinking they’re a good writer and it’s only a game. It’s not – it’s an important part of the entertainment business.’ David adds that games writing may not be what you expect, describing it as a series of compromises. For a start, writers do not have full control over the story, characters and setting. ‘You work with the team on what kind of story they want to tell, not just you,’ he explains. ‘And what kind of story you can tell, because you’re limited by the game’s features. If you want to jump between exotic locales but the team can’t model those places, that’s not a tale you can tell. ‘Even once you’ve got the initial idea, things get cut, the plan changes, something fails and you as the writer need to avoid being too precious about your story and alter it as you go.’ Steve adds: ‘Writing for games can be terrifying to some people. If you’re a novelist, you have complete control over your novel. A screenwriter writes the story and then hands it to a director, and it might change later but it’s still essentially their story. You can’t do that with a game script. If you want to write it in that kind of manner, you have to design the game as well – and that’s a huge task.’

More than one story to tell It may sound like hard work, but the reward is the opportunity to tell stories other mediums would never be able to


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T E C H N O LO G Y F O R W R I T E R S

fully convey. The Walking Dead series and Life Is Strange are prime examples: crucial choices the player makes dictate which characters live or die, or trigger events other players may miss. The story is fundamentally shaped by the audience, not the author. ‘If it’s done properly, you can tell stories where you really get to develop the characters,’ says Steve. ‘If players are making choices, that might affect how the character approaches certain situations and you have to write alternate [sic] versions of the same scene, which is a fascinating thing to do. However, some writers have real difficulty with plotting and if you’re no good at that, you won’t be very good at writing an interactive narrative.’ David agrees: ‘It takes practice. When it comes to writing branching storylines, experience as a tabletop role-player is helpful because you’re accustomed to not being in complete control of the protagonist. If you’re a prose writer, you embody the protagonist, you’re in charge of every scene they’re in, in charge of the pacing and motivation. Trying to take out that half of the equation when it comes to narrative is a very weird experience. ‘Games are not a story the player just reads, they have to experience it so you can’t be vague. You have to figure out the A to B to C to D of their journey.’ While interactive narratives often boil down to offering players pre-set choices, it can also mean giving them more agency in defining not only the story but the characters they control. As David observes, the process isn’t just about the story the team wants to tell, but the one players want to tell as well. ‘They are as much a participant in the storytelling as you are,’ he says. ‘Players know what their character is all about, they know motivations that you aren’t

The Walking Dead

quite aware of. It’s like telling the story with them rather than to them, and that’s the real challenge. ‘You don’t have the capability to let the player do whatever they want. Instead, imagine the things they might do and accommodate as many of those as you can. You’re luring them through your story rather than telling them exactly where to go. It’s like leading a rat to a maze: you’re creating the maze, but not the rat.’

David Gaider

Playing it straight There are still opportunities to tell more traditional, linear stories through video games. Many of the bestselling titles have a defined plotline rather than a branching narrative, such as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed. Like The Last of Us, these can often manifest as very cinematic experiences and when executed well, the player can feel far more drawn into the story than if they were watching a movie because they are directly participating. Even with these less interactive narratives, developers are still experimenting with conveying story in new ways. Games such as Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture and Gone Home feature little to no cinematics, instead telling the story through items and messages the player discovers at their own pace. Her Story centres around short clips from a murder investigation and as players unlock new footage through keyword searches, the videos eventually hint at – but never explicitly explain – incredible twists. ‘Sometimes we push the story at players, rather than just implying things,’ says Steve. ‘The story should be for the player to uncover, it’s part of their interaction with the game. ‘You’d never be able to do Her Story through TV or film. It’s clearly a fixed

HOW TO GET INVOLVED There is no set path to becoming a video games writer. Steve Ince learned his craft on the job, drawing experience from his interactions with writers while he was a producer. ‘It’s hard finding those opportunities,’ he admits. ‘Some developers don’t even realise they need a writer until it’s too late, until someone reviews their game and says the dialogue was awful.’ David Gaider meanwhile was originally running a hotel and writing comic books in his spare time. A friend at BioWare put his name forward, and after a successful interview he was brought onto the team. In the absence of such insider connections, David advises actively seeking out the studio you want to work for. ‘Follow up with the company that makes the games you’re interested in,’ he says. ‘If you love 80 Days, contact Inkle and ask if they’re looking for writers. If you’re polite and show more than a passing interest, it’s possible someone will give you a chance.’ The International Game Developers Association has dedicated writing section on its website, where members can also connect with studios looking to hire writers. Find it at www.igda.org/group/game-writing There is also a free and easy-to-learn tool called Twine – www.twinery.org – that lets writers play around with branching narratives and even export them as text-based web games. This helps build up demonstrable skills to impress potential employers. ‘This is not something you can apply for with just a resumé,’ says David. ‘It’s like applying to be an artist: you need a portfolio that demonstrates what you can do. You don’t need to be able to do everything, but a company needs to know you can handle the basics.’


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story, but the way you uncover it in such small snippets means that your interpretation of it within your mind gives an incredibly different flavour and puts emphasis on different aspects of the story.’ Her Story, Gone Home and Rapture have each won a plethora of awards for innovative storytelling and many point to them as indications of how narratives in games can evolve. And with story steadily gaining prominence in the biggest blockbusters, the time is ripe for ambitious writers to try their hand at a more interactive form of fiction. ‘Writing is slowly coming into its own as a part of games development,’ David concludes. ‘Even ten years ago, the vast majority of writing was either done by people who had other tasks on the team – a programmer or designer who was doing other things but is also doing some of the writing – or they’d outsource the writing. There are now more opportunities for writers than there ever were.’

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The style and technique of

JL CARR

Tony Rossiter profiles the self-styled writer who set up his own publishing company for his idiosyncratic books

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local theatre company’s adaptation of A Month in the Country was my first exposure to the writing of JL (Jim) Carr. Over a period of thirty years he produced eight novels, two of them shortlisted for the Booker prize. He was in his fifties when he began writing – a role model for those of us who are not in the first flush of youth.

How he began Carr was born in 1912. The son of a Yorkshire stationmaster who was a Methodist lay preacher, he became a teacher in the 1930s and during the war served as an RAF photographer in West Africa. He returned to teaching after the war and for fifteen years in the 1950s and 1960s was headmaster of a primary school in Northamptonshire. In 1967 he gave up teaching to try to make a living by setting up his own small publishing firm, The Quince Tree Press. He combined authorship with the publishing of small booklet selections of well-known poets and hand-drawn historical maps of the English counties. He was an unusual and distinctive writer who used his diverse life experiences as teacher, traveller, RAF photographer, cricketer, footballer, publisher and church preserver to produce eight extraordinarily varied, idiosyncratic short novels. Many of the characters 36

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and incidents in these books are drawn from Carr’s own life. So idiosyncratic were these novels that they were all remaindered, and the publisher of each declined to take on a second novel. He once calculated that his writing earned him 17p per hour. Later, as his reputation grew, Carr would choose to self-publish through Quince Tree Press rather than accept lucrative offers and relinquish control. Carr began his first published novel, A Day in Summer (1963), as part of a writing assignment for a Workers’ Educational Association class. He later described it as his technically most ambitious novel and, therefore, a foolhardy way to begin a writing career. The action takes place on the annual feast day of a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales, when an RAF veteran arrives to seek retribution for the death of his son. He had actually already completed another novel, The Battle of Pollocks Crossing (see below), but failed to find a publisher for this until much later.

A Season in Sinji Carr’s second published novel made extensive use of his time with the RAF in West Africa and reflected his lifelong passion for cricket. A Season in Sinji (1967) is about the relationship and rivalry of three young men who meet as RAF recruits in the early years of the

war. One of them is the arrogant Turton, whose confidence and smoothness enables him to steal an attractive girl, Caroline, from under the noses of the other two. After Flanders (the narrator) and Wakerly are posted to Sinji, a flying-boat station in West Africa, Turton, who has by now gained a commission, arrives and soon begins to make life hell for them. The novel climaxes with a cricket match, after which Flanders (whom Turton has deposed and replaced as the team’s captain) is hauled over the coals by the Station Sports Council for his unsportsmanlike behaviour in playing for a draw rather than throwing away his wicket in pursuit of an impossible victory. This may seem a little unrealistic (as a village cricketer I often derived pleasure from securing a draw when we had no hope of victory). But given the tropical climate, the fevered mood in which the game was played and, most significantly, the personal antagonisms at play, it is not too far-fetched a scenario. As William Trevor wrote in the Guardian, ‘There is a blasting passion and, when the novel expands itself to receive the final notes of tragedy, it does so with a cunning that recalls the game at its best.’ In this book Carr uses cricket as an allegory for life itself.


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“”

A Month in the Country The novel that established Carr’s reputation was published in 1980. A Month in the Country was shortlisted for the Booker prize and won the Guardian Fiction Prize. Set in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Oxgodby, it’s the story of Tom Birkin, a survivor from the First World War who is employed to uncover a medieval mural in the village church. At the same time another First World War veteran is engaged to look for a grave beyond the churchyard walls. The narrator, Tom Birkin, spends the hot month of August in a rural idyll, slowly unveiling the hidden mural. He’s trying to escape past sadnesses – a failed marriage and his experiences in the trenches. All the time he realises that his work there and his month in the country will soon end. There’s growing mutual attraction between Birkin and the wife of his unfeeling employer, the church pastor, but that too is a transient, temporary experience. A Month in the Country is a short, understated novel, with much of its charm derived from what is not said as much as from what is said. As the blurb on the Quince Tree Press edition of the book says, it’s ‘a poignant tale of missed moments, love and discovery.’ Carr said that he was trying to find the right tone of voice for a story in a rural setting (following the example of Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree), and that he wanted his narrator ‘to look back regretfully across forty or fifty years but, recalling a time irrevocably lost, still feel a tug at the heart.’ That’s the tone and the mood that Carr captures so successfully in the novel most critics regard as his masterpiece. In 1987 it was made into a film with Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh.

A back-bedroom publisher of large maps and small books who, in old age, unexpectedly wrote six novels which were properly disregarded by the Literary World

the year’s end the United States still seemed to me a very foreign land. Plainly there was something about the Americans which I had failed to fathom and, in this story, I have tried to hint at this unease.’ The Battle of Pollocks Crossing (1986), Carr’s second novel shortlisted for the Booker prize, was inspired by his year in South Dakota. The title he originally envisaged was Oh, My America or To the West, To the West. It’s the story of a young teacher who is infatuated by the Wild West. He has his admirers, including his landlord, Henry Farewell, manager of the Settler’s Bank and hero of the Battle; but by refusing to distort the historical truth about massacres of the indigenous Indians, he upsets the establishment and loses his job. ‘This novel is hard to classify,’ said the writer Nina Bawden. ‘To say it is funny and sad and exciting is inadequate. Comedy and seriousness are woven together so skilfully that the effect is both unexpected and satisfyingly natural.’ The denouement – the battle of the book’s title – sees the threads of this pioneering story collected together, but the underlying, albeit unspoken, theme is that, despite sharing a common language, the Americans and the English are different.

The Battle of Pollocks Crossing

Non-fiction

In 1938 Carr took a year out from his teaching career to work as an exchange teacher in South Dakota. He found that his British salary converted into dollars was pitifully inadequate, and he struggled to survive in a very different culture. He returned there again to teach in 1956-57. He later wrote, ‘I found folk unfailingly friendly, helpful and kind, yet, at

Carr wrote several non-fiction works which he published at his Quince Tree Press. These included his Dictionary of Extra-ordinary English Cricketers (1977), dictionaries of English kings and queens and a dictionary of ‘Prelates, Parsons, Vergers, Wardens, Sidesmen and Preachers, Sunday-school teachers, Hermits, Ecclesiastical Flowerarrangers, Fifth Monarchy Men and www.writers-online.co.uk

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False Prophets’. He also wrote material for school textbooks designed to develop children’s English language skills. As a writer of dictionaries, he was asked, in an interview for Vogue magazine in 1986 (before his last two novels were published), for a dictionary definition of himself. He answered: ‘James Lloyd Carr, a backbedroom publisher of large maps and small books who, in old age, unexpectedly wrote six novels which, although highly thought of by a small band of literary supporters and by himself, were properly disregarded by the Literary World’.

Learning points JL Carr, was an extraordinary, truly original writer. There are a few things we can learn from him: • If you want to become a writer, it’s never too late. Most of Carr’s books were written when he was in his sixties and seventies. • Writing fiction does not mean that you have to invent everything. Carr’s eight novels all include settings, incidents and characters drawn from his own life. • Writing about personal interests and enthusiasms – subjects or activities where you have first-hand experience and/or special knowledge or expertise – can add authenticity to a story. Carr’s passion for cricket comes across most explicitly in A Season in Sinji, but it is used as background for most of his other novels (in A Month in the Country, for example, Tom Birkin spends his Saturday afternoons umpiring village games in Oxgodby). As a young man Carr played football for a village team which had one spectacularly successful season. Many years later, he developed this into the novel How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup (1975). The preservation of old churches, another Carr passion, is central to A Month in the Country.

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BEGINNERS

Turn to the dark side Don’t be afraid to explore edgy characters and situations, urges Adrian Magson

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et the feeling that your characters – even the bad ones – lack a little ‘pull’ for potential readers? Too amiable, perhaps… even bland? Then it’s time to do something about it. For many writers, guided by the success of others successfully using tried and tested settings and characters, there’s a reluctance to go against the grain. The idea of spending weeks or months creating a world we feel comfortable with is a big commitment; taking a new approach can be like a jump off a high board. But it could be worth it, both for your writing and for your potential readers. It’s not uncommon to hear agents and publishers claiming to be looking for something ‘different’ or ‘fresh’. This could mean something that pushes the boundaries of contemporary or established fiction. But don’t panic. They also mean quite simply that they’re looking for writing that grabs their attention. The obvious correlation is that if your writing does that, there’s a good chance readers will follow. And the thing that tends to focus all eyeballs is, more often than not, characters. For many years, heroes were chiseljawed and hairy-chested, with little time for finer feelings or cups of Darjeeling on the patio. They did what they had to do, mostly without NCBs (natural comfort breaks), uncomplaining to the final page. Heroines, often described as strong-willed or ‘feisty’ (I don’t like that word, but it’s way better than ‘spunky’), were clear-eyed, independent and could hold their own in a tight corner. Oh, and villains were always manic bottom feeders with the moral compass of a

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dead wombat… until they got their just desserts. QED, as my old maths teacher used to say. I know, there are plenty of characters in between these two examples with good and bad traits, but I’m generalising hugely here to focus on leading players. In short, on one hand there was Mr or Miss Reliable – the good guys; the sort of James Bond to Stephanie Plum type, who could always be counted on as leads for a good story. On the other side were the baddies – in old cinematic terms, the black hats. (I should mention here that I’m not decrying any of these stock characters; I employ them myself and enjoy doing so. But I also like playing with their characteristics a little because it makes my writing time a lot more fun and seems to meet with readers’ approval.) Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. A way of giving your characters a different slant without ruining the model is by blurring the lines. Take examples from current films and television. The goodies of both sexes are often shown as slightly ruthless in outlook, their backgrounds dubious and given to snap judgments and actions that might appear more appropriate to the villains. And many villains – male and female – possess almost likeable traits, to the point where a ‘good’ baddie can have us quietly rooting quietly for their survival (even if only to see them cop it big-time later or at least drive off into the sunset having done something to redeem themselves). More interesting are the ones on both sides of the moral divide who are, if not actually crazy, a little fragile in the relationship and truth departments. These might crop up in novels where

reference is made to the ‘unreliable narrator’. This is someone the reader cannot rely on to be telling the truth – or can they? But, in general, how do we go about making our stock characters a little more engaging? Adding a few sharp edges can help, enhanced by clever dialogue or dark humour. Villains who can laugh at adversity (even their own), do have something attractive about them, if only because they’re not one-dimensional. While being more demanding to create, they are much more fun to write about. In the same way, a ‘good’ character with a darker side and a shady backstory can be more interesting to work with because you have to ensure they retain a degree of moral correctness without going completely over the top. And let’s be honest, a little bit of bad is… well, good. Settings count, too, and are sometimes referred to as an additional character. Force-fed Dickens’ Great Expectations at school, it depressed the hell out of me for its bleak marshland settings – the words ‘black’ and ‘mist’ seemed to crop up a lot – but the power of the backdrops creating mood and colour were undeniable. The genre known as Scandi noir is a modern example, with characters who appear… shall we say a little sombre in outlook. But maybe that’s a reflection of the locales, which are often murky, snowy or plain damned cold. Similarly with novels set in various darker corners of the UK, such as the Fens, Shetlands, Yorkshire and other parts where the sun doesn’t always shine, they are embraced enthusiastically by readers, which must say something about the attraction of the writing or our liking for the dark side. Characters or settings, take your pick and give them a little edge. If you have fun in the writing, so will the reader.

top tips • Add some rough edges to your ‘good’ characters to show more depth. • Not everybody is good all the time. A little moral looseness helps. • Giving your villains a touch of dark humour can make them more interesting to write – and read. • Settings are important for emphasising colour and mood. Make the backdrop stand off the page.


24/10/2016 12:11

TAP HERE

TO ENTER

! N I W £500

IN CAS H PRIZE & PUB S

LICAT

N E P O n o i t i t Comp e

ION

£250 TO BE WON

STILL TIME TO ENTER

Any theme, any topic. There are no holds barred for our final open competition of 2016, but your story must have been written this year, whether specially for this competition, or just one you’re particularly proud of. Your story should be the usual 1,500-1,700 words and the closing date is 16 January. The winner will receive £200, with £50 for the runner-up, and both stories will be published in Writing Magazine. See p107 for entry details, full rules and entry forms.

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£250

TO BE WON With its closing date of 14 December, there’s still time to enter last month’s Other Worlds Competition for fantasy or SF stories. Length and prizes are as left. See p107 for more details.

24/10/2016 16:50

Writing for Children

Winner

Daisy and the

Dragon’s Egg by Helen Liston

Helen Liston has been writing for two years and this is her first published story. She writes picture book texts and is a network organiser for the Society of Children’s Book

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verything used to be good: I had my friends and I had my toys and I had my room and I had Mummy. And then, just about winter time, everything started to go bad. First there was Mummy’s new friend Joe. Then there was Joe and his toothbrush and his shoes. Then there was Joe and his toothbrush and his shoes and all of Joe’s boxes. Then there was Joe and his toothbrush and his shoes and all of Joe’s boxes... and all our stuff in boxes, too. Soon after the boxes, we moved to the new house in the country. But I liked my old bedroom just fine. Plus I had a new school, new teachers, and new friends. But I 40

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Writers and Illustrators in the South West. Helen also writes flash fiction and short stories, and loves autumn walks, chai tea and making clay creatures with her five-year-old daughter.

liked my old ones just fine. Then came Bump. Bump is all anyone talks about. They talk about how big Bump is getting. They talk about all the toys and clothes Bump is going to need. They even talk about all the toys and clothes Bump isn’t going to need. Worst of all is that Bump is so big that I just can’t cuddle Mummy properly. Joe says I can cuddle him instead, but it’s not the same. I don’t really mind the new school and I don’t even mind the new house, but I wish I could have Mummy without Bump in the way. In the country there aren’t many parks, just fields, and Mummy’s too tired to play. In the fields I play Kings and

Queens by myself – I go up the tower myself, I get to always be the princess, and I’m my own look-out in the castle. When I see enemies on the horizon I’m the knight on his horse. Climbing the branches I’m the prince trying to save the princess and under the tree I’m the Queen still asleep, but – what? What is that? An egg? In the grass. A huge shiny egg in the grass, just there. I pick it up. Where did it come from? WHO is inside? The egg is bigger than a boulder and brighter than the moon. Its surface ripples with purple and blue light. I dare to stroke it, and it glows at my touch. With my very best gently hands I put the egg into the skirt of my dress. With my very best careful walking I leave my kingdom, then sneak through the back door with the egg. With my best ever tiptoes I creep through the kitchen, holding up my skirt with the egg inside.


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W R I T I N G F O R C H I L D R E N S H O R T S TO RY C O M P E T I T I O N W I N N E R

Everyone is busy doing Bump things and box things, so I sneak past easily. But then I hear Joe coming down the stairs, so I hide the egg in the cupboard-under-the-stairs, quick. Dinner time is sausages but I just wonder and wonder if the egg will hatch. What if the egg is hatching right now! In the cupboard-underthe-stairs! In the dark! All alone! What creature will it be? Where is its mummy? Sometimes, if no one is looking, you can take your last bit of dinner upstairs. This time I take the egg, too. I put my toy box against my bedroom door so no one can come in. And then I put the egg on the bed in a pile of pillows. Everyone knows that eggs need to be warm, because usually a mummy sits on top, but I don’t think I will sit on it, in case it breaks. But oh no, disaster strikes! I’m looking up about eggs in my books when Joe breaks through my toy box barrier, barges in and sits on the bed! He only just misses the egg. ‘What are you doing stacking things up like that, Daisy?’ Joe shakes his head. ‘I’m looking for the box with all the baby toys in, have you seen it in here?’ And I tell him absolutely no and he stops looking through my stuff and goes off looking for the stupid baby box – he has no idea that here in my room there is a real live dragon’s egg! I just know it is a dragon’s egg because it looks just like the one in my book. When I shine my torch into the pillow nest there’s a noise – tap tap tap. What’s happening? The egg is hatching! Tap tap tap it goes again, and then – a tiny scratch. I shut the door, shove the toy box back against it, and put up my ‘go away’ sign. Then back under the covers. Here it is again: tap tap scratch. Tap tap scratch – then a crack! A crack that gets bigger and bigger, until out comes a teeny tiny... claw! IT IS A DRAGON. Bit by bit the dragon pushes away the broken shell. The cracked pieces are dull and thin now, and I see that the egg’s glow had come from the dragon’s golden scales, rippling under its surface. The baby dragon glows gold in the dark, but it is so new that it is scrunched and sticky and creased. Slowly it stretches its

tiny wings. When it opens its eyes it looks at me for a long time, then it makes a tiny squeak that I think must be its first baby dragon word. But what did it say? The dragon needs to sleep a lot because he’s just been born. He sleeps in the tree outside my window. Now that I’m in charge of a brand new baby dragon, I have to be responsible. I watch him through the night to make sure he’s safe. And when Baby Dragon and Mummy and Joe are all sleeping soundly, I too fall asleep with my head on the window sill. In the morning Baby Dragon is gone. But on my way to school I see him tumbling off a branch – his wings are stretched and strong, and he flaps and dives: up and down, up and down. He must be learning to fly! Now that I have Baby Dragon, I know how to draw a dragon just exactly – and Mrs Adams agrees. I get a gold star for my picture and all the other children want to see. When I get home from school, Baby Dragon is nowhere to be seen! The thought of never seeing him again makes my eyes fill with tears. But there he is – by the tree where I found him when he was an egg! I think he wants to learn to play! We play Kings and Queens, and Dragon is the dragon – but for real. Mummy calls me home for bed and when I look up, I see a huge big dragon flapping over the tree. It wants Baby Dragon to go home too. But when I wake the next day, Dragon is waiting at my window. He wants to play with me! I have to wait all through school, but as soon as I get home Baby Dragon and I play Pretend Queens and Real Dragons, but oops, he slightly burns my dress. I think he is still learning how to breath fire. When the sky darkens, Mummy calls me home. She doesn’t see Dragon’s Daddy flapping circles over the tree. I wish Dragon could live outside my window forever.

EXPERT analysis

e’s To read the judg : to go ts en m m co

http://writ.rs/ wmdec16

Runner-up in the Writing for Children competition, whose story is published on www.writers-online.co.uk, was Andrew Ashcroft, Varberg, Sweden. Also shortlisted were: Jessamy Corob Cook, London NW1; Jayne Fallows, Stockport, Greater Manchester; Sharon Haston, Falkirk; Eleanor Margetson, Shackleford, Surrey; Maria T McCann, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Naomi St John, St Pierre, France; Martin Strike, Newbury, Berkshire; Lisa Wilshire, Truro, Cornwall.



In the very early morning, before the sun is up, I’m woken up by a wooshing sound. Daddy Dragon has landed by the tree, but Baby Dragon hides high up in the branches. I know what I must do. With my very best gently hands I silently open the bedroom door. With my very best careful walking I sneak down the stairs. With my best ever tiptoes I stalk out of the garden to where the dragons are. I’m only a little bit afraid when Baby Dragon swoops from the tree to greet me. His eyes are big and bright. I’m sad to do this but I know I must be brave. ‘It’s time to go, friend,’ I tell him, and I kiss him on the nose. ‘You can visit me any time you like,’ I tell him. Baby Dragon and Dragon’s Daddy soar into the sky. Baby Dragon turns and breathes me a goodbye in fire, and then is gone. Bye bye Baby Dragon. But I must hurry back and tell Mummy and Joe what happened! When I get to the house, there’s a crowd in the living room. Joe and Mummy, Grandpops, plus a nurse... and in the middle, a baby. ‘Daisy!’ says Mummy cuddling me, ‘Meet your baby brother.’ I snuggle into Mummy and peek at the little face nestling where bump once was. My brother’s skin is wrinkly and his little eyes are bright. I kiss him on the nose. ‘I’m going to teach him everything about the world,’ I say, and Mummy puts a big warm kiss on my head and says, ‘That’s exactly what I was hoping, Daisy.’ Everything feels good again: I have my friends and I have my toys and of course I have Mummy and Joe... but best of all I have a new baby brother. Because I’m the big sister I give my baby brother his very first present – my gold star picture of Baby Dragon and his family. Something about my little brother reminds me of Baby Dragon, but I think I’ll wait till he’s older to tell him my secret.

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TA L K I T OV E R

START WRITE Advice on getting from idea to page from Jane Wenham-Jones

I

’d like some advice on where to start my book. I think I have a great idea (don’t we all?) but I’m unsure where to start in the narrative; do I start at the beginning and show what my character’s normal life is like before it changes, or jump to halfway through the book and hit the readers with a mysterious death, then go back to the beginning? I’ve read a lot of books and interviews that say you have to hook your reader on the first page with something shocking or intriguing, but I can’t help but notice that some of the biggest-selling thrillers of the last few years didn’t do this: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train (maybe having Girl in the title is the key to success!). I’ve heard some authors and agents say that ‘murder on the first page’ thing is old hat and can just come across as gimmicky and amateurish now. So is it better to start at the beginning and give it the slow build, or is there still an audience, and indeed agents and publishers, who are looking for a splash of red on page one? Philip Henry, Portstewart, Northern Ireland

G

ood question, Philip. And one to which, I suspect, there are many answers. If there’s one thing I have learned after years of interviewing authors, agents and publishers, it is that there is no ‘right’ way to do anything, experts often differ, and any rules you are offered are generally made to be broken. Some creative writing tutors are prescriptive and will provide a list of must-dos, but as you have already discovered, many of the biggest bestsellers defy all the usual conventions. Crime writer Angela Clarke’s compelling and highly successful novel Follow Me (Avon) – the first in her Social Media Murder Series 42

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(so nothing old hat about that!) does have a dramatic start with blood on the first page, but her advice is not to worry if you are not sure about the beginning at this stage. ‘Get writing,’ she says. ‘When you have a first draft you will be able to see more clearly where the story should start.’ Angela, whose next work in the series, Watch Me, is out in January, finds that she often eventually cuts the first few chapters she writes, ‘when I can see that they were merely me getting to know my characters’. She also tends to come up with her final openings late in the writing process. ‘I often retrospectively write a prologue that plunges the reader into

the action,’ she explains, ‘but not necessarily in a linear way.’ Bestselling author Rowan Coleman goes further. ‘I firmly believe you never really know how to start a novel until you have finished it,’ she says. Rowan, who has written an astonishing 34 books (she simply doesn’t look old enough), including her latest novel, We Are All Made Of Stars (Ebury Press), feels this is why wouldbe authors fall by the wayside. ‘A key reason for first drafts never being completed is the over-thinking of the process before embarking on it,’ she declares. ‘Write the book and then you will know where it should start and how.’ But there are as many novel-writing methods as there are authors. Some writers do like to feel their first chapter is the right one and the very best they can make it before they move on (I am one of them) but that doesn’t mean they won’t go back and tweak it later. So if you need to anchor your manuscript somewhere, then think of a beginning – any beginning – for now, and tell yourself you’ll decide if it fits, in the edit. For as Angela and Rowan say, often the ideal shape for a book really does not become clear until you’ve worked through the entire plot. If in doubt, by all means begin at the chronological beginning. And then, when you have finished your


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TA L K I T OV E R

Novel Ideas

Who’s right? intriguing tale – even if the opening first draft, write a brief description of scenes lack a body count. what happens in each chapter, on a Without that ability to draw the reader Post-it note or piece of card. into your fictional world, you could When you spread these out in front have three murders, four explosions of you – or even as you are making and a mysterious phone call in the first the notes – you will probably see with paragraph, and still leave your audience blinding clarity where the start point yawning and sighing: so what? should be. And can then In summary, I would say adjust the other write your book in your chapters, in terms style, the finest way of back story you can, and don’t or otherwise, There is one thing fret too much about around that. everyone in the the structure of If you anybody else’s. have the profession will always And don’t let your plot pretty agree on. Yes, you have to hesitation over well-formed hook your readers. This where to begin, in your head stop you writing in already – doesn’t necessarily mean the first place. some writers shocking them. As Angela Clarke are assiduous wisely puts it: ‘When planners, and some writing, the trick is not aren’t – then you could to be afraid. Fearing how to do this now, and lay out start a book, is just another way of not the main events and twists visually. starting a book.’ It might similarly inspire you. So start somewhere – it doesn’t But however you go about it, there is much matter where. And see how you one thing everyone in the profession will feel later. In the meantime of course, always agree on. Yes, you have to hook keep reading too! your readers. This doesn’t necessarily ‘There’s no short cut,’ Angela concludes. mean shocking them. ‘Start. Get it down. Fix it. Like all good The mega-selling books you mention stories, all will become clear…’ grip from the beginning because of the There are your instructions from one writing style, the introduction of the who knows. I would add: take heart from characters, the skill of the author in them and go for it. producing page-turning prose. In other Good luck! words, they set out the promise of an

“”


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How do you reconcile contradictory opinions on your writing? With Lynne Hackles’ help

H

ave you ever read your work out in front of others? If you belong to a writing group the answer is almost definitely yes. And if your group is a good one you will receive feedback from some of the members, or even all of them. It depends on the group. The one I attended, years ago, expected every member to make some sort of comment. I remember a lot of them would simply say, ‘I agree with so-and-so,’ who happened to be one of the first to give a critique. That’s good, if they all say the same thing. But what if they don’t? We had one chap whose comment I remember vividly. We’d listened to a well-written story that featured the main character’s cat. The writer got lots of encouraging comments and then this chap came up with, ‘I hate cats. I hate stories about cats. It was awful.’ The writer of the cat story was upset so I chatted to her afterwards. ‘Change Fluffy into a dog and he’d have liked it,’ I told her. His was a comment based on a personal dislike and had nothing to do with the actual writing. When my agent sent out a novel on my behalf she sent me all the feedback. It was confusing. One person said my main character was a wimp, another said she was feisty. Someone said there was a laugh on every page while another said the laughs were few. On other points most agreed so who do you believe in circumstances like these? If two people give conflicting views on your work then it is almost certainly down to their own personal opinion and can be ignored. On the other hand if several comment on the same point and it doesn’t work for them, it needs looking at. NOVEMBER DECEMBER 2016

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I N T E RV I E W

Shelf life: PETER

©Dan Callister/Writer Pictures

ROBINSON Crime writer Peter Robinson shares his five favourite reads with Judith Spelman

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eter Robinson is a crime writer currently best known for his series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. These books are set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Eastvale in the Yorkshire Dales. This is no coincidence because Peter himself is a Yorkshire man, born in Armley, Leeds, who emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1974 after receiving a BA Honours Degree at Leeds University. He took an MA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor, Ontario with Joyce Carol Oates as his tutor and followed this with a PhD in English at York University, Toronto. He has written 23 crime novels, with his latest book, When the Music’s Over, published in 2016. He has published several novels that do not feature Alan Banks as well as some short stories and some poetry. Several of his Inspector Banks novels have been successfully adapted as television series with Stephen Tompkinson in the role of Banks. As seems the case with many authors, Peter had difficulty choosing five books. ‘I wondered if I should save my most valuable books, signed first editions. Or paperbacks that are easily replaceable? Maybe I could just run off with my Kindle? I decided to treat my choices as though I was on a desert island with just a little bit of whimsy.’

SELECTED POEMS, Martin Richards

TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES, Thomas Hardy

‘It means a lot to me because Martin was a very good friend of mine at Leeds University. He died a few years ago and it was very personal but some of the poems he wrote towards the end with death approaching were some of the best I’ve read by anyone. It only came out in 2015, although he had been dead since 2010, so it was published posthumously. As he was dying in a hospice he did say he would like to have it published. During his lifetime he had been rather retiring but his brother was instrumental in getting them published. I think he was very influenced by the minimalist Japanese poets and the English metaphysical poets.’

‘Thomas Hardy is my favourite writer and I think Tess of the D’Urbervilles is in many ways his best book. Tess as a character is one of the most vivid living characters in all of fiction. I do admit that Hardy does stack the cards against her. There’s a lot of plot manipulation going on to give her the worst possible time. I have read the book several times and for me it is the detail with which Hardy describes both the world and Tess herself. If you don’t stand too far back and look at the plot machinations but get completely involved in the world, then it’s totally absorbing. There is as much a story in the changing of real life as anything else with the coming of machinery for farming and the change in farmworkers’ lives. And it’s a great crime story!’

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©Dan Callister/Writer Pictures

WRITER’S BOOKSHELF

THE RADIO LUXEMBOURG BOOK OF RECORD STARS ‘The cover is slightly torn but it was published in 1962. It has an introduction by Frank Sinatra and someone called Jack Fishman. This is a book of black and white pictures and stories of the various stars of the time. It’s preBeatles and you’ve got Pat Boon, Shirley Bassey, Dionne Warwick, Brenda Lee and Billy Fury. There are special contributions by many artistes of the time including Paul Anka, Adam Faith and The Shadows, with a bit of information about the singers and their favourite songs. I grew up with that music.’

THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ‘I would have to save The Complete Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There is a total of sixty that were published between 1887 and 1927. I could always dip into those, wherever I am and at any time. No matter how many times I have read them I can enjoy them all over again. I am fond of The Speckled Band but my favourite is actually one of the novels, The Hound of the Baskervilles. It’s not just a detective novel and a crime novel, it’s just a great novel set on Dartmoor. I think that’s a wonderful book. Here am I, a Yorkshire man, talking about the South! I should have chosen the Brontës! In the Sherlock Holmes collection there are just four full-length novels and several collections of short stories including The Redheaded League, which I also enjoy reading.’

THE PENGUIN BOOK OF ENGLISH VERSE ‘My fifth and final book takes me back to poetry. I figured that I wouldn’t want to be without an anthology of poetry of some sort but it’s very difficult to find an anthology that has all your favourites in it and covers the periods that interest you. I finally went for the Penguin Book of English Verse edited by Paul Keegan and which covers seven centuries. There are lots of interesting anthologies but they are kind of random with mixed up poems from different ages and different places. The Penguin book is of English poetry and it goes right from the beginning to fairly recently. That’s one of the things I like about it. It includes all the old favourites like Keats’ Odes, a little bit of Milton and Shakespeare. I am very fond of Keats’ Odes and Coleridge, not so much The Ancient Mariner but the conversation poems like Frost at Midnight, for example. When it comes down to it, I would choose the Romantic Poets over other poets.’


p44 SHELF LIFE.indd 45

‘I

t would be very hard for me to read my own books when I have been through the process of writing them for well over a year. When the Music’s Over took me nearly two years to write. I took a couple of subjects, when I started writing my last book, that were all over the newspapers, thinking that perhaps when the book was published they wouldn’t be quite so fresh but these stories are never ending. The historical abuse cases go on and on and on. I try and get across in the book that it’s not something that Banks really wants to investigate. The other thing I had to do was make it fairly clear that the main suspect did it. He is not somebody who was persecuted in a witch hunt; he really is a nasty man. ‘I like to start writing about the same time every day. I start between eight and nine in the morning and finish between three and four in the afternoon. But more than anything, I like a long run of a few weeks without having to go anywhere and not having to attend to anything important, and not having to do anything so that I can just work every day. When that happens, at a certain stage in the book, I’ll probably work more than my usual hours because I gain momentum and I get on a roll. But when it’s stop start all the time I work much more slowly and it’s harder to get going in the morning. It’s very difficult when I am on a book tour, for example, to find five minutes here and there between events to scribble down something. I do make notes in those situations but I can’t get the momentum going. I just read in my spare time when I’m travelling. ‘When DCI Banks is televised I am not involved at all in the production. They will send me the scripts shortly before they go into production and if I have any comments I let them know – but they don’t necessarily pay any attention! Sometimes, if Stephen Tompkinson agrees they will change something but if it is just me they won’t. ‘Stephen Tompkinson is not an actor who would have come to mind to play the part of Banks. I don’t know who would. I am still attached to my fictional Banks and I don’t really see anyone else out there like him. I knew I’d have to accept somebody who didn’t look like Banks and didn’t necessarily act like my own Banks would do. But it is television and you need grander gestures. ‘I think of the Banks books and the television series as parallel universes. The characters seem to be different versions of the same person. They look different, they have different personalities and have different fates in different worlds. ‘Banks is still a work in progress for me. There is something new in every book and that keeps me interested. There is always a part of the story that involves something from Banks’s personal life or his memories and interests. That keeps me interested in developing his character. In the new book, Sleeping in the Ground, I have just had him promoted to Superintendent and that gives him an extra five years. He can have a number of cases in five years. I often explain that the books may be published a year apart but the cases don’t always take place a year apart.’

DECEMBER 2016

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T H E BU S I N E S S O F W R I T I N G

FESTIVE S N O I T A R T S U FR As Christmas draws closer, Simon Whaley chats to three writers about how they manage their writing businesses during the festive period.

I

n the world of paid employment December is one long month of office parties, Christmas lunches, and arguing with Health and Safety about the fire risk of the red tinsel framing your computer monitor. It’s an entirely different matter for writers. Working in our isolated garrets means the office party rarely gets out of hand, but if it does there’s no one else around to notice. However, as December draws closer, it isn’t easy running a writing business when the rest of the business world is either away from its desk enjoying itself or shut down until the middle of January. Which means we have to change the way we work. In my experience, December is a month of two halves. Deadlines sometimes get brought forward to accommodate this, and getting hold of people by email or phone becomes more challenging, particularly between the beginning of the month and about the 18th. Then there’s the shutdown itself, when entire businesses close from around 19th December through to the 4th January. It means I change the way I work. I send fewer pitches to editors as the month progresses, and I spend the earlier part of December delivering commissioned pieces before the magazine offices shut down.

Pitch preparation Travel writer Solange Hando, author of Be A Travel Writer, finds herself in a similar position. ‘I never pitch 46

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between mid-December and early January, because there are too many office parties and most magazines have everything wrapped up in good time, ready for an early and extensive break. That doesn’t mean I do nothing. I might write up the next commission – but wait to mail it, think about new ideas, research new markets and prepare pitches to send in January.’ It’s not just article writers who are affected by the Christmas period. Jo Derrick is a prolific short story writer, and she too cuts back on submissions at this time of year. ‘I worry about posting submissions when I know there won’t be a collection till the following morning, so there’s no way I’d post anything in the run up to Christmas. I can’t see the point when magazine editors are out of the office. I do worry about submissions getting lost in the post, and not just at Christmas. It’s nice to have a bank of stories to send out as soon as everyone is back to work in January.’ Jo is also the former editor and publisher of a small press publication called The Yellow Room, so she’s experienced life from the other side of the desk too. ‘Quite often there was an issue to get out before the Christmas rush,’ she says, ‘and there was always some sort of delay at the printers – possibly too many office parties, which meant that sending out the magazines clashed with the Christmas post. It was a nightmare!’ Esther Newton is a freelance writer,

copyeditor and a tutor for the Writers Bureau, which means she’s juggling several different types of clients at this time of year. Like Solange, she holds off pitching ideas to editors, because she doesn’t want her emails being part of the deluge editors have to wade through upon their return in the New Year. ‘I try not to overload editors’ inboxes too much as they’ll have a plethora of emails to sort through when they come back in January,’ she says, ‘and it’s easy for an email to become lost or overlooked.’ Although many of us are cautious about sending submissions and pitches during the run up to and between Christmas and New Year, Solange makes an important point about publications with issues due out during this period. ‘Pitching or writing ideas specifically for the quiet time between Christmas and New Year can be welcome, because editors are often short of material for that particular slot.’

Project planning While the supermarkets seem to be open all over Christmas, many publications and publishers shut down for anything up to two weeks, which means getting hold of anyone is nigh on impossible. This time is perfect for planning new projects and reviewing our work over the last twelve months. ‘I tidy up my office,’ says Solange, ‘ready for a new start, and top of my list is to fill up my New Year diary


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T H E BU S I N E S S O F W R I T I N G

with travel and writing plans – that’s definitely the best bit!’ Esther does something similar. ‘I use the time to take stock and to start planning my writing year. I flesh out new ideas, research markets, etc. I also use the time to do some fun writing – to do some writing for me, perhaps a poem, or I’ll write a story and enter it into a competition. I try to get the balance right between spending some time on this and with family. I also have a notebook, which I’m always jotting ideas down in. The period between Christmas and New Year is a great time to look through it. Sometimes I’ll have missed something, or when I look through the book, ideas start to come to mind. It’s a great way to reignite the passion for writing and to get the creative juices flowing, ready for the New Year.’ Jo plans on using the period to get ahead, but acknowledges that it doesn’t always work out that way, mainly because this time of year is so busy. ‘I always vow I’ll write a Christmas story or two, ready to submit the following June or July, but it never seems to happen. This year I might get as far as making some notes in preparation. I’m not a fan of December at all! I find the whole Christmas thing very disruptive and rather depressing. I tend to buy most of my presents online, so that saves a lot of time, but writing Christmas cards seems to take hours. It’s always difficult to focus on my writing and the creative process when there are other jobs to be done.’ Sending Christmas cards to friends and family can be a bit of a chore, however, I believe there’s a business case for sending them to magazines and publishers who’ve bought work from me over the previous twelve months. Esther does too, not only as a thank you, but as a means of developing further business. ‘It’s a good idea to send Christmas cards to contacts and magazines you’ve written for,’ she says, ‘because it keeps you in the forefront of their minds, and you never know when they’ll be looking for a writer on a particular issue.’

especially when family expect you to be around. Self-employed people don’t always have the luxury of being able to take time off, while writers with full-time jobs may feel torn between spending time with family and using the off-work opportunity to do some writing. Solange had to put work before family at one Christmas, but it was for a rather special event. ‘There was a Buddhist festival in central Bhutan when monks, draped in garlands of skulls, performed religious dances to chase away evil. It’s an annual event in major Bhutanese monasteries, held on different dates, but at the time I was still limited to travelling during the school holidays. As for my family, my children were grown up, though still at home, and my daughter took charge of the Christmas lunch. I left, only two days before Christmas, so we all had our presents early, although no one minded that!’ It was a successful trip. Solange sold the travel experience to more than five different markets, so it was worth it, but she’s not travelled over the Christmas period since. ‘I have had instances when I’ve had to work on something over Christmas, when the family has been off,’ says Esther. ‘None of my family is selfemployed, so when they come home from work they leave it all behind. They aren’t always sympathetic to my working in the evenings, at weekends to meet a deadline. I do try to take some time off at this time of year.’

BUSINESS DIRECTORY TOP FESTIVE WORKING TIPS FOR WRITERS

• Solange Hando: ‘Christmas doesn’t have to be an excuse to stop writing or working … unless, of course, you want a break. And there’s nothing wrong with that!’ • Jo Derrick: ‘To free up time abandon Christmas cards altogether and announce on social media that you’re donating the money to charity instead.’ • Esther Newton: ‘Plan your December writing well in advance, and make allowances for things to crop up at the last minute, because they always do. Being a freelance writer means you have to be flexible.’

Self-employed sacrifices Of course, the Christmas and New Year period isn’t just about writing, but spending time with family and friends, which can cause friction itself, www.writers-online.co.uk

p46 Business of Writing.indd 47

One of my busiest years between Christmas and New Year was in 2006, when I received the page layout proofs for two of my books, from different publishers, on Christmas Eve. Upon checking the contracts I discovered that both books had to be proofread within 14 days, which fill me with dread at first, but thankfully it worked out quite well. The Christmas shutdown meant interruptions by phone and email practically disappeared, creating the perfect proofreading atmosphere. However, we shouldn’t be left out of the Christmas party spirit just because we work alone. Make the effort to meet up with other writer friends for a festive meal during December. ‘I always try to meet up with at least one writer friend just before Christmas,’ says Esther. ‘It makes me feel like I’m going out of the office for a special Christmas lunch!’ December needn’t be a difficult working month for writers. A few changes to the way we work can still make it a productive time for our writing business. Deliver commissioned work early, before offices shut down. Consider holding off pitching ideas and sending new submissions until the New Year. And spend the end of the month thinking up new ideas, developing new projects and reviewing those projects that didn’t get off the ground this year. But most of all, don’t forget to enjoy the festive period with the ones you love.

DECEMBER 2016

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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Under the

microscope

Author and lecturer James McCreet puts a reader’s first 300 words under the critical lens

1 A Retrospective Upon Dying Tell me your story,1 tell me about your life.2 I want to hear all about yours before I tell you all about mine.3 It was a simple request,4 but Duncan refused.5 He was insistent that I tell him all about myself,6 that my story would be far more 7 interesting than anything he could ever tell me. knew already I Whether or not he suspected, little bits about him.8 He was married, the wedding ring gave that one away.9 I don’t think he was happily married though10 because whenever I asked him a question about his wife, he would scowl at me like I had just defecated on the floor.11 He was unbearably fat.12 Not just fat round the middle, but all over.13 He had three chins and they all wobbled more than his face,14 and his eyes were squashed between thick flab and bushy eyebrows.15 Whenever he moved his hands16, the skin on his arms trembled,17 and he couldn’t fit under the table for the size of his rotund stomach.18 Obese.19 A snap judgement on his character would have made most people sceptical, but I knew he was good at his job.20 This was the one bit of information that he revealed about himself.21 It was one of the first things out of his mouth,22 led by his irrepressible 24 arrogance,23 though he shouldn’t have bothered. 25 job. his at best the was he I already knew His reputation preceded him as much as his stomach.26 That was why I was there.27 That was why he wanted to hear my story.28 Maybe that sounds a little bit misleading, because I was the one to go to him.29 He didn’t come to pick me up and drag me away from my home kicking and screaming.30 I’d gone to see him voluntarily.31

A bold start using imperative address. It grabs the reader’s attention even though – and partially because – we don’t know who’s talking. The lack of speech marks suggests that it’s the author. Alas, the comma is impossible here. Try a full stop.

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8

And this sentence raises the sense of expectation. Would it be more dynamic if it started ‘I already...’?

2

I like the repetition of ‘tell’. It emphasises the imperative voice and adds a layer of specificity.

9

3

10

4

11

This additional detail sets up the scenario. It’s a deal. But who are the two people? Why does one want to know about the other, and why is reciprocity necessary? We must read on. It’s a good hook.

Is it really such a simple request? The brief is so wide and vague that answering such a question would be tricky for many people.

5

Okay, so now we know who one of the people is. But we need to read on to learn more (and why he refused).

6

The use of first person here raises some questions. The initial sentences were in a different voice and were apparently not speech. Now the narrative perspective switches to first person (and continues in it). The imperative voice that was so striking now seems anomalous in comparison – and less bold. It would make more sense and be less jarring as speech (with quote marks). Also, the fact that he’s made his request throws into doubt who was speaking in the first lines.

7 48

and a judicious omission of the expected ‘and’. It’s also a tantalising introduction to the narrator.

The double ‘that’ in this sentence is a nice touch

Erroneous comma again. Try a dash, a semi-colon or a simple full stop. A strict punctuator like me would put commas either side of ‘though’ because it’s an aside. Indeed, this entire sentence is a little unwieldy in the way it delivers information. It would work better as two sentences.

The simile is problematic. It seems like an overstatement, and as such appears slightly comical. Does he react like this to every inquiry about his wife? And surely he’d more than just scowl if he saw another human defecate in front of him.

12

Unbearable for whom? Grossly overweight he may be, but does this judgement make us side with the narrator? Are we expected to co-operate and dislike Duncan merely because he’s fat?

13

This is a deft and economical bit of description (the above point aside).

14

So it’s a pity the description goes on at some length hereafter. Does an entire face wobble, even if one is morbidly obese? The description seems exaggerated and comical in effect, though I’m not sure if this is intended.


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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

15

If the description is literal, he must be monstrous. ‘Bushy’ is an overused adjective with eyebrows – consider something fresher.

26

16

27

17

28

Beginning with the subordinate clause emphasises the movement rather than the arms. I think it works better beginning, ‘His arms...’ There’s something not quite right about ‘trembled’. It looks like a first-grasp synonym for ‘wobbled’ but it carries different connotations: of trepidation or cold.

18

The image is, again, comical. Moreover, ‘rotund’ seems actually less emphatic than the hugeness already described. It’s a detail too much, or at least one insufficiently portrayed.

19

I’m a huge fan of the singleword sentence to underline or focus attention. Unfortunately, this is redundant following all that’s preceded it. It might have been better to drop it in after point 13 and leave it at that.

20

I know what you mean here, but it’s phrased wrongly. You’re suggesting that most people would be sceptical of a snap judgement (rather than of his hugeness as an indicator of ability).

21

This is mildly confusing. The previous sentence implies prior or long-standing knowledge of his talents, but this suggests he’s just revealed them.

22 23

A bit of a cliché.

Rather awkward phrasing. ‘Led’ isn’t quite right. ‘A result of...’?

24

In fact, the whole sentence is a bit chewy due to that clause in the middle.

25

There’s an uneasy tone in this piece. Is it supposed to be funny or not? The ambiguity isn’t a good sign.

And we’re back on track as to why the interrogation is taking place. We got lost for a while there in the description of his fatness.

But this doesn’t make sense. He wants to hear her story because he knows he’s talented? I don’t get it. What’s the logic?

29

It was indeed misleading... So why say it? A train-of-thought narration style can be engaging, but not so much when it turns on itself.

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This is overstatement, and another example of something that might be playing for laughs but which isn’t quite funny. To ‘drag kicking and screaming’ is a cliché.

31

Somehow, I’d assumed this all along. She’s the one asking the questions.

Zoie Dawson is a budding writer of horror fiction, having become infatuated with the genre she was a child. She writes for various online magazines, has had articles published in the Nottingham Post, and has her own blog with book reviews, writing tips and writer news. At 21, she self-published her novel Hidden Beneath the Ice, a story that follows several characters in search of a long lost treasure. A Retrospective Upon Dying is told as a series of recollections from an unreliable first-person narrator to the police, who are trying to solve the disappearance of his wife.

Is this not a direct repetition of point 20?


p48 microscope.indd 49

TAP HERE

to read James’s suggested rewrite of this passage

IN SUMMARY The extract starts very well with a bold authorial voice and a good hook. Who’s talking, and to whom? What’s it all about? The imperative voice suggests that the reader is being addressed directly, which is quite a challenge. The overall effect is one of great confidence in the writer, deserving of trust in the reader. Unfortunately, it unravels from there. As soon as the first person begins, we lose the advantage of the start and begin to wonder why it wasn’t in quote marks. It needn’t be, of course, but the fact of that bold imperative voice disappearing so quickly feels like a trick and a disappointment. Nevertheless, the hook remains and we want to continue reading... until the engagement fades again. Duncan is fat – fair enough. But the reader is expected to collaborate with the narrator in assuming he’s a worthless and unpleasant person just because of his condition. This is lazy characterisation. There’s no reason why he can’t be huge, but that alone is insufficient. I’m not sure how many readers would assume he has no talent just because he’s fat. What’s worse is that the tone is vaguely comical, as if we’re also being asked to laugh at his fatness. Maybe he’s a thoroughly horrible person, but we’ve seen no real evidence of it yet. Oddly enough, I quite like him. He may be arrogant and unhappily married, but he’s talented despite his other problems. Perhaps we’d see him much more clearly through dialogue – in his own words. The rest thereafter seems lost in hazy logic. My impression is that this is a classic flaw of many novel openings: the desire to string out suspense beyond the reader’s patience. There have to be some breadcrumbs. They do exist here, but by 300 words I’m getting impatient for the next ones. This has all the raw materials for a good start, but they need refining.

• If you would like to submit an extract of your work in progress, send it by email, with synopsis and a brief biog, to: [email protected]

DECEMBER 2016

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FICTION FOCUS

Kill your s g n i l r a d Killing off characters can be cathartic and creatively helpful, but don’t wield the axe indiscriminately, says Margaret James

M

ost of the novelists I know seem to be happy in their work. But I’m sure even the happiest of novelists must have bad times? I certainly do. Once in a thankfully-not-toofrequent while, I reach that ghastly stage in a work-in-non-progress when I feel as if I’m running a marathon in boots full of cement. I don’t know what emotions my characters ought to be feeling. The action seems to have stagnated to the point of standstill. I realise that very soon I’ll need to liven things up a bit. Or even a lot. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Shocks, surprises, setbacks, reversals: these can all arouse strong 50

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emotions in both characters and readers, introduce drama and thus help to get a story moving again. But maybe you’re wondering if you could heighten this drama by killing a character or characters you have encouraged your reader to love? You’re asking yourself how you could kill this person or people: spectacularly, unexpectedly, violently, tragically, on or off stage? Before you resort to this ultimate shock tactic in fiction, however, you should also ask yourself: will you ever need this character or characters again, in this novel or a later one? Did any of these people have any kind of death wish? Also, will death be emotionally appropriate to your story? I’d like to suggest that while death is a constant in crime fiction, murdering a character in the course

of a romantic comedy might not go down too well with your readers, who will presumably have chosen to buy your novel because they want a cheering, uplifting read: not a cathartic, let alone depressing, one. The genre, style and tone of your novel should help you to decide if death should make an appearance in it – or not. Okay, you’re not writing a romantic comedy. You’ve decided you’re definitely going to kill people because this is the only way out of your present difficulties. But what about the bodies: are you going to let your reader see them? You should consider your options here and remember that if you don’t put the actual corpses on display, you will be able to resurrect these characters, should the need arise.


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FICTION FOCUS

After all, we can assume Sherlock Holmes met his death tumbling down the Reichenback Falls. But we don’t see his corpse being pulled back on to dry land…

When it feels right Sometimes, dying is the only option for a character because death will be emotionally fulfilling both for the reader and for those left behind. When characters in fiction have done everything they ever wanted to do, and are more than ready for the big sleep, it’s sometimes completely acceptable to let them die. It’s a fact that in some kinds of romantic fiction readers are perfectly happy to find that the lovers are united forever in death. But it’s also possible to leave one survivor of any kind of relationship alive to find a new path in life, having learned a lot about love and life itself from the person who has died. This sort of development can be satisfyingly appropriate even though it’s also bittersweet. It can go down well with readers, as the critical and literary success of All the Light We Cannot See, Me Before You and The Fault in Our Stars so clearly testify. What if a character is in a situation that can’t deliver a happy ending for everyone or indeed anyone concerned? What are you going to do with a man who is in love with his brother’s wife but doesn’t want to break up their marriage? You could send him abroad to make his fortune, perhaps, or find him someone else to love? Or you could kill him in a freak accident (this might look a bit too convenient, plot-wise) or as he tries and fails to prove something impossible (this might be rather more satisfying for your readers and give everyone – both characters and readers – a chance to have a good cry).

How to write death Whenever something sad or bad is happening in a television series or in an opera, the incidental music usually slides into a minor key, and this helps the audience to feel the appropriate emotions.

Novelists have only words, but words are very powerful when used effectively. So, should you decide to write a death scene, don’t forget to choose words that will help your reader to feel fear, distress, relief, anger, excitement, sorrow, delight, satisfaction – whichever emotions are appropriate. How does the eponymous hero of David Copperfield feel about impending death of his wife Dora? …what I cannot firmly settle in my mind is, that the end will absolutely come. I hold her hand in mine, I hold her heart in mine, I see her love for me, alive in all its strength. I cannot shut out a pale lingering shadow of belief that she will be spared. How does the omniscient narrator of Oliver Twist feel about the actual death of Bill Sikes? Staggering as if struck by lightning, he lost his balance and tumbled over the parapet. The noose was on his neck. It ran up with his weight, tight as a bow-string, and swift as the arrow it speeds. He fell for five-andthirty feet. There was a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of the limbs; and there he hung, with the open knife clenched in his stiffening hand. How is the reader encouraged to feel the appropriate emotions? The author’s choice of words certainly helps: compare the sweetness of I hold her heart in mine to the harshness of a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of limbs. Perhaps, having read this article, you’ll now be determined to murder a character? Or perhaps you’ve decided to let them off?

Now try this: Sketch out a short scene in which a character dies then look at the kind of language you have used. Does your choice of words make the death of this character seem tragic, welcome, appropriate, unjust? What emotions did writing the scene arouse in you? www.writers-online.co.uk

p50 Fiction Focus.indd 51

I wish I’d known… Novelists tell us what they wished they’d known right at the start of their careers. with Laura

James

‘I

n the summer of 2007, surgeons fused my left wrist, a procedure necessary to alleviate the pain of longterm rheumatoid arthritis. Since I was incapacitated by a hefty slab of plaster and unable to go far, I decided it was the perfect time to write a novel. I thought writing, like reading, would be a wonderful way to escape my physical limitations and live life at full throttle, albeit virtually. I opened a fresh notepad, warmed up a new pen and wrote the words Katherine Blair. ‘I wish I’d known about planning, though, and that there’s no definitive or correct way to do it. My debut novel, Truth or Dare?, was seven years in the making. I didn’t create a timeline. I wrote into the mist, and the story and characters developed organically. Once I’d signed with a publisher and the edits landed on my desk, I had to go through the manuscript again, writing down the pertinent points so that I could keep track of the changes I was making and their potential effects further on. It was a complicated slog, involving reams of paper. My kitchen looked as if a giant ticker tape parade had marched right through it. ‘The acceptance of my second novel, Follow Me Follow You, came with a deadline. To speed up the writing process and avoid timeline errors, I decided to plan. I tried various methods and, although I found aspects of each worked for me, none worked in their entirety. ‘It took until book three, What Doesn’t Kill You, You before I realised that combining techniques worked for me. I plan, I plot, I have a final destination, but these days there’s always room for organic growth.’ DECEMBER 2015

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SAU B S C R I B E R S P OT L I G H T

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SH A RE

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SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing Magazine and would like to feature here, email Tina Jackson, [email protected]

Mining history for answers

‘Black River is about a South Wales Echo journalist in 1967 who tries to protect the villagers of Aberfan from the Fleet Street media following the Welsh tip disaster on 21 October 1966,’ writes subscriber Louise Walsh. ‘I didn’t plan to write a novel about Aberfan. I had no personal connection to the disaster and I’m not a journalist. I had been researching a story about Cardiff ’s Irish community, whose homes were demolished in 1967. My main character was a journalist, because I wanted an outsider who was nevertheless interested in what was happening to Cardiff’s Irish. But it sadly it didn’t turn out to be a story that could be sustained over a novel. ‘Then I came across a reference that pulled me in a very different direction. I read that in 1967 the Welsh Office had a problem with the press at Aberfan. Leveson was all over the news at the time. I wondered: What problem with the press? Are they talking about a Leveson kind of problem? I sent off for the Welsh Office papers at the National Archives. ‘The Welsh Office papers detailed the specific problems the Welsh Office were having with the press but, more significantly for my novel, the action they were taking too. The Welsh Office had a number of ideas to curtail the amount of sensational stories appearing in the Fleet Street press. The most creative, and Quixotic, was the idea of a “Lay Off Aberfan Campaign” being run by a newspaper in Fleet Street – which became the central plot of Black River. And it felt as though my character from the Irish novel had been waiting for this book. ‘Of course, as with most historical novels, the majority of the research doesn’t go in the novel and instead gets set aside. To compensate for this, given that most of the material I uncovered is not widely known about, I created a website where I can showcase the research behind the novel. ‘Despite having a first novel published in 2008 by Seren Books called Fighting Pretty, I found the process of getting this novel published quite stressful. The 50th anniversary of Aberfan was approaching on 21 October 2016 and therefore it was my ambition to get it published before the anniversary. However, the Welsh publishers were struggling with small budgets and swamped with submissions and I found myself routinely waiting over a year before receiving a rejection. Time was ticking away. ‘Fortunately, Literature Wales and the Welsh Books Council were enormously helpful when I approached them for advice. The Welsh Books Council suggested Carreg Gwalch – a publisher who specialises in Welsh heritage (although, in the main, non-fiction). Carreg Gwalch snapped up the novel and my dream of having this novel published before the anniversary of Aberfan was finally realised.’ Website: www.blackriver.cymru

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A life worth reading ‘After being orphaned at the age of ten, my younger sister and I were brought up in a Children’s Home in the Midlands,’ writes subscriber Lynn Trowbridge. ‘I left school at fourteen with no qualifications and my first job was as a domestic servant. However, despite my lowly status and an inculcated sense of unworthiness, I always yearned to write and initially found an outlet by scribbling poetry and writing letters to imaginary people, before I found real people to whom I could write. ‘In 1941, at the age of seventeen and a half, I joined the WAAF which revolutionised my life and gave me the confidence to have some belief in myself. I stayed in the air force for five years and served part of my time in Algeria and Egypt, some of the experiences of which are recorded in my memoirs, A Life is What You Get. ‘After retiring from my very demanding job as a Branch Manager, and now with more time on my hands, I joined the Hay Writers’ Circle and never looked back. I stayed with them for about eighteen years, during which time I had several articles published in various periodicals, won a few poetry competitions and also founded and edited The Hay Writers’ Magazine. ‘With much encouragement from many friends, at the age of ninety I decided to write my memoirs and self-publish. The book is called A Life is What You Get and is obtainable from Amazon or in local bookshops. Several people asked when I was going to write the next book which, at the age of 93, I have now done. It is called Random Ramblings of a Nonagenarian and is also obtainable through the same sources. ‘You are never too old to write!’


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S U B S C R I B E R S P OT L I G H T

Lovely news from Lou

An in-Drenius book

‘Following the publication of my debut picture book Professor McQuark and the Oojamaflip, I’m thrilled to announce that I have two more children’s books out this year, also from Maverick Arts Publishing,’ writes subscriber Lou Treleaven. ‘The Snowflake Mistake is a wintery picture book beautifully illustrated by Maddie Frost (the perfect name!) which tells the tale of a wonderful snowflake machine in the sky. The Queen insists on identical snowflakes, but when she leaves Princess Ellie in charge things go horribly wrong and it’s up to Ellie to provide the snowflakes herself. ‘Letter to Pluto is for older, more confident readers just moving on to chapter books. Jon is not happy when his teacher makes him write letters to Straxi on Pluto. But the friendship between the two grows, and when life is threatened on Pluto the two friends think they might have the solution. The text takes the form of letters, posters, adverts and even homework with lots of doodles and drawings which I had great fun providing. I started writing the book many years ago but didn’t get very far and forgot all about it. Years later I found an old notebook where I’d written letters between a boy called Jon and a girl called Straxi. They made me laugh and I really enjoyed reading them. After a few letters I turned the page to find it blank. I was disappointed and realised the only way to find out what happened was to finish writing it! ‘This year has been amazing, going from being an unpublished writer to author of three books and throwing myself into the world of bookshop signings, literary festivals and library readings. (Professor McQuark and the Oojamaflip was chosen for the Big Friendly Read summer reading challenge.) To anyone who’s submitting, I’d like to say hang in there and don’t give up because you never know what’s going to happen next. I also recommend trying lots of genres and age groups until you find the one that “fits”.’ Website: www.loutreleaven.com

‘I’ve always loved reading fantasy, so writing it seemed to come naturally,’ writes subscriber Kitty Lewis. ‘I enjoy the freedom of making my own world, with my own rules. Mostly, I like not having to be too concerned whether something would happen a certain way in reality – the laws of Earth don’t have to apply to my world of Drenius. I have no clue where the idea for The Colourless came from, it seemed like I woke up one morning with Kandrina in my head, saying “hey, write about me!” I’d already spent some time doodling a map of Drenius, which I’d intended to base a role-playing game on, but it worked perfectly as a setting for Kandi’s story. ‘The book mainly follows Kandi, as she discovers more about the world outside the People’s tribal lands, makes friends with demons and dwarves, and eventually returns to confront the corrupt High Priest of the Creator god. There are several other things going on as well, though, and I realised when I got to the end that not only was Kandi’s story far from over, but the rest of the world had plenty of secrets I wanted to explore. That’s why I decided to write a series, so that I could tell the story of the world rather than just one character. ‘After a lot of consideration (and rejections from publishers) I chose to go with self-publication, mostly because I could keep control of both the process and the copyright to my book. This way, I still own the story and the characters, which gives me a lot more say in anything that might come of the book later. It was also much faster than traditional publishing – I only started the process in March!’ Website: www.kittylewisfantasy.net

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Warm words for Alison ‘I’m really pleased to say that my book, The Man Who Didn’t Go To Newcastle, has won second prize in the Words For The Wounded Independent Author Book Award 2016,’ writes subscriber Alison Clink. ‘This is what the the judges had to say: ‘“In The Man Who Didn’t Go to Newcastle Alison Clink charts her care of her terminally ill slightly older brother, Adrian, with a lovely pace and voice and creates a really moving exploration of siblings across their lives and most importantly, mortality. This is a situation which unearths not only memories of the past they have shared, but an awareness of their separate adult lives, especially as friends of his arrive to cheer him on. With each visitor it seems, another puzzle piece is put in place. ‘“Throughout this memoir Clink

weaves the present and past together with an honesty which reveals the difficulties of caring for someone who is no more perfect than the rest of us. There is not only sadness but humour, and implicit tension. ‘“It is interesting to consider how Clink’s undoubted and empathetic writing skills would be translated into fiction. She already writes short stories so let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for an Alison Clink novel. Bravo. A worthy second place.” ‘Over fifty of my short stories have been published in the UK (mainly in Woman’s Weekly and Take A Break’s Fiction Feast) and abroad. My work has been broadcast on Radio 4 and I’ve had articles published in Stella magazine and the Guardian. My short plays have been performed locally

Grease is the word ‘WM advises writers to write about what they know,’ writes subscriber Mick Mannion. ‘This I have done in my book – The Memoirs of a Motor Mechanic. It’s tales of the garage repair trade through the eyes of a grease monkey. It is nontechnical and contains humorous stories of the garage trade. Indeed even to this day I am amazed that after some of the incidents I kept my job. From dealing with pigs to undertakers, even rubbing shoulders with 007, it was not a boring life. ‘I sent some of the stories to the Professional Motor Mechanic magazine who printed them over a period of time, gave me a free advert and then entered one of the stories into their competition where it came top. ‘Always willing to try something new I entered Britain’s Got Talent as Sean Sheehan, The Kindling King, and went through to the semi-finals.’

Old farts, homed

‘Thanks to Writing Magazine I am now a published writer, at long last!’ writes subscriber Dawn Cawley. ‘Splendid Publications were featured in the magazine some time ago and wanted something “a bit different”. I emailed them to find whether my rambling effort was their cup of tea or not. They emailed back asking for details and shortly afterwards requested the manuscript. ‘To (mis)quote poor old Victor Meldrew “I did not believe it” when they contacted me saying they were happy to publish The Old Fart’s Guide to Survival. I signed the contract last February and the pocket sized book hit the bookshelves on 3 October, price £4,99. Its a quirky little read and is strictly for oldies with a sense of humour. It should also appeal to the younger generation searching for a present for Mum/Dad or Great Aunt Mabel.’ Website: www.splendidbooks.co.uk 54

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and I created the Frome Festival Short Story Competition. ‘Currently I run a weekly drop-in creative writing class at Babington House in Somerset.’ Website: www.alisonclink.co.uk

All in the best possible taste ‘My latest book published under the Ironheart series is a sci-fi horror novel, The Eye of the Gods Vol 1,’ writes subscriber Frank Sharman. ‘I really enjoyed writing this first fictional story to reach publication as a novel. ‘The original idea goes back to 1974 when I wrote the original story of just 12,000 words – hardly a novel and myself hardly a writer at the time. After some rejections this first story was sent to the loft, where it still sits. However, moving on more than forty years I looked at the original adventure and decided before rewriting it again it needed a prequel, setting the scene for the final adventure. The Eye of the Gods Vol 1: Ironhearts Bluff and the Awakening of Lar is the result. ‘With all my previously published writings being nonfiction and some dark poetry, writing a novel will be the test of my abilities, I thought. Could I write blood and gore, imagined domestic situations and what I thought would be most challenging, the sex scene, which I approached as a virgin. ‘Hopefully I’ve done it in the best possible taste, having previously read the article in Writing Magazine about men writing about the sex act and in many cases achieving a cringe factor or a real turn off to women readers. ‘In fact during my typing up of that special moment that is called the climax, my computer printer ran out of ink and left the whole event up in the air. It was so frustrating waiting for eBay to come to my rescue with an antique Font Writer cassette. Oh well, it happens to the best of us and no doubt my readers who already have the first books off the press will let me know how it was for them.’


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A traditional publisher for Louise

An inspiring place

‘My fifth bestselling title One Night Only hit the Amazon Top 100 Paid charts in June, just a couple of weeks after I signed a contract with Bloodhound Books to publish my sixth psychological crime thriller,’ writes subscriber Louise Mullins. ‘I am pleased to have finally hit the dream of becoming a traditionally published author and despite having sold incredibly well by myself the additional support of the team at Bloodhound Books is something that can only increase my position in the genre. Their advice and guidance have been wonderful and I hope that this sparks the beginning of a long and much-appreciated relationship. I’m excited to begin this new journey, and though I may still self-publish in the future I am glad to have been given the opportunity that these days seems to be extremely hard to find. ‘The Woman in the Woods follows my typical domestic noir theme and was available to buy in Kindle from 19 July. The paperback edition followed around the end of August.’ Website: http://louisemullins2010. wix.com/author

‘I walk my dog at a local bird sanctuary,’ writes subscriber Carol Arnall. ‘It is a truly beautiful area, with woodland walks, a wildflower meadow, and walks around a reservoir. The views are quite stunning, the tranquillity calms the mind. It is a truly inspirational place for a writer, or so you would think. Only it never happened for me! For ten years I walked my dog and tried on numerous occasions to write the story I knew was just on the edge of my consciousness waiting to be written. It did not happen. ‘Then about eighteen months ago I had quite a remarkable dream about a young woman called Ella and how she came to live at a cottage in an area very similar to where I walk. The rest of the story flowed and The Ghosts of Westerlea was born. I did not think that I had dreamt all of the book when I woke but while sitting writing it over the following weeks it came back to me. I found it a truly remarkable experience. It is the book that I have always wanted to write. ‘I have written eleven books including this one but never dreamed about them before I started writing. After I start writing I do dream about my work!’

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Editorial calendar

Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance submissions. Here are some themes to consider for the coming months.

March 2017

2 March

The whole of March is s Ovarian Cancer Awarenes r nce Ca Month and Prostate d goo a , nth Awareness Mo peg for human interest or well-researched articles on medicines, treatments and developments

The Loves of Mars and Venus by John Weaver wa s the first ballet to be performed in the UK, 300 years ago in 1717.

7 March

6 March

British Pie Week starts!

zz mmercial ja The first co es lu ery Stable B record, Liv d n la inal Dixie 0 by the Orig 0 1 ed was releas Jass Band, years ago.

Birthdays 2 March

John Irving Lou Reed would have been 75. Author also celebrates his 75th birthday.

8 March

6 March

In the first half of 1917 the Russian Revolution was gathering momentum, building to a head with the putsch in November. The Women’s Day Protests on 8 March were a landmark event.

Comedian Frankie Howerd was born

100 years ago.

25 March

Elton John will be 70.

15 March

The first Women’s Boat Race took place in Oxford ninety years ago.

Looking ahead April 2018 will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of mould-breaking comedian Spike Milligan. If you’re interested in writing about him, or his effect on British comedy, here’s your hook.

17 March

St Patrick’s Day celebrations take place throughout Ireland and the UK.

p56 Editorial calendar.indd 22

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JULY 2015

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WRITERS’ CIRCLES

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether you need new members, have an event to publicise or to suggest tips for other groups, email Tina Jackson, [email protected] ASA

Dorset Writers Network ‘Writers from all over Dorset gathered for the book launch of Dorset Writers Network short story anthology This Little World last year,’ writes Tracey Baines. ‘The launch was the culmination of the Dorset’s Digital Stories project, funded by Arts Council England and Dorset Community Foundation, and started in January 2015. Free workshops were held all over Dorset in rural areas reaching those who would not have access to events in the larger towns of Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. Workshops were facilitated by published writers and those who participated gained one free entry into the competition. The project was in two parts – adults and those in the 11-16 category – and more than 500 people participated in events last year. ‘Entry requirements were flash fiction of no more than 500 words, any genre and, most importantly, had to be set in Dorset. Winning stories were selected from entries by writers who encompassed a wide range of experience and those that needed more work were mentored by writers from Dorset Writers Network. ‘The launch event was held at Dorchester Library and Learning Centre on Saturday 14 November and over 100 people enjoyed the celebrations. ‘Workshops throughout the day included Social Media for Writers, Writing Screenplays, Dialogue, Writing for Young Adults, Online Publishing, Poetry and using family life to create stories. ‘The day concluded with a panel of writers talking about their differing experiences of being published by small publishing houses. Kate Kelly, Kathy Sharp and Laura E James then opened the floor to a Q and A session that was very popular and informative. This Little World is available from www.amazon.co.uk ‘Dorset Writers network was founded in 2010 by Sue Ashby and Pat Yonwin who have provided many opportunities for writers over the last five years. More events are planned and you can find out more at www.dorsetwritersnetwork.co.uk.’ 58

Northants Authors

SPOTLIGHT ON…

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‘The Northants Authors is a new group of local authors who have published their own books,’ writes chairman Joy Burnett. ‘Most of their books are in printed form as well as ebooks. ‘We hope you will be hearing a lot about us in the future as we expect to be in attendance at book shops and clubs, craft fairs and libraries where we will do talks, readings, workshops for those interested in writing themselves and signings for our customers. ‘We will welcome the chance to show the vast array of subjects that our group covers. Our members write a variety of different genres, from crime, short stories, novels, modern and historical, autobiographies, information guides and children’s books. ‘The main aim of the group is to present and promote to the public local talent that has not yet been discovered. We are very happy to help charities and clubs who host us with donations or a percentage of our sales.’ Website: www.northantsauthors.com

Nearing 90: Nottingham Writers’ Club ‘Our thanks go to those of your readers who entered the Nottingham Writers’ Club third National Short Story Competition,’ writes chairman Mars Hill. ‘The standard was higher than last year and we hope everyone benefitted from the feedback we were able to give. We know NWC isn’t the oldest writing club in the country so, if anybody belongs to one that was founded before 1927, we’d love to hear from you. The easiest way to get in touch is via the Contact Form on our website www.nottinghamwritersclub.org.uk. We’re looking forward to celebrating our ninetieth birthday next year and would love to know how other clubs celebrate similar occasions. Has anyone reached 100 yet?’

Writers’ group launches new initiative Frome Writers’ Collective is launching a new publishing initiative for its writers, Silver Crow Books. From its launch this month, Silver Crow Books will offer FWC members support, guidance and a screening process for manuscripts from a panel of trained readers. FWC chair Sue Watts said: ‘Getting a book ready to submit either to an agent or to a publisher can be a very tough process, especially if you’ve never done it before. We have already established links with a number of publishing partners but if the author wants to pursue their own course towards publication, we will also be able to offer advice on crucial subjects like page layout, cover design, marketing and publicity. ‘Obviously we can’t guarantee publication but one book, a crime novel written by an FWC member which has the Silver Crow seal of approval, is already scheduled to be published by an established imprint later in the year – and is due to be launched alongside Silver Crow Books in November. ‘Interest in the brand is spreading fast and we have a number of other titles in the pipeline.’ Since it was set up in 2014, FWC has built up a network of almost 100 members and has Chicken House publisher Barry Cunningham as its patron. Earlier this year it presented the Frome Small Publishers Fair, and has more events lined up for 2017. Website: www.silvercrowbooks.co.uk www.writers-online.co.uk

24/10/2016 10:18

WRITER’S CIRCLES

WHAT’S MY LINE?

Writing group members can help each other to get going with these exercises from Julie Phillips

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here comes a time in every writer’s life when we need a little nudge in the right direction. Maybe the muse has abandoned ship and you can’t think of anything to write? We’ve all been there and the trick is finding ways out of it that work for you. Sometimes worrying about it makes the fact that you can’t think of anything to write worse. This is where your writing group can help. This workshop is designed to free your creative mind and inspire you to write something new.

Throw a life line Ask your group to each write down a sentence. It can be a line of dialogue, a statement, a stage direction, a line of poetry, anything goes – any genre, any style. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it can be as simple as you like. Then each member swaps their sentence with someone else in the group. The idea then is that the member uses that sentence, either directly as it is or picks elements from that sentence and uses them in their own work. Depending on how long your session is, you could write flash fiction or part of a short story or the beginning of a novel, perhaps. You don’t have to write the complete thing. You could mind-map something or write down possible avenues the sentence could take you. Sometimes if we dwell too much on writing something it can stop us from actually writing, which is not the purpose of this workshop. If your members are struggling to come up with something, asking them to just write down a few words, impressions or thoughts that

arise from the sentence they’ve been given can be enough to kick-start their creativity and imagination. If they’re really stuck and can’t think of anything at all, open it up to the rest of the group; read the sentence out to them and see if they can throw a few ideas out to help.

Work it out If you have the time, you could give your group ten minutes to write or plan the start of their piece of writing inspired by or containing the sentence, then ask them to stop. Have a group discussion about their thoughts on the exercise and share a few of the resulting ideas/pieces of writing. Do any other group members have any other ideas about the writing that has been read out that might be worth considering? Have any of the sentences inspired members to write more? Do they know where they might be going with it next? Discussing ideas in this way opens up the group to think more about their own work and others’. It can be quite a revelation when you’ve been stuck on a piece of writing or an idea for a long time and someone in the group says or does something, often unrelated to that idea or writing, that suddenly gives you a light-bulb moment.

Expansion The group then write a second sentence that will be swapped with a different member of the group than in the first sentence exercise. The idea here is that you don’t end up with the same person’s sentences as there is a chance they might be written in the same style or voice. What you want is randomness; www.writers-online.co.uk

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something different so that you have to work harder to make connections and weave the sentences together. This makes the brain have to focus on something else that might have nothing, seemingly, to do with what they were writing. Having to incorporate it into their writing is a good way of finding new connections and inspiration, which might take their writing in a direction they hadn’t envisaged. Making it, potentially, better. Again, it would be good to break off at some point and discuss the group’s findings for this section of the workshop. Did the fact that the two sentences were unrelated and random make it easier or harder to work with and why? Thinking about the process of writing can often highlight why a writer might be struggling with a certain piece or idea and give clues as to how to untangle the problems to come up with a solution.

Planning If group members are planning their work, rather than taking the flying by the seat of their pants method, ask them to not put too much detail in – this mind map should be clear but uncluttered. If it gets too complicated the creative process could become stifled. Leave some room for manoeuvre. You can always do a more detailed plan later. Writers who always plan their work can find this workshop challenging but, if they give it a go, it can help them to see that throwing something odd into the mix, like two random sentences, opens their eyes to new possibilities and new directions for their writing. DECEMBER 2016

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“Also I have three stories in three anthologies with other authors – we’ve raised almost £2,000 for cancer charities” George Stewart “I am delighted to tell everyone that the course is everything it says on the tin, excellent! I have wanted to write for years, and this course took me by the hand and helped me turn my scribblings into something much more professional. I am delighted that my writing is being published and I am actually being paid. All thanks to the Comprehensive Creative Writing course.” Katherine Kavanagh “I have been publishing my own website for circus critique. This work has led to recognition in my field, with work offers ranging from writing book reviews for scholarly journals to running master classes for young people. I have had two paid writing residencies at festivals this year and have been employed to write tweets. Payments total £2575, plus expenses for travel, tickets to events and payments in kind in the form of review copy books.” YES! Please send me free details on how to become a successful, freelance writer. NAME .......................................................................................................................................... ADDRESS .....................................................................................................................................

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As a freelance writer, you can earn very good money in your spare time, writing the stories, articles, books, scripts etc that editors and publishers want. Millions of pounds are paid annually in fees and royalties. Earning your share can be fun, profitable and creatively most fulfilling. To help you become a successful writer we offer you a first-class, home-study course from professional writers – with individual guidance from expert tutors and flexible tuition tailored to your own requirements. You are shown how to make the most of your abilities, where to find ideas, how to turn them into publishable writing and how to sell them. In short, we show you exactly how to become a published writer. If you want writing success – this is the way to start! Whatever your writing ambitions, we can help you to achieve them. For we give you an

Rachel Dove “I won the 2015 Flirty Fiction Prima 12/05/2015 15:35 Magazine and Mills and Boon competition. The prize was £500, and the chance to work with Mills and Boon on my book which came out in April 2016.

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Years of Success


20/10/2016 16:57

! N I W

SUBSCRIBER-ONLY COMPETITIONS

£250 IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION

Goodbye

Short Story Competition Farewell to what? Or whom? Those are the questions that should spark your story to end the year, as we say goodbye to 2016 with a theme to match.

£125 TO BE WON

Your word limit is the usual 1,500-1,700 words and the closing date is 16 January. The winner will receive £100 and publication in Writing Magazine, with £25 and publication on www.writers-online.co.uk for the runner-up. See p107 for entry details, full rules and entry forms

TAP HERE

TO ENTER

p61 subs comps.indd 61

£125

STILL TIME TO ENTER

TO BE WON

With its closing date of 14 December, there’s still time to enter last month’s Music Short Story Competition. Your story must include music as a key element. Length and prize details are as above. See p107 for more details

24/10/2016 16:51

ords Three w or y short sttition compe

Winner

Waiting for a Call

PJ is a British writer and environmentalist who lives in Switzerland with his wife and Parson Russell Terrier. As an avid history buff, he writes a lot of historical short fiction. His stories are often set in the Second World War, frequently during the Battle of Britain. He is currently finalising an anthology about Spitfire pilots, their comrades, enemies and loved ones.

I

suppose I created a sort of mental barrier to block out all the memories. It worked well and held strong for years. Many years. Until one day the telephone rang. The trill of the bell breached the dam in my head like a psychological bouncing bomb and a tidal wave of sensations – old, familiar sensations – flooded over me: the dry mouth; the sweaty palms; the racing heart. I even got that weird, fluttering feeling in my stomach, as if I was looping the loop while sitting on the ground. It felt like I was there again… I watched – like everyone else – as the man at the desk in the Nissen hut picked up the receiver. He listened for a few seconds, muttered ‘Okay, thanks,’ and hung up. Twelve pilots held their breath, poised for action. ‘NAAFI cart’s on its way, lads.’ There was a half-hearted jeer. Then the frozen tableau reanimated as the men went back to card games, books, letter-writing and sleep. Yawning, I stretched in my deckchair, flexing tense muscles, and 62

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By PJ Stephenson

resumed my conversation with Derek Ambrose. ‘So are we going to play chess, then?’ ‘Nah,’ said Ambrose. ‘I can’t concentrate, and I can’t let you beat me a third time in a row. I might write home. I never seem to find the time these days.’ He yawned too, but made no effort to move or to find any writing paper. ‘So did you hear Winnie’s speech yesterday?’ I asked. ‘The one where he mentioned Fighter Command?’ ‘Yes. What was it again? Something about never has so much been owed by so many to so few.’ ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I think he was talking about the squadron’s mess bill.’ I laughed politely at a joke that had been recounted to me three times already that morning. ‘It must have been old Beazley,’ I said. ‘I’ve never seen a man drink so much and still manage to fly a Spitfire in the morning.’ It was his turn to be polite, flashing me a perfunctory smile. I checked my watch for the twentieth time and said, ‘They’ll be along soon.’ ‘The NAAFI?’ ‘No, the Hun.’ ‘They’re late today.’ Ambrose looked up at the sky. Perhaps he thought the radar operators and the Observer Corps had fallen asleep and the Luftwaffe bombers might appear

overhead at any moment. It was a glorious morning with a clear blue sky and just a hint of distant cumulus clouds on the horizon. Skylarks warbled as they circled neighbouring fields; swallows dipped low over the grass strip in search of insects. Balmy days like this always made me think of family picnics by the river when I was a kid. My father would wade into the water to look for trout hiding in the rocks. He’d have his trouser legs rolled up but his waistcoat and tie would always be perfectly straight and not a Brylcreemed hair would stray out of place. I’d follow along the bank, fishing rod at the ready, while my mother laid out a picnic on the blanket – plates of ham and pickled eggs, currant buns and jam tarts. Would summer ever create such happy memories again? I stretched once more in an exaggerated way and gazed over towards the Spitfires. Sun flashed off paintwork and Perspex. Ground crew sat in the shade of sandbags, smoking and talking in quiet drones, waiting to leap up and start the engines when they got the signal. ‘At least the condensation will have gone,’ I said, ‘My kite was sopping wet this morning. I had to help the rigger wipe down the canopy.’ ‘Yeah, you wanna be sure your visibility’s good,’ said Ambrose, self-


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S H O R T S TO RY C O M P E T I T I O N W I N N E R S

consciously fingering the red silk scarf around his neck. We had not yet said anything we hadn’t said at least once before that morning. He tried something new. ‘Did you hear about Draper? He was in the drink for over an hour yesterday before he got picked up by a fishing boat.’ He shook his head. ‘They say Jerry has air sea rescue.’ ‘It’s true,’ I said. ‘That’s why their pilots wear those yellow caps and put red dye in the water when they ditch in the drink – so their float planes can spot them.’ I lazily swatted away a wasp. ‘I saw one of their downed pilots the other day; he looked like he was bobbing around in red wine. I felt like going down and shooting the bastard. It wouldn’t be right though, would it?’ ‘No, wouldn’t be cricket,’ he said. ‘Mind you, we never invited the buggers over here in the first place, did we?’ I undid another button on my jacket and loosened my scarf. Ambrose lit a cigarette. The phone rang again. The window in the hut was open so it seemed louder than usual. Stillness once more descended on the assembled flyers. Ambrose slowly exhaled smoke between his teeth. ‘Okay, will do. Thanks. T’ra.’ The man at the desk calmly turned the page of yesterday’s Daily Mirror. ‘Bloody ‘ell, Bert. Can’t you tell ’em to stop calling unless it’s urgent?’ There was laughter as the orderly rolled his eyes and turned another page. ‘I want to live in the countryside after the war,’ proclaimed Ambrose, now blowing smoke rings, head tilted back in his deckchair. ‘With no telephone anywhere in sight. Quiet cottage; good local pub; cricket on the green every Sunday. Maybe sell a bit of fruit and veg. My old man was a grocer till he got caught out in the first innings.’ Ambrose used a lot of cricket analogies. Using one to talk about the maiming of his father in the Great War seemed somehow inappropriate, but I just said, ‘Sounds idyllic.’ He had his eyes shut now. ‘I’ll marry a good farmer’s daughter.’ ‘Do you have someone in mind?’ I said. He’d taken a local lass to the

village dance two weekends in a row, but he was being coy as usual. He still had a teenager’s shyness when it came to girls. But then, he was still a teenager. ‘No. But she’ll be a looker. She’ll have the roast dinner on the table when I get back after the match: lamb with all the trimmings. Good life...’ His voice trailed off as he got lost in his dream. From somewhere on the far side of the airbase came the rattle of machinegun fire: ground crew were testing an aircraft’s weapons. ‘No Hun shooting at me,’ added Ambrose. Heralded by a tooting horn, the NAAFI truck lumbered into view. We watched as it creaked to a halt. The driver scuttled into the back and opened the side flap, turning it into a serving counter. Men started queuing for their second breakfast. Steam rose from the tea urn; food sizzled on the grill. We’d all eaten in the mess at five o’clock that morning but that was a long time ago. My stomach rumbled loudly. ‘Fancy a bacon butty, Derek?’ ‘No, thanks,’ he said. ‘I won’t be able to keep it down. Maybe later, when we get back from the first sortie.’ ‘Tea then?’ EXPERT ‘Yes please, mate.’ analysis I had only just escaped the e’s To read the judg confines of my canvas chair : to comments go – and was still untwisting my / http://writ.rs Mae West life jacket – when wmdec16 the phone rang a third time. ‘There goes our cuppa!’ said Ambrose. And those were the last words he spoke to me. Bert yelled at us all to scramble. In two seconds we were running towards our aircraft; in three minutes we were airborne; and in twenty minutes Flight Sergeant Derek Ambrose was dead. He was one of the many of the Few who never came home that summer. Draper saw him get

It was my great granddaughter, Yasmin, that made me think of Derek Ambrose again after all these years. She got a new mobile for her birthday. To be honest, it’s more like a small computer than a phone; she writes on it, plays games, listens to music, watches television. Sometimes she even talks to people. It lights up her face with bright colours whenever she looks at it – which is most of the time. Imagine my surprise when this new gadget suddenly started emitting a ring just like the telephone in that dispersal hut. It took me straight back to 1940. I was hit by a wave of nausea. ‘Sweetheart,’ I said, trying to compose myself. ‘How does your machine make that noise? It sounds like telephones did when I was your age.’ ‘Great Grandpa,’ she said, not hiding her surprise. ‘I didn’t even know you had phones during the war.’ ‘Oh yes, dear, we certainly did. And one rang just like yours.’ ‘Really? Cool! I wanted a retro tone.’ She was beaming now that I’d authenticated the noise. ‘So do you like it?’ It was then that I told her all about my dear friend Derek Ambrose. Now when Yasmin comes to the home to visit me her mobile plays classical music. Poor old Ambrose – he’d never have believed a telephone would one day ring to the sound of Vivaldi. It’s better that way though. I like to remember; but not too often. And not every time the telephone rings…

Runner-up in the three words competition, whose story is published on www.writersonline.co.uk is Gary Sidley, Rossendale, Lancashire. Also shortlisted were: SB Borgersen, Mill Village, Nova Scotia, Canada; Alyson Hillbourne, Sherborne, Dorset; Spencer Lawrence, Cardiff; Eleanor Margetson, Shackleford, Surrey; Karen Martin, Maidenhead, Berkshire; Pauline Massey, Osney, Oxford; Daniel O’Donovan, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf.



hit by the rear gunner of a Junkers Ju 88. His Spitfire crashed into the Channel; there was no chute. I think he went down in flames, but Draper refused to tell me.

DECEMBER 2016

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e h t f o f o o r p e h T

. . . g n puddi ... is in the reading, says salivating poet Alison Chisholm

T

here should be a whole branch of poetry dedicated to the celebration of puddings, possibly with a subgenre for cakes and chocolate. How many readers have salivated over Pam Ayres’ list of puddings remembered from childhood? Yvonne Fee’s Four O’Clock Fantasy gives heightened status to the chocolate eclair. Marriott Edgar’s Sam (the one who had some issues with his musket) accidentally used his mother’s Christmas pudding to blow up the town his unit was attacking. Fortunately there is no record of a pudding mishap in Denise Randall’s piece, but warmth, cosiness, ritual and a loving family are the elements that animate her poem.

Stir-up Sundays Stir-up Sunday was the start of the festive season in our house. Hands scrubbed, make-do aprons tied with string, wooden stools scraped across the stone floor as we vied for position at the kitchen table. We were familiar with everyday egg, flour and butter. Not so the exotic aroma of cinnamon and mixed spice piled in little mounds around a large mixing bowl; the brandy soaked cherries, apricots, dates, candied peel, lemons and crystallized ginger. We had no idea where they came from and we didn’t ask. They were Christmas, along with pine, cigar smoke and tangerines. Two hands were needed to stir this rich mixture and each family member took a turn and made a wish. We’d watch Nan’s lucky silver sixpence disappear into the folds. It wasn’t the pudding I liked. It was the ritual spoon licking and the warmth of the kitchen. It was the anticipation of magic, the banter and the lightened mood, however brief.

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Denise, of Ainsdale, Southport, is no stranger to the Christmas poem, having compiled and edited an anthology in 2015. A Robin Called is a book of seasonal work sold in aid of the charity Diabetes UK. Putting it together underlined for its compiler the fact that it’s difficult to find something new to say about a subject that has been written about so very many times in the past. A poem that fails to find fresh material will not find favour; but in 2016 Denise Randall came up with a theme that nobody had offered when she was compiling her book. Stir-up Sunday takes the theme of the Christmas pudding and draws a range of fresh elements into it. There are memories and nostalgia, distinct images, and the recognisable shape of a traditional pattern on the page, but with the twist of free verse delivery. The poem starts with a hint of religion, with the phrase that opens the collect for the last Sunday before Advent, Stir up, we beseech thee O Lord, and the reminder to stir up the pudding as well rings in many British households. It ends with an implication of sadness with its mention of the lightened mood, however brief – and those last two words strike an ominous tone. But there at the heart of the poem, the family comes to life and truly celebrates the start of the festive season.

Stir-up Sunday makes good use of contrasts to add depth to the picture. There are familiar ingredients and exotic ones, the practicality of Two hands were needed to stir this rich mixture and the glamorous resonances of pine, cigar smoke and tangerines. In the last stanza, the second line creates the poem’s most intense contrast: It wasn’t the pudding I liked. It was the ritual spoon licking. This touches a universal point. The cliché of the child given a lovely gift and preferring to play with the box is ubiquitous, and so the poem chimes on a personal level with its readers. The tone of the piece is conversational throughout, as if the reminiscences are part of a cosy chat rather than a poem. The comments that open the middle two stanzas are direct and engaging, and there’s a confiding note that draws the reader in. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this poem, though, is its finely drawn imagery. The poet has a knack of introducing images that have resonance beyond their immediate description. The wooden stools and stone floor are vivid visual images, but they also communicate something about the styles of the time. There’s familiarity as well as cleanliness in the improvisation of the aprons, and the point about vying for position at the table gives us an idea of size and scale. The items mentioned at


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P O E T RY WO R K S H O P

the centre of the poem suggest smell, taste and texture as well as appearance. It’s hard to read about brandy-soaked cherries without tasting them, or about cigar smoke without knowing its singular scent in your nostrils. The metaphor that tells us that all these things are Christmas is far stronger than any watered-down simile would be. The child’s view of Christmas is conveyed in the thrill of making a wish, and the anticipation of magic that promises all the excitement to come; but we never lose sight of the fact that this is an adult recalling happy times, and the event is being remembered through – not explained by – a child. Two of its elements are crucial to the success of a free verse poem. These are the lineation, which should work alongside the phrasing of the poem, and the application of slant rhymes to confirm the piece’s validity as a poem. Both of these elements are in place, and working perfectly. Every line of the poem ends on an

interesting word, and there are no awkward sense breaks in the phrasing. The sounds in the poem are animated by plenty of examples of slant rhyme, with the alliteration of the title, the neatly buried full rhyme of tied / vied within lines two and four, the assonance of everyday egg and full consonance of candied / crystallized. The proximity of liked and licking, rich mixture and wish, and mixed spice piled in little mounds, along with the eye-rhyme of wooden stools, add to the effect. An essential part of the process of creating a poem is its revision, and a polished poem such as this suggests that it has been thoroughly revised already. It’s always difficult to know when to stop revising, no matter how well you know the theory about stopping after you have ironed out every slightest hiccup, but before you revise all the energy out of the poem. If the poet is still planning to work on this piece, it might be useful to tighten up on the wording

a little more. Just once or twice, the conversational note meanders slightly. As an example, it might be good to tighten the first line from was the start of the festive season in our house to something like started our festive season, or in the third stanza to reduce each family member to we all. Suggesting adjustments as slight as these may seem to be nit-picking, but in the rarefied atmosphere of a poem, a single word that could be improved should be improved. Then the overall effect becomes as flawless as the writer’s memories. In Stir-up Sunday, then, Denise Randall has offered the reader a privileged glimpse into her young life, a poem on a recognisable theme made fresh by all the elements drawn together in it, vivid sensory and emotional pictures, and, in the enigma of the last two words, a challenge to the reader to look beyond the surface and read something extra into the piece. Rise to the challenge. It will reward you.

Poetry in practice

P

Try out some light verse with ideas from Doris Corti

eople are inclined to look down on poets writing humorous verse. But this is the case only if fun poems are badly written. Limericks, rhymes, plays on words, all used in humorous poems, often exude wit and cleverness. Hyperbole, deliberately exaggerating to create an effect, is another useful tool. Structurally, repetition and alliteration help in highlighting certain words, lines or phrases that express humour. Light verse is a general term for poetry which is not principally serious. Some of the forms used for this include limericks, clerihews, nonsense verse, satire and parody. A limerick is written in five lines rhyming a, a, b, b, a. It is usually written in anapaestic metre, a metrical foot of three syllables – short, short, long – with the stress on the final syllable, making the rhythm of di-di-dum. Usually the first line of a

limerick ends with the place of origin of the subject of the rhyme. Edward Lear is probably the most famous writer of this form.

If anyone calls Say I am designing St Paul’s.’

There was a young lady of Wilts, Who walked up to Scotland on stilts; When they said it was shocking To show so much stocking, She answered,’Then what about kilts?’ The clerihew form is even shorter, four lines rhyming a, a, b, b, the first line usually consists only of the name of the person who is the subject of the clerihew. Lines can vary in length and rhythm, which can enhance the humour. Whimsical in tone it was invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who provides the following example. Sir Christopher Wren Said ‘I am going to dine with some men

EXERCISE l Write a greeting card verse to a special friend using a serious tone. 2 Write to another friend using one of the given forms.


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If you are writing for children they will enjoy lots of rhymes as well as alliteration and repetition in fun poems. A bouncy rhythm and emphatic rhyme will create lines that entertain. Nonsense poetry has an illogical logic of its own. Lewis Carroll wrote poems that had a strong sense of the absurd, as in the following example from one of his nursery rhymes. I dreamed a dream next Tuesday week Beneath the apple tree; I thought my eyes were big port pies, And my nose was Stilton cheese. These lines and many others like it are enjoyed by children especially those of infant/primary age. There is always a place for humour within poetry, but do try to avoid using banal rhymes and doggerel. DECEMBER 2016

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P O E T RY P R I M E R

Poetry from

A

to

Z

Poet Alison Chisholm guides you through the language of poetry MACARONIC POEMS bring together lines and phrases that are written in different languages. In its early examples, Latin would be included. Naturally, this device has limited appeal. A MADRIGAL may be a song or a short lyric poem written for several voices. It may have a complex, but not fixed, rhyme scheme, and does not have a specific metrical requirement. On the other hand, it may be written in three stanzas of loosely applied iambic pentameter, the stanzas having three, four and six lines respectively, with a set pattern of rhymes and refrains reading A B1 B2 a b A B1 a b b A B1 B2. On the other hand… there are numerous applications of the term, so perhaps the best advice for the poet wanting to write a madrigal is to select one set of rules and stick with them, rather than attempting a ‘mix and match’ exercise. The MAD-SONG STANZA gets its name as it was used for poems delivered in the voice of a madman. It is similar to the limerick, consisting of three longer lines and two shorter ones, but more likely to rely on iambic feet than the amphibrachs or anapaests of the limerick. The subject matter may be humorous, although this is not a demand of the form, but tends to be a little more fantastical than the limerick; and there is one fewer rhyme sound, with the pattern of x a b b a. Grim nightmares terrify with stratagems and schemes. But with a shake I’m wide awake and reaching for the dreams. 66

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EXERCISE: Write two mad-song stanzas, one humorous, one more visionary. A MASCULINE ENDING is simply a line that ends with a stressed syllable. The MASCULINE RHYME is formed from a word of one syllable that has the same final vowel sound or vowel-plusconsonant sound as another. It also occurs when words with more than one syllable have the same rhyming effect in their final syllable, as long as it is stressed. So cat and mat or key and me provide masculine rhymes, as do delayed, betrayed and cavalcade. As the second and third examples show, the effectiveness of this rhyme is based on sound rather than spelling. MEASURE is an alternative word for metre. Like logopoeia, MELOPOEIA is a term used by Ezra Pound to describe a way of working extra meaning into language. Melopoeia involves the sounds and rhythms in the poem that boost its message. These are, of course, heard when the poem is spoken aloud, but can also affect the silent reader, who ‘hears’ the words in the mind. MEMORIES provide poets with, perhaps, the richest seam they can mine for ideas, themes and subjects. Age is a distinct advantage here, because the older you are the more memories you have; and often the better your recall of long-past occasions. But for even the youngest

Perfect your poetry with a WM Creative Writing course. See p109

writer, new memories are formed with each passing day, and all have the potential to become poems. Some poems consist of nothing more than the recollection of an occasion, place, character or event in poetic format, while others introduce an additional element, such as imaginative input where remembered information is augmented with invented material. As a poet, you can not only use your own memories but also those of other people. A poem could work with shared memories of a situation, so that you pool your recollections with those of other people. It could even feature a third party’s memories as narrated to the poet. When you are exploring memory to find the source for a poem, it helps to relate it to different sensory experiences. By recalling what you could see, hear, taste, smell and touch on your target occasion, you find that sketchy memories are nudged and filled in even while the imagery for the poem is accumulating. EXERCISE: Test the extent of sensory memories by starting with a specific occasion from childhood, such as a day when you got lost, or a picnic that was rained off. For two minutes, write down all your memories of the day without thinking about the various senses. Now take another two minutes to write a response for each sense. These should produce a hoard of material to be developed into a poem. Try a second poem, this time using somebody else’s memories. Talk to them about an occasion in their life, and use the results to create the poem.


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P O E T RY C O M P E T I T I O N

Open invitation

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Set yourself up for a strong performance in the year’s most popular poetry competition, the Annual Open, with advice from judge Alison Chisholm

he Open Poetry Competition is the best one of the year for some of the Writing Magazine poets, as it offers total freedom of choice. Find your own subject and express yourself in your preferred way, and the brilliant poem pours itself onto the paper. For the same reason, the Open Poetry Competitionis the worst one of the year for other poets. The lack of any sort of direction other than line length makes impossible demands… and how do you ever find a benchmark? Wherever you stand on this point, it’s worth remembering that the competition may be won or lost before you write the first word. Intense preparation is every bit as important as your choices of subject and form. Unless you are overcome by a burning need to put a particular set of words on paper in a particular way, try these three pre-writing exercises. Start with a session of reading. This begins with some up-to-the-minute poetry, preferably material that is new to you. The latest copy of any good quality literary magazine is the perfect choice, but if you don’t have one to hand, a recently published anthology works too. Read a few poems aloud and then silently to yourself. What makes each successful? In other words, why did the editor reject up to 99% of the poems submitted in order to make room for this one? What is its theme, and how has the poet dealt with that theme? How does the route through the poem flow? Is there a logical movement from one sentence to the next? Are there well-chosen images and wording? Do you leave the poem enthralled, enriched or entertained by it? Now look at the structure. Is it in free verse or formal? How well do

stanza and line breaks work? Is it grammatical and punctuated? Did you notice the poem’s mechanics the first time you read it, or – better – did they slip by unnoticed? All the time you are studying the poems, you are both absorbing successful practices from an individual piece and steeping yourself in the music of poetry. You are putting yourself into the best frame of mind for tackling your own writing. When you have had your fill of other people’s poems, look through back copies of Writing Magazine in which there are poetry adjudications. Can you identify things that please the adjudicator, and others that don’t find favour? If one of your preferences of style or subject matter has been praised or condemned, make a note of it. After reading comes the thinking time. Go away from your desk and occupy yourself with any non-writing tasks, preferably routine ones you don’t have to think about too much. This is the opportunity for coming up with the cracking idea for your subject, finding something that fascinates you and so has the best chance of fascinating your readers. Let your mind skim over every possible source, sensible and bizarre, predictable and totally unexpected. Run through your memory bank, send your imagination spinning, and explore any potential idea from all angles. Keep asking yourself Have I ever read anything like this before? and Have I ever written anything like this before? If the answer to either question is yes, keep thinking. If the answer to both is

ENTER NOW Open Poetry Competition

To enter, submit poems on any theme up to 40 lines. First prize is £100, with £50 for second. The closing date is 16 January. See p107 for details.


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no, it’s time to start writing. It may still be helpful to keep yourself from actually writing the poem. Exercise three is to begin the process with a list of thoughts associated with your theme, or by flow writing starting with an interesting phrase and just spilling whatever words come next onto paper without conscious thought, or by building up a mind map of ideas associated with your theme. You will be expanding your mind in new directions, and amassing an invaluable hoard of material. After all this preparation, the actual writing of the poem may seem like an anticlimax. It’s important to approach the writing stage with enthusiasm, excitement and anticipation. This is the treat. This is what all the work has been for. Let your first draft flow and fill your paper with all the wonder that a poem should engender. There will be time afterwards to redraft, revise and refine your writing. For now, revel in the joy of the task. Only when this surge of delight has passed, days or weeks later, is it time to check your poem for the integrity of the message and its means of communication, the technical details of shape and form, rhyme and metre (if used), grammar and punctuation. If time permits, it’s useful to put the piece away and allow days to elapse before the second, third and subsequent revisions. Then you can be sure you have given your inspired poem every chance of success. Good luck.

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WRITING LIFE

Copy

protection Even the accusation of plagiarism can ruin a writer’s career. With a cautionary tale, Patrick Forsyth suggests how to guard against the possibility and defend yourself if the worst does happen

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t was the late Alan Coren who wrote: Sometimes I just don’t know where the next 500 words are coming from. Inspiration is a mysterious thing, but there are some places where words should certainly not come from... someone else’s writing. There is no greater threat to writing and selling your work than an accusation of plagiarism. This is not something that one often thinks about. I am just starting this article and aim to write 1,700 words, all of which must be original. No problem, well hopefully not as a result of any plagiarism.

It happened to me To set the scene, let me go back in time. The first things I had published were books about business skills and early on I drew on the corporate material of a management training company for which I worked. When I left the company I checked with them and obtained written permission that what I had done (and might do in future) could be done in my name. Fine. I continued to write books like Successful Time Management (Kogan Page) and worked with a number of different publishers in the UK and overseas. 68

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Later I then discovered that an ex-colleague, who had also written books, was accusing me of using their material. I first heard of this by chance from a mutual acquaintance to whom they had said something and, feeling I should check it out, I contacted the publisher I had done most work for and who had, of late, gone a bit quiet. I discovered that they had received a series of letters making accusations that I had lifted material from other books. Their reaction was not to contact me about it, rather to just to cease to work with me on anything new. They had also heard from a major bookshop chain which had received a letter demanding that they stop stocking my books. Their attitude was perhaps understandable. Such a situation could be complex, costly and time-consuming and I guess they wanted no part of it. I have never found out what motivated my accuser, but the specifics of the accusation were nonsense: for example, one claim was that my book about making presentations had described such as needing a beginning, a middle and an end, a device they said they had used first. Despite the nonsense (it was manifestly a ubiquitous description) their action

was making considerable trouble for me and threatening the part of my income that came from writing. I was able to reassure publishers that the claims were nonsense and show them the written permission that covered some material I had reworked. Stopping continuing accusations was another matter. Through membership of a professional body that provided free legal advice to members I went over the situation with a lawyer. Their advice was that my case was strong, very strong, but they added that if, for any reason, I lost a case, the costs I would incur would be in the tens of thousands of pounds. Even the tiniest chance of this outcome was sufficient to stop me taking legal action. It still seems unjust, but the way the law works did nothing to help. I might have got compensation, but there was no way I could afford to risk incurring costs of that level. In the event, I wrote to my accuser once and refused to respond to the rambling reply that prompted. I did spend a considerable amount of time contacting various publishers to reassure them and to preserve my reputation and the likelihood of


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receiving more commissions. Given the nonsensical nature of the accusations the publishers agreed to ignore the accuser (any response just led to further time-consuming correspondence). In due course, perhaps as no reaction was forthcoming, this activity stopped as mysteriously as it had begun. In the long term what happened did me no harm but it was a worry and it was time consuming for both myself and publishers – and the last thing any writer wants to be is a hassle to deal with.

Could it happen to you? From a contract point of view it is worth noting that most publishers include a clause getting authors to sign that if anything like this happens then any cost of rebutting it is paid by the writer not the publisher. Possibly a sobering fact, and one that applies to numbers of things, including the important matter of libel. While I am sure you don’t make a practice of copying other’s work verbatim, before you say ‘ it doesn’t apply to me’ there are some points you might usefully consider: • Research: the research done by both fiction and non-fiction writers can sometimes be considerable. I have an academic friend who writes about history and his desk can look like the aftermath of an explosion in a library as books and copies of various materials form undisciplined piles. As a variety of sources are checked, notes made and facts and priorities considered, it is possible that when actual writing is done words and descriptions lodged in the brain come out as the writer’s own and the original source is forgotten. Some care is necessary here; as I have indicated, accusations can make real difficulties that are well worth acting to avoid. • Collaborations: where people work together then again the lines can become blurred. If one person writes, for instance, a helpful aide memoire, and text from this gets incorporated into the writing of the other without due acknowledgement this can cause problems. Such could occur some considerable time later. Various circumstances can possibly be involved here and again care is sensible. • Quotations: quoting others – with acknowledgement – either involving

such can land you with penalties, a few words (as I did early in this though again many such are article) or using lengthy passages, available for a fee. is pretty common practice. At one • Titles: a title for a book or end of the scale no permission is article is not copyright. Thus this necessary: this applies to a few words is an exception and you can copy or a sentence or two, or even three. a title if you like (and cannot Writing this reminds me of something think of anything better). Clearly Dorothy L Sayers is reputed to have it would be at the very least said: I always have a quotation for potentially confusing and perhaps everything – it saves original thinking. self-defeating to copy something Certainly this sort of thing, the sort close to or competitive with your incidentally that fill books presenting own offering; you surely need a compilation of quotations, something that is different. is short enough that, while Technology can play a part an acknowledgement here. There is software that is required, no formal will compare text with material permission to reproduce is already published and spot necessary. If longer pieces without an editor even of published material are There is no greater plagiarism having to read it; in fact I once intended to be quoted threat to writing had an article rejected because then formal permission of this, even though what it should be sought from the and selling your highlighted was also written by original publisher. Often work than an myself (and published overseas). this is easily forthcoming, Equally you may find trouble in especially if it will effectively accusation of store simply because an alert-eyed give their writer a plug, plagiarism. photographer spots that you have but sometimes a fee is (inadvertently?) used one of their charged. Normally in such images. Certainly this is an area circumstances it is sensible about which to take care. to check the words used by way of acknowledgement with the publisher to ensure that they Protect yourself feel what is said is appropriate. Such Finally, while problems caused by may mention an author, the title of accusations such as I first mentioned their book or article, and in the case are perhaps an unlikely circumstance of an article where it was published, for most writers – though it happened and possibly a date. You might also to me – it may be that some sort of incorporate something descriptive: legal insurance makes sense for some the passage is quoted from that excellent people; just in case. If you have some book… It is usually good practice to sort of office insurance this can likely ensure that a quoted passage appears be added for very little extra money, in the final text in a form that shows and if you do not have that then it clearly that it is a quotation, perhaps may be something else to consider by putting the words in italics or or at least to double check, making indenting the section quoted, or both. sure that your home insurance covers • Internet: many writers make everything you would want (like a extensive use of the internet for laptop used outside the home or an research. This can be useful and timeincome protection element – as it saving, even if you must remember might take a while to recover from, that not every fact published online is, say, your study being burnt out). in fact, a fact! That apart, two other Additionally, some level of advice things are worth remembering: i) if is available from bodies such as you lift text in any way, particularly The Society of Authors. Care is if you highlight something which is necessary. It is easy not to think just part of a whole, and import it about such things when the sun is into your system, be sure not to then shining, but an unexpected rainstorm inadvertently incorporate it into your can make you glad you did. own text. Paraphrasing is one thing, Right, I’ve hit the prescribed plagiarism is quite another. ii) And, word count without, I believe, of course, most photographs shown using anything already written by online are copyright and copying someone else. Phew.

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s e k a t Mis to

avoid

III: AFTER PUBLICATION You’ve finally got your children’s book in your sticky mitts. Avoid these ten mistakes to ensure you’ll soon be pressing into customers’ hands instead, advises Amy Sparkes

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n the previous two months, we’ve looked at common mistakes to avoid when writing a story for children and when submitting your book. This month, in the last of our mini-series for beginners, we look at what not to do after your book is published!

Don’t hold a book launch

Congratulations! Your book is written, published and about to make its way in the big, wide world. Unless you’re incredibly lucky to have an overnight success on your hand, it’s important that you publicise your book to announce its arrival. There are mixed views on whether a launch actually affect sales figures or not, but at least by holding one you are stating that your book is here, and it’s worth celebrating. Launching a book doesn’t have to be as terrifying as it sounds. This is your book, and although your publisher may have ideas, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do. You might prefer to hold something low-key like a signing in a local bookshop (or a handful of bookshops in neighbouring towns or areas, if you can travel further afield). Or you could go to the other end of the scale, hire a venue and organise multiple activities, complete with matching cupcakes. Think about what you’d be happy with (although don’t be afraid to nudge yourself out of your comfort zone) and ask your publisher what they could provide. If you’re really not happy with an official book launch, don’t worry; there are plenty of other ways to publicise your book. 70

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2

Don’t promote your book enough

With or without an official launch, it’s important to persist with publicity for best results. Visiting schools or pre-schools and writing press releases for local papers will help remind people of your book around the time of publication and the subsequent months. After this time, the buzz will naturally quieten down. However, rather than your book disappearing into the Backlist Fog, look for opportunities to gently remind people of its existence, such as publication anniversaries or occasions through the year which relate to the subject of your book. However…

3

Promote your book too much

...Having said that, there is such a thing as over-promotion. If you solely mention your new or latest book every time you communicate with the outside world, people will get fed up. And probably won’t buy your book, either. If you find you’ve stopped getting positive feedback, retweets or party invitations and even your cat’s eyes are starting to glaze over, it’s time to pause.

4 Don’t visit schools or bookshops Instead of continually promoting your book to people you’re in contact with, try going out and about. Organise a book tour and visit schools or pre-schools. (If you’re solely going to promote your book, they may expect you to visit free of charge.) If you haven’t visited a school before, this might sound quite daunting but don’t be put off. Yes, you may be nervous for your first visit (I was terrified!) but it’s worth stepping out of your comfort zone and grabbing this wonderful opportunity. Hopefully you’ll become more relaxed with every visit and genuinely enjoy sharing your book with readers. Remember, as with the launch, you are in control of the visit. You should never be left without a teacher and you can choose how to run the event. You might prefer just to read your story to the class. That’s fine. Or, you could organise a Q&A session (give teachers notice so the children can think up interesting questions). You could also run craft activities around your book, which works especially well for younger children. Similarly, contact bookshops (local, regional or national) to see if they would be interested in holding a signing event. Meeting readers (or potential readers) where they are is a great way to boost sales and encourage interest in your book. Unless your book is lucky enough to be an overnight success, be prepared for quiet spells. Bring a notebook and pen, so you can write during the quiet moments instead of feeling awkward. What better place to dream up ideas than a bookshop?


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WRITING FOR CHILDREN

5

Be too modest to put yourself forward for events

When your first book is published, it’s easy to feel in awe of the weird and wonderful world of publishing. However, don’t be tempted to think people aren’t interested in you as a writer just because you’re new. Try contacting your nearest literary festivals (for a comprehensive database, go to www.literaryfestivals.co.uk) and see if you can become involved. You’ll find it valuable experience and a great way to spread the word about your book. Perhaps you could run a storytelling session with activities based on your book. Also keep an eye open for local bookshop events that you could link in with.

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Ignore libraries Libraries and authors can be best friends. Both share a love of books and a love of encouraging people to read them. Contact libraries as your book is being published to see how you could work together. Reading at Saturday morning story sessions, supporting library initiatives, inviting schools in for events, book launches, workshops… the possibilities are many.

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Don’t set up author pages or websites An online presence is really helpful for directing people to you and your book. This is a place to share information, encourage sales and promote your events. Setting up your own website is a good start. Get ideas by checking out the websites for your favourite children’s authors. You could create a child-friendly, interactive site, although if you’re paying for someone else to create it you, be aware that this could soon run into hundreds of pounds. Alternatively, you could use a free content management programme, such as WordPress (www.wordpress.com), which has a plethora of interesting design themes. You can use this website, not only for a blog, but also for book information, contact details, or fun pages for children. You could also set up a separate website

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for a certain book or series. Again, this could be utilising a free system, or you could pay to create a more bespoke website. If you are using the website for just one book, check that you have enough material to ‘fill’ it. If you are writing a series, or have created a particularly interesting concept or world for your story, you will have more material. Publishers may also intend to set up a separate website for your book, so communicate with them before you charge ahead. And if they don’t intend to, perhaps you could persuade them! Social media is another way forward. Many authors use Facebook and Twitter not only to promote their own books, but also to communicate with other authors and the writing world. It is also an accessible way for members of the public to contact you.

9

Constantly look at your sales figures

Some publishers provide access to your sales figures, often updated on a weekly basis. This is both a blessing and a curse: a blessing, because you have up-to-date feedback about the reception of your book; a curse, because if these figures are less than brilliant, you can become disillusioned and if they are more than brilliant, they can become the most important thing in the world. Don’t let figure-gazing detract from the achievement of having your book published or distract you from more productive tasks.

10

Don’t write anything else Most writers are keen to produce more than one book (if you’re really not, then skip this one!). If you’ve been published traditionally, or you’ve been accepted by an agent, one of the early questions will be, ‘Okay, what’s next?’ In the early days of your book’s publication, it is important to spend time promoting your new book, creating a website, visiting schools and so on… but as the initial buzz dies down, don’t forget to allocate time for working on new projects. This will make sure your creativity doesn’t get swallowed up in the busyness of activities and administration. It will also keep your writing programme ticking along. It’s good to have a second book to follow the first as it helps establish you as a writer. Plus, the release of a new publication usually renews interest in your older ones, so you’ll be doing your sales figures a favour if you write something new anyway.

Constantly look sideways

Speaking of authors, it’s good being in touch to support each other, discover new books coming out, or see what events are running… But, if you find yourself feeling disheartened to hear a debut author has been offered a fivefigure sum or has been shortlisted for twenty high-profile awards when your book hasn’t even made Waterstones, it’s time to stop looking sideways and start looking forwards. Focus on your own achievements and your own progress.


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Whatever you do (or don’t do!), take time to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing your book released in the world. You’ve invested so much time and effort creating it. Now reap the rewards and have fun along the way!

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I time

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Journalists usually try to avoid ‘featuring’ in their articles, but sometimes an I is exactly the focus you need, says Tina Jackson

his month, it’s all about me – well, you, actually. Our series about feature-writing skills in journalism has so far concentrated on stories reported in third person, where the writer’s outsider position amplifies the reader’s knowledge by presenting accurate details of the how, where, what, why etc of a story. But there are times when you, and your personal point of view, make up a major part of the story.

Me first to the bar Personal narratives and eyewitness accounts. Experiential writing. Memoirs. You may not (or perhaps you may!) want to write features like this one by Tom Usher on Vice.com in September: I Went on a Wetherspoons Holiday and Got Really, Really Drunk (http://writ.rs/wetherspoonsholiday) – an account of the writer doing just that, complete with photographic evidence. But in these times when Facebook and reality TV constitute a parallel virtual universe that many people prefer to the offline world, there’s increasingly a place for attention-grabbing personal accounts of something the writer has done, and a way of doing it so that despite it being ostensibly all about me, me, me, it’s about something else as well. Unsurprisingly, the piece we’ve picked out is from Vice, which specialises in first-person documentary stories about unusual topics and uses the tropes of entertainment culture to trip its readers into well-researched and often exceptional current affairs stories. The Wetherspoons piece is a good, well-written example. Tom’s first-person story incorporates topical issues and facts so that it becomes a 72

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spirited, satirical account that pokes fun at British drinking culture and the budget holiday industry – and at the writer himself, as he cheerfully poses sunbathing in a pub car park. The key to Tom Usher’s piece is that, whilst it is written as a personal story, it is not self-centred and it is never boring. The writer is looking outwards and filtering the story from his own perspective, but the piece is more about the story than it is about Tom.

The story is more than you First-person writing is not, or should not be, selfindulgent writing. Even if every word in it is about you, it is being written with readers in mind. A good memoir reaches out to its readers and draws them into a story – and yes, it may be your story, but it is not just written for you. You put yourself into a story so readers can access a bigger picture. Even if what you are writing about is a profoundly personal experience, it is not your journal – it is a story that you are telling to other people. You are not the story – the story is the story, and it is being told by you. The idea should be more than just the story of the person telling it – it should have some kind of universal application. ie, not ‘I had a total nightmare filling in my tax return’ but ‘filling in tax returns is a pain, as I discovered to my cost.’ Or, not ‘why did I only meet weirdos on internet

“”

dating’ but ‘internet dating is full of weirdos, as I found out when I tried to meet someone normal on it.’ This long-form piece, What the cleaner saw: dirty secrets of the upper crust (http://writ.rs/ whatthecleanersaw) is a wonderful example of using a bird’s eye personal perspective to (in this case literally) shine a light into grimy corners of human experience. The observations of the lives of the people whose Manhattan apartments its author, Lizzie Fieldsen, cleaned allow us an intriguing, intimate insight into the hidden lives of the wealthy and privileged. The angle is unusual (what the cleaner saw) yet universal (everyone’s houses get dirty and we’re all fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes in other people’s lives). Like Tom Usher, Lizzie Fieldsen gives us enough detail about herself and her life to make us warm to her and want to follow her story, but you’ll notice that every detail she includes about her own life is, in some way, relevant to the story she’s telling. Her personal anecdotes are selected as a frame for her major theme: the ghastly things she finds in the houses of people who appear polished to the outside world, and particularly, how these people with a sense of entitlement treat their cleaner as if she were invisible.

In a world where the boundaries between magazine and blog can sometimes be hard to make out, chatty, first-person stories are easy to read and an effective way to communicate something.

It happened to me First-person narratives work well for quirky, unusual stories. ‘My day at


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F E AT U R E S D E S K

the garden centre’ would probably not pique the interest of an editor because no matter how much you personally learn and grow in the process of transforming your garden, it’s a relatively mundane activity. On the other hand, the story of your postbreakup odyssey through the South American rainforest to witness the blooming of the rarest plant on earth is sufficiently off the wall to attract interest. Not guaranteed, of course, but if you tell it well and connect it to a universal theme (getting over a breakup, the euphoria of a once-in-alifetime experience, our planet’s fragile, threatened ecosystems) you might be on your way to a sale. In a world where the boundaries between magazine and blog can sometimes be hard to make out, chatty, first-person stories are easy to read and an effective way to communicate something. They work particularly well for lifestyle topics, where readers can be fired up by personal accounts, and many niche magazines feature this kind of story, including WM. Pieces like this can create a real sense of community amongst readers. The first-person accounts of publishing success stories in our Subscriber Spotlight pages are immensely popular with WM’s readers, many of whom write in to tell us that these stories inspired them to get their own writing and publishing projects off the ground. If they were reported in third person, they’d tell the same stories, but would lose the immediacy of engaging with the personal voice of the writer describing their experiences. First-person narrative is also a convincing way to tell difficult, even heartbreaking stories about very personal traumas that also have universal application – the stories of loss, illness, misfortune and betrayal that go under the heading of ‘misery memoir’. The popularity of these prove that many readers love the confessional aspect of ‘true life’ experiences, and the intimacy of a personal voice makes them feel involved in the story that’s being told. More than being a fly on the wall of other people’s lives, these stories often create a sense of community amongst their readers; when they’re done well they can strike a chord with readers who may have had similar experiences.

It’s worth knowing though, that many of the first-person true life stories featured in magazines like Take a Break, That’s Life, Chat, etc, are the results of in-depth interviews with journalists skilled in this territory, who then write up the stories in first person for their readers. And ‘misery memoir’ books are often ghosted.

being told are all choices that have been made, whether that’s by the writer, the editor, or the publication. There is no such thing as an entirely unbiased media; we all chose media whose attitudes and preferences reflect our own. First-person narratives just bring us up more clearly against this, when in fact it is (as we’ve looked at) very possible for a first-person narrative to go well beyond the person Your own voice of its author to give an insight into The strength of any first-person story topical issues and universal themes. lies in the strength of the writer’s First-person writers have the added voice. Your viewpoint, passion and responsibility of making it clear distinctive voice can make the writing to readers why they are making lift off the page and create a really themselves visible in their work: ie, memorable, engaging experience for Perfect why they have allied themselves the reader – did you see the piece riting your article w to a particular case or cause, why by Lora Bishop about the writing reative they want to reveal something group from hell in last month’s with a WM C e. personal about themselves, what WM? The topic – writing groups Writing cours has motivated them to tell this – was relevant to our readership, 09 p1 See particular story now. but Lora’s voice – self-deprecating, The greatest objectivity the writers observant, funny, sardonic – was what of first-person journalism need is the sold the piece to the editor. ability to see themselves and their Voice can be the downfall of this story clearly enough to convey it kind of story too – the voice needs in words that will make sense to a to be engaging and convincing, but reader. Passion and personal stories not in any way fake, forced or false. are never going to be ‘objective’ We’ve all read (and cringed at) firstbut to be effective – to really reach person narratives where self-conscious, their readers and make an impact on or worse, self-important, attempts at them – they need to be well-told. humour, arch references, pompous Like all journalism, that entails a writing style, boasting, and the writer structure, facts, topicality etc. You’ll banging on about themselves beyond need all that because you have a reasonable point have made us lose to direct your story and make it patience with their story, no matter credible. But if you can do that well, how enticing the premise. No-one this vivid, engaging kind of writing wants a piece that could be subtitled is journalism in its most accessible – Or How I Bored Readers Senseless and popular – form. Throughout the Description of What Should Have Been the Trip of a Lifetime, so keep it short, snappy, straightforward and above all, relevant. Readers may not agree with you, or like you (writing in first person leaves you more vulnerable to both than if You won’t have to dig far for this one, because we’re you were writing in third person) but going to start our first-person narrative exercise with that old but pertinent chestnut, writing what you know. those are occupational hazards. They Pick the memory from your teenage life that most do, though, have to believe in you, so haunts you now, all these years after it happened. It your voice must ring true.

Now try this

Subjectivity, accuracy, responsibility By their nature, first-person voices are subjective. By its nature, journalism strives (or at least in an ideal world it does) for accuracy. But in fact all journalism is to some degree subjective: what is covered, whose story is being told, and how it is www.writers-online.co.uk

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might be sad, funny, tragic, inspiring – but pick the one you always return to. Now write it, with the benefit of hindsight, so that its readers understand not just what happened and why, but how it has affected you throughout your life and how you now view the event in retrospect. Remember, in writing it, that you are telling a story, and need to create a narrative that takes the reader from an introduction to a sense of resolution at then end. Aim for 1,000 words.

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CRIME

CRIME FILE

BEHIND THE TAPE

Cath Staincliffe discusses uniting nine disparate characters on a train in her new novel, with Chris High Crimewriter and serving police officer Lisa Cutts answers your legal procedure queries is evidence of suspicious activity suggestive of dognappers Q Ifinthere a particular area, and someone rings up 101 to report this, what would the next course of action be?

on the activity and when it occurred, the A Depending initial response may simply be to send officers to the

location to see what they find and deal with anyone in the area. If it appears to be an organised criminal gang, it may prompt more officers to delve further, deal with whatever they find and very possibly, set up long-term preventative measures such as free dog-chipping. The theft of puppies from a reputable breeder is a very lucrative business so if the investigation points in the direction of something on a larger scale, this may also lead to a planned operation to prevent further offences and arrest those responsible. For writing purposes, this can be taken as wide as required or scaled down as it needs to be so it fits your plot. a modern police force actually arrest an octogenarian suffering Q Would dementia/Alzheimer’s in order to put them through the system – recording, fingerprinting,photographs etc, when there is little possibility that they would be placed before a court? I appreciate that someone with such health issues would be regarded as ‘unfit to plead’ in a court.

this is something that does occasionally occur. Even A Sadly, though a person may be in their eighties or sometimes

nineties and suffering from such an illness, if they are suspected of being responsible for taking someone else’s life, their arrest is extremely likely. There have been a number of distressing incidents where fights have broken out in care homes between elderly residents, or sometimes only a push has resulted in the death of one of those involved. Although no one wants to arrest anyone under such circumstances, the distress of the victim’s family and friends is a key factor and should never be overlooked. Paramount, of course, is the assurance of the safety of the other residents and staff. Even though someone is an octogenarian and suffers from dementia, it doesn’t rule out the possibility that they may commit further offences and harm someone else. Depending on the circumstances, the Crown Prosecution Service may decide that the suspect should face a trial, and tragic situations have resulted in defendants being found guilty or pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The judge may also order that the sentence be served in a secure hospital unit where the defendant receives treatment for their mental health condition. Putting someone through the court system in such circumstances is only likely to occur for a very serious offence. 74

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ath Staincliffe’s latest novel, The Silence Between Breaths (Constable) is not for the faint of heart. Packed with visceral, emotional description and constant tension, it is the story of nine passengers heading to London from Manchester on a train. It’s a thoughtprovoking work, which takes one particular event seen from several viewpoints and, as a result, provides many different strands. ‘The characters were key to the book, far and away the most important element, and I spent several weeks working out who they were and getting to know them inside out before I began the novel. It was a real risk having so many viewpoints – nine in all – so I put a lot of effort into making that aspect, the distinctiveness of the characters, as strong as possible. It was a challenge keeping the viewpoints together but separate. I made a lot of diagrams and charts, and a timeline, to help. Many Postit notes and coloured pens were used.’ Then there was the vital decision as to what the novel would be called. ‘The publishers and I had been hunting for the right title for weeks on end. We wanted something that captured the emotional heart of the story and nothing too literal. I had pages of possible ideas and spent ages poring over the thesaurus and books of quotations, but we couldn’t find anything everybody agreed on. The Silence Between Breaths came to me at the eleventh hour. No idea where from, but possibly a place of desperation. It was such a relief when it did though.’ For so many characters to be distinct, a bond has to be shown between them and the author: a tie which is not always easy to create or break. ‘It was very emotional writing The Silence Between Breaths and I did get bound up in the story and ended up in tears at times. The most difficult aspect was probably sacrificing one of the characters I was really fond of, and also putting others through the horrors of a life-changing trauma and its aftermath. That was hard but there seemed to be some sort of logic, true to the story, that dictated who survived.’ Away from writing novels, Cath is also responsible for creating TV series Blue Murder and the books based on the Scott & Bailey TV series. She has also recently written a highly acclaimed play, Sanctioned, that is a far cry from the world of crime. ‘It was born from the anger and sadness I felt at the blatant demonisation and scapegoating of vulnerable and impoverished people claiming benefits, in particular the use of work capability assessments and the imposition of sanctions. It’s brutal and heartbreaking. It wasn’t something I could write a novel about but I thought it might make a play – and I decided to write it as an entry for the annual Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. When Sanctioned was longlisted I was really thrilled. I’m quite lucky in that I can multi-task if the projects are in different forms – I would never work on two novels at the same time. As for the characters, I suppose the main difference is that with a novel you can convey thoughts and feelings through interior monologues but for a play it all has to be expressed in the dialogue and action, although I cheated a bit in that regard as I gave my characters alter-egos who verbalise the subtext.’

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How I got published Annabel Abbs, author of The Joyce Girl, published by Impress Books, shares her path to publication with Dolores Gordon-Smith

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Three years ago I came across Mary and Bryan Talbot’s graphic novel about Lucia Joyce, the daughter of James Joyce, and was immediately intrigued and furious, in equal measure. Fascinated by her untold story but furious at how she’d been treated, I began researching. I discovered she’d had affairs with Samuel Beckett and Alexander Calder, been treated by pioneering analyst, Carl Jung, and then left in an asylum to die – but that all her letters and medical records had been burned. The only biography of her was by a Joyce scholar and reviewers had noted that a fictionalised account of Lucia’s life might have been more effective. At the same time, Joyce had come out of copyright making it easier to access the notoriously difficult Joyce Estate. ‘Meanwhile I had terrible insomnia and was looking for something to do in the night that wouldn’t disturb my four young children and husband. I began writing Lucia’s story, invariably starting at 4am. ‘After four months I had a first draft. Only I didn’t realise it was a first draft and foolishly sent it out to a few agents. Most of them rejected it, but one asked to see it (and then rejected it!) and one sent me two pages of notes (and a rejection). It was those two pages of feedback that encouraged me to keep going. I figured that if a very busy agent was prepared to do that, I must be getting something right. I put the manuscript in a drawer and decided to teach myself the rudiments of creative writing while penning some short stories. I’d never been able to attend a writing course because of my family commitments, so I bought some how-to books and got reading. A month later, one of my stories won first prize and £100. It was another pivotal moment. ‘Until then I’d been writing in secret – even my husband didn’t know. The prize gave me the confidence to get out my novel, rewrite it in the past tense, and give it to some friends and family to read. From there I rewrote it again and sent it to a literary consultant. After another rewrite, I entered it for some competitions and, to my amazement, it was longlisted (for two), shortlisted (for two) and finally won the Impress Prize for New Writing. After a professional edit, it was rewritten again! ‘I now have an agent, Sharon Galant at Zeitgeist Literary Agency, and The Joyce Girl sold at auction to Hachette in Australia and to Aufbau Verlag in Germany.’

Rachel Singleton, Editor, Impress Books ‘The Joyce Girl caught our attention first and foremost because Annabel won the 2015 Impress Prize for New Writers. The panel of experts who judged the shortlist took no time in telling me that The Joyce Girl was a definite winner, that the writing was brilliant, the idea was inspiring and they could see it shooting up the bestsellers list. When I first read the full manuscript, it also quickly became clear that winning the prize was only part of the merits of this book. From the very first page, the writing was fluid and enticing and Annabel had shown a staggering expertise in creating vivid and vibrant images of the glamour of 1920s Paris. Finding a debut writer with this level of brilliance is a rare exception and I knew that this novel was not going to slip through my fingers. ‘The Joyce Girl is an evocative work of fiction that immerses you in an enthralling representation of Jazz Age Paris, captivates you in the light of Lucia’s past and leaves you so invested that you’ll want to read everything else ever written about Lucia Joyce. There are two guarantees when you read this novel: the promise of a novel rich in life and detail and that Lucia’s story will make you cry. Annabel’s novel is everything that we hoped to achieve by running the Impress Prize for New Writers and we’re thrilled with the successes we’ve had with it so far.’

ANNABEL’S TOP TIPS: • Re-write, rewrite, rewrite and then enter competitions. • Put your novel away for several weeks after each rewrite. Distance is vital! www.writers-online.co.uk

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LIGHT SPEED PROGRESS Can science-fiction really keep up with science-fact – and does it have to, asks Alex Davis

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he earliest days of science-fiction were marked by a distinctive tendency to dream, to imagine, to ponder on what astounding things might be. You could read incredible stories in the fledgling years of the genre, tales of time machines, fantastical alien beings, space travel and teleportation. If early fantasy was the fiction of the knowingly and happily unreal – tales of great heroes and escapism – SF could set itself apart by saying that these were things that maybe, just maybe, could be one day. These were speculations, possibilities, and it’s fair to say that many elements in the earliest scifi are now with us. Sure, maybe we haven’t cracked time travel or teleportation, but think about how our world would look to someone who lived 100 years ago – incredible devices in our pocket that can access almost any information out there and allow us to speak to a person anywhere else in the world, machines that can propel us down highways at astounding speeds, vessels that can take humans to the moon and unmanned craft that can plough even further out into the galaxy. Even 50 76

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folks living ten years ago would be pretty stunned to see what we could do now. But in this age of technological, industrial and computing marvels, what is there truly left for us to dream of in science-fictional terms? And how has the exponential growth, that relentless march, of technology affected the genre – and what do writers need to bear in mind right now in tackling SF stories?

SHADES OF LIGHT AND DARK One of the biggest changes in sci-fi over time – as we’ve discussed here previously – is that it has become a darker, dare I say more cynical, genre. The initial feelings of adventure and excitement that the genre was infused with have become less prevalent, although they still exist strongly in the space opera portion of the field. As is so often the case, there is a market for everything out there, but in its first iterations science-fiction was loaded with thrills and adventure – it’s not referred to as ‘The Age of Wonder’ for nothing. As the world has become wiser, and the wonders of technology have become tempered with the dangers

and risks often involved, there can be – there has to be – less optimism. Some work in the area can be very much seen as warnings – what would happen if we went too far? Where could the path of technology lead us? Some of the best known classic SF stories – 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of The Apes, The Terminator – come with a distinct layer of threat as to what could happen should we allow technology to advance too far. The concept of computer technology or genetic science seeing humanity surpassed by their own creations goes back even further than those examples, and has also been explored in many other books and films. Of course, the real risk that these stories present is that once things have progressed too far, there is simply no way to come back – how are we, as the originators of technology, supposed to recognise that line? But in a world of incredible demand and desire for technology, who would say what is too far – and who would be the one to stop that endless advance? As pieces of relevant consideration and thought-out criticisms of the direction of science and technology, the genre can certainly offer something very powerful.


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FA N TA S T I C R E A L M S

IS THERE ANYTHING TRULY IMPOSSIBLE? I feel it’s also fair to say that – given the advances we witness all the time – it is hard to truly imagine a sciencefiction book that can stir the same sense of wonder a title could sixty or seventy years ago. Yes, more exists, but that’s only half the problem for a sci-fi writer in 2016. It’s also that much more has been imagined – it seems each step forward in science and technology simply opens more doors and fresh possibilities. So is it really possible for us to awe our readers? I would say yes, but there is often so much more work involved, huge swathes of detailed worldbuilding and vast scope to give the reader a way to tune into the society and the technology that exists there. The work of authors like Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter are epic in scale and are truly able to leave readers stunned – a much harder feat now than it once was.

RIGOROUS EXPECTATIONS The other challenge for a sciencefiction writer is the amount of easily accessible information out there – the internet itself is very much a mixed blessing for genre authors, because it is a wonderful tool for research and can enable you to add an element of reality to any SF tale. However, equally, the internet is an almost infinite repository of information and if you are not an absolute expert you are unlikely to be able to find enough to pose as one. Mistakes will be noticed by the many SF readers with an interest in the science as well as in the fiction. I would argue the best bet for a writer is to either duck any explanation of the technology required – because your characters may well not feel the need to go into concepts that would be fairly familiar to them on a day-to-day basis – or to really find out how things work. Anything half-baked is simply unlikely to pass muster, and will inhibit the reading experience in many instances.

MEANDERING TECHNOLOGY Of course, what we have explored this far largely refers to what you could consider important and significant

pieces of technology, giving us great advances in communication, information-sharing, the scope for human travel and more besides. It’s also important for us to remember that not all technology necessarily leads anywhere really useful, or aims to benefit all of mankind in some novel sense – and that entertainment and technology also go hand in hand. In 2016 we have more television channels to hand, television on demand, countless TV shows and films to watch online, more gaming consoles and the new advent of home VR machines in the shape of the Oculus Rift. But equally, this can be technology that is dangerous in its own way and could oh so easily shape the future, giving it an undoubted place of worth in SF. The genre has often explored the possibility of where ‘entertainment’ technology may lead, and very often this and that idea of ‘high technology’ with noble aims are combined to create powerful settings and vivid worlds for stories. And this is also a development that could be just as dangerous – games could be so addictive and immersive that people find them impossible to leave, VR could reach the extent that reality becomes a less desirable concept, social media could replace real socialising – concerns every bit as possible and pressing as what could happen with other tech out there.

AN ARENA FOR DISCUSSION Science-fiction is a genre that can achieve many different things – there is little by way of fixed expectation from fans as to whether a book will make them cry, laugh, think or all three. Some other genres can be more limited by expectation – comedy sets out to make you laugh, romance aims to make you feel romantic and emotional, horror intents to make you feel uneasy and nervous. SF is broad and expansive, providing many varieties, more so now than it ever has done. And that is because the changes in technology prompt so many different responses from writers and readers seek so

many different styles and views. It is a genre that very much favours opinions – there is no absolute answer to the moral, ethical and social dilemmas that so often surround technology. But this is the genre where they can be explored – the ideal arena for discussion of the future and of the present.

GAZING INTO THE SUN Discussion of the present? Yes, that certainly wasn’t a typo. And the reason for this is that by making something indirect, by removing it an element from the world as we know it, we are able to make much greater and often more incisive comment about that world we inhabit. Sometimes a societal or cultural issue is simply too much for us to look into the face – like looking directly into the sun without any protection. But sciencefiction enables us with a filter, the chance to face that bright issue with one layer of removal. By exploring something prescient and current in a future civilisation or an alien culture, we can say far more about humanity than – I would argue – writers in any other genre. And that is exactly why sciencefiction – no matter where real science goes – will always have a place in writing. This is a genre that over the years has very much reflected the fears of the time, and is probably one of the most socially aware genres around. In fact I struggle to think of a genre that has changed and matured more in a relatively short timescale. As the world around us changes, science-fiction responds in new and fascinating ways.


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interest ahead of and during a book launch, but it’s a good idea to keep up a steady flow of conversation so that people don’t forget about you. If you blog or release any other form of regular digital content then it’s particularly effective for driving traffic there.

Setting your aims

on s ocial media Promote yourself and your writing online with advice from Chris Glithero

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he internet age has given authors an unprecedented capacity to promote themselves and their books to the masses. Whether you’re a self-publishing DIY warrior, you’re trying to gain the interest of publishers, or you’re supporting the launch of your next bestseller, you can reach out to thousands or even millions of people right from your laptop or smartphone. But so can everyone else. Yes, while once in those fledgling days of social media you might have been able to get somewhere just by ‘showing up’, today you need to get smart to cut through the chatter. After all, you’re not just competing with other authors for the attention of social media users, but with a bewildering array of cute animal videos, outrageous clickbait articles, beckoning ads and salacious status updates. So, in this article we’re going to take a look at how you can ace social media, and avoid the traps that will 78

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see you sitting alone muttering to yourself in your own solitary corner of the digital cocktail party.

Why should I use social media? If you’re not currently using social media to promote yourself and your work to any great extent, here are a few good reasons to consider doing so: • You can reach a global audience with little effort and no/ minimal cost • It provides an easy means of communicating with your existing fans • You can use it to drive traffic to your book sales page/blog/ website • It can provide inspiration – social media is a two-way street, and you might even get some ideas for your next project Social media is particularly useful when you’re trying to drum up

As with anything in life, your social media efforts will be far more effective if you set some concrete goals and specifics to aim towards. By doing so, you will give everything you do through social media channels a sense of direction and purpose, something to tie your disparate posts together and to gradually build on. Be as clear as possible with yourself about what you want to achieve, and be realistic. A few examples of social media aims include: • Growing social media following by X number of people • Generating X amount of traffic for blog/website/ book sale page • X number of conversions/ book sales • Generating X impressions across monthly posts to boost awareness At the very least it’s worth taking a few moments to consider what your aims are broadly at this point. You can drill down to specifics later if needs be.

Know your platform Each social media platform has its own particular nuances, and one may be better suited to a specific purpose than another. There are also different components you need to be aware of for each, so here we’ll take a quick look at the three main social media networks and when you should use them.

Facebook More so than many of the other social networks, people’s focus when using Facebook is interacting with their friends and keeping up to date with what they’re up to/facepalming at their ill-judged comments in a highly public forum. But it is also a place where brands and personalities can talk to their fans and the general public, generating awareness and interest. It can


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T E C H N O LO G Y F O R W R I T E R S

be particularly powerful if you want to share a piece of content, such as a link to a blog post, article, an image or a video in the hope that it will ‘go viral.’ But with great power comes great responsibility. It is incredibly easy for Facebook users to ‘hide’ your content so that they don’t see it in future, or unfollow your page entirely. While people will be interested to hear from you occasionally, they will quickly become annoyed if you keep up a constant running commentary or post masses of overtly sales-like content on Facebook. Limit posts to once or twice a day and, while you can create quite wordy posts, you’re best off limiting them to fifty words or fewer, and if you’ve got something more substantial to say, create a blog post and link to it. According to social media company Buffer though (http://writ. rs/socialmediaoptimallength), the optimal post length is less than forty characters, with such posts found to result in 86% more engagement than those with more characters.

Twitter Twitter meanwhile is characterised by the rigid character limits it places on ‘tweets’, giving you just 140 characters to say what you want to say. For writers, this should be a perfect chance to demonstrate their ability to say a lot in relatively few words, and can actually help you to hone the art of succinct writing. You can also add images and videos to your tweets (which now no longer eat into your character limit), and these can be particularly good for getting people’s attention. You can also add shortened web links to your tweets, but these will take 23 characters away from your character limit. Twitter is often described as a ‘cocktail party’, as at any given time there are lots of different conversations going on, which you can join in with by including the relevant ‘hashtag’ (eg #NationalBookDay) to your tweets. By doing so, your tweets are discoverable by anyone else joining in with or viewing the conversation, giving you the potential to reach out to a lot of people by joining in with a trending conversation. This is a key distinction from Facebook, in which only your followers can generally see your posts, so Twitter can be good for expanding your reach.

So how many times should you tweet each day? Buffer recommends posting three times or more a day, but note that engagement rates – the number of times people click on, like or retweet your post – decline after the third tweet.

LinkedIn Linkedin is a somewhat different beast, with a wholly different purpose. As a social network for professionals, it’s better used for networking with publishers, agents and the like. Be sure to enter all relevant writing credentials and achievements in your profile, and links to your writing portfolio, your blog/website or other relevant online resources, so that if the right person discovers it they can view you in the best possible light. Be sure to also connect to as many people from your past and present as possible – colleagues, friends and peers – as you never know who has a connection to someone with a writing or publishing opportunity to offer. You can also publish articles on LinkedIn – a great opportunity to grab people’s attention and show that you know your stuff.

Scheduling your social media With so many social media networks and opportunities to keep on top of it, you may well be wondering how you’re going to find the time each and every day to dip in and out of these. Fortunately, you don’t actually have to. Online tools, such as Buffer (buffer. com) and Hootsuite (hootsuite.com) exist which will enable you to schedule all of your social media activity in advance for the week or even the month. You can also do this just from your normal Facebook status update panel. This means you can block out an hour or so of time on a Sunday for dealing with your social media activities, and then forget about it. Well to some extent – you’ll still want to be responding to current events, social media trends and interactions with followers in real-time – but scheduling can really save time and help you up your game. Good luck with your social media endeavours, and don’t forget to follow @WritingMagazine on Twitter, Facebook and @writing_magazine on Instagram! www.writers-online.co.uk

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FIVE TIPS for crafting compelling social media posts You’ve decided on your aims and platforms, and you’ve got the means to run a slick, efficient social media campaign. But how do you go about crafting posts that will benefit these goals and endear you to your digital followers? Here are five tips: 1 Know your voice Just as you would make sure that a novel is written with a consistent tone of voice, you must ensure that you remain consistent across all your social media activity. This might be your own voice, or it could be more of a professional persona or author brand, but what’s important is that people become familiar with it. 2 Make sure it’s not all about you Social media is a conversation, and if you’re constantly talking about how great your new novel is then people will quickly get bored of listening to you. Make sure you mix it up by posting about things which are relevant but external to you and your work, such as commenting on wider discussions going on within your genre. 3 Grab attention There are millions of conversations going on every day across social media, so if you’re going to cut through the white noise you need to say something striking. If you’re posting a link on Twitter for example, hint at something intriguing within it without giving away too much. Use ‘CTAs’ where applicable – CTAs, or calls to action, encourage the user to take a specific action and provide the means to do so. For example, ‘Take a sneak peek at the first chapter of my latest novel… [insert link].’ 4 Shorten your links Some web links which you want to share can be very unwieldy, and feature long strings of characters. To prevent these from getting in the way of the message behind your post, use an automatic linkshortener such as bitly.com. 5 Monitor and optimise your social media success If you’re new to the social media game you may not see great results at first, but if you pay attention to what works well and what doesn’t then you can gradually improve and hone your social media presence. As with any improvements, the basic premise lies in doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t. You can measure the success of each individual post by looking at ‘metrics’ such as number of likes, shares, comments, link clicks. After monitoring in this way for a short time, you should be able to see that some posts have performed significantly better than others. Ask yourself what was different about these posts, and what they have in common with each other – is there a specific length or topic of post that works well? Were your most successful posts accompanied by images? Figure out what the key factors are and apply them to your future posts.

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WRITERSʼ WEB WATCH Online crowd-editing

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ave you got a draft of something that you’re sort-of pleased with but know could do with some editorial input to make it really shine? If you haven’t got the resources or even the inclination to hire a freelance editor, and would like to canvas a wider audience, there’s help at hand if you’re prepared to dip your toes into the online writing community pool. Online crowd-editing is a thing, and for the last few years it’s been mooted by online commentators as a useful adjunct to the self-publishing process. Not just self-publishers either. In 2013, heavyweight author Walter Isaacson crowd-sourced edits for his follow-up (The Innovators, a history of digital innovation) to his biography of Steve Jobs, and spoke enormously positively about the specialised communities which build up around digital innovations. Walter famously posted work on medium.com, which is a major resource for story sharing. All sorts of people publish on Medium, including writers, philosophers and thinkers, and comment on each others’ stories, so it was an ideal place for him to post work and invite comment. Walter also posted on reading/publishing site Scribd.com and online community LiveJournal.com. But with the exception of Advance Editions, which attracted a lot of publicity when it was a 2014 startup, there haven’t been a whole heap of designated online crowd editing sites. You’re more likely to get 80

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writers can share and discuss work, peer editing via writing community suggest edits and offer critical feedback. sites that offer feedback and critiques. If you don’t want to post your fledgling Writing community group site work for mass consumption, you can Scribophile (www.scribophile.com) share work privately, ie with selected gives writers the opportunity users, rather than with everybody. to get peer feedback, and You can post snippets or entire Critique Circle (www. drafts, and you can keep critiquecircle.com) gives There are enough tabs on who has read and members the opportunity commented on your work to critique each others’ options for writers to find because Orton will track stories. NaNoWriMo the community that suits both who has read it, and (especially this month!) who has annotated it. It goes provides online support them without it being without saying that one of the and strategies for writers a flooded market. pluses of being involved in an (nanowrimo.org). The online community is that there’s Next Big Writer (www. the chance to build a following and thenextbigwriter.com) is a a readership. It also goes without saying serious online writing community that as with any startup, there may be where people give feedback to each benefits to be had from being in at the other’s work. You can try it for seven beginning, but also the chance that it days for free, and if it’s for you, an may not live up to its intentions for annual subscription costs $69.95. Inked itself. It’s free to use so there’s nothing Voices (www.inkedvoices.com) is to lose. And always remember – if you both a platform for writers’ groups and don’t agree with what anyone else has to an online platform for writers where say about your work, it is like all advice people can read each other’s work and just an opinion, not a rule, and you get feedback, and collaborate with other don’t have to take it. writing groups in online workshops. All this is good and useful stuff, and there are enough options out there for writers to find the community that suits them without it being a flooded market. Now, though, there’s a new kid on the block. Orton.io, which launches on 17 November, is a new, and free online resource for writers who’d like to develop their work in a supportive community environment. The idea behind Orton (www.orton.io) is that

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24/10/2016 10:47

COMPUTER CLINIC

SOFTWARE SAVING Office for free, and an online repository for your notes – practical advice from tech expert Greta Powell

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he best things in life are free, or so they say, and if you are prepared to take a look around there is probably very little need to spend money on software at all these days. It can be something of a hit and miss exercise but people are looking to save some money and give MS Office a miss by finding a viable alternative, as witnessed by recent email in my inbox. Although there are a number of content management apps available online, this month we take a look at that old stalwart Evernote for a writer who is looking to collate a large amount of research information whilst travelling abroad.

Q

There seem to be an abundance of apps online that claim to do everything but actually do very little. Very shortly I shall be travelling extensively and I plan to do a lot of research on my travels which will need storing and collating for later use. The information will include photos, web information, video and general notes in order for me to put together a travel journal early in 2017. As I said, I’m ‘spoilt for choice’ so I wondered what, if anything, you use or if you could recommend something robust and reliable which will do this for me.

A

WRITERS’ PRODUCTIVITY TIPS While I was trawling the web, this page popped up and provided a few minutes of writerly distraction so it seemed quite logical to include it in this month’s column. Some of the advice may seem a little obvious but it offers solutions to writer’s block and other writing dilemmas from writers such as Toni Morrison, Raymond Chandler and Zadie Smith, who apparently disconnects her computer from the internet. Find The Best Productivity Habits of Famous Writers at http://writ.rs/writehabits

Q

I do not want to go the expense of purchasing the Microsoft Office Suite, or for that matter even just Microsoft Word. There seems to be quite a selection of free Office-type software available online but I don’t really have either the time or inclination to wade my way through them. Do you have any suggestions as to what would be my best way forward?

A

There is a lot of software available that can be used as an alternative to Microsoft Office and much of it is freeware or open source software. One that is particularly popular is Apache OpenOffice, which has been around for a number of years and is both stable and reliable. It incorporates similar software to Microsoft Office, including a word processor, graphics app, spreadsheet and presentation software. It has much the same look as Office so if you are already familiar with Office products you will slip very easily into its workflow. Apart from being free, the additional bonus provided by OpenOffice is its ability to open and save Word documents. Download the software and give it a whirl from www.openoffice.org

Without hesitation or trepidation, the answer to this question is Evernote, which some might consider dated, but it really does work as advertised: it will store all the information you can throw at it and can collate it from multiple sources with ease. Another big plus is that everything can easily be synced to one or more of your devices including computers, mobile, tablet and so forth. Once inside the software you can create and manage one or more ‘notepads’, each of which is easily and quickly searchable by the use of keywords and tags that you set yourself. It is absolutely ideal for travelling because you can take a quick snap of the item, the view or the information add a relevant tag and leave everything to rest in the software until you want to recall it in the future. In actual fact Evernote is so flexible that if you did want to get ahead with the writing you can attach files from your Google Drive as hyperlinks or attachments. See the YouTube video here: http://writ.rs/evernotegoogle If you did want to take a look at another app that does similiar, Google Keep is a viable option which you can take quick at here on YouTube at http://writ.rs/keepclip Evernote has decreased in popularity recently since it now charges for some services that were formerly free. The basic plan is still free, which allows you to upload 60mb of data each month (more than enough for text and web links, but probably not sufficient for a lot of photos), then pricing starts at around £30 for a year. Check out the options at https://evernote.com

If you have a technical query for Greta, please email [email protected] or use the contact page on the website www.curveandlearn.com/contact www.writers-online.co.uk

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HELPLINE

Helpline

Your writing problems solved with advice from Diana Cambridge

Email your queries to Diana (please include home-town details) at: [email protected] or send them to: Helpline, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD. She will answer as many letters as she can on the page, but regrets that she cannot enter into individual correspondence. Publication of answers may take several months. Helpline cannot personally answer queries such as where to offer work, or comment on manuscripts, which you are asked not to send.

Q

I am working on a novel that is told from the perspective of the main character. My query is regarding spoken dialogue. If I write it something like this: “It’s a long journey,” said John, “but we’ll make it.” Well, people don’t talk like that when they are telling you a story. It looks good on the page but jars with the first-person perspective. However, if I write He said, She said, I said, and so on, it seems a little stilted and I’ve read often in Writing Magazine to minimise the use of He said, She said etc. At the moment I have used both styles in the text but I’m aware I need to pick one and make it continuous throughout the piece. Do all first-person stories need to be written He said, She said, in order to preserve the narrative spell? And will my novel be frowned upon for doing so? DAVID WREN, Tameside, Manchester

A

You don’t need to pick one style – you can use both first person and third person in any piece of writing. And it’s the content of your story which matters most: I’d worry about that if I were you. In fact “said” is often the best verb to use: you need to keep adjectives and adverbs to the minimum, and you don’t need a huge range of verbs. What might work for you is to read good fiction – you’ll find the writing styles differ. For example Hemingway, Orwell and John Fowles are all quite different: yet all fine writers. Before you can write, you must read. Try to read one classic work of literary fiction a week.

Q

Where can I make money in journalism? I trained as a newspaper reporter but since the paper I worked for closed down I have been trying to freelance. But the opportunities are limited. And when I am offered work, the rates are shocking. DAVID HENLEY WOODS, Bedwin Street, Salisbury

A

The areas where you can earn money as a freelance writer are in finance, business to business and television. A recent industry report carried a quote saying that freelance journalism was so low paid now that it can only be treated as a hobby. But those three topics – if you can specialise in any of them – could create an income that tops £30,000.

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Q

If I do my own website, what are the main pitfalls?

ERIC RICE, Queen Street, Exeter

A

Spelling crops up again and again. Don’t rely on spellcheck to iron out all errors: in fact it may create them! For example I’ve seen words like principal and principle used wrongly on professional websites. Also do ensure you have all your contact details so people can reach you. You can use a contact form but it’s surely quicker just to give an email address. Avoid pop-ups and decorative touches, focus on simplicity, clarity and ease of use. In many ways the fewer words you use, the better. If you are hoping to publish your work, then do include samples on the website! A whole story or a feature, rather than extracts.

Q

When a writing competition is in aid of a charity, for example a dementia charity, is it a good idea to base part of your story around the illness? Or at least mention it? I have noticed that several short story competitions are set up to raise funds for medical causes. I’d have thought that using this within your submission would be a good move – but is it? DOREEN READER, Caerphilly, South Wales

A

Here’s where you must read the rules carefully! I’ve noticed that some contests set up as fund-raisers for a charity request you NOT to write your story around that charity’s concern. Others ask you to send in a piece of writing that does reflect on the issue they’re fund raising for. If in doubt – and sometimes the rules are not clear – I’d ring up or send an email putting your question in plain English. I’d do this before you begin to prepare your entry.


24/10/2016 10:51

GGOOI N I NGGTO TOMMAARRKKE ET T

Q

When I submit to a magazine, should I mention my school GCSE grades, which were high in English – I was awarded a school prize – but I did not go to university, or do a creative writing course. LEANNE HAIS, Stockton on Tees

A

You don’t mention your age – I think if you’re still under twenty, it might be worth mentioning them as your achievement is still fresh. But I don’t think it’s such a good idea for anyone who is mature. It’s better to mention your writing successes – anything you’ve had published, even letters to newspapers. You should show that you have made submissions.

Q

I was just reading your response to Olivia Sturton’s question (Helpline, Aug) about not being able to submit a story entry because it needed to be sent in pdf form. Various websites have the ability to turn your Word document into a pdf. All she needs to do next time is type into Google ‘Word to pdf ’ and she should find a selection to choose from. Also, if she has a Mac, the printing options include an ability to save any document as a pdf. CHARLOTTE JONES, Maida Vale, London

A

Thanks for your tip!

Q

The novel I’m writing – and have been for about ten years, because I work full-time as well – has a spiritual theme. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t be preaching rather than writing. I had a mentor, a top writer, and we have corresponded by email and by post. She has been incredibly helpful to me, but after this time – ten years – she has suggested she has done all she can, and that I put the novel to one side for a few months. I have not finished it, or really decided on a story line – my work is in bits, fragments really. She asked me to consider whether her help is ‘working’ for me. Of course I do pay her for her help, and I understand she has been very loyal to stick with me for so long. Unfortunately I now feel bereft, and not sure what my next step should be. I do feel my work – or rather the message behind it – is important. She has agreed with this, and says that at my best I write with excellence. LIAM PARKS, Aberdeen

A

I can understand how you feel, and think I can see what’s happening. Perhaps you’ve started to see your novel as an abstract set of ideas, rather than a piece of work which needs a beginning, a middle and an end. I’m sure she has suggested that you work on smaller pieces of writing which you could complete – but again if you have problems finishing anything, that could still be a challenge. This seeing a novel as abstract ideas – and getting attached and evangelistic about the ideas – is not uncommon. So you are not alone in this. I do agree with your mentor that to put the project to one side for a while would be helpful. Can you fill the gap that’s left with a writing course, workshops, poetry group, or even an art course where you can still express your ideas? It’s best to take the advice of your mentor. Your mind will still be working while your project is dormant. When you return to it will be with more energy. You will see it in a fresh light.


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Final (positive) straw Patrick Forsyth suggests creating a positive balance of benefits for clients

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arious things can lose you business. I have now written for three magazines that have folded; the joys of a competitive marketplace. A contact of mine recently answered none of my contacts for some six months. Rude! Then it turned out there had been a domestic crisis. Still rude, it would have taken but a minute to send an email putting things on hold for a while. This seems to me to be dangerous behaviour and risks contacts and collaborators turning into ex-contacts. Certainly for writers, efficiencies such as delivering on time (or, better still, a little ahead of the deadline), answering queries and maintaining useful contact over time are vital. What gets a commission is a good deal. The various benefits of dealing with someone need to outweigh any disadvantages. One of the things that flows from the competitive nature of the writing market is that small things can win or lose business, at worst making the balance of benefits offered by someone just a tad better than another. And this includes every element of the relationship, not just the quality of ideas or writing. You need to consider the balance you offer and make it good. There is a story told about the actor Edith Evans: she had a falling out with a fellow actress who she felt had slighted her. She refused to speak to her for many months. Finally another friend intervened, saying she should forgive and forget, and she agreed to make contact and put the matter behind her; but she is reported to have commented: I shall forgive… but I shall never forget. Maybe our efficiencies should be as high as our editors’ memories are long. They want to deal with a safe pair of hands. NOVEMBER 2016

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20/10/2016 16:58

RESEARCH TIPS

Official

secrets

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ou may already know that GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) is a website designed by the UK government to be the gateway to government information and services. Although it’s a very useful site, it’s not the only place where you can find government-related information. Here are more sites to explore:

UK Parliament and the devolved administrations The UK Parliament website (www.parliament. uk) contains information on all aspects of Parliament, its business, MPs, Lords and offices. For example, you can find out about the House of Commons and the House of Lords; read Hansard (official reports of proceedings of both Houses), news, inquiries, parliamentary select committee reports and other publications; follow the progress of Bills (draft laws); and read about Acts of Parliament (alternatively, you can find UK legislation on www.legislation.gov.uk). The website also lets you watch live and archived video recordings of the UK Parliament proceedings. In fact, UK Parliament has its own YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/c/ ukparliament) which has a huge number of video clips on various topics, such as Prime Minister’s Questions, educational resources and even virtual tours of the Houses of Parliament. The websites mentioned above tend to concentrate on current affairs, but if you’re interested in past records, you can find the UK government web archive on the National Archives’ website on www.nationalarchives. gov.uk/webarchive. You can search for information by keyword or category, browse an A-Z list of topics or explore the archives based on themed collections, such as ‘Volcanic ash cloud’ or ‘Swine influenza’. The devolved administrations have their own websites and they contain a lot of information on their respective areas. To find out about the Northern Ireland Executive, go to www.northernireland.gov.uk. The Scottish Government’s website can be found on www.gov. scot while Welsh Government has its website on www.gov.wales

Departments, agencies and other public bodies There are numerous ministerial and nonministerial departments as well as various agencies and public bodies whose websites contain a wealth of information on a wide range of topics. For example, the Met Office website (www. metoffice.gov.uk) allows you to find out about weather and climate related topics; the Office for National Statistics (www.ons.gov.uk) provides you with UK statistics; the Iraq Inquiry website (www.iraqinquiry.org.uk) examines the UK’s involvement in Iraq between 2001 and 2009; the Dartmoor National Park Authority (www. dartmoor.gov.uk) contains information on Dartmoor as well as the Authority itself and how it functions; and the Medical Research Council (www.mrc.ac.uk) focuses on medical research related areas. If you’re researching a specific topic, it’s worth bearing in mind that there may be several government websites that you can consult. For instance, if you’re interested in aviation, you could explore the Civil Aviation Authority’s website (www.caa.co.uk) or information provided by the Military Aviation Authority (http://writ.rs/militaryaviationauthority). The Air Accident Investigation Branch could help you understand civil aircraft accidents and incidents whereas the Fleet Air Arm Museum (www.fleetairarm.com) in Somerset would introduce you to Europe’s largest naval aviation collection. Spy thriller writers and those interested in espionage might want to visit the websites of the Security Service, MI5 (www.mi5.gov.uk) and the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 (www.sis. gov.uk). While the MI6 works secretly overseas to gather intelligence in order to make the UK a safer place, the MI5 works to counter threats to the UK’s national security, including those from terrorism, espionage, cyber threats and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Further websites of interest would be the Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ (www.gchq.gov.uk) and its information security arm called the Communications Electronic Security Group or CESG for short (www.cesg.gov.uk). Both work alongside the law www.writers-online.co.uk

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The Government makes vast amounts of useful information available online if you know where to look, says Tarja Moles

enforcement agencies and other intelligence agencies to help defend the government systems from cyber threat, to give support to the Armed Forces and to help keep the public safe, both in real life and online. There’s a lot more to the UK government websites than what’s been outlined so far. To see the full list of government departments, agencies and other public bodies, visit www.gov.uk/ government/organisations. The webpage has links to masses of information so be prepared to spend time going through the various websites.

Foreign government websites If you’re writing about foreign countries or your fictional story is located outside the UK, you could benefit from exploring their respective government websites. For example, there’s an online guide to the US government information and services on www.usa.gov and the Australian Government information can be found on www.australia.gov.au. There doesn’t seem to be a comprehensive website listing all foreign government websites, but you can find them easily enough by doing online searches. If you speak the language of the country you’re interested in, by all means use that. However, many governments have included some English-language information on their websites even if their official language is not English. For instance, the content on the Finnish Government website (http://valtioneuvosto.fi/ en/frontpage) is fully available in Finnish and Swedish, while the English language version is a slightly tailored version aimed at non-Finns. Regardless of what your subject area is, you are likely to find something of interest on government websites. As you conduct your research, remember that although governments provide ‘official’ information, this does not mean that it’s unbiased. Every government has its own agenda and there may be alternative viewpoints to consider. As with any research, always keep your critical-thinking hat on. LOCAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITES If you’d like to find out information on and services in local areas, check out the list of local government websites on www.localgovernmentwebsites.co.uk NOVEMBER 2016

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N E W AU T H O R P R O F I L E

JULES GRANT A criminal justice background informs the seedy underworld of Manchester author Jules Grant’s debut, she tells Adrian Magson

B

asing your novel on a familiar location has certain advantages; it helps to give it colour, depth and a sense of reality, but also a framework on which to ‘hang’ the story. One author who has done this successfully is Jules Grant, whose Manchester-based debut We Go Around in the Night and are Consumed by Fire was published by Myriad Editions in April. Depicting the lives of an all-female street gang, it reflects the city’s violent drug culture and ongoing turf wars, set against the lives and loves of the gang members. ‘I know Greater Manchester well,’ says the former barrister, ‘and it’s hard not be aware of the vast criminal underworld and the men who dominate it. Their poison bleeds into everything, infecting everyone it touches – especially people who don’t deserve to get hurt. In wondering how women and children in those communities survive it, I wanted to write an alternative to the Boy’s Own versions of crime storytelling, so it was an experiment I suppose. I also wanted to hear it told in the unmistakeable rhythms of my own language and landscape. Once the characters took

over it was great fun to write, which always helps.’ Written first as a short story, then a screenplay, it finally became three chapters of a novel. ‘The two main characters and ideas came together all at once,’ Jules explains. ‘But it was a couple of years later that I attempted to finish the novel. In all, with work, family life, lack of confidence and latterly a serious illness, the process from conception to submission took three or four years. It was both a struggle and salvation. For most of my life writing was a secret affair, and as a single parent who left school at fifteen, the priority was to achieve economic security. Then an accident resulted in me developing fibromyalgia, characterised by chronic pain and fatigue. But the stories in my head were the salvation and, given the limitations of my illness, provided a turning point in my life.’ Preferring to think of herself as a storyteller who uses the written word, she found a magic in putting down words on paper. ‘But I never expected it to turn into a published novel.’ As such, she has had to adapt a great deal. ‘Writing is a slower, laborious

• Write what you are passionate about, not what you think the market wants. Learn from what does well today but forge your own path. • Write what you – and others – are afraid to say. Therein lies dynamite. Write the book you want to read. • Write in the way you want to write. Learn from writing conventions but you don’t need to replicate them. • Don’t edit as you write or show it to anyone else. Keep pushing forward until you have a beginning, middle and end, however ragged. Don’t worry about how long it takes; writing is a marathon not a sprint. Never, ever, give up because you think it’s not good enough. Believe in yourself.

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process. I can only sit at a desk for an hour or two. But it has given me back my self-respect and focus. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by people who love me and helped me find a way forward.’ Myriad Editions was the first publisher she approached. ‘I attended a New Writing South Publishing Industry Day where publishers and agents were offering ten-minute slots to pitch a novel or ask advice. I had been mired in my story for so long I was no longer sure any of it made sense or was remotely interesting, save of course to me. But I reckoned I had nothing to lose and I wanted to run it past someone totally independent. On the day of the conference I was so terrified I nearly didn’t go. But thank goodness I did. Candida Lacey of Myriad liked the pitch and asked me to send in what I had written. I was very fortunate to get offered a contract, and a couple of months later Alexander Cochran from Conville & Walsh Literary agency became my agent. I feel very fortunate. It was a salutary lesson for me – to take whatever opportunity presents itself if it feels right, however scared I might be.’ ‘There will be a sequel,’ adds Jules. ‘We’re currently finalising arrangements for a TV series, which is very exciting – and I have a couple of other projects on the go, so life is pretty busy!’

I wanted to write an alternative to the Boy’s Own versions of crime storytelling

JULES’ TOP TIPS

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24/10/2016 10:54

THE MOGFORD FOOD & DRINK SHORT STORY PRIZE

£10,000 Final entries are now invited for the Fifth Annual Prize Submissions by 15th January 2017 Any writer - New work - 2500 words For further details, and to submit your entry, see our website www.oxford-hotels-restaurants.co.uk



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WRITERS’ NEWS

Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets, opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news.

Poetry about nature and place for The Rialto

New prize in SAC short story comp

The Rialto poetry magazine is inviting entries for the Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2017. For this competition, The Rialto is working with the RSPB, BirdLife International and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Poems are invited that deal with nature and place. The themes may be interpreted widely. The judge is Katherine Jamie. The first prize is £1,000. The second prize is £500 and the third prize is a place on a creative writing course at Ty Newydd in 2017. There are additional prizes of a tour with acclaimed nature writer Mark Cocker of wildlife places in East Anglia, and a tour with naturalist and scientist Nick Davies of Wicken Fen to learn about his research there. The winner will be invited to do a reading with Katherine Jamie and the winning poems will be published in The Rialto. The competition is for original, unpublished poems on the nature and place theme, up to forty lines. All poems must have a title. Type poems in clear black font on single sides of A4. Online entrants should upload their poems as a single doc or pdf file. Postal entrants should download and complete an entry form. Poems may be sent in batches of up to six poems. There is an entry fee of £6 for the first poem and £3.50 for any subsequent poems in a batch. Online entrants should pay this by PayPal and include the transaction number. Postal entrants should send cheques payable to RSPB. The closing date is 1 March 2017. Details: Nature and Place Competition, RSPB, Stalham House, 66 Thorpe Road, Norwich NR1 1UD Website: www.therialto.co.uk

The Scottish Arts Club Short Story Competition is inviting entries for its 2017 award. The competition, which is judged by Alexander McCall Smith, is open to all writers worldwide. Stories do not have to be set in Scotland or have a Scottish theme. For the first time, The Scottish Arts Club is running an additional prize for unpublished Scottish writers, The Isabel Lodge Award for New Scottish Writing, for all entrants to the competition who qualify (writers must have been born in, or be resident in, Scotland, or be studying in Scotland during the year of the competition) and must not have traditionally published a full-length novel). The first prize winner will receive £800. Two runnersup will each receive £100. The winner of the Isabel Lodge Award will get £500. All entries must be original, unpublished short fiction up to 1,500 words. Send stories as double-spaced Word documents or pdfs typed in 12pt font. The writer’s name should not appear on the manuscript. Send stories by email with a completed entry form, which may be downloaded from the website. There is a fee of £10 per entry, payable by cheques made out to the Scottish Arts Club Charitable Trust or by PayPal, credit or debit card. The closing date is 31 March. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.sacctrust.org/story

Look to the future The free-to-enter L Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest has a prize pot totalling $1,250 on offer every three months plus an annual grand prize of $5,000. The competition is open to writers who have not had a novel, novelette, or more than three short stories published in any professional medium. This is defined as publication of 5,000 copies or 5,000 hits and paying at least 6¢ per word. Stories of up to 17,000 words are acceptable, in any kind of science fiction, fantasy or dark fantasy. Entries must be 88

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original work written in English and not previously published in professional media. Submit only once each quarter, through the website or by post. Postal entries should be typed/printed using double spacing on single sides of numbered pages bearing the title of your piece. For both postal and email entries your name should appear on a separate cover page only along with your contact details, the title of your piece and an approximate word count.

The closing dates for each quarter are 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October. Details: L Rob Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest, 7051 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, USA; website: www.writersofthefuture.com


24/10/2016 11:00

WRITERS’ NEWS

UK CRIME MARKET

Killer on the hunt GARY DALKIN

Killer Reads is a crime fiction e-first imprint from HarperCollins UK which is currently open to submissions. The editorial team is on the lookout for commercial crime novels and thrillers ranging from police procedurals to psychological thrillers and beyond. They are actively looking for exciting emerging talent in the genre, that may otherwise go unheard. Send fantastic writing that makes them want to turn the page and find out what happens next, together with characters that ‘stay with us long after we finish reading’. Make the editors feel moved, compelled, shocked, and intrigued. Submissions must be in English and previously unpublished in any

form, including online or self-published. They must be in the crime fiction genre. Your submission must consist of three Word doc files, submitted as attachments to a single email: 1, a full length novel; 2, a synopsis of the whole book, including the complete plot and the story’s end (maximum 500 words), a one paragraph summary of the book and short list of the main characters; 3, an author biography, including links to your blogs and social media information, and details of publications, creative writing courses attended and any literary or media mentors you may have. Title the three documents Manuscript, Synopsis and Author Biography. Include your

Stranger than fiction Mad Scientist Journal is a zany zine looking for fiction which ‘purports to be “scientific papers” by mad scientists’. This could be ‘first person from the point of view of the scientist, someone who has witnessed these events, fictional newspaper articles, or even scientific papers about pseudoscience.’ Acceptable genres are ‘humour, SF, fantasy, horror, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, pulp adventure.’ Keep to ‘a first person perspective of some sort’ even in writing essays or newspaper articles, but remember it is fiction. Reprints and multiple submissions are accepted, but not simultaneous submissions. Writers whose work is accepted are asked to provide a fictional identity and a bio to accompany the published piece. This is to maintain the atmosphere of a proper ‘scientific journal’. Work would be published like this: ‘An Examination into the Giant Albino Fire Moles’ by Professor Higglepiggle, as provided by Mary Smith, Author.’ Mad Scientist Journal publishes a new short story every week on the site. Each quarter the stories are published as a book, ebook and print. The editors, Jeremy Zimmerman and Dawn Vogel, seek flash fiction, 500-2,000 words, and short stories, 2,000-8,000 words. Writers who create a mad scientist character who might present a series of ‘papers’ are particularly welcome. Check out the website and read the guidelines carefully, especially the last paragraph! Submit all work in a standard manuscript format. Check the guidelines for their preferred format. Note that you should ‘also put “Sparkle Pony” underneath your contact information in order to prove you’ve read this (ie the guidelines)’. Response time is ‘reasonable’. Payment for $10 for flash fiction is $10, $20 for short stories. Details: email: [email protected]; website: http://madscientistjournal.org

Second novels, take a bow! The RSL is accepting entries for its Royal Society of Literature Encore Award, which gives a prize of £10,000 to the author of the best second novel published in 2016. This year’s judges are Alex Clark, Julia Copus and Tom Hodgkinson. The Encore Award is for second novels, which must be a full-length work of fiction published in the UK in 2016 by a writer who has been resident in the UK or the Republic of Ireland for more than three years. Collections of short stories, novellas, children’s books and novels published by vanity publishers are not eligible. Entries are accepted from authors and publishers. Send four copies (proof copies are acceptable) and a completed application form, which may be downloaded from the website. Only postal entries are accepted. The closing date is 30 November. Details: The RSL Encore Award, The Royal Society of Literature, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA; website: www.rsliterature.org

Pullman protects In his role as president of the Society of Authors, His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman is urging the government to pass into British law a version of a new proposal from the European Commission which would give better protection to the rights of authors. The new EU draft directive on the ‘digital single market’ would better enable authors to make a living by ensuring that if their work becomes unexpectedly successful (a so-called ‘bestseller clause’) they don’t lose out because of disadvantageous contracts signed early in their career as unknown authors. The proposed law would give writers the grounds to claim additional income if their royalties proved ‘disproportionately low’ compared to profits made by publishers and media companies exploiting their work. Meanwhile a ‘transparency clause’ would obligate publishers to provide authors with full information regarding sales and income. Philip commented: ‘I welcome this draft directive, especially for its emphasis on transparency and the bestseller clause. Authors badly need the sort of natural justice that these clauses embody, not least because our work contributes substantially to the wealth of the nation. I hope that our government will see the rightness of these proposals and embody them firmly in the law of our land to ensure that they continue when we leave the EU.’


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full contact details in the body of your email. All submissions must be sent by email to the designated open submission email address: [email protected] Submissions by any other means will not be accepted. It is essential to read and carefully follow the very detailed full guidelines at www.killerreads.com/open-submissions Send enquiries to [email protected].

DECEMBER 2016

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FLASHES Catrin Griffiths edits weekly legal profession magazine The Lawyer. Feature lengths are 600-900 words and payment is between £125 and £150 per 1,000 words. Details: email: editorial@ thelawyer.com; website: www.thelawyer.com The 2016 Man Booker Prize was, frustratingly, due to be announced on the day WM went to press, drawn from a shortlist comprising: Paul Beatty, The Sellout (Oneworld); Deborah Levy, Hot Milk (Hamish Hamilton); Graeme Macrae Burnet, His Bloody Project (Contraband); Ottessa Moshfegh, Eileen (Jonathan Cape), David Szalay, All That Man Is (Jonathan Cape); Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Granta Books). See the winner on our website: www.writersonline.co.uk US poet Sharon Olds was named winner of the $100,000 Wallace Stevens prize by the Academy of American Poets for her poetry collection, Stag’s Leap. ‘I am compelled to write. For me it is about storytelling and continuing a dialogue with the reader.’ Jenny Holmes, latest book The Shop Girls of Chapel Street

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GLOBAL FICTION MARKET Shine out at LampLight PDR LINDSAY-SALMON

LampLight is a literary magazine, published as print and ebook, of dark fiction, publishing short stories and flash fiction. Download volume one for free and see what the editors mean by literary dark fiction. The editorial team seek submissions of ‘stories that are dark, literary… creepy… weird and unsettling.’ Strictly no boring old ‘vampires, zombies, werewolves, serial killers, hitmen, excessive gore or sex, excessive abuse against women, or revenge fantasies.’

LampLight may focus on the darker side of fiction, but gore and slime are not wanted. Writers should hark back to the previous generation of ‘weird’ stories, think The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, and work on invoking fear. Reprints and simultaneous submissions are accepted, but not multiple subs. Submit well-written and edited stories, up to 7,000 words, through the website, only during open periods. Payment is 3¢ per word, max $150; 1¢ per word for reprints. Website: http://lamplightmagazine.com

Get your Gunn

The Neil Gunn Writing Competition 2016-17 invites entries that respond to quotes from influential Scots writer Neil Gunn. There are four categories: adult short story (up to 2.500 words, prizes £500, £300 and £200), adult poetry (up to 40 lines, prizes £500, £300 and £200), secondary schools (prose up to 1,000 words, prizes £100, £60 and £40) and primary schools (prose up to 500 words, £50, £30 and £20). All winning entries will be published on the High Life Highland website. In the two adult categories, entries are invited that respond to one of two Neil Gunn quotes: • ‘Wrong is a difficult word.’ • ‘Knowledge is high in the head, but the salmon of wisdom swims deep.’

Secondary school entries should respond to the quote: ‘He loved the darkness’ and primary school entries to: ‘He was wakened by a loud knocking at the door.’ The adult categories are open to writers worldwide. All entries must be original and unpublished, and may be in any variety of Scots or English, or a combination of both. The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Complete an entry form, which may be downloaded from the website, and attach it to the entry. In the adult sections, there is a fee of £8 per entry, payable by cheques made out to The Neil Gunn Trust. Entry in the schools categories is free. Entries may be made by post or by email. Postal entrants should send three copies of their story. The closing date is 3 March. Details: Neil Gunn Writing Competition, The Library Support Unit, High Life Highland, 31a Harbour Road, Inverness IV1 1UA; email: [email protected]; website: www.highlifehighland.com/neilgunn/

Mythic opportunities Mythic is a new US quarterly print magazine of SF and fantasy published by Founders House Publishing LLC. The debut issue launches this November and the editorial team want Mythic to be a place where under-represented visions in science fiction and fantasy can be explored. They specifically want wider, more diverse views of the future and realms of the fantastic that don’t necessarily involve quasi-medieval settings. They are, however, still open to consider more traditional

tales, from space opera to rip-roaring yarns which hark back to pulp fiction. Also required are editorials, articles, essays and reviews. Stories should be 2,000-8,000 words in standard format. Current payment is $40 per story plus one contributor’s copy, with the intention of raising this to professional rates when possible, for first world English rights. No reprints, simultaneous or multiple submissions. Send your story as a doc

attachment by email to submissions@ mythicmag. com. Put ‘Fiction Submission: ’ in the email address field. For nonfiction enquire first, titling your email ‘Nonfiction Query’. Website: www.mythicmag.com/ p/submissions.html


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UK MAGAZINE MARKET Typing in the Tardis BY TINA JACKSON

Doctor Who Magazine has been running for 37 years. ‘So a long time!’ said editor Tom Spilsbury. ‘Over the years it has changed a little from its original remit for young readers; it’s now become for much older readers, though not to the exclusion of the younger ones. A lot of the content is adult in its nature, because of the level that it talks about – it goes beyond TV.’ Doctor Who Magazine started off being mainly comic stories. ‘There are still twelve pages of comic story in each issue, but in a way it’s anachronistic, because the stories are aimed at adults, in tune with the show itself,’ said Tom. ‘It’s that slightly changing audience – the children who grew up with the show are getting older, and we kind of reflect that.’ The magazine covers every aspect of the show, both fact and fiction. ‘I like to have a balance in each issue. We cover different periods of the show’s history; people who were involved with the show; extensive interviews with cast and crew present and past, the different Doctors, everything that reflects the show and its history. We analyse shows, relate them to real science and real history. We talk about the fiction but also the real-life stories behind the show, and there’s news, reviews, a crossword, competitions – it’s like being part of a club, part of a community.’ Content is part history, part current. ‘This year there hasn’t been a series so we’ve mined the past to an extent. There are always things that haven’t been covered before. And we’ve had big interviews with Tom Baker and Colin Baker, very in-depth so that we understand them as people.’ Tom has been the editor for nearly ten years. ‘The magazine is very dear to me,’ he said. ‘You know that with a magazine like this, readers are involved and will respond. Doctor Who itself is very much loved, people are passionate about it, and that’s an advantage we have. I’ve always loved just to see it all come together, in the magazine, as a finished thing. Readers are intelligent and widely read. ‘The readers have extensive knowledge of Doctor Who, they know a lot of detail,’ said Tom. ‘Someone writing for us needs to be immersed in the world of Doctor Who and in television generally.’ There are 4/5 main features per issue, 6,000-7,000 words per feature. ‘We’ll do some shorter ones too, 1,500 words.’ Tom is happy to hear from freelances with specialist knowledge. ‘A lot of readers have been with us for a long time and I look for things we haven’t done before. Prospective writers need to be aware of what’s already been published – we’re always on the lookout for things that haven’t been published before. I’ll always look at things that are submitted. If people suggest an idea that’s unusual, with a good angle, we might use it.’ In-depth knowledge of the show, and the magazine, is vital. ‘Because Doctor Who Magazine is specialist, writers do need that specialist knowledge, and they have to understand what the readership is. Features require a certain amount of research, we expect quite a lot of time to be spent, and there might be rewrites. Suggest something in the style of the magazine. Have a novel approach. If you’re pitching for a regular new feature, have an idea about its presentation. Think about how words and pictures will work together. We do have writers’ guidelines, but if someone has an idea, plan it out and send us a detailed breakdown.’ Payment is 12p per word. Details: email: [email protected]; website: http://doctorwhomagazine.com/ www.writers-online.co.uk

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It’s a Funny Old World A tipple called Mr Twit’s Odious Ale has been brewed using yeast extracted from the wood of Roald Dahl’s famous writing chair, created to ease a back injury sustained during the Second World War. With the permission of Dahl’s estate, brewers took a swab from the chair, which was used to culture yeast needed for the beer. The Odious Ale was concocted by micro-distillery 40FT Brewery, and food designers Bompass & Parr. Steve Ryan of 40FT Brewery said: ‘By incorporating wild yeast cultured from inside Roald Dahl’s writing chair, in the beer which accompanied a special occasion, Dinner at The Twits, it feels like we are injecting his own dark humour and effervescent sense of fun into the brew.’ • Newspaper corrections are rarely as offbeat as this from the Kent Messenger: ‘Last week we reported that Pokémon Go was being blamed for a rise in anti-social behaviour in Allington. We said Lorraine Otway was a cleaner and she walked her dog there. We would like to clarify the pet belongs to her grandfather-inlaw, and her job role is dust relocation technician.’ • A Finnish library has opened a karaoke booth to boost visitor numbers. Karaoke, of Japanese origin, arouses great excitement in Finland. Tikkurila library, near Helsinki, installed a soundproof cubicle, offering the music of 3,300 Finnish and international tunes, so other callers at the library would not be disturbed. • The Times diary, by-lined Patrick Kidd, pointed out that ‘moist’ was the least favourite word in the English language, according to early pointers in a poll by Oxford University Press. (They abandoned the poll soon after its launch because of unseemly and unsavoury offerings.) It reminded the diarist of the occasion when hacks on the Daily Mail had a bet on who could get the words ‘moist gusset’ into the paper. ‘It was won by the Adam Helliker, then working for Nigel Dempster’s diary, who ingeniously invented a French playboy called Count Moi St Gusset. St Gusset appeared a few times before being killed off in a tragic skiing accident.’ Groan corner

• A rubber band was confiscated from algebra class because it was a method of maths disruption. • No matter how much you push the envelope, it’s still stationery. • Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie. • Two hats were hanging on a hat rack. One said to the other: ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head. DECEMBER 2016

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FLASHES Vince Bamford is the new editor of British Baker, the fortnightly news magazine for the baking industry. He welcomes short news stories (300 words) or features (500-1,000 words) on relevant topics. Payment is £125 for 1,000 words. Details: email: [email protected]; website: http:// bakeryinfo.co.uk/ Scottish crime writer Val McDermid will chair the Wellcome Book Prize 2017 judging panel, which features Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology, Cambridge University; Gemma Cairney, BBC broadcaster and author; Tim Lewens, professor of philosophy of science, Cambridge University; D Speirs, BBC Radio books editor. The Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances, a romance-language author prize worth $150,000, will be awarded to The Lair author Norman Manea at the Guadalajara, Mexico, International Book Fair in November. ‘A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.’ Roald Dahl

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GLOBAL FICTION MARKET Get to know Mugwump PDR LINDSAY-SALMON

Mugwump Press is a US small press with the ‘radical notion that literature can be both commercially viable and not totally suck’. Mugwump prefers authors with an idea about personal branding and self-promotion, and has two imprints, Afrocentric Books and Mofo pubs. Afrocentric Books aims to shake up the ‘usual stereotypical Eurocentric settings and characters’. Novels for the imprint must have at least one main character who is of indigenous African descent. Any genre of adult fiction is welcomed but the editors do like speculative fiction. Make sure the story is character-driven with a powerful plot. Submit completed novels, 75,000 to 150,000 words, through the website, preferably as a docx file, although doc, rtf, txt and odt are acceptable. Payment is ‘50% of net sales to increase to 65% of net sales once a work’s sales surpass $4,000.’ Mofo pubs publishes literary erotica, 12,000-80,000 words, and ‘stories that appeal to niche markets will be given preference over traditional romance tropes and clichés’. All pairings and orientations are welcome, just give them ‘smart, sexy, well-written smut’. Submissions and payments are as for Afrocentric. Both imprints publish anthologies. Check their websites regularly for anthology calls. Erotic stories, under 12,000 words, must be written to the anthology theme. Website: www.mugwumppress.com

Strike now

Matchbook likes to publish ‘works of short fiction and indeterminate prose... literary art that manages brevity without sacrificing fullness.’ Submit stories with a good narrative, and also ‘work that uses form to express something about the time in which we live.’ Authors of selected work are asked to provide a commentary to accompany their work and be part of Matchbook’s ‘ongoing critical discussion. New work is published online every two weeks and there is an annual print volume. Check the submission guidelines and note that work under 1,000 words is favoured. Submission dates, listed on the website, change regularly. Submit only unpublished work, multiple and simultaneous submissions are fine. Limit multiple submissions to three longer pieces and five shorter pieces. Always submit multiple subs in one file. Response time is ‘reasonable’. Payment is $20 per piece. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.matchbooklitmag.com

Magazine opening for blind writers A magazine for those who have vision loss, the blind, their friends and families, Dialogue Magazine is published quarterly by Blindskills, Inc, in Oregon, in large print, braille, cassette, NLS-compatible digital cartridge and by email. The magazine aims to inform, instruct and entertain and has content which includes articles, personal essays, interviews, news and resources on all aspects of coping with the everyday challenges of visual impairment. See the website for a note on the current needs for topics to be covered and a list of regular columns. There are also tables of previous issues contents and sample articles which can be read on the website. Priority is given to submissions from those who are legally blind although exceptions are made when the topic is of exceptional reader interest. All submissions should be original, previously unpublished and not a simultaneous submission. The preferred length of articles is 200 or 500 words, or 800-1,000 words.

Email queries rather then completed pieces are preferred although if this is not practical, postal submissions will be accepted. The deadline for completed manuscript for the spring issue is 1 January 2017. If emailing, the subject line should include your surname and the query topic, or the first 3-4 words of the article title. In the body of the email mention the column you think your idea best fits. The text of your query can be placed in the body of the email or attached as a doc or txt document. Include a cover letter with your contact details. Payment is $15-$35 for first North American serial rights, plus a large-print copy of the magazine. Details: Blindskills, Inc., PO Box 5181, Salem, OR 97304-0181, USA; email: magazine@blindskills. com; website: www.blindskills.com/submit.html


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WRITERS’ NEWS

UK INDEPENDENT MARKET Quality set in stone BY TINA JACKSON

The Greystones Press is a new independent publishing company set up in 2014 by Mary Hoffman and Stephen Barber that published its first five titles in April this year. ‘We publish YA and adult fiction and adult non-fiction in areas that interest us: literature, art, history, music, myths and legends, fairy tales,’ said Mary. ‘We do need books that fill a niche, not necessarily huge commercial bestsellers – though one of those would help! – but each book must earn its costs by finding its own committed readers.’ Mary is a published author with more than 100 titles to her name. ‘I had been having my books published since 1975, so felt I knew one side of the industry very well. I had written everything from picture books to teenage novels, fiction and non-fiction, adult short stories – heavens, I have even written the basis for an app.’ The Greystones Press was conceived when Mary and her husband Stephen were on holiday in Italy. ‘I had discovered that many excellent, prizewinning YA and adult novelists could no longer get contracts with the “Big Five” publishing houses, who are more interested in young début authors than those with track records. I wanted us to run the kind of house that had spaces for such books. ‘We had been talking about it for years and we were sitting outside our favourite coffee bar in Siena when a heavy thunderstorm drove us indoors. We had a notepad and pen and drafted a possible publishing schedule for the first three years. Stephen suddenly said, “let’s do it!” and we were on our way.’ The Greystones Press will be a watchword for excellence. ‘When we were looking for a tagline, I suggested “a guarantee of quality” and Stephen said that could be a high end supermarket!’ said Mary. So in exasperation I suggested “we won’t publish rubbish.” You won’t find that on our website but that is the kernel of our publishing philosophy.’

The Wundor of the written word Wundor Editions is a new independent publisher set up by Matt Smith to explore the possibilities for literature and visual works in print. It is inviting entries of novellas, short stories and flash fiction for the Wundor Short Fiction Contest 2017. The winner will receive £500, and the winner and two runners-up will have their work published, either in full or as an extract, on the Wundor Editions website, and their work will be considered for publication in book form. Submissions may be novellas, short stories or collections of short work, and must be original and unpublished. The total word count of the submission should be between 5,000 and 40,000 words. Each writer may enter up to two submissions. Submit scripts in 12 or 14pt Helvetica or Times New Roman, double-spaced. All entries should be sent via the online submission system. There is a fee of £10 per entry, payable as part of the online submission process. The closing date is 31 January. Website: www.wundoreditions.com

Mary hopes The Greystones Press will publish four new titles next April and, if all goes well, another four in October. ‘Like all publishers, we are looking for a distinctive voice in fiction and an authoritative one in non-fiction. Send us something literate and fascinating that’s going to catch our attention and then readers.’ Future plans include a new imprint. ‘As well as continuing to publish along current lines, we want to start an imprint called White Sapphire to publish European literature in translation. And we hope to publish a short series of e-guides on aspects of writing fiction (YA and adult) and picture books and non-fiction for children.’ All submissions must be made electronically, and should consist of a short writing CV and biography, a synopsis and the first three chapters or 10,000 words, whichever is the shorter. The Greystones Press currently doesn’t accept SF or fantasy, and doesn’t publish poetry, short stories or sport. As a quality publisher, The Greystones Press expects polished submissions. ‘Do read submission advice,’ said Mary. ‘Do check your submission for spelling and grammar. Our most recent submission had a spelling mistake in the book’s title in the email’s subject line. That doesn’t get you off to a good start. Nor does having a jokey email address or one shared with a spouse or partner – this is the 21st century, folks!’ The Greystones Press publishes in paperback and ebook formats, and authors are paid royalties. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.greystonespress.com

Poems for a good Causley The Charles Causley International Poetry Competition is inviting entries. The judge will be Andrew Motion and the winners will be announced in 2017, which will be the centenary of Charles Causley’s birth. The first prize is £2,000, and the winner will be given the opportunity to spend a week at Cyprus Well, Charles Causley’s former home in Launceston, Cornwall, during the centenary year. There is a second prize of £250 and a third prize of £100, and five highly commended poets will be offered £50 and a mentoring opportunity with a Charles Causley Trust poet in residence. The competition is for original, unpublished poems on any subject up to forty lines. All poems must have a title. Type poems in single spacing on single sides of A4, with the line count noted at the top of the page. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. All entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form, which may be downloaded from the website. Only postal entries are accepted. Submit three copies of each poem. The entry fee is £7 for the first poem, and £5 for any subsequent entries. Pay this by cheques made out to The Charles Causley Trust. The closing date is 1 December. Details: The Charles Causley International Poetry Competition, The Charles Causley Trust, 2 Cyprus Well, 2 Ridgegrove Hill, Launceston, PL15 8BT; website: http://causleytrust.org/


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FLASHES Simon Richardson is the editor at Cycling Weekly. He welcomes ideas for illustrated 1,000 word features. Details: email: cycling@ timeinc.com; website: www. cyclingweekly. co.uk Saqi Books acquired world rights to Hear Us Now: Writings by British Muslim Women, edited by Sabrina Mahfouz, which includes the works of over twenty women writers of Muslim heritage. James Shapiro (biography prize for 1606, Shakespeare and the Year of Lear), and Benjamin Markovits (fiction prize for You Don’t Have to Live Like This) are the winners of the James Tait Black Prizes, both receiving £10,000. Brett Smitheram, 37, Chingford, east London, beat Mark Nyman, 49, Knutsford, Cheshire, in the World Scrabble Championship 2016 by remembering the word ‘braconid’, meaning a parasitic wasp. ‘When I write a novel I’m writing about my own life; I’m writing a biography almost, always. And to make it look like a novel I either have a murder or a death at the end’ Beryl Bainbridge

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GLOBAL CRIME MARKET Felony & Mayhem Press

Uprooted wins at BFA Awards

PDR LINDSAY-SALMON

This US small press was ‘born out of irritation’. The editor grew tired of good crime fiction going out of print. Digital publishing arrived and so it became possible to republish old favourites and find new ones at a reasonable cost. The emphasis is still on republishing, but the editorial team ‘are very happy to see submissions of exciting new mysteries, and we guarantee to look at everything that comes in’. The focus at Felony & Mayhem Press is on ‘literary mystery fiction’, and ‘prose matters a lot… We love wit, we love elegance, we love distinctive narrative voices.’ Avoid sending ‘standard-issue genre stuff’. It needs novels, over 75,000 words. Submit a synopsis and sample chapter in doc or docx format by email: submissions@ felonyandmayhem.com Response time is ‘slow’. Payment is negotiated at contract time but takes the usual form. Website: http://felonyandmayhem. com/committing-your-own-mayhem/

The British Fantasy Awards 2016 were given at FantasyCon 2016 in Scarborough in late September. The winners were: Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel, Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Macmillan); August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel, Rawblood, Catriona Ward (Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Best Collection, Ghost Summer: Stories, Tananarive Due (Prime Books); Best Anthology, The Doll Collection, ed Ellen Datlow (Tor Books); Best Newcomer (the Sydney J Bounds Award), Zen Cho, for Sorcerer to the Crown (Macmillan); Best Non-Fiction, Letters to Tiptree, ed. Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press); Best Novella, The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn, Usman T Malik (Tor.com); Best Short Fiction, Fabulous Beasts, Priya Sharma (Tor. com); Best Independent Press: Angry Robot (Marc Gascoigne); Best Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed Scott H Andrews (Firkin Press)

Belmont Story Review Belmont Story Review is the new online literary journal of Belmont University, Tennessee. It aims ‘to surprise and delight readers through an eclectic mix of storytelling which includes fiction, personal essay, poetry, song writing, drama, graphic narrative, and photography; as well as creative reportage, including

coverage of music, film, creativity and collaboration, and the intersection of faith and culture.’ Passionate writers anywhere are invited to submit. Submit fiction (flash or longform), poetry (up to twelve), and creative nonfiction, narrative journalism, that is ‘music, publishing, creativity and collaboration, as well as faith and culture’. If in doubt about lengths of work query the editor

in chief by email. No multiple subs, reprints or simultaneous submissions please. The students on the editorial team work hard to respond promptly. Response time is ‘within eight weeks.’ Payment is ‘a cash honorarium’ for first North American serial rights. Details: Belmont Story Review email: BSRsubmissions@ gmail.com; website: www. belmontstoryreview.com

Keep it in the back garden A monthly independent magazine and online resource, Home Farmer was launched in 2008 as ‘a joyous, information packed multi-platform magazine that celebrates the home grown and home made’. Content includes such subjects as growing your own, livestock, selling your products and self sufficiency and there are also DIY, craft and recipes sections, news and views. The magazine is open to submissions of original, previously unpublished articles and photographs and it is suggested you familiarise yourself with the magazine’s content before submitting. There is a preview of the current month’s issue on the website plus a sample copy that can be downloaded. Passion and integrity are the criteria for Editor Paul Melnyczuk and head of online and magazine content Ruth Tott and in the first instance you should email an outline of an article idea that will be of relevance and interest.

‘We retain the intimate “over the garden fence” feel which doesn’t preach,’ say Paul and Ruth, ‘In fact we often take the micky and dare to be different, giving us a readership that is both loyal and passionate and a magazine that is lively, human and much loved.’ Published work may appear in the print magazine and online at a later date and possibly in an ebook or print book. Although no payment is made there maybe the opportunity to promote your blog and/or website and of course, gain a publication credit. Send ideas by email Details: email: [email protected]; website: https://homefarmer.co.uk


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WRITERS’ NEWS

And another thing...

GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET Smugglers shoot off BY GARY DALKIN

Book Smugglers Publishing is a small press offshoot of the very popular Book Smugglers blog written and edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James. In June the imprint launched the Book Smugglers Quarterly Almanac dedicated to original short speculative fiction, essays, reviews, and reprints. The debut issue featured Tansy Rayner Roberts, John Chu and others. The Almanac is published in paperback and digitally. In addition to the Almanac, Book Smugglers has an open call for short stories for its fourth season of short stories. This will be published digitally in the summer of 2017 and follows volumes devoted to fairytale retellings, first contact, and superheroes. The theme is gods & monsters. The guidelines for both the Quarterly Almanac and Gods & Monsters are largely the same. The editors are very keen to see diverse speculative (science fiction, fantasy) stories with strong elements of romance and/or horror. They love creativity and subversion, and invite writers to challenge the status quo with their characters, story telling technique, and themes. Stories should seek to reflect the diverse world we live in, including under-represented perspectives. Stories should be of 1,500-17,500 words. Profanity, sex, and other explicit situations are fine as long as they fit within the context of the story. No reprints or simultaneous submissions. Deadline for the Quarterly Almanac is rolling; 31 December for Gods & Monsters. You are free to interpret the theme of the anthology anyway they wish. You do not have to feature both ‘gods’ and ‘monsters’, as long as at least one is present in some way. Payment is 6¢ per word up to a maximum of $500 for exclusive rights for one year. Stories will be published for free on Book Smugglers website, with sales from the ebook edition and any possible print edition paid an additional 50% net royalty. Royalty for possible future anthologies to be negotiated. Submit a doc, docx or rtf by email: submissions@ thebooksmugglers.com Send enquiries to [email protected] Guidelines: http://writ.rs/smugglers1 and http://writ.rs/smugglers2 • Finally, starting in 2017, Book Smugglers will be publishing several speculative fiction novellas per year. The roster for next year is already filled, but the editors are open to enquiries and proposals for novellas for 2018. Guidelines are similar to above, though length should be between 17,500 and 40,000 words. Translations will be considered provided you have the English language rights. Send enquiries about novella proposals to novellas@ thebooksmugglers.com

‘I’m really not in control at all of what I’m writing. It’s almost as though before I start writing there’s a shape sitting there that I’ve not seen yet, and when I start to write the novel the shape will reveal itself to me, the novel will decide which way it wants to go. Does it want to follow this character or ©Gary Doak/ that character, is this minor character really Writer Pictures interesting and worth blowing up into a full-scale character or is this major character unnecessary and needs to be done away with?’ Ian Rankin, interviewed in the Guardian ‘Everyone’s love story is different. I never tire of writing love stories and I don’t think people ever tire of reading them. I have a very loyal following through social media and I get to meet a lot of my readers face to face, they wouldn’t be happy if I changed the way I write… ‘It is my job and that’s how I look at it. I’m thrilled to have reached such an important moment in my career. I’ve always been passionate about my writing and feel incredibly lucky to be able to make a living from doing what I love most.’ Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who has written fifty Mills & Boon books ‘Profanity is poetic… Poetic because it’s a surplus of expressiveness and also poetic because there is something poetic in an extremely frustrated person finding no other word suitable for the level of frustration they feel… They are words that punctuate experience. ‘Profanity is artful speech… You can use it to foster intimacy and friendship; it creates solidarity between members of a group.’ Michael Adams, an academic at the University of Indiana ‘Virtually every writer I know has one. One claims to sharpen half a dozen pencils. Another gulps down a can of beer (never mind the hour). A third meditates. (The sound of chanting from up in her lair gets the kids scrambling in embarrassment off to the school bus.) Another needs espresso. His cousin requires Darjeeling straight from India. And one goes outdoors and marches for a while to the beat of a different drummer – marches, literally, around the backyard. ‘Are these people simply eccentrics? They’re home alone, working in solitude, and they can ignore office like protocols. Maybe they just want to cultivate a little weirdness. No harm. But I don’t think most writers’ rituals are mere affectations. I think they’re quite necessary. The writer needs the right room, crowded or bare; the right drink, soft or mildly spiked; the right ambient noise or a dose of earmuffed silence.’ Mark Edmundson, on writers’ rituals in USA’s Chronicle of Higher Education


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FLASHES Aquila monthly educational magazine is aimed at children aged 8-13 and includes features on science, art and general knowledge. Send ideas for features (700-800 words) and stories (1,000-1,100 words). Payment is £75 for features and £90 for stories. Details: email: aquila. editor@btconnect. com; website: www.aquila.co.uk Samantha Walker, previously features editor, the Bath Chronicle, is now editor of the Bath-based lifestyle magazine The Weekend. The 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award, ‘Australia’s most prestigious literature prize’ worth A$60,000, went to AS Patric for his debut novel, Black Rock White City. Jackie Daly is the winner of the Windsor Fringe Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing for 30-min scripts by amateur playwrights. Jackie’s play, The Space Between, was judged the winner out of 280 scripts entered from 18 countries. ‘I do believe that humour and powerful emotion can exist in the same poem. And that a funny poem can be saying something important.’ Wendy Cope

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UK FICTION MARKET A gift from the gods BY PDR LINDSAY-SALMON

Head of Zeus is an independent publishing house, based in the UK and ‘dedicated to beautiful books and great storytelling’. Their list is a mix of general and literary fiction, genre fiction and non fiction. Do check it out before submitting. The editors are open to submissions through a Submittable-type system, which closes intermittently. Writers must register and get a password before they can submit work. This is where the guidelines are so it worth doing as writers need to follow them closely. Submit only when the work is completed and note that only non-fiction, literary fiction and genre fiction are published. When filling in the submission form think of the short description as the pitch, short and

pithy, encompassing the essence of the book in a couple of sentences. Make it attention grabbing. The long description is more like a detailed blurb. This is where to add how the writer’s experience informs the writing. There is a generous word limit for the long description. Only submit a book if it is 75,000 words or longer and completed. Convert the book file into txt, rtf or pdf file. Ensure the manuscript is A4 size, double spaced, 12pt, black ink, Times New Roman or similar font with page numbers. Response time is slow – ‘There aren’t many of us, so please be patient’ – and payment is negotiated at contract time along with the rights. Website: http://headofzeus.com/

New poetry comp from Read Raw Ltd The Robert Tannahill Poetry Competition is a new poetry contest from Scottish creative writing organisation Read Raw Ltd. The competition was launched on the 242nd anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Tannahill, and invites entries from poets throughout the UK. In the main competition there is a first prize of £1,500, a second

prize of £400 and a third of £100, and two commended prizes of £50. In the Scots language category, there are prizes of £500 and £100. The competition is for original, unpublished poems on any theme up to 40 lines in English or Scots. Send poems as doc files, The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Indicate on the manuscript whether the poem is for the main prize or the Scots language prize. Include a cover page with contact details, poem titles and payment details.

Rebel Base founded US publisher Kensington Publishing are to launch Rebel Base Books in the fall of 2017, a major new imprint dedicated to digital-only science fiction and fantasy titles. The line will debut with Barb Hendee’s Through a Dark Glass, and, directed by Kensington editor Martin Biro, publish sixty titles a year. Biro says the imprint will focus on ‘soft science fiction, including thrillers; space travel; alternate worlds and histories; and classic epic fantasy.’ He is actively seeking submissions from both agented and unagented authors. In the first instance send an enquiry only, pasted into the body of an email to Martin Biro at [email protected]. Do not send your novel or any attachments. If Martin is interested in your book he will request to see the full manuscript as a Word doc in Standard Manuscript Formatting. If you do not receive a reply in a reasonable period of time assume that your book does not fit Rebel Base’s current requirements.

Poets may enter as many times as they like. There is an entry fee of £6 for the first poem in either category, and £3 for any subsequent entries. Postal entrants may pay this by cheques made out to Read Raw Ltd. Email entrants should pay by PayPal or credit/debit card. The closing date is 7 January. Details: Read Raw Ltd, 48 Caledonia Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire PA3 2JN; email: [email protected]; website: http://readrawltd.co.uk/ poetrycompetition.html

On course in Nottingham Based in the Creative Quarter of the city, Nottingham Writers’ Studio provides space, networking and creative and professional development opportunities for its members and has a full range of courses available for both members and non members throughout the year. Upcoming courses include How To Get Published, with WM contributor Alex Davis on Saturday mornings in January 2017 and Short Story Writing with Victoria Villasenor 19 January-9 February 2017. There are also shorter courses on Saturdays including Values and Ethics in Fiction Writing with Kerry Young on 21 January 2016, Draft Your Novel with Deborah Bailey on 11 February 2017 and Writing Blogs and Audience Building with Shreya Sen-Handley on 18 March 2017. For full details of costs and booking links and to download a booklet of all programme courses see: http://nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk/ 2015-16-courses-brochure/


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INTRODUCTIONS Writing Magazine presents a selection of hobby and craft titles currently accepting contributions. We strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites, where given, for submission details.

Reloved, edited by Lou Butt, is an independent magazine Home for Christmas for eco-conscious, Golf ball Wreath shabby-chic crafters and makers, devoted to upcycling and recycling. The content, whether project-based or feature articles, is practical, about giving new life to an old, forgotten or unwanted object. Projects are step by step, with clear instructions accompanied by high-quality photographs. Lou is happy to accept original ideas for features and projects. Writers for Reloved must be able to provide photographs. Payment varies. Details: contact@tailormadepublishing. co.uk; website: www.relovedmag.co.uk John Derian’s decoupage style

Reimagining old prints for modern interiors

THE CREATIVE GUIDE TO UPCYCLING YOUR HOME

Add some funky upcycled glamour to your door

ExclusivE!

Max McMurdo

How to make a carnival letter light from salvaged wood

festive MAkes

Annie SloAn on the inSpirAtion behind her lAteSt book

stocking fillers Great repurposed gift ideas

MexicAn style Foil tray decorations

Print witH PAint Recreate this footstool

Advent cAlendAr

Creative Christmas countdown

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£4.99

Issue 36

Pallet Christmas tree Tropical decorations Jewelled table displays

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Docrafts Creativity magazine, edited by Sarah Gane, is a lively, colourful monthly from the crafts supplies company that covers a wide spectrum of accessible, handson, home-based crafts, including paperwork, cardmaking and scrapbooking. A digital sample is available on the website. Sarah commissions freelancers to write features and projects, and is happy to hear from writers with suitable ideas. Email her with a suggested header, standfirst and fifty-word outline. Payment varies. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.docrafts.com

The award-winning Australian crafts magazine Homespun is distributed globally and features a range of stitchcrafts including quilting, dollmaking, soft toys, knitting, appliqué, crotchet and embroidery. The bulk of the editorial content is made up of step-by-step projects for stitching crafts, with some text-based features on relevant craft topics. The editorial team accepts feature pitches from writers worldwide. Send ideas by email. Payment varies. Details: email: homespun@ universalmagazines.com.au; website: www.homespun.net.au 91 magazine, edited by Caroline Rowland, is an independent lifestyle and interiors magazine whose aesthetic includes making and crafting. Its content includes straightforward projects and information on creative workshops where readers can learn the skills necessary to carry out more complex home-based crafts. Caroline accepts proposals about creative projects from writers and makers familiar with 91 and its aesthetic and ethos. Send a brief description and images by email. Payment varies. Details: email: [email protected]; website: 91magazine.co.uk Airfix Model World, edited by Chris Clifford, is Europe’s biggest-selling monthly magazine for plastic modellers, offering model building

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET Get recognised in A Public Space BY GARY DALKIN

Celebrating its tenth year of publication, A Public Space is a biannual American title which describes itself an ‘independent magazine of literature and culture’. A Public Space is published in print and electronically and is supported by America’s prestigious National Endowment for the Arts. Editor Brigid Hughes is looking for high quality literary fiction and poetry, as well as memoirs other non-fiction essays and multi-genre

The Searcher is the monthly magazine for metal detectors. Each issue is packed with detailed, informative features about collections, finding, identification and field trips. Assistant editor John Winter is happy to accept submissions relating to the hobby of metal detecting. He’s flexible about the wordcount, but most articles in The Searcher are between 500 and 2,000 words. All submissions must be exclusive to The Searcher and sent as Word or rtf format. Include copyright-free images. Payment varies but the standard rate is £25 per 1,000 words. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.thesearcher.co.uk

work. Some content is freely available on the A Public Space website, which gives the best idea of the sort of material required. Unsolicited submissions will be accepted until 15 April 2017 for the fall 2017 issue. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but notify if accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions. There are no word limits, and novellas, translations and extracts from novels will be considered. Submissions should be made via the form at https://apublicspacedemo.submittable.com/submit Please send enquiries to: [email protected] Payment is up to $100 plus contributor’s copies. Details: A Public Space, 323 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA; website: http://apublicspace.org


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articles but also features on aviation/military history, and reference on the real machinery via period and modern photography, colour artwork, cutaway drawings and scale plans. Subject matter involves aircraft, military vehicles, figures, sci-fi, real space, auto/ motorcycles and naval. Chris uses freelance writers for much of AMW’s content, and welcomes pitches for future articles from experienced modellers with photography skills. Payment is £30 per page. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.airfixmodelworld.com

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FLASHES Somerset Life monthly magazine is edited by Charlotte Skidmore. Send ideas for wellillustrated 1,000 articles on relevant topics. Payment is negotiable. Details: email: charlotte. skidmore@archant. co.uk; website: www.somersetlife.co.uk Former regional journalist Sue Hughes and sales director Guy Hanson launched a new magazine, Winchester Resident, covering local issues, which will appear six times a year. Craven Herald & Pioneer deputy editor Lindsey Moore has left to join nostalgia magazine Down Your Way as editor, succeeding Kevin Hopkinson who is retiring. ‘Books in Nicks’ is the brainchild of SC Steve Whitmore, who has worked closely with charity Give A Book to offer books free of charge to detainees in all London custody suites. Ian MacGregor, the weekend editor of the Daily Telegraph, is to be the next president of the Society of Editors. ‘You can’t always write well, and sometimes you can’t write at all, but if you’re not there at your desk trying, then you won’t succeed.’ Jay McInerney on the Art of Fiction, Paris Review

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GLOBAL ROMANCE MARKET TMTLTBMG BY PDR LINDSAY-SALMON

Inkubus Publishing is a US independent, specialising in male-male romance and erotica. It needs novelettes, 10,00020,000 words, novellas, 20,000-50,000 words, novels, 50,000+ words, and independent anthologies which should be a collection of short stories making at least 50,000 words. Single short stories are only wanted for the anthologies. Query before submitting anything. The editors may then ask for a synopsis. Submissions are currently wanted for Fairy Tail Anthology, for sexy takes on established fairy tales or original works. Submit stories, 500-10,000 words, through the website, by 2 January 2017. Response time for novels is 90 days and ‘quick’ for the anthologies. Payment for novels is by royalties, payment for anthology stories is $15 and a contributor’s copy. Website: www.inkubuspublishingllc.com

Listen here No Extra Words is a weekly podcast broadcasting English language short stories. Writers from around the world record their stories and two or three stories make an episode around fifteen minutes long. Editor/producer Kris Baker Dersch welcomes most genres and likes to podcast a wide range of fiction with a good sprinkling of familyfriendly stuff. A story with ‘coarse language or mature themes’ has an audio disclaimer preceding it. No Extra Words ‘welcomes different voices and would love to read submissions by any flash fiction author.’ Episodes are scheduled around six months in advance. Submit short stories, under 2,000 words, although under 1,000 is favoured, by email: [email protected] Just paste a single story into the body of an email with ‘Submission’ and your name in the subject line. There is no payment is offered, as the podcasts are free. Response time is ‘within three weeks’. Website: https://noextrawords.wordpress.com

Thank goodness for small Merciers Independent Irish publisher Mercier Press is inviting entries from unpublished writers resident in Ireland for its Fiction Competition 2017. The competition is for first-time writers of adult or young adult fiction. The winner will receive €1,000 and a publishing deal with Mercier Press. To enter, send a minimum

of 10,000-12,000 of original, unpublished fiction aimed at adults or young adults, plus a 1,000-word synopsis. The completed novel should be no longer than 100,000 words. The competition is free to enter. Writers may send only one entry. Writers entering the competition must be resident in Ireland and must not have previously published

or self-published a book-length work of fiction in any format. Include a completed entry form, which may be downloaded from the website. The closing date is 1 February. Details: email: deirdre.roberts@ mercierpress.ie; website: www.mercierpress.ie/fictioncompetition-2017/

A great flow of poetry

Insatiable appetites

Magma Poetry Prize 2016-17 is open for entries in two categories: Judge’s Prize and Editor’s Prize. Poet Jane Draycott will be judging the Judge’s Prize and five Magma editors will be judging the Editor’s Prize. In each category the prize money is the same: £1,000 for first, £300 for second and £150 for third. The six prize-winning poems will be published in Magma. Five special mentions in each category will each get £15. The Judge’s Prize is for poems between 11 and 50 lines. The Editor’s prize is for poems up to ten lines. All entries may be on any subject. All entries must be original and unpublished. Send poems by post or by email. Each poem must be on a separate sheet. Poems that go onto two pages should include the title on both pages. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Postal entrants should download and complete an entry form. Online entrants can upload their poems via the online submission system. The entry fee is £5 for the first poem, £4.50 for the second and £3.50 for the third and any subsequent entries. Postal entrants should make cheques payable to Magma Poetry. Online entrants should pay by PayPal. The closing date is 16 January. Website: www.magmapoetry.com/competition

Launched in 2012, Insatiable Press publishes erotica and erotic romance audiobooks and ebooks and now, ‘a wide array of sensual fiction and nonfiction titles’. The editors are looking for ‘erotica, erotic romance, and non-fiction sexuality’ from new and established writers. Submissions are open but send a query first. Currently, novellas and short novels, 40,000-50,000 words, are particularly wanted, and they welcome series ideas. Query with a one-page description of you and your project, including biographical information, writing background, previously published works, and story details. The response is ‘quick’. Insatiable also publishes anthologies. See the website for updated calls. Payment for novels is ‘no-advance’ but competitive royalties. Anthology payment is $25 plus a copy of the ebook. Details: query novels to: [email protected]; submit anthology stories to [email protected]; website: http://insatiablepress.com


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WRITERS’ NEWS

We love Lucy

UK FICTION MARKET Lightning strikes BY TINA JACKSON

ThunderPoint Publishing Ltd is an independent publisher of general adult fiction, including some historical fiction, some crime/detective and some which would be classed as ‘literary’. ‘We set up the business in October 2012, so we will be celebrating our fourth birthday this month,’ said director Seonaid Francis. ‘At that time we were living in South Uist in the Western Isles, and I had just completed an MLitt in the Literature of the Highlands and Islands with UHI (the University of the Highlands and Islands). I had always fancied running a bookshop, but (co-director) Huw’s work means we tend to move a lot, so we needed a business that could move easily with us. Publishing gives us the best of both worlds – mobile, with lots of lovely books to read!’ ThunderPoint has been publishing about five books a year since then, ‘though this year has been less, due to the move to Wales,’ said Seonaid. ‘We hope to develop that over the next few years. I see us doubling our publishing quota in the next couple of years, and also starting to move into non-fiction. As a great fan of romance fiction, I quite fancy a romance imprint as well.’ She’s happy to receive submissions for ThunderPoint, particularly of books that ‘make us laugh, or cry, or think. Or all three! It’s very subjective – we look for well-written books that we like. I think that’s why we have such an eclectic range of novels, as my own taste is very broad. In general I think many of our books are quite challenging – we have published novels about child abuse, homophobic attacks and the crushing of ordinary people by powerful, historic events, as well as black comedies and a family saga.’ Send submissions in pdf format only by email. For fiction submissions include a two-page synopsis, the first 40 pages and a short author biography. Non-fiction proposals should consist of a two-page outline, a chapter list and chapter summary, two sample chapters and short author bio and summary of why you are qualified to write the book. ThunderPoint publishes in print and ebook formats and aims to be environmentally friendly by managing stock levels to reduce the likelihood of unsold stock. Writers are paid royalties. Details: [email protected]; website: www.thunderpoint.co.uk

The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize invites entries for the seventh annual competition. The Lucy Cavendish Fiction is run by Lucy Cavendish College at the University of Cambridge and is given for the opening of an unpublished novel by a woman writer that combines literary merit with unputdownability. The winner will receive a cash prize of £1,500 and an offer of literary representation with Peters Fraser & Dunlop. All five shortlisted writers will be offered one-to-one consultations with PFD agent Nelle Andrew. Novels may be on any subject, and may equally be literary fiction or genre fiction. Novels for YA or children will be accepted if they are word-based. To be eligible to enter, writers should not previously have published a novel. Writers who have previously self-published may enter, but the novel they are entering must not have been self-published. Novels do not need to be completed for writers to enter the competition. To enter, send a pdf of between 40 and 50 pages of the beginning of the novel and a pdf of between 5 and 10 pages of a synopsis. Both documents should be 1.5 spaced, 12pt font, on numbered pages. Enter online. There is a fee of £12 per entry, payable as part of the online submission system. The closing date is 10 February. Website: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/fictionprize/

Youth voices Paper Swans independent poetry press has a call out for submissions from young writers between 13 and 18 of poetry and flash fiction for a new YA anthology. The YA anthology will be a companion piece giving a platform to youth voices to Paper Swans’ Schooldays anthology, which reflected on memories of youth. Submit up to two pieces: poems and flash fiction up to 250 words on any subject. Send poems in one single Word attachment with the writer’s name as the name of the document and the writer’s name and age as a header in the document. Put YA Poems in the subject line of the submission email. There is no payment for writers whose work is selected. The closing date is 31 December. Details: email: [email protected]; website: http://paperswans.co.uk/submissions/

Gourmets get creative Entries are now being accepted for the 2017 Mogford Prize, which is for short stories with a food and drink theme. The winner will receive £10,000. The winning story will be read by a professional actor and uploaded on the StoryPlayer site. Four shortlisted entrants will be invited as Jeremy Mogford’s guests

to the Mogford party in March 2017, and hosted for the night at a Mogford hotel in Oxford. The competition is for original, unpublished short fiction up to 2,500 words, which must have food and/or drink at the heart of the story. Enter stories via the online submission


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form as double-spaced Word documents with the wordcount noted at the top of the first page. The writer’s name and personal details must not appear on the manuscript. There is a £10 entry fee which is payable as part of the online submission process. The closing date is 15 January 2017. Website: http://writ.rs/2017mogfordprize

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FLASHES Greetings Today monthly trade magazine is edited by Tracey Bearton. Articles and news relating to the greetings card industry are considered. Payment is by arrangement. Details: email: tracey@ lemapublishing. com; website: www. greetingstoday. co.uk Malorie Blackman’s young adult novel Noughts and Crosses is to be made into a BBC One drama series to be aired next year. RF Publishing, Bradford, publishers of Asian Sunday, have launched the Asian Standard, a new free weekly newspaper aimed at the UK’s Asian community Alice Fisher is now deputy editor at the Observer Magazine. The editor is Ruaridh Nicoll. Website: www.theguardian. com/observer Free newspaper View from Bridport welcomes news and letters. Details: email: edit@viewnews. co.uk; website: www.viewnews. co.uk ‘The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You’re there, listening to every word, but part of you is observing. Everything is useful to a writer, you see – every scrap, even the longest and most boring of luncheon parties.’ Graham Greene

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UK POETRY PUBLISHER Dreams come blue BY TINA JACKSON

Indigo Dreams is an award-winning independent publisher best know for poetry. ‘We publish both full collections and pamphlets to 36 pages. Our publications are from established and less experienced poets. Also our pamphlet division is fairly new, so to win the Saboteur Awards 2016 with Stuart A Paterson’s Border Lines was very gratifying,’ said publishers Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling. Indigo Dreams also runs two annual poetry competitions and publishes three print magazines: the long-established Reach Poetry monthly, now around eighteen years old, and two quarterly publications. ‘The Dawntreader was established in 2007 and is themed; myth, legend, landscape, spirituality, love. Sarasvati has been going since 2008. It is mainly poetry, with some prose.’ Indigo Dreams has a reputation for promoting new work alongside more established poets. ‘We are known for encouraging new, exciting poets and endeavour to develop their

talents so they may be seen by a wider audience. We were delighted to receive The Ted Slade Award for Services to Poetry in 2015.’ It also publishes a small number of factual books specifically on southwest England topics through the Tamar Books imprint. ‘One example concerned the loss of the Darlwyne pleasure boat that sank in 1966 and was recently the subject of a BBC documentary. We have occasionally published novels, but we are not considering submissions at the moment. The last of our current crop, Rachel Gillian North’s A Horse Called Red is published in November.’ Indigo Dreams was launched by poet and editor Ronnie in 2005 and now publishes around 35-40 books each year, plus magazines. ‘We expect to continue at this level.’ Indigo Dreams is currently open to poetry, both collections and pamphlets, for late 2017 and into 2018. Ronnie and Dawn are also happy to receive submissions for the magazines and Tamar Books. ‘We are always looking for poems for our three magazines and short stories (short), relevant articles and prose for two of our magazines. Any book suggestions for Tamar Books should be preceded by details prior to sending completed manuscript. It is also worthwhile checking our website occasionally to see whether we are open for competition entries or we

reopen for novels.’ Indigo Dreams likes work that hooks a reader’s interest, and maintains it. ‘We look for submissions that engage immediately and go on to maintain that interest – not with the exhibitionism of a lap-dancer but with the subtle surprise of spice in a meal, one that leaves a lingering taste; a unique style with few wasted words, well written and well constructed.’ Dawn and Ronnie hope that Indigo Dreams authors will also take an interest in the commercial aspects of their work. ‘We like to see authors that are willing to engage in the selling process to maximise sales, though this really should be second nature.’ All submissions should be made through the publishing enquiry forms for collections (up to 72 pages) and pamphlets (36 pages) on the website. Send the complete collection or pamphlet as an attachment with the completed form. All Indigo Dreams publications are print only, with the exception of fiction/non-fiction where a digital version is also available. Indigo Dreams authors receive a royalty contract when their manuscript is accepted. Royalties accrued are paid twice yearly. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www.indigodreams.co.uk

A towering achievement

Make a move

The Christopher Tower Poetry Prize, for young poets between 16 and 18, is inviting entries for this year’s competition. The theme of this year’s contest is ‘Stone’. The first prize is £3,000, the second prize is £1,000 and the third prize is £500. Entry is free. Each poet may submit only one poem. All entrants must be in full or part-time education in the UK. Poems may be up to 48 lines and must be original and unpublished. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. A completed entry form, which can be downloaded from the website or completed online, must be included with each entry. Enter by post or by email. The closing date is 17 February. Details: Christopher Tower Poetry Prizes, Christ Church, St Aldgate’s, Oxford OX1 1DP; email: info@ towerpoetry.org.uk; website: www.towerpoetry.org.uk

The Writers at Lovedean are running a short story competition in aid of Portsmouth MS Society, and invite entries on the theme of ‘movement’. The prizes, which have been donated by members of the group are £50, £35 and £25. The competition is for original, unpublished short stories up to 1,200 words. Submit entries as Word docs, double spaced on numbered pages with the title as a header on each page. The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Include a separate cover page with contact details, story title and a wordcount. There is a fee of £3 per entry, payable by PayPal. Each writer may submit up to three stories. All entry fees will be donated to Portsmouth MS Society. Entries will only be accepted through the online submission system. The closing date is 31 January 2017. Website: www.thewriterslovedean.co.uk/


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WRITERS’ NEWS

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE Barking Sycamores is a literary online journal which aims to publish poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, hybrid genre work, and artwork created by people who are neurodivergent, covering people who are ‘autistic, bipolar, ADHD, etc’. The editorial team would also like to ‘add positively to the public discussion about neurodivergence’ through ‘essays on literature and the interrelationship between neurodivergence and the creative process.’ It needs poetry, short fiction (under 1,000 words), creative non-fiction and hybrid genre works (under 8,500 words) and art, created by neurodivergent people. Essays ‘on the impact of neurodivergence on the creation of literary works’ (under 8,500 words), and book reviews (under 1,000 words), are also welcomed. No poetry, and don’t submit on behalf of others. Submissions about neurodivergent or disabled people must be written by writers who are neurodivergent or disabled. Payment is only for work included in the annual anthology. Submit through the website: http:// barkingsycamores.wordpress.com The Grief Diaries is another special zine. Editor Kristi DiLallo created the zine ‘to exhibit art that speaks to grief and loss’. It needs poetry, fiction, non-fiction, photography, and artwork which ‘all relate in some way to grief, loss, or mourning’. Length and style, genre and format are flexible because, ‘The grieving process looks different to everyone.’ When submitting poetry, art, and photography do so in a single doc file. Include a 150-word bio and full contact details. Submit through the website: www.thegriefdiaries.org

Mannequin Haus is a new zine, wildly experimental and into multimedia. The editor, Zachary Scott Hamilton, has no fixed ideas for the poetry and fiction he publishes, but it should be mind-bending, experimental and stretching the boundaries of what literature is. Submissions are read all year round. Submit up to five poems, three pieces of flash fiction, two essays or four play scenes in the body of an email. For video poems or video stories, send one link to the video. Details: email: [email protected]; website: http://infii2.weebly.com Thrice Fiction is a quirky zine featuring standard stories and flash but also ‘various forms that kind-of sort-of look like fiction but may also be poetry’. It needs ‘genre-benders, odd forms, flash, micro, and alternative, but will also include more traditional forms and styles if well crafted.’ Read the archives carefully to get a flavour of what is required. Check periods and submit online at www.thricefiction.com Keep work under 5,000 words and note that traditional poetry ‘has little chance here’. Kleft Jaw Journal is well worth a read. This is another experimental zine where the editorial team ‘seek to transcend the current reality of modern poetry/prose’. Writers are asked to send ‘your battle cries, your barbaric yawps, your rebel songs, and your love songs.’ Check for the submission deadlines and send no more than three poems, one piece of prose, fiction, or non-fiction, all under 5,000 words, in the body of the email. Do not send attachments

GLOBAL SF MARKET Writers wanted for Humans Wanted BY GARY DALKIN

Humans Wanted is a new science fiction anthology being edited by Vivian Caethe for Cuppatea Publications. The tag line for this anthology is: When going somewhere dangerous, take a human. Caethe is looking for stories that show diverse humanity in a positive light, as useful contributors to the universe. She wants tales of humans who build relationships and forge new paths, not humans that destroy or devastate those they meet. You should submit stories with

as they will be deleted. No bios or cover letter: ‘let the work speak for itself.’ Details: email: [email protected]; website: http://kleftjaw.com Storgy is a UK zine devoted to short stories. It welcomes new and established writers. Again this is a zine with editors who ‘search for short stories which challenge literary conventions and experiment with genre, style, form and content’. Write with soul, ‘be it broken or bruised, or endless and almighty’. Submit stories, under 5,000 words, in a doc or docx file. Response time is ‘within 6-8 weeks’. Details: email: [email protected]; website: https://storgy.com The Stonecoast Review is the zine journal of the University of Southern Maine. It welcomes creative non-fiction, literary fiction, popular (genre) fiction, and poetry from new and established writers. Prose should be under 7,500 words, which transports or transforms the reader. Any form of poetry is acceptable, but no longer than fifty lines, and no more than five per submission. Submit doc attachments with a short covering letter. Website: www.stonecoastreview.org Just for fun, Cease, Cows is a zine devoted to shorter forms of fiction. The editors have a zany sense of humour and ‘want to explore the contemporary, the strange, the big questions’. Submit through the website, ‘as many stories that add up to a total of 1,500 words in all’. These editors like ‘strange literary, magical realism, speculative, slipstream, utopian and dystopian, bizarro, apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, and just plain weird fictions.’ Response times ‘vary, but are usually within a few months’. There is no payment. Website: http://ceasecows.com

strong characters in positive stories that portray humans in dangerous situations as useful and generally helpful to the universe. Science fiction only, no fantasy, although horror elements may be present. Stories must be original, though translations will be considered. Keep content roughly comparable with what is permitted in a 12A rated film. Writers of diverse backgrounds are encouraged to submit. Stories should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words. Payment is a flat rate of $250. Deadline is 31 December. Send your stories in standard manuscript format as a doc attachment by email: humanswanted@ gmail.com Include your name, byline, email address, mailing address, and approximate word count. Website: www.viviancaethe.com


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FLASHES Ed Needham edits Coach, a free health and fitness magazine available from gyms, etc. He welcomes hearing from readers about how Coach has changed their health and fitness regime. Details: email: editorial@ coachmag.co.uk; website: www. coachmag.co.uk Cake International is the new official magazine of the cake show of the same name. The editor is Melanie Underwood. Details: email: cakeinternational@ timeinc.com; website: www. cakeinternational. co.uk Summons is a quarterly publication for members of the Medical and Dental Union of Scotland (MDDUS). Details: email: [email protected]; website: www. mddus.com/ publications/ The Landsman is a free bimonthly lifestyle magazine distributed throughout the South-West of England. The editor is Rebecca Hacker. Details: email: copy@thelandsman. co.uk; website: www. thelandsman.co.uk Island Life is a free glossy bimonthly lifestyle magazine for the Isle of Wight. Details: email: [email protected]; website: www. visitilife.com ‘If you believe strongly enough in what you’ve written don’t give up, there are lots of agents and publishers out there.’ Stephen Keloman

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GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET Igniting FIYAH BY GARY DALKIN

FIYAH is a new US quarterly speculative fiction magazine scheduled to debut on 1 January 2017, featuring stories by and about people of the African diaspora. The magazine’s editorial team, helmed by executive editor Justina Ireland is comprised entirely of black speculative fiction writers rooted in a collective known as The Niggerati Space Station, founded by writer-editors P Djeli Clark and Troy L Wiggins. FIYAH’s editors are currently reading for issue three, summer 2017 issue, which has a theme of ‘spilling tea’, whether that be literal, metaphoric or in any other sense you can imagine. Required are high quality, brave works of speculative fiction (science fiction or fantasy) by authors from the African diaspora. Deadline is 1 January, on which date submissions for issue four will open, theme to be announced. Submissions should be short fiction up to 7,500 words or novelettes up to 15,000 words. No reprints, multiple submissions or simultaneous submissions. Payment is $150 for stories, $300 for novelettes, $50 per poem. Submit a doc file by email: [email protected] with ‘Poetry submission’ in the subject line. Guidelines: www.fiyahlitmag.com/submissions/

A Mearns to an end Mearns Writers in Scotland is inviting entries for its New Beginnings Short Story. The competition is for short stories on any subject, between 1,000 and 3,000 words. The winner will receive £250 and three runners-up will each receive £50. The winning entry will be published on the Mearns Writers’ website. Format entries in 1.5 spacing, 12pt Times New Roman on numbered pages, with the title and word count in a header on each page. The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Include a cover sheet with details of name, address, email address and entry titles. Email entrants should send their entries as doc attachments (not docx). There is an entry fee of £7 for the first story, and £5 for any subsequent stories, payable by PayPal or cheques made out to Mearns Writers. The closing date is 31 December. Details: Mearns Writers Short Story Competition, 5 David Street, Stonehaven AB39 2AJ; email: [email protected]; website: mearnswriters.simdif.com

Go for the big win with Kent and Sussex Kent & Sussex Poetry Society is inviting entries for its 2017 Open Poetry Competition. The winner will receive £1,000. The second prize winner will get £300, and the third prize winner will get £100. Four runners-up will each be awarded £50. The winning poems will be published in the Society’s Poetry Folio in September 2017. The competition is for original, unpublished poems in any form or

style. Poems may be up to forty lines. Each poem should be typed on a separate sheet of A4. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Include a separate sheet of A4 with name and contact details, a list of the poems submitted, and information about where you heard about the competition. Poets may send as many entries as they like. Enter by email or by post. There is an entry fee of £5 per poem, or £4 per poem for three or

Do it right for Doolin

Doolin Writers Weekend will take place in County Clare between 3 and 5 February, and entries from writers worldwide are invited for the Doolin Writers Competition 2017. The competition has a prize fund of €2,500 and is in three categories: poetry, short stories and flash fiction. Two winners in each category will be invited to Doolin Writers Weekend and provided with accommodation and meals. All entries must be original and unpublished, and may be on any theme. The writer’s name must not appear on the manuscript. • Poems may be up to forty lines. • Short stories may be between 1,000 and 3,000 words, and formatted in double spacing. • Flash fiction should be no more than 500 words and should be double spaced. There is a fee per entry of €10/£8, which may be paid by postal entrants by cheques made out to Hotel Doolin or through the online submission system. The closing date is 17 January. Details: Donal Minihane, Hotel Doolin, Doolin, Co Clare; website: www.hoteldoolin.ie/doolin-writers-festival.html

more poems. Postal entrants should pay by cheques made out to Kent & Sussex Poetry Society, and email entrants should pay by PayPal and include the PayPal reference number in their submission email. The closing date is 31 January. Details: The Competition Organiser, 13 Ruscombe Close, Tunbridge Wells TN4 0SG; email: kentandsussexpoetry@ gmail.com; website: https:// kentandsussexpoetry.com/

Keep it short for PWG Plymouth Writers’ Group is inviting entries for the PWG International Writing Competition 2017. The competition is being run in conjunction with the English and Creative Writing Department at the University of Plymouth. The competition is for original, unpublished short stories up to 1,500 words, on any theme. The winner will receive £250. There is a second prize of £50, and the best five entries will be included in the PWG 2017 Anthology. All stories must be submitted by email as doc attachments. Format documents in 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced. There is a fee of £5 per entry, which should be paid to The Co-Operative Bank, sort code 08-92-50, account number 67004366 including the reference number 80034-PWG. Payment must be received before entries are sent. The closing date is 31 January. Details: email: PWGCompetitions@Gmail. com; website: https://plymouthwritersgroup.uk/


24/10/2016 15:54

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BY TINA JACKSON

Maverick Arts Publishing is an independent children’s publishing company. ‘It is predominantly a picture book publisher, but we are growing gradually into other children’s markets and age ranges including board books, early readers and junior fiction,’ said Maverick’s Ellie Brough. Maverick was born out of a calendar publisher in 2009 when managing director Steve Bicknell discovered he had a passion for characters and brands. Editor Kimara Nye joined the small but focused team and Maverick began publishing picture books. Seven years on the team has doubled in size, the title list has grown exponentially and Maverick has become a name amongst aspiring new writers and illustrators as a publisher which gives new talent a platform. In 2015, Maverick published just under twenty books, ‘growing our picture book list and launching new board book and early reader lists. In 2016 we will publish a total of around thirty books including picture books, board books, early readers and junior fiction titles. This year we have published six debut authors and will continue to look for new and emerging talent through unsolicited manuscripts. The 2017 publishing schedule is filling up quickly but we hope to grow our title list year by year,’ said Ellie. Maverick is in a constant state of development. ‘We see ourselves branching out across all age ranges of the children’s market and ultimately growing up with our fans. In the coming years we would like to continue to produce high quality, memorable picture books, to grow our educational arm of publishing with our early readers and to launch a diverse and strong junior fiction list. The sky is the limit for Maverick!’ Currently submissions are only open for picture books. ‘We accept fiction manuscripts under 650 words. We like quirky texts, which are funny and a little bit out there – we are called Maverick for a reason! We’re not easily put off by a challenge and love originality. We accept both prose and rhyme but our main priority is the story. We want a good story, something which makes us sit up and listen. Our top tip for standing out in the slushpile is: “title is king”. If you have a great title, put it the subject line and make it bold, you might just get noticed.’ Good Maverick titles will make readers laugh but also offer something extra. ‘Think about who your story appeals to, does it have an educational elements, will it fit in with a national or international holiday? Anything extra your book has to offer on top of your fab story is a bonus in our eyes.’ All submissions must be made by email. Send manuscripts as doc, pdf or rtf documents under 5MB with double-line spacing and text running from one page to the next. Only include illustrations if you are an author-illustrator. The submission email subject line should be your author name and manuscript title. Maverick mainly publishes soft-back picture books with 32 pages which include thirteen full-colour spreads. It also publishes board book formats with eight colour spreads and junior fiction with 128 pages. Maverick authors are paid royalties on net receipts and then further royalties on foreign rights and digital sales. Details: email: submissions@maverickbooks. co.uk; website: www.maverickbooks.co.uk


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The right description Patrick Forsyth presents some thoughts about descriptions to use or avoid. t was film producer Sam Goldwyn who first said that ‘you should avoid clichés like the plague’. The maxim is repeated by most writing guides and courses, the point being that such descriptions, while once fresh and even novel, have been used so much that they are now colourless or trite. Yet it can be curiously difficult to write at any length without resorting, by accident or design, to cliché. Travel writers maybe have a particular problem. There is so much to write about that demands description and many such things are difficult to encapsulate in a few words: sunsets, deserted beaches of white sand, high mountains, rushing rivers, even luxurious (or the reverse) hotel rooms – to name but a few. The list of phrases to avoid is, the experts tell us, legion. The calm before the storm, bolt from the blue, crack of dawn, flat as a pancake, pretty as a picture, tried and true – all would be on such a list. So too might be single words; surely ‘situation’ is overused to the point of cliché? But some clichés are perhaps less inappropriate than others. They are, after all, a form of shorthand, they can enable readers to grasp a meaning quickly and clearly for the very reason that they are tried and tested and well known. If they proliferate then they will pollute any piece of writing and dilute its acceptability to both editors and readers. But a single one, well chosen, can instantly produce the meaning you want and, for some, there may be a pleasure in recognising it; rather like spotting an old friend across the room. There are various kinds of cliché that exist in abstract. The late Keith Waterhouse identified several: an over-familiar quotation, an inappropriately placed Latin phrase, a jargonheavy phrase and also those that are simply boring or so old as to produce a groan from the reader. Other devices too, for instance idioms, similes, allusions and more are sufficiently close to cliché to be viewed similarly. Yet, a blanket ban on clichés is surely inappropriate. Writing at the very last minute may be clear and meaningful, but somehow catching a flight at the eleventh hour may be more pleasing. Where a cliché is taking on the role of a symbol, expressing an idea or vision without actually saying its name as it were, then it can play a useful part in a piece of writing. And it can certainly sound better than something that is contrived to avoid a cliché and ends up just sounding forced and awkward. Thus it may be better to take the bull by the horns than the scorpion by the tail. So if a place you visited was not your cup of tea, then spell it out loud and clear, but keep your nose to the grindstone until you find a description that hits the nail on the head. Then all will be fine and dandy.

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FLASHES Jeremy O’Grady is editor-in-chief of The Week news aggregation magazine. Feedback and letters are welcomed. The Week Junior (http:// theweekjunior. co.uk) is aimed at younger readers. Details: email: editorialadmin@ theweek.co.uk; website: www. theweek.co.uk Classic Motor monthly magazine incorporating The Autojumbler is edited by John Hodson. Details: email: postmaster@ classicmotor. co.uk; website: www. classicmotor. co.uk Dr Michael Hall is chairman of the Francis Brett Young Society. Membership is £7 per annum. A journal is published twice a year. Details: email: Michael.hall10@ gmail.com; website: www. fbysociety.co.uk Classic Motoring monthly incorporates Classic Cars for Sale and the editorial contact is Alan Anderson. Details: bradcam anderson@aol. com; website: www.classiccars forsale.net ‘Language does not always have to wear a tie and lace-up shoes. The object of fiction isn’t grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.’ Stephen King

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GLOBAL SHORT FICTION MARKETS Aussie shorts BY PDR LINDSAY-SALMON

An Australian company specialising in publishing short stories in individual pocket-sized books, In Short Publishing hopes to encourage ‘a new wave of readers who will find pleasure in finishing a book in a single sitting’. It needs great short stories to be published, by themselves, in pocket-sized books. The optimal length is approximately 4,000 words, and can be in any genre. ‘Strong genre fiction: fantasy, mystery, crime, romance, science fiction, horror etc,’ is especially welcome, although they will also publish any wellwritten story which does not fit an obvious genre. Multiple and international submissions are welcome, simultaneous subs are not. Check the guidelines carefully; submit through the website during open submissions periods and expect a quick response once the submission window is closed. Payment is by royalties, and full details are outlined at the website. Website: www.inshortpublishing.com Another Australian small press, Truth Serum publishes novels, novellas and anthologies. The team also publishes non-fiction and has a distinct sense of humour. It likes ‘sexy stories, and fun stories, and witty stories, and stories set in interesting places but not the moon or outer space.’ It might accept ‘Queer stories… and we love stories about obsession and hysteria… but making us laugh is the biggie, if you can do that, then you are halfway there.’ See the guidelines for a long list of ‘Don’t Wants’. Submit an email query first ‘about the plot or style of the manuscript, if it’s a novel or non-fiction.’ Put ‘submission query’ in the subject line of the email, and keep the query brief, to the point and enticing. The contract is available to inspect online for details of payments and rights. Details: email: [email protected], website: https://truthserumpress.net

Book Talk BY JOHN JENSEN Sometimes the music of words can inspire and seduce, as I know from personal experience. Often it's the meaning behind the music, whether obvious or subtly diffuse. All too often words, beautiful words, come crashing to their doom in a thick soup of metaphors and wellintentioned banalities. Read properly, poetry can overcome some pretty comical notions of womanhood, for example, and still inspire with its sheer sensuality. The Song of Solomon read to a loved one at night by candlelight, whisky in hand, can be a sublimely beautiful experience, at least for the bloke, yet what is it that enchants the reader? Imagine – her eyes are like fishpools in Heshbon, her nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh towards Damascus, and her breasts are like clusters of grapes, and her belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lillies. Crikey! There's a pin-up for you. Sadly, beauty perishes. Everything perishes! Recently, I've been re- reading Larkin and have been overwhelmed by the sadness of mortality. My latest poem is entitled: Reflections on an older spouse. When you notice that your mate Is starting to disintegrate. Quickly stifle gasps of horror For you'll do much the same t'morror. My wife suggests I go back to writing Inspector Periwinkle novels.

Take five

The Octagon Theatre in Bolton has a call out for script submissions for its Top Five Festival. The five most exciting scripts submitted will be offered the chance of being performed as rehearsed readings at the Top Five Festival in March, which is part of the theatre’s Reveal Season that showcases new and emerging talent. Top Five Festival script submissions should be at least an hour long, and must not have been previously performed. Mark submissions ‘Top Five’. The closing date is 30 November. Details: Top Five, Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft South, Bolton BL1 1SB; email: [email protected]; website: octagonbolton.co.uk


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WRITERS’ NEWS

UK INTERIORS MAGAZINE Home sweet homes

Wake up and smell the Café poetry competition

BY TINA JACKSON

Period Homes is a leading interiors magazine PERIOD NEW edited by Zoe Balding. LOOK! HO 100+ pages of ME S It’s a largely visual magazine aimed at INSPIRATION and ideas Create a owners of period properties with a modern approach to decorating their homes. ‘We’ve got a new look,’ said Zoe. ‘Each issue of • Expert advice • Buyer’s guides Period Homes (formerly Period Homes & • Best buys Interiors) magazine will look at a particular theme or room and will tap into the knowledge of industry experts and stylists to SEASONAL IDEAS Six creative ways to offer well-placed advice and beautiful visual celebrate the autumn inspiration on tackling home improvements. Over the course of a year, regular readers will Real homes, be able to build up a library of ideas to refer real ideas to time and time again.’ Readers of Period Homes range in age from 25-75. ‘The core readership is female, although not exclusively so,’ said Zoe. ‘They expect the magazine to deliver ideas that are easy to recreate, so while we endeavour to be inspirational we try not to alienate readers by being too aspirational. Our readers are comfortably off but appreciate the importance of quality and value for money, and will be prepared to spend a little bit more in order to find just the right look for their home.’ Subjects include kitchens and bathrooms (each twice a year), cosy living, Christmas, outdoor living, coastal style, how to use colour, family living, the organised home (devoted to storage), how to add value to your home and perfect living spaces. Each issue contains four real home features, with Get the Look shopping pages for each of these homes so that readers can recreate a particular room. ‘We also cover decorating ideas, makeovers/case studies, shopping, advice features and expert masterclasses,’ said Zoe. As editor, her priority is to ensure readers get value for money. ‘If I were to watch a reader flicking through the magazine for the first time I would like to see them stopping frequently to look at products or pieces of advice that have caught their attention. Accuracy is also paramount if readers are to trust our authority.’ Period Homes uses a small team of freelancers who have an inherent understanding of the style of the magazine and the core readership. ‘Their ideas and advice are always fresh and inspirational and in keeping with the core values of the brand,’ said Zoe. Her advice for writers for the magazine is to ‘know the readership and the brand’. Rates of pay are discussed at the time of commissioning. Details: email: [email protected]; website: http://periodhomesandinteriors.com

The Café Writers Poetry Competition 2016 is open for entries up to the end of November. The competition has a first prize of £1,000, a second prize of £300 and a third prize of £200. Six further commended poets will each win £50, and there is a special prize of £100 for the funniest poem not winning another prize. The Norfolk prize of £100 will be given to the best poem by a Norfolk resident not winning another prize. Enter original, unpublished poems up to forty lines. The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript. Enter by post or online. Send poems as Word documents or pdfs, and include a separate sheet or attachment with name, contact details and poem titles. Email entrants should put their name and the title of their first poem entry as the subject line of the submission email. The entry fee is £4 for one poem, £8 for two poems, £10 for three poems, £12 for four, £14 for five and £16 for six. Postal entrants should make cheques payable to Café Writers. Email entrants should pay by PayPal. The closing date is 30 November. Details: Café Writers Poetry Competition, 168a Silver Road, Norwich NR3 4TH; email: competition@ cafewriters.co.uk; website: http://cafewriters.co.uk/

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Georgette Heyer stories rediscovered Three long forgotten stories by the once bestselling queen of the regency romance, Georgette Heyer, have been found and republished in Snowdrift and Other Stories (William Heinemann), an expanded version of the collection originally titled Pistols For Two. The three stories have not been in print since the 1930s, and were rediscovered in the British Library archive by the author’s official biographer, Jennifer Kloester. Runaway Match and Incident on the Bath Road were originally published in Woman’s Journal in 1936, while Pursuit made its only previous appearance in a 1939 volume designed to raise money for charity, The Queen’s Book of the Red Cross.

Long form memoir and novellas for New Welsh Writing Awards The New Welsh Writing Awards 2017 are open to entries. The Awards, which are run by New Welsh Review in association with Aberystwyth University and AmeriCymru, are in two categories: the Aberystwyth University Prize for Memoir and AmeriCymry Prize for Novella. The winner in each category will receive £1,000, e-publication by New Welsh Review’s New Welsh Rarebyte imprint and a critique from Curtis Brown literary agent Cathryn Summerhayes. The second prize

in each category is a week-long residential writing course at Ty Newydd, and the third prize is a residential writing weekend at Gladstone’s Library. Entries for the Memoir Prize should be between 5,000 and 30,000 words. Entries for the Novella Prize should be 8,000 to 30,000 words. All entries must be original and unpublished single long-form works aimed at adult readers. Entries are accepted from all writers, published and unpublished. Writers may enter as many times as they like. The Memoir Prize is open to writers from the UK and Ireland, and anyone who has been educated in Wales for at least six months. The Novella Prize is open to


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writers from the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada, and anyone who has been educated in Wales for at least six months. Send entries as pdf documents formatted on single, numbered sides of A4, double-spaced in 14pt font. The author’s name, title and wordcount should be a separate first page, but not on any other page of the manuscript. Title the entry file with its author name and title. Upload all entries through the online submission system. Entry is free. The closing date is 1 March. Website: www.newwelshwritingawards.com

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C O M P E T I T I O N D E TA I L S

Competition rules and forms To enter:

Enter online at www.writers-online.co.uk or by post, with the ref code in the address, to: Sally Bridgewater (Ref Code xxxxx), Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD. Remember to add a front sheet with full contact details (see Rule 3)

• Open Short Story Competition (see p39) No theme, 1,500-1,700 words; entry fee £5, £3 for subscribers; closing date, 16 January; Ref Code: Dec16/OpenSS • Fantasy/SF Short Story Competition (see p39) Fantasy or SF story, 1,500-1,700 words; entry fee £5, £3 for subscribers; closing date, 14 December; Ref Code: Nov16/Fantasy • Open Poetry Competition (see p67) No theme, 40-line limit; entry fee £5, £3 for subscribers; closing date, 16 January; Ref Code: Dec16/Openpoetry • Subscriber-only Bayeux Tapestry Poem Competition Poetry inspired by the Battle of Hastings or the Bayeux Tapestry; 40-line limit; free entry, subscribers only; closing date, 14 December; Ref Code: Nov16/BayPoetry • Subscriber-only Goodbye Competition (see p61) ‘Goodbye’ theme; 1,500-1,700 words; free entry, subscribers only; closing date, 16 January; Ref Code: Dec16/Goodbye • Subscriber-only Music Story Competition (see p61) Musical theme; 1,500-1,700 words; free entry; subscribers only; closing date, 14 December; Ref Code: Nov16/Music

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3 Manuscripts Short stories: Entries must be typed in double spacing on single sides of A4 paper with a front page stating your name, address, phone number and email address, your story title and word count. Entries will be returned if accompanied by sae. Electronic entries should be a single doc, docx, txt, rtf or pdf file with the contact details, etc, on p1, and your story commencing on the second page. Poetry manuscripts: Entries must be typed in single spacing with double spacing between stanzas on single sides of A4. Entrant’s name, address, telephone number and email address must be typed on a separate A4 sheet. Entries to poetry competitions cannot be returned. Electronic entries should be a single doc, docx, txt, rtf or pdf file with the contact details, etc, on p1, and your poem on the second page. All manuscripts: Receipt of entries will be acknowledged if accompanied by a suitably worded stamped and addressed postcard. Entrants retain copyright in their manuscripts. You are advised not to send the only copy of your manuscript. Enclose an sae if you want your manuscript to be returned. 4 Competition Judging Competition judges will be appointed by Writing Magazine and the judges’ decision will be final with no correspondence being entered into. 5. Notification Winners will be notified within two months of closing date after which date unplaced entries may be submitted elsewhere. Winning entries may not be submitted elsewhere for twelve months after that date without permission of Writing Magazine who retain the right to publish winning entries in any form during those twelve months

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DECEMBER JULY 2016 2015

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24/10/2016 11:29

M Y W R I T I N G DAY

Writing ANDY My

day

Rigorous routine and Pavlovian triggers help the former copywriter stick to his writing targets, he tells Lynne Hackles

JONES

A

ndy Jones begins his writing day by turning on his lava lamp. ‘It’s definitely a trigger to start working and is a ritual so ingrained that it feels like bad luck to write without it on,’ he explains. ‘I forgot once, then reached for it in panic, like you might if you realised you’d left an electric heater balanced on the edge of the bath. I also turn on my music, then open the document I’m working on and get to it. ‘Often, the hardest part of writing is getting started. The author Chuck Palahniuk suggests setting a timer for thirty minutes and writing until it goes off. When it rings you tend to turn it off and keep writing. I adapted this by creating a series of playlists of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. They all start with Down by the River by Neil Young. Now, if I hear that song when I’m out and about, I have a strong urge to start writing. This is what I call my Pavlovian method. ‘I don’t write full-time. It just feels like it. My last novel took thirteen months and, in that time, I must have logged somewhere between one and two thousand hours at the keyboard. ‘I’m an advertising copywriter, but was made redundant shortly after I landed my first book deal. Now I work freelance for four days a week, blocking out Mondays for writing. Mondays,

MY WRITING PLACE ‘My office contains my lava lamp, notebooks, corkboard, fish tank, cards from my wife, pictures from my girls, kettle and coffee. There’s a picture from my mother containing good advice from Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: “Short assignments”. It’s my professional, grown-up workspace. Because it’s next to the girls’ bedroom I have a crappy desk in the loft where I can work early mornings without waking anyone. There’s a kettle and more coffee. If the house is empty, I sometimes work in the kitchen where there’s access to food and more coffee. I prefer the kitchen for light editing and proofreading.’

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I walk my young girls to school, pick up some groceries, head home, make coffee and aim to start writing between 9.30 and 10.30. Then I pretty much sit down and work through until 6.45pm when the child minder finishes or my wife gets home from work. If I need to clear my head or think something through, I’ll go for a walk. If the work’s going well, I might head to the gym late afternoon. If not, I plough on until my wife drags me off the keyboard. ‘About two days a week I’m up at 5.50am to put in two hours before starting the day job and even then, if possible, I’ll squeeze in an hour’s writing at lunchtime. For some reason – fatigue, probably – I find it hard to write new words in the evening, but it’s a good time for editing. So when I’m in the second, third or whatever draft phase, I’ll do a couple of nights a week editing. ‘And finally, I do a half day on Sunday mornings. I’d rather be hanging out with my wife and kids, riding a bike, watching TV, sleeping. But, this is where I can find the time, and my amazing and supportive wife helps me protect this time. ‘Being well organised is a trait I’ve learned out of necessity. I work, have kids and I try to carve out time for myself – whether that’s going to the gym, hanging out with friends, or doing family stuff. Yes, I’m very organised and disciplined. But I’m still chasing my tail. ‘The idea of writing has always appealed to me on some level. I dabbled

with poetry as a kid. In my late teens I remember thinking how cool it would be to write a novel – but in the same pipe-dreaming fashion I thought it might be cool to walk on the moon, win the heavyweight title, or marry a film star. Later, when I began working in advertising, the idea of writing fiction (without a product attached to it) really sunk its fangs into me. I started with a couple of short stories, then a screenplay, which has formed the basis of my third novel, and then onto novels. My most recent novel, my second, is called The Trouble With Henry & Zoe. After jilting his childhood sweetheart the day before their wedding, Henry becomes the most hated man in the village where he grew up. He runs away to London where he meets Zoe – funny, enigmatic and with a ton of her own baggage. Although exactly what, Henry doesn’t know. They connect instantly, but both are keeping secrets. To make matters more complicated, Zoe is scheduled to go travelling and she’s going alone. I guess you could sum it up as right person, right place, wrong time. ‘My third, Girl 99, is due for release in February, and on my hard drive are the outlines and opening chapters of two further novels – which should keep me occupied for at least the next two years.’ www.facebook.com/andyjonesauthor


24/10/2016 10:57

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STAR INTERVIEW

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• THE MAGAZINE SLEUTH: How every magazine tells you exactly what its editor needs

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PLUS: • How you can create the iconic lead characters that keep readers turning the pages • The writing rules that have stood the test of time – wisdom from the great Greek thinkers • Study the short story masters to learn the art of the unreliable narrator

HOW-TO: HOW TO MAKE YOUR HISTORICAL FICTION STAND OUT, AND TOP TIPS ON THE GENRE FROM AUTHOR NICOLA CORNICK

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• How eating well will help you write well

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email [email protected] or see our website: http://writ.rs/cwcourses 109 p109 next month.indd 109

24/10/2016 16:18

N OT E S F R O M T H E M A R G I N

THE TRUTH of the MATTER Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction... especially if you ask your readers, as Lorraine Mace discovers

I

love being a writer. This ability we have to create characters and immerse ourselves in their lives is a gift second to none. Through them we can cry, laugh, love and hate. We become them as we write. We ache for their losses and rejoice in their triumphs. I am sure you all know this and must be wondering why I’m mentioning the obvious. Well, it’s because there is a downside to being known as a writer – particularly as a writer of crime – and that is that people don’t believe you when you tell them of scary things that have happened in real life. Everyone thinks you’re making it up – just telling more stories. Take my experience the other day. I run early in the morning so that I am then free to work a full day. As winter was drawing in, it was getting later and later before it was light enough for me to leave the house. One morning I woke really early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up and dressed in my running gear, ready to set out at first light. 110

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p110 Notes from the Margin.indd 110

I waited and waited, but it remained pitch black outside. By seven o’clock I’d been up for over an hour and there was still no sign of the sun rising. I decided to go out anyway, thinking that by the time I reached the beach (where I run along a wooden path laid out on the sand) it was bound to be light enough to see where I was going. Streetlights illuminated the roads, but there were none along the wooden plank pathway. As I left the main road, I found myself running in almost total darkness. Luckily, my eyes soon adjusted and I could see through the gloom sufficiently to make sure I didn’t run into any obstacles. I’d been running for a few minutes when I saw a shape up ahead that looked vaguely manlike, but shorter and hunched over. As I got closer I realised it was a man sitting on a bollard next to the path. There was something about the way he held himself that made me suspicious. I looked towards the sea and saw another three men slinging parcels to each other – these were being thrown

from a small boat moored just offshore. As I’d just passed a small carpark on the road side of the beach, I realised straightaway that I’d literally run into a drug smuggling situation. I put my head down and sprinted. I usually run a circuit and come back along the same path, but that morning I decided discretion was the better part of valour and came back via the road instead. I have never been so terrified and kept expecting to hear footsteps in pursuit, but I think they must have decided I was no threat, because no one came after me. When I told my daughter about the experience she laughed and said: ‘What will you think up next!’ The more I tried to explain it had really happened, the less she believed me. My son-in-law, who is an avid reader of my DI Paolo Storey novels, thought he was being helpful by giving me constructive feedback. ‘That’s no good,’ he said. ‘She wouldn’t be running along the beach.’ ‘Who wouldn’t?’ I asked, wondering if he’d misheard me. ‘The woman in the book,’ he said. ‘There’s no beach in Bradchester. It’s inland.’ In vain I insisted it was my own personal experience and not part of a future novel. I next told my sister (who also reads my crime novels, but refuses to tell anyone Frances di Plino is her sibling because she doesn’t want anyone to know the writer of such horrific stories is related to her). She also thought I was making it up! ‘What’s the point of it? Nothing happened. Aren’t you always banging on about that?’ ‘Banging on about what?’ She shrugged. ‘That writers shouldn’t put stuff in a story unless there’s a point being made.’ She thought for a moment and then added: ‘Besides, even if something did happen, the set up wouldn’t work. No woman would be stupid enough to go out running in the dark and your readers will know that!’ At this point I felt like saying I had invented the whole event rather than admit I was that stupid, but I’d reached the stage of wanting someone, anyone, to accept I was telling the truth. So now I’m telling you. I ran into a drug smuggling operation the other morning…


24/10/2016 10:55

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Writing Magazine - December 2016

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