Patsy Collins: It's FREE now
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Patsy Collins: It's FREE now
Patsy Collins: It's FREE now
Monday, 19 November 2012
How to be an effective editor with Sarah Higbee
Sarah
Higbee is the Deputy Chair of West Sussex Writers and teaches Creative Writing at Northbrook College (Wothing). Her enthusiasm for
guiding writers to improve their writing engulfed the audience of West Sussex
Writers on 8 November at our monthly gathering. Sarah was keen to share her top tips for avoiding the
dreaded slush pile. Even the brightest and shiniest ideas need
polishing to catch an editor’s eye. On finishing a piece of work Sarah advised to first leave it alone:
- Short story / poem for a week
- Novel for 1-2 months
Get
some distance before you start editing. And then slice up your editing into
manageable chunks, so you can focus on different topics at each review. Sarah
recommended using a checklist and then she shared her particular list:
1.
Structure:
check there is a story arc; does the character have a journey?
2.
Strong beginning.
3.
Sufficient conflict.
4.
Subplots and minor characters: are they all needed?
5.
Strong climax: the moment in the story when everything
changes i.e. the ‘tipping
point’.
6.
Viewpoint: is this consistent throughout story?
7.
Dialogue: read aloud to check authenticity.
Consistency of representation for external
/ internal dialogue.
8.
Scene setting and description.
9.
Check for time anomalies.
10.
Writing style: know what your ‘wicked’ words are and
get rid! (These are adverbs for the Indoor Writer or just and so). Look out for overuse
of adverbs / adjectives and use effective verbs instead.
11.
Punctuation: accuracy and consistency.
12.
Consistent tense.
The Indoor Writer often reads aloud her work (scary!) but I'm going to share this top tip with her:
first turn a word file into a PDF file using Adobe, then go to View, click Read Out Loud option and click Activate. This allows you to listen to your story, while still following the manuscript. Sarah recommends this for picking up all the small errors and typos that can be easily missed.
Sarah emphasised the importance of always reading the publisher/agent’s submission guidelines before submitting any work. Some magazines/publishers have house styles for presentation and punctuation (particularly for dialogue) so always check these first.
You can learn more about Sarah Higbee and her own writing at her website here.
And if you are interested in coming to a meeting of West Sussex Writers then check out the future programme (and how to join) here.
Friday, 16 November 2012
Short Story Writers
Day 5 of National Short Story week and I wanted to share my favourite authors of short stories. Here goes...(in no particular order)
Elizabeth Taylor - have recently acquired the new complete collection of her short stories and can't wait to tuck in.
Raymond Carver - master of terse prose, but I learned recently that his work may have been heavily edited. Will be looking into this and further post coming...
Penelope Lively - queen of the short story in my opinion. Her stories linger long after reading and often deliver shocking surprises. Her collection 'Pack of cards' contains one of the most disturbing ghost stories I've ever read.
Kate Atkinson - have only found one collection 'Not the end of the world', which is great fun and packs an emotional punch in many of the stories.
Patrick Gale - have not yet read any of his novels but loved his two collections of short stories 'Gentleman's Relish' and 'Dangerous Pleasures'
Alice Munro - what can you say about Alice other than pure genius. Apparently she is still writing (now in her 80's) and a new collection recently released.
Helen Simpson - wonderful mixture of stories often funny or terribly sad.
Nicholas Royle - not for the easily shocked, but the most creative short story writer I've read.
Tessa Hadley - a real advocate for the short story (see earlier post on Tessa's Masterclass)
John Burnside - his stories linger for sometime.
Katherine Mansfield - have only read a couple of stories and must get hold of a collection.
Anthologies are a good way to sample lots of writers in one hit. I've really enjoyed the Penguin collections of Modern Women's Short Stories (vol I and II edited by Susan Hill).
There are many more writers to sample, but always so little time...sigh. Please share your favourites...
Raymond Carver - master of terse prose, but I learned recently that his work may have been heavily edited. Will be looking into this and further post coming...
Penelope Lively - queen of the short story in my opinion. Her stories linger long after reading and often deliver shocking surprises. Her collection 'Pack of cards' contains one of the most disturbing ghost stories I've ever read.
Kate Atkinson - have only found one collection 'Not the end of the world', which is great fun and packs an emotional punch in many of the stories.
Patrick Gale - have not yet read any of his novels but loved his two collections of short stories 'Gentleman's Relish' and 'Dangerous Pleasures'
Alice Munro - what can you say about Alice other than pure genius. Apparently she is still writing (now in her 80's) and a new collection recently released.
Helen Simpson - wonderful mixture of stories often funny or terribly sad.
Nicholas Royle - not for the easily shocked, but the most creative short story writer I've read.
Tessa Hadley - a real advocate for the short story (see earlier post on Tessa's Masterclass)
John Burnside - his stories linger for sometime.
Katherine Mansfield - have only read a couple of stories and must get hold of a collection.
Anthologies are a good way to sample lots of writers in one hit. I've really enjoyed the Penguin collections of Modern Women's Short Stories (vol I and II edited by Susan Hill).
There are many more writers to sample, but always so little time...sigh. Please share your favourites...
ChocLit Competition Success
I'm letting the Indoor Writer have some blog space in the hope she will stop going on about this... Yesterday she learned her story 'Phoenix and Marilyn' won the ChocLit Summer Short Story Competition. It's a good prize and rumour has it she's also won chocolate (another reason for giving her airspace...). You can read the winning story here. It's a bit soppy, but hopefully is a story with a heart. Shows she's just an old romantic underneath all that literary pretense.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Easy on the ear
If you write short stories then you probably love reading them, but do you also listen to them? The Indoor Writer recently blogged about recording a short story for The Voice of Progress, a local talking newspaper. Helen Yendall is the World Audio Short Story Writer and has her winning story available to listen here. The Short Story Radio states its aim is "is to promote the short story form and short story writers, and to broadcast quality recordings of short stories via the website and podcasts". You can listen to more short stories online, penned by many excellent writers, on the Short Story Radio website, click here for a list of stories.
As part of National Short Story Week some Radio stations are broadcasting stories, read more here. They also have several stories available to listen online here (linked with Short Story Radio).
Radio 4 (and Radio 4 Extra) still support audio short stories. An excellent competition Opening Lines has just opened for new writers and the winning stories will be recorded and aired on Radio 4, more details here. You can read previous winning stories to get a flavour of what they are looking for in a story suitable for radio.
As part of National Short Story Week some Radio stations are broadcasting stories, read more here. They also have several stories available to listen online here (linked with Short Story Radio).
Radio 4 (and Radio 4 Extra) still support audio short stories. An excellent competition Opening Lines has just opened for new writers and the winning stories will be recorded and aired on Radio 4, more details here. You can read previous winning stories to get a flavour of what they are looking for in a story suitable for radio.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Kite flying for short story writers
Day 3 of National Short Story Week and today I want to share some quotes on the theme of short stories. These are all thoughts, mainly by other writers, that I've recently read.
Firstly Tessa Hadley at the RSL Masterclass on the Short Story (full post here) described short stories as "word paintings", which I rather love as a succinct explanation of the genre.
Susan Hill in her introduction to the Second Penguin Book of Modern Women's Short Stories writes: "really excellent stories ... are rare and precious as jewels and dazzle with a similar brightness... They extend one's literary horizons, and deepen one's understanding of the human heart. They make an impact. They are memorable. There is nothing small-scale or miniature or trivial about them."
In Piers Plowright's write-up the 2012 VS Pritchett Prize award ceremony for the RSL Review 2012 he shares Sean O'Faolain's thoughts: "writing a short story is like getting a kite to catch the smallest breeze and fly." And how Adam Foulds described the process as: "going out for a walk on the spur of the moment."
I particularly admire the image of flying a kite, and can remember how difficult it is to get a kite to fly well and to keep it in the air. We used to go kite flying on Beachy Head (East Sussex), where the winds were a challenge!
Tomorrow I'll be highlighting some outlets for audio stories and on Friday sharing some of my favourite short story writers. And now I'm off to fly that kite...
Let me know who you admire as a writer of short stories and if you have any particular cherished stories.
Firstly Tessa Hadley at the RSL Masterclass on the Short Story (full post here) described short stories as "word paintings", which I rather love as a succinct explanation of the genre.
In Piers Plowright's write-up the 2012 VS Pritchett Prize award ceremony for the RSL Review 2012 he shares Sean O'Faolain's thoughts: "writing a short story is like getting a kite to catch the smallest breeze and fly." And how Adam Foulds described the process as: "going out for a walk on the spur of the moment."
I particularly admire the image of flying a kite, and can remember how difficult it is to get a kite to fly well and to keep it in the air. We used to go kite flying on Beachy Head (East Sussex), where the winds were a challenge!
Tomorrow I'll be highlighting some outlets for audio stories and on Friday sharing some of my favourite short story writers. And now I'm off to fly that kite...
Let me know who you admire as a writer of short stories and if you have any particular cherished stories.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Outlets for Short Stories
This week we're celebrating National Short Story Week and today why not check out the outlets for your short stories here. More details of writing competitions and top tips on writing short stories can also be found here.
The Indoor Writer has stories on Alfie Dog. You can download stories from 39p, so ideal for commuting or just sampling a writer's work. Three excellent stories to download here (someone has to do her PR!).
Another outlet for selling your stories is Ether Books, click here for more details. This site specialises in downloads to mobile phones, so ideal for reading 'on-the-go'.
If you write for the Womag market then check out the Womag Writer's Blog which regularly updates on new guidelines and any trends or news in the Womag market. Often lists some good competitions too.
If you know of any other outlets then let me know.
Keep writing...
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