Tuesday top (guest) tip

Start small; aim high!

It’s easy to feel you need to meet the needs of others - your family, your friends – before you can make time for yourself. 

But, if you are anything like me, being creative makes you tick. So, it’s important to recognise, and encourage others to recognise, that writing is an important part of your life.

Start small: tap into opportunities to meet and write with other writers. Join online write-ins. Just for an hour. Enjoy quality time with other writers. Doing what you want to do: write! And, aim to do that every day?

Aim high: imagine escaping for a weekend to attend a writers’ retreat. By the sea …

Writing and writing and writing, in beautiful surroundings. 

Discussing the writing process, and gaining a greater understanding of how other writers write (while enjoying the view!). 

Sharing your writing and listening to that of others, and giving and receiving helpful feedback (while enjoying a cream tea!). 

Meeting new writers and forging friendship that can help your writing to progress.

Just once a year? Start small, but aim high …

This tip came from Anne Rainbow AKA ScrivenerVirgin who hosts (free) daily RedPen Write-Ins, the Wednesday Writers Creative Writing online workshops and the Hope Cove Writers’ Retreat 14-17 November 2024. 

Three free entry writing competitions

Ooops. I nearly forgot to post today - the novel I'm currently editing really is that engrossing! (It's the third in my cosy mystery series.)

Free entry writing competitions

If you're over 18 and a commonwealth citizen you can enter the commonwealth short story competition and be in with the chance of winning £2,500 if you're a regional winner or £5,000 if you're overall winner. 
I know it can see as though we'd have no chance with these big competitions, but people really do win. I've had tea and cake a couple of times with one of the previous regional winners (and also have several other very tenuous claims to fame!) 

Here's a playwriting competition with a £20,000 prize! 

The Writer's and Artists Yearbook short story competition offers and Arvon course worth £850 as its prize.

My news

I'm editing! I'm happy with how it's going, except that it's taking longer than I'd anticipated. That happens to me a lot.

I'm taking part in another of those promotions which offer readers free books, stories etc in return for signing up to the author's newsletters. This will, almost certainly, be the last one of this precise form of promotion I do.

Tuesday Top Tip!

My top tip regarding formatting, is to do as little of it as possible! Of course if the submission guidelines or competition rules request any kind of formatting, then you should do as you're asked. Other than that, just type out your work using the standard settings on for whatever word processing system you use (Word, Libre Office etc)

Anything 'fancy' you add will make the story stand out for the wrong reasons, and most likely have to be taken out again if the story is published. Editors won't thank you for the added work. There's also the risk of introducing incompatibility issues, making your work harder, or impossible to read. For example, if you pick a font which the other person's system doesn't recognise.

Oh, and don't put two spaces after a full stop!

This tip came from Patsy Collins who writes short stories and cosy crime novels. If you'd like to know more about her and her writing, take a look at her website.

Free entry writing competitions.

 Free entry competition news

Thanks to Alyson for sharing the link to this free poetry competition. There's a £100 top prize.

And thanks to Aly Rhodes for this one. As she says, it's very specific – but if you're a Green Knowe fan, that's to your advantage. Are you? I admit I'd never heard of it.

The link is a Facebook one, so in case you can't access it They're looking for a story in which Tobysmouse has an adventure. To enter: Write your story (length: any, up to 2000 words maximum)

Email your story to diana_boston@hotmail.com by 24th October 2024

Thanks to Vivienne Moles for the link to the Weird Christmas competition. It's for flash fiction up to 350 words and offers $50 for three different categories.
I've never come anywhere with this, but I like to have a try. Sometimes weird is good.

Tuesday Top Tip

Read current work in your genre

I think it's important to read the kind of thing we intend to write. Not so that we can copy it, but so we know what readers (and editors, agents, publishers etc) expect. So we know what's been overdone, where there are gaps in the market, which boundaries might be becoming more flexible.

If you wish to write for magazines, buy the issue which is in the shops now – not the one you found wrapped around Granny's china in the loft. Things change! (The image is from the October issue of Take a Break's Fiction Feast) If you want to write a book, look what at what Amazon are offering in that genre, or what's piled high just inside the bookshop door. You get the idea.

This tip came from Patsy Collins (me!) who writes short stories and cosy crime novels. If you'd like to know more about her and her writing, sign up for her newsletter here, and get a free ebook.

Publication opportunities

Publication opportunities

Railway poetry and prose project

I couldn't find the details of this anywhere I could just link to, so I've copied it all here. Doesn't look as though there's any payment, but writing isn't always about the money, is it? (Couldn't get a photo of the right train either – just this one)

Calling poets and wordsmiths!

The Watercress Line heritage railway in Hampshire is inviting poets and wordsmiths to mark 2025 as the 200th anniversary of train travel in the UK by using the themes on the official website as inspiration for their works which can be viewed here: https://railway200.co.uk/timeline/

These themes can be used as inspiration to create their own works of poetry and prose. Everyone will be able to submit 2 pieces which will then be included in an anthology of works next may. A copy of the anthology will be available to view on the watercress line website later in 2025. All works submitted will be included within the collection

From dining carts to celebrity passengers, trains in films, the environment, bed-seats, and shunters poles, there's lots to inspire to create your poems. The Watercress line will be including all poems into an online anthology

Closing date for works is 25th February 2025, works can be any type of poetry but must be inspired by the railway 200 anniversary and themes on the railway 200 timeline and must be emailed to education@watercressline.co.uk for inclusion

Free to enter

Submit up to 2 pieces max 2 sides of A4

All works must be your own work

Tuesday top tips

You may have noticed a new feature on this blog - Tuesday top tips. They'll appear whenever I think of something and have time to type it out. If you'd like to contribute one as a guest post, just let me know (email patsy@patsycollins.uk or via social media etc if that's easier.

Just send the text, and attach one or two images, if you'd like to. These can be to illustrate your post, pictures of you, your writing space, book cover etc) Also include a link to your website, sales page or whatever you have if you'd like that included. Send them anytime. I'll schedule them for coming weeks if I get lots at once. There's no payment for these either - on account of the blog not making any money.

Free entry writing competition

There's a small payment for the winners of this monthly flash fiction contest - £20. But then the entries can be small too. They want 150 - 750 words.

Tuesday top tip

Look after your eyes 

I have good news. Using a computer, even for hours at a time, won't cause permanent damage to our eyes, or result in us needing glasses if that otherwise wouldn't have been the case. 

It can tire them though, so we're advised to follow the 20, 20, 20 rule. That involves taking a 20 second break, every 20 minutes, by looking at least 20 feet away. This information, and more about our eyes and computer work is on the RNIB site here.

I don't think we need to be obsessive about it, setting stopwatches and stuff. Just try not to push yourself so hard you don't glance away from the screen or keyboard every now and then. Getting up and looking out the window occasionally is probably even better. (Photos are what I've see. when doing that in the mobile writing retreat.)

How are your eyes? Do you wear glasses when writing? (I do. I bought ones I don't like the look of in the hope it would remind me to swap them for my distance ones before I go out. I take them off for reading, as my near sight is good.)

This tip came from Patsy Collins (me!) who writes short stories and cosy crime novels. You can buy all of her books, or read them through kindle unlimited, here.

Over to you

 

Do you have any writing news?

Do you know any market news? Have you heard about any free to enter writing competitions? Or come across calls for submissions or other opportunities?

Feel free to use these photos as picture prompts. If you prefer word prompts, you may like to look at the Wednesday word of the week, on the blog on my website.

Free entry competition news

The Imison Award (£3,000) celebrates the best in new writing for the medium of audio drama. 

Free writing course

Thanks to Alyson for giving the link to this free course from The Writer's Bureau. Alyson said, 'I've no idea how good it is or whether it is trying to get you to buy a full Writers Bureau course.' I imagine they will suggest that – but that doesn't mean the free bit isn't worth a look. If you try it, let us know what you think.

Tuesday top tip!

Don't forget to back your work up!

I use two drives for backing up my work. On comes on my travels with me. The other stays home, so even if there was a complete disaster I wouldn't lose everything I've ever written. 

I have a 'time machine' feature (it's a Mac thing) which means that, as long as the drive is plugged in, automatic backups will be made, and I can go back to an earlier version if necessary.

How do you make sure you don't lose your work?

This tip came from Patsy Collins (me!) who writes short stories and cosy crime novels. You can buy all of her books, or read them through kindle unlimited, here.

More free entry writing competitions

 

Free entry competition news

The Imison Award (£3,000) celebrates the best in new writing for the medium of audio drama. 

Rosemary Gemmel's blog post includes some flash fiction opportunities.

Here's a crime novel competition. It's open to any adult who's not previously had a novel published. The prize is a $10,000 advance. 

My news

I'm tidying up my poor neglected garden (the pictures were taken on my travels - not at home!) and working on the third book in my cosy mystery series. I've also been thinking about what I want to do when that's finished. 

I've not ruled out writing more Little Mallow books, but I'm going to take a break from it and write more short stories and enter more competitions. That means I'll be searching out more of those to share with you.

My romantic murder mystery, Acting Like A Killer, is currently on offer for 99p (or 99c)

Heading home

By the time you read this, we'll be back in England and heading home from our Scottish adventure. We've had an enjoyable and interesting time, and taken many, many photos!

It's made me think about what I want from my writing life and I'll be making a few changes. Nothing drastic, more a change of focus.

Maybe with the way the womag market is going, I'm not the only person considering a few changes?

Here's a free to enter poetry competition. They're looking for something funny. You can submit text or a video and the prizes are book tokens.

This competition is for short stories. Entrants must have previously had work published. £2,000 is on offer to the overall winner.

Thanks to Alyson for mentioning this one in the comments. "Another free to enter comp here but note "Entrants must be amateur writers, and not selling their work on any platform."

I'm taking part in some more group promotion thingies with other authors - being self published means I need to find ways to reach readers. One way is through a newsletter. The promotions here and here are to, hopefully, entice more people to sign up. Potential readers are offered free ebooks for doing that.

Here is one for sales of mystery, suspense and thriller reads. The books in this promotion are all cozy (cosy!) crime available to buy or read through kindle unlimited.

These are Bookfunnel promotions. If you have books to sell and would like to take part in similar promotions, I suggest taking a look at their services.

Is writing books something you do, are considering, tried and stopped, or something you don't fancy at all? (No wrong answers! – it annoys me when people assume short forms of writing are somehow inferior to novel length works.)

AI - how does it impact writers?

Last week Eirin suggested how AI might impact writers as a topic for discussion. As several others expressed interest, I'm giving it a go. What do you think? Love it, hate it? Have you ever tried it for fun or to use?

Personally I'm not a fan of the kind of AI which 'creates' new art. I don't think it does - it uses combinations of work which already exists and repackages it.

Thanks to Fiona for sending the details of this competition. It's only open to women who were either born, have lived or are living in Scotland (I wonder how long you have to have stayed to qualify, as I'm still here!) and is for short stories or poems on the theme of Hope. (I'm hoping the winner writes their entry, rather than getting AI to do it.)

Magazine guidelines and submissions database

 (Sorry, I forgot to make this live - only just realised why it hadn't got a single comment!)

I've not updated my submissions database since January. That's due to lack of time – an ongoing situation! Before I spend hours I'd otherwise use for researching more competitions and other opportunities, and my own writing, I thought I'd check whether that's worthwhile. 

The responses (and number of them) to the following questions will help me decide.

A) Do you use the database?

B) Is it important to you that it's regularly updated, or would it still be useful largely left as it is, with just occasional updates, as a reminder of markets to consider?

C) If I attempt to keep it updated will you help by reporting and changes / additions you become aware of?

Please note, if you don't have an adblocker you may see adverts placed by Google. I have no control over those and DO NOT recommend any products, companies or services you may see mentioned. I'm considering moving this blog over to my website, but haven't had time to look into that. It's a paid for Wordpress site, so would be ad free except for me occasionally mentioning all my lovely books! Any thoughts on that issue are welcome.

Over to you

Do you have any writing news?

Do you know any market news? Have you heard about any free to enter writing competitions? Or come across calls for submissions or other opportunities?

Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Still waiting to hear back on outstanding submissions? Do you have a question? Can you offer tips or encouragement to other writers?

Any other writing related news, questions and comments are also welcome and appreciated. As well as allowing us all to share information, help and encourage each other, comments show editors, competition organisers and others that the blog is read and will therefore be more likely to answer my questions, or provide information for me to share with you.

Feel free to use these photos as picture prompts. If you'd like written writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.

Free entry competition news.

Thanks to Polly (@pollygraceauthor on Instagram) for the following - ' Cwlwm magazine are looking for submissions. It’s my understanding that they are looking for pieces exploring connections with Wales. £200 for a successful submission. More info can be found at https://cwlwm.substack.com/ 

I've had a quick look and it seems they want creative non-fiction articles which reflect contemporary Wales. I didn't see anything suggesting authors must be Welsh.

DCT contracts - 2013 post revisited!

The following images are of posts made on this blog in 2013 by novelist Kath McGurl (who started the womagwriter blog) and the response given at the time by DCT. The images were kindly supplied by Jenny Worstall, who printed them off at the time. Thanks to both of them for permission to reproduce it.

Please keep in mind that all the below info was created at the time with the intention of clearing up confusion, and I'm making it available again now for the same reason.

Nothing in this blog makes any difference to your legal position, or that of DCT. If you have questions or concerns about your own contract (which may differ from ones held by other people), or what has been done with your work, or anything else regarding a DCT publication, these should be raised with your editor.

 The People's Friend fiction editor Lucy has made her own - new - post about contracts and republishing, which you can read here.