Tuesday top tip - try a non obvious POV

Sometimes calls for submissions, or competitions ask for work on a 'well worn' theme. It can be difficult to come up with something fresh, which stands out from the others, yet is still firmly on target. One idea is to try writing from a non obvious POV. Eg if you're writing about a wedding, your main character doesn't have to be one of the couple getting married. Romances don't have to be about a young woman meeting a young man for the first time and heading towards a happy ever after – there can be romance between couples who are older, or have been together for a long time, or who aren't going to stay together until death does them part. 

The idea of writing from a less obvious viewpoint is just one of many in my book A Year Of Ideas; 365 sets of writing prompts and exercises, which is available as a paperback and ebook. You can request it at your local library, buy online, order through a bookshop or read it with kindle unlimited.

This tip was brought to you by Patsy Collins. 

If you'd like to contribute a tip to this blog, here's what to do

Is it a new story?

One of the contributors to this blog contacted me recently with an interesting question –

If someone says "We do not accept stories that have already been published in other magazines, blogs, or websites"... what exactly does that mean? What if you used roughly the same story, but wrote it in a different way, or changed some of the details, language choices, etc?

Personally, I don't think changing the title, location and character names would be enough – that's something we might choose to do to make a story more suitable for a different market but, in my opinion, that would still be the same story.

I do think a complete rewrite might be possible. If the viewpoint character was changed for example, the events might be broadly similar, but those would impact on the character differently and therefore might create a very different story.

What do you think? Can you rewrite a story and submit it as something new? And if so, how far do you have to go?

(Just to be clear, we're only talking about rewriting our own work, not that of anyone else.) 

Womag news

The People's Friend are 'looking for shorter stories, 1000 words and 1200 words. All genres and from summer onwards!'

Free entry competition news

Thanks to Ruth for sharing the link to the latest On The Premises competition. They want short stories of between 1,000 and 5,000 words. The prompt is 'somewhere else*' and the prize $250.

And further thanks to Ruth for the link to the latest Irish Country Magazine short story competition. They want between 500 and 1,200 words, the theme is motherhood and the prize €200.

*Which is my excuse for using photos of places I've visited in this post.

My news

The third book in my cosy crime series is now available to pre order. 

My recent radio interview was fun! If you missed it and would like to listen, you can do that here.

Writing challenge

Thanks to Sarah Charmley who says -  Deadlines for writers has started its 12 stories in 12 months for this year (you can also write 12 poems). These challenges are free to enter, you get a prompt and a word count and a deadline which normally gives you 3 weeks. The deadline is only open for 24 hours. You comment on 4 other stories and hopefully 4 other writers comment on yours. It's a great way to get 12 stories or poems written this year. https://deadlinesforwriters.com 

If anyone has questions or suggestions they feel might make an interesting subject for discussion on the blog, feel free to let me know. I can either raise them anonymously, or you could create a guest post if you prefer.

Tuesday top tip - drink some water

 

Staying properly hydrated is very important for our health – and it's generally easier to write if we feel well.

Water is the cheapest way to stay hydrated and generally the easiest to obtain. It doesn't rot our teeth, make us fat, or give us a headache the next morning. So go and drink a glass RIGHT NOW! 

Still here? In that case, how about downloading this free short story collection?

This tip was brought to you by Patsy Collins.

If you'd like to contribute a tip to this blog, here's what to do.

Eleven free entry writing competitions!

It's the eleventh day  of Christmas today. As I'm rather short of pipers piping, here are 11 free to enter writing competitions for you. (I may have mentioned some of these competitions before – but I thought maybe people might have been too busy the last few weeks to do anything about them, or maybe become more determined to send out work this year, and so welcome a reminder.)

Free entry competition news

To win the Nine Dots prize you need to write 3,000 words on 'Is Data Failing us?' along with an outline of 1,000 words showing how you'd expand that into a short book. Actually, there's quite a bit more to it than that - but then the prize is $100,000 so I suppose they have to do something to keep the entries to a reasonable level.

There's probably not time to write anything new for the Bruntwood playwriting competition, but if you happen to have something ready you have a few days left to submit it and be in with a chance of winning the £20,000 prize.

The Jim Baen memorial short story competition is for a science fiction short story. The prize bundle includes paid publication.

And here's another short story competition, this time for horror, fantasy, or science fiction. The prize is $200.

The new media award is for fiction or non fiction to be viewed on electronic devices. The prize is £1,000.

Criminal Lines is a crime novel competition offering a £3,500 prize, plus agency representation.

The prize for the W&AYB short story competition is a place on an Arvon residential course.

This poetry competition has a top prize of $2,000.

If you fancy writing a mystery story of 15,000 to 20,000 this competition is for you. The prize is $1,000 and publication.

This competition is for those who've not professionally published a novel or more than three short stories. They want 'short' stories of up to 17,000 words - and I think they're supposed to be science fiction. The prize is $1,000.

Thanks to Marguerite who shared the details of Best's lateset competition (as a comment to a previous post). Here it is again in case anyone missed it -  Maximum 1200 words on a Valentine's theme by 20th January, 2025. Name, email address and phone no. to bestfiction@hearst.co.uk with 'Valentine's fiction 2025' in the subject title. The all rights issue does seem to be only the winners but do check.

My news

I'll be on Soundart Radio on Monday morning (10 - 12), talking to my friend Anne Rainbow about writing, travel* and probably other things too. There will also be a selection of songs which we like and feel tie in with my work, or our lives and writing in general.

Anne has a Facebook group associated with her show. If you'd like to join that you can post questions for her to ask me live on air (eeek!) You can find out about her other shows there. Her guests include artists of all descriptions.

*which is my excuse for sharing loads of photos from my trips.

My latest novel, the third in my cosy mystery series, is available to pre-order now.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you happiness, productivity and positivity in 2025. May the words flow and your typos be spotted before you click 'submit'.