How Do You Write A Short Story? 11 Easy Tips For Writing Your First One
bustle.com – Wednesday October 3, 2018
Today's the day. It's happening. You've decided to write your first short story. Maybe this story idea has been kicking around your head for the last 10 years, or maybe you just googled a list of writing prompts and want to give one a whirl. Perhaps you're an accomplished essayist looking to try fiction on for size, or it's possible that you've never written anything in your life outside of school assignments and Instagram captions. Whatever your level of writing expertise, you are perfectly qualified to write a short story. All you strictly need is willpower, paper, and a large cup of coffee. But here are a few extra tips to get you started, because staring at that empty page is the absolute hardest part.
First things first, though: what exactly is a short story? Typically, a short story is defined as a work of fiction between 1,500 and 5,000 words (although 5,000 is a bit long for some publications). Under 1,500 words is considered flash fiction, and under 350 words is sometimes called micro fiction. You don't have to start with a specific word count in mind, but make your peace with the fact that you probably won't have time for those twenty pages of exposition up top. If you want to write a true short story, then here are some suggestions for nailing both the "short" and the "story" aspects:
Why we need an award for writers who start later in life
theguardian.com – Wednesday October 3, 2018
Sitting in a coffee shop just around the corner from the publishers, Canongate, of which Christopher Bland had once been chair, members of Christopher’s family and of the Royal Society of Literature were brainstorming a title for the new prize to be announced in his name. “Late writers” risked conjuring up the dead, while “older writers” raised the question of what, in an industry that is often obsessed with youth, would be considered old: Google this query and you will find writers over 30 bemoaning the fact that they will soon be over the hill.
In the end we opted for a prize in Christopher’s name, to be awarded to a first novel or work of non-fiction published when the winner is 50 or older. Not before, however, we had worried about the quality of future entrants: what kind of writer, we wondered, apart from Christopher, who published two novels while in his 70s, would be eligible for such a prize?
New Literary Agency Listing
firstwriter.com – Tuesday October 2, 2018
Handles: Fiction; Nonfiction
Areas: Autobiography; Biography; Culture; Fantasy; Historical; Horror; Humour; Literature; Music; Sci-Fi; Short Stories; Suspense; Thrillers
Markets: Adult; Youth
Treatments: Commercial; Literary; Mainstream
Send query by email with your manuscript attached as a .doc, .pdf, or .pages file. Put the word "query" in the subject line. No queries by phone. Response only if interested.
(Don’t) Relax (Too Much)
By G. Miki Hayden
Instructor at Writer's Digest University online and private writing coach
firstwriter.com – Monday October 1, 2018
I told my friend about a grammatical glitch I found in Outside magazine:
A man came upon a dead bear cub and leaned over and touched it, but the bear had been electrocuted by a downed electrical wire, and the man, too, was zapped. (He lived but had terrible physical damage.) At any rate, the article said the bear had been laying on a live wire. Of course, obviously, the bear had been lying on the wire. (I tweeted the editor and was ignored—so much for the power of social media.)
"Survival Training For Writers": How T.R. Darling Writes Twitter Microfiction
forbes.com – Saturday September 29, 2018
Thomas R. Darling is a television news producer working in Lansing, Michigan, for his day job. The rest of the time he moonlights as a Twitter microfiction author under the handle @QuietPineTrees. He crams entire universes of storytelling into the scant character limits of the social media platform. The results are usually highly conceptual, designed to spark the imaginations of his followers.
Since joining the platform in January 2015, Darling has earned a name for himself: His account has 16.6 thousand followers, he's added a Tumblr account that's even more popular, and he's now crowdfunding a book collecting his best stories and a host of new ones. He gave me a written interview, in which he was, thankfully, a little more verbose then when writing his fiction.
New Women's Prize longlist fee could pose 'serious barrier to entry', fear indies
thebookseller.com – Saturday September 29, 2018
The Women’s Prize for Fiction has introduced a new £1,000 fee for publishers whose books make its longlist of 16. Reaction online to the rule change reveal concerns the fee could pose "a serious barrier to entry" for smaller presses.
Independent publisher Galley Beggar Press took to Twitter yesterday to share it had just noticed the new rule which could prove "catastrophic for small publishers" in its estimation. "£1000 isn't small change to us," said Galley Beggar Press. "Our author won this prize a few years ago when we were even smaller. It would have been near impossible for us to enter with these rules."
Edinburgh independent Stirling Publishing said: "That’s us out. Perhaps we could have an alternative prize, The Poundland Women’s Prize?"
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Thursday September 27, 2018
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction;
Areas include: Cookery;
Markets: Adult; Children's
Welcomes submissions of books with quality, style, and saleability. Favours books with a Cornish theme. Absence of a Cornish theme will not mean a book is necessarily rejected, but makes the decision more difficult. Particularly interested in children's picture books, cookery, and children's fiction. Send submissions by post only, with SAE.
Abrams Artists Agency Acquired By Group Including Longtime Execs, Adam Bold
deadline.com – Wednesday September 26, 2018
Venerable entertainment talent and literary agency Abrams Artists Agency has been acquired, led by a group that includes two of the New York- and Los Angeles-based company’s longtime executives Robert Attermann and Brian Cho, and entrepreneur-producer Adam Bold.
Writers' Handbook 2019 now available as an ebook
firstwriter.com – Tuesday September 25, 2018
Following last month's release of the print edition of firstwriter.com's 2019 edition of its Writers' Handbook, the digital editions are now also available from various outlets around the world. These include:
How to write a killer crime novel, by Val McDermid (who’s sold 15 million of her own)
marieclaire.co.uk – Tuesday September 25, 2018
For the first in our new Writers Bloc series, prolific crime writer Val McDermid tells Charlotte Philby the secret to writing 32 books in as many years
Val McDermid is the multi award-winning author of 32 crime novels, which have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and been translated into 40 languages. She is married to the professor Jo Sharp, and has a teenage son. McDermid divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh. Her latest novel Broken Ground is published by Little Brown (£18.99)
You’ve written 32 books in as many years with no signs of abating, and had your work adapted for TV. What are the most important lessons you’ve learnt about successfully drawing readers into the worlds you create?
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