Esther Chilton
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A Tantalising Title! Some of my students have asked me whether it’s important to give a short story a title. The answer is a huge yes! When a magazine editor/short story judge is faced with a big pile of short stories, one with an eye-catching/intriguing title will instantly have him/her interested in reading your story.…
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Last week’s challenge produced some cracking stories and poems, on the themes of ‘Money‘, ‘New‘ and ‘Operation‘, as I’m sure you’ll all agree. Take a look below. This week’s challenge moves forward to the letters of P, Q and R. Your themes for these are: ‘Party‘, ‘Quirky‘ and ‘Race.’ Not sure what to write? See…
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My market for you this week is ‘The Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger‘. It’s an annual competition for anyone who hasn’t had a novel published on a commercial basis. It’s well worth an entry as each submission is judged by top crime editors and agents. What’s more, the short listed entries are sent to publishers…
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Now here’s an offer you can’t refuse:
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Last week, I showed you how a short story, which opens using the shock factor, can capture your readers’ interest. This week, I take a look at how a humorous one can achieve the same result. We all like to read something, which makes us laugh and something amusing often comes as a welcome break…
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To freelance or not to freelance, that is the question! One of the most important details to check is whether the publication you want to target accepts freelance contributions. You can generally find this information at the front or back of a magazine. The address and contact details are listed, together with information on the…
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Jason was very lucky and just snuck in there with his challenge! Thank you to those who took it up and wrote stories and poems relating to the J, K and L of my weekly series i.e. stories and poems on the themes of Job, Kill and Love. Some managed to write about all three! You…
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Up until last week, with Fish Publishing’s competitions, I had neglected the poets amongst you for a while, so still seeking to redress that, I have another poetry competition for you. Cafe Writers are holding an open poetry competition for poems of up to 40 lines. If you’re sending a single poem, there’s an entry…
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Not sure maths was this ad writer’s strong point:
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In this second part of my weekly series on how to hook your reader’s interest in your story straight away, I focus on the shock factor and how it instantly grips your reader, making her sit up and take notice. She’ll feel compelled to read on and find out what on earth is going to…
Esther Chilton 