Esther Chilton
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A number of you contacted me to say how much you enjoyed my ‘ABC Of Short Story Ideas’ and found it useful in helping you to come up with story ideas of your own. With that in mind, I thought I’d stick with fiction and start a new weekly series, ‘Fabulous First Few Words‘. As…
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A Cracking Christmas Calling! Yes, I know it’s the end of August and you don’t really want to be thinking about Christmas just yet, despite many of the stores clearly believing you should be but now is the time to be sending your Christmas stories and articles out. It’s no good waiting until December. Magazines…
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Last week, you had the option of writing a story or poem about ‘darkness’, an ’emergency’ or ‘freedom’. Well, the ‘darkness’ theme certainly got you thinking. Some fantastic stories are published below. So, this week, we move on to ‘G, H and I‘. My themes for your stories and poems are ‘Grotto‘, ‘Hospital‘ and ‘Isolation‘. To…
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This week’s market is an update on ‘The Global Short Story Competition‘. On my ‘Markets For Writers’ page, I detailed it as a monthly competition inviting stories of up to 2000 words on any subject but on checking the website, I’ve noticed it has recently changed to a quarterly competition. It’s still worth entering; after…
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I wonder how many calls this one received???!!!
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Mmmm, I knew it was coming – the Y and Z but it wasn’t easy to come up with short story themes; well, half decent ones anyway. I’m not sure you would appreciate ‘ yoyo’ or ‘zumba’ but you never know! Y is for Yearn: What is your character yearning for? Is it a person?…
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Take A Break Do you often feel frustrated when your short story doesn’t flow? Or perhaps you’re working on an article and the ideas and words won’t come. Maybe it’s a bigger project you’re working on, like a novel, but it’s just not coming together. Then is the time to take a break. Go for…
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Last week’s challenge linked to my ‘ABC of short story ideas’ series which appears on a Monday. You had a choice of writing about an ‘ambulance’, ‘burglary’, ‘castle’ or all three! Castle proved to be the favourite choice by far. Your wonderful stories can be read below. Last week it was the ‘ABC’ so this…
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This week, I’m giving the poets amongst you something to work for: The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition 2014 is up and running. With a first prize of £5000, £2000 for second place, £1000 for third place and seven commendations of £100, it’s definitely worth an entry. There is a fee for each poem entered…
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Yep, when I’m cleaning, I always need my trusty hoolahoop!
Esther Chilton 