Esther Chilton
-
Another week and it’s onto J,K and L. I hope these ideas kick-start your short story writing week: J is for job: The job of your main character opens up all sorts of story possibilities. Your character could be a spy but his family think he’s a boring office worker. Perhaps the family’s lives are…
-
Bashing the background on the head! When you’re writing a short story, it’s easy to get sucked into telling the reader too much about your characters’ backgrounds. This slows the pace of the story down. The reader wants a story so it’s important to only include any background information that’s essential to the story. You…
-
Last week’s ‘last line’ challenge caused a few problems with some writers contacting me to say they’d sit this one out. So I thought I’d keep this week’s new challenge simple and give you a theme: A ghost story/poem. I want to feel goosebumps as I read it so the scarier the better! Huge congratulations…
-
This week’s market is for those of you who enjoy writing reader’s letters. Or even if you don’t, consider writing some. Some publications pay up to £100 for a reader’s letter so they’re a great way to earn some extra income. They also slot in well with other, larger writing projects. Woman’s Weekly used to…
-
I love the explanation for how to get to the restrooms:
-
This week, G, H, and I receive the short story treatment: G is for grotto: For many of us, the idea of a grotto conjures up a rosy cheeked Father Christmas sitting in his grotto, waiting to greet children and agree to their dreams of the latest toy or gadget. Now is the perfect time…
-
Last week, I was guest blogger on ‘The Writers Bureau’ weekly blog. My tip advised writers not to throw away old work. You might be able to tweak an article or story and send it to a different market. Even if you look at a piece of work and think Yes, I can see why…
-
It seems as if flash fiction is a firm favourite amongst you and I received some hugely entertaining stories for my weekly challenge last week. See them below. My new weekly challenge builds on the opening line challenge from a fortnight ago. This time I’m giving you the last line of a story: Perhaps tomorrow…
-
This week I’ve found a market, which is inviting true-life spooky stories. ‘Take A Break’s Fate and Fortune’ magazine is full of unusual and unexplained happenings. If you’ve seen a ghostly apparition, had a reading from a medium which has come true, been given a message from a loved one who has passed on, or…
-
I wonder it’ll do if you disturb it!
Esther Chilton 