fiction
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This week’s market is one of the women’s fiction markets. Take A Break’s Fiction Feast and Take A Break’s Specials are currently looking for stories for both magazines. You can write to them (by post only) for in-depth writers’ guidelines. The basic requirements are as follows: Fiction Feast: 800- 1000 words in length. They want…
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Sizzling Story Ideas Short stories in magazines always seem to flow effortlessly from beginning to end. Competition winning entries stun with their originality and brilliance. Small press magazines are full of thought-provoking stories which inspire, enrich and delight. It’s easy to imagine that the authors have a limitless supply of ideas waiting to leap onto…
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Don’t Rush It! In a short story, the ending is important but be careful not to rush it. Some writers can see the end in sight and grab it – too soon e.g. in a romance story, you have gradually built up the will they/won’t they scenario. Your readers are right there with the characters,…
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Here’s some advice that should help you to get going on your writing for the week. This week it’s fiction’s turn: Creating Atmosphere in Fiction To be successful, a short story or novel needs to develop a strong sense of atmosphere. This draws your readers into your story so they can imagine this world you…
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The Global Short Story Free Flash Fiction Competition My market for you this week is a 100-word flash fiction competition but you’ll need to get your skates on as the closing date is 13th May 2014. It’s free to enter and all you need to do is place your story in the comments box on…
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As spring is in the air, I thought I’d make a few changes to my blog: Some of my regular posts will remain the same – Tuesday will still see my award for ‘Funny Of The Week‘ and Friday is still my ‘Top Top Of The Week‘ day. ‘Mondays Motivations’ will change slightly to feature…
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When you’re a writer, it’s not easy to switch off. Even when I was on holiday, I found myself drawn to various characters – their mannerisms, actions, expressions, words, dialects, smells(!) etc. It’s these aspects of people’s characters which, if put into a short story or novel, bring them to life and make them real…
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Say yes to rejection! The word of the week on my blog has been ‘rejection’ and how it’s something we all have to cope with if we want to be successful writers. My tip for you, and something which I’ve put into practice over the years, is for each rejection you get, set it aside…
Esther Chilton 