poetry

  • It’s easy to get stuck in a rut with our writing. Perhaps you’re a novelist and the right words won’t come. Or if you write short stories for the women’s weeklies, it can be difficult to come up with a new idea. Article writers often specialise in writing about specific issues. It’s easy to become…

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  • Markets For Writers

    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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  • Some of you weren’t too keen on last week’s poetry challenge while others thought they’d give it a go, some for the first time. This week, it’s back to prose for my new challenge: I’d like you to write a short story in 20 words – yes, just 20! It can be done. Here’s a not particularly…

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  • My Writing Week

    It doesn’t seem five minutes ago that it was half-term but next week signals the end of another term and a trip overseas. I’m looking forward to a break but with lots of marking still to do and deadlines to meet before then it still seems a long way off. Though, as always, it’ll all…

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  • A Writer’s Craft

    A lot of you enjoyed my tongue-in-cheek poem, ‘Things I’d Love An Editor To Say‘, so I thought I’d work on another. Hope you like it:   A Writer’s Craft   Where is the best place to sit and write? Out in the sunshine, with glorious views in sight, Or stuck inside, computer to hand,…

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  • Top Tip Of The Week

    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…

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  • Yesterday, I wrote about receiving a rejection and how rejection is something we have to accept as writers. I don’t know of any writer, whether he/she’s famous or not, who hasn’t had a piece of work rejected. Though, it doesn’t hurt to dream:   Things I’d Love an Editor to Say    Please, please won’t…

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  • My Writing Week

    My writing week got off to a flying start with a cheque in the post but that good start didn’t last long and the cheque was swiftly followed by a rejection. As a writer, it’s all too easy to take rejection personally and to focus on the bad rather than the good. Rejection is all…

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  • Somewhere to Start It can be difficult to know where to send your writing. The ‘Writers and Artists’ Year Book’ is full of agents, publishers and mainstream magazines and newsagents’ shelves are growing to fit the plethora of magazines published weekly, monthly and so on. Yet, it isn’t just a case of sending work off…

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  • My Writing Week

    By the end of Monday, my shoulders were right up by my ears and I was shaking my head, sure that this week was going to be one of those weeks. But, up bright and early Tuesday morning, I took a deep breath and decided to forget about Monday and to start afresh. It’s not…

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