writing ideas
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The TV – a source of inspiration for writing? In many houses, the TV is the focal point of the room and we spend a lot of our relaxation time watching it. Visit your local newsagents and you’ll see a lot of shelf space taken up with TV magazines. Most of these have letters pages…
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Making changes in your life? Then why not write about them? Have you gone back to college to gain a degree or further your education? What’s it like being a mature student? Do you have any tips on studying to share? General interest magazines, women’s magazines, specialist publications and student magazines would be interested in…
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Make sure you’re up-to-date Whether you’re working on a short story, article or filler to send to a magazine, in order to ensure that you know exactly what the editor is looking for, you must analyse the publication carefully. An up-to-date copy is essential. It’s no good borrowing a two-year-old copy of one of Aunty…
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Last week’s challenge was to tell a story in five words. It was clearly no problem for you. So how about telling a story in five words – but somewhere in the story, you must use the word red. Here are you fabulous five-word stories from last week: The Bag Lady: Dressed, coffee poured, reading…
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Entering a short story competition? Think outside the box. When I ran my last short story competition, a lot of entries focused on death and an apocalyptic world. Jot down several ideas. The first few will probably be themes a lot of entrants will write about. Ignore these and let your mind push you forward…
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Researching your market – analyse the publication as a whole You might buy a magazine to analyse because you have an idea for an article but don’t just analyse the articles. It’s a good idea to study the whole of the magazine. This will give you an idea of the readership of the publication and…
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Involve Your Reader Not sure how to open your short story? Try addressing your reader directly. It instantly makes them feel part of your story. Here’s an example: Just one more, that’s all I was going to take. You know that, don’t you? You understand. Well, they didn’t. And they wouldn’t listen. Looked at me…
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Writing Anniversary/Seasonal Pieces Every day marks the anniversary of when someone famous died or when a unique invention first came to light. General interest magazines often feature this sort of article. Additionally, depending on who the person is or what invention your article relates to, you may find a multitude of magazines interested in an…
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Watch TV And Be Inspired! In many houses, the TV is the focal point of the room and we spend a lot of our relaxation time watching it. Visit your local newsagents and you’ll see a lot of shelf space taken up with TV magazines. Most of these have letters pages so if coverage of…
Esther Chilton 