Simon Says!

Are You Running In The Same Direction?

2012-02-13T09:30:00.000Z

Are you running in the same direction as everyone else? By that, I mean are you treading the same path of ideas that other writers are walking in?

It's not yet February 14th, and already I've been overwhelmed with Valentine's Day stories and articles. Don't get me wrong; it can be good to give your ideas a topical hook, but sometimes by avoiding following other writers and going down a less obvious path you can make your writing more interesting.

This February 14th, millions of people will go out for a romantic meal (hopefully, with their loved ones!). I'm sure there will be some who do it purely because that's what everyone else is doing. Therefore, they think that what's they ought to be doing.

It can be like that with writing sometimes. If you're targeting the February issue of a magazine, for example, (which you may have been doing back in August) the temptation to give it a Valentine's angle or theme, or even simply a love theme, may have been strong. And that's what many other writers will be doing - and indeed - many magazine editors will be looking for something about Valentine's Day for their February issue. However, they may not want EVERYTHING in their publication to be Valentine's Day themed. As a reader, I would find it pretty monotonous after a while.

So, instead of following the pack, consider veering off at a tangent. Why not give your article / story a Shrove Tuesday angle? Or what about the following day? Ash Wednesday. Focusing on the theme of repentance, or abstinence, still gives your piece a February angle, but it's a little more different to the romantic one.

There are other ways in which you can break away from the writing pack. For many people, publication is what they seek from their writing. To do this though, it is necessary to follow the pack and write the sort of material that publishers want to publish. However, don't forget about the writing that you enjoy. Break away from the pack, from time to time, and indulge in a little writing of your own.

Running in the same direction as everyone else, means that you'll make the same observations as many. Go off in a different direction and you may see something that everyone else fails to spot. Your destination could still be the same as everyone else's - but your journey doesn't have to follow the same route.

Good luck.

Snow Falls In Winter!!!!!

2012-02-06T09:30:00.000Z

As titles go, the title of this post is hardly newsworthy, yet looking at the headlines in some of the weekend newspapers, that's effectively what they were saying! Still, the newspapers make such a fuss when the sun shines in summer, so I suppose it is only to be expected.

Whether you're writing non-fiction, or fiction, titles are important. Yes, an editor can change a title to one they think is better, but the one you choose is the one the editor sees - and he/she is the person whose attention you want to grab! So, time invested in a title isn't wasted.

Take a Break's Fiction Feast magazine has stories that it classifies as Tale with a Twist, Put Your Feet Up, Spine Chiller, One from the Heart, and Love Story. Here are the titles (in italics) for the stories for each section of the March 2012 issue:

Tale with a Twist: I Can See The Future, Mummy; Drama on the Balcony; My Secret Valentine; The Baby Problem; Who Needs Taking Care Of?; One Night At the Movies
Put Your Feet Up: Tumbling out of love;
Spine Chiller: Destination Terror; You Belong To Me Now;
Put Your Feet Up: Not A Happy Shopper; Smile, Smile, Smile; What Goes Around;
One from the Heart: A Shed full of Secrets; On the Seashore
Love Story: A Good Judge of Character; The Love Spell

Look at how the titles emphasize the story's theme. Destination Terror and You Belong To Me Now clearly suggest they deal with some quite terrifying situations or characters. Whereas Smile, Smile, Smile puts a smile on your face and tells you that this is a story you can relax with.

The style and tone of a publication is frequently reflected in the titles it chooses for its features, or stories, so it's useful to try to emulate this in your own title. In the weekly Take a Break magazine, (issue 26th January 2012), the following titles appeared:

I'm putting you up for sale, Aaron!
He showed me NO MERCY.
Sue's big FAT bucket list
The baby who bounced.
My face is ON FIRE!
My kitten was COOKED

The sensational style comes across in many of these, and the use of capital letters for emphasis is interesting too: NO MERCY, FAT, ON FIRE and COOKED.

Whereas, Country Living magazine (March 2012) has the following titles:

The Otter
Patterns and Pins
AHEAD of the HERD
Fleeting Visions
A Sense of Style
In the midst of magnolias
Rustic rewards in Cornwall

Notice how these titles are calming and relaxing, compared to Take a Break's.

However, despite the difference in style and tone between the two publications, there are also several similarities the two magazine's titles share. For example, for some titles, simply tell the reader what the article is about is enough: The baby who bounced (TaB), The Otter (CL).

Alliteration, the repetition of a particular sound, or first letter, is popular title choice too. My kitten was cooked (kitten, cooked) My face is on fire (face, fire) The baby who bounced (baby, bounced) - all in TaB, and Patterns and Pins (patterns, pins), A Sense of Style (Sense, Style), Rustic rewards in Cornwall (rustic, rewards), In the midst of magnolias (midst, magnolias) all in CL.

Quotes can make great titles, especially if they encapsulate the essence of your piece. An article I wrote about the Royal Yacht Britannia I decided to title as A Country House at Sea because that's the phrase Queen Elizabeth used when she was involved in designing its interior.

Song titles, proverbs, sayings, can all provide inspiration for possible titles. In fact, you might find playing about with other people's titles as a useful way of generating a new title, and a new idea. At a short story workshop, we were asked to change film titles, replacing one word with a similar sounding word. So, instead of Judgment Day we came up with Judgment Drey. As a group, we plotted a story about a small brewery who were going to replace their Shire horse and cart with a white van, unless the staff could come up with a reason why the Shire horse shouldn't be retired. On the day the judgment was going to be taken, heavy rain flooded the local village, which meant no cars and vans could get through ... but a Shire horse and cart could! And all that came about from simply playing around with the words in the title.

Titles are your sales banners. They need to catch your reader's attention and encourage them to read the first paragraph of your piece (so that your excellent writing in your first paragraph will hook them into the rest of your piece). They won't reach that fist paragraph, if the title doesn't grab their attention. If you've put a lot of effort into your work, remember that it's worth putting the same amount of effort into your title too. That first reader, the editor, is your most important reader.

Good luck.

How Much Time Do You Spend On One Idea?

2012-01-30T09:30:00.000Z

How much time do you spend working on, or developing, an idea? This isn't an easy question to answer, because there are many different variables, but do you ever give up on an idea?

The reason I mention this today is because last week I finally managed to put together an idea I began working on last October, for a magazine article ... so that's basically three months of working on the idea to get it to a stage where I can now pitch it to the editor of my target market.

Now, obviously, I have been doing other work too, I haven't been working solely on this idea for three months, but it made me realise that some ideas take a little more effort to get them off the ground. How far do you go when developing an idea? Do you ever give up?

For this particular idea to work well, I knew I needed to get some quotes, as well as undertake some background research. This is one of those ideas where the quality of the quotes can determine its success. I didn't want to pitch my idea until I was sure that I could deliver a piece with great quotes.

For new writers, this can feel like a 'chicken and egg' scenario. It may seem difficult to get quotes if you don't have a commission. If you ask someone if you can interview them, many new writers expect the potential interviewee to immediately reply with, "Which publication are you writing for?" And yes, some do. However, I've always explained that as a freelance, I have several markets I'm considering, and most interviewees accept this. They don't know how the magazine world works.

I began researching the topic at the beginning of November, which gave me a few places to begin targeting for quotes. I sent off some emails enquiring if people would be willing to be interviewed. I didn't get one response! After a bit more research, I identified a couple more potential interviewees. I phoned a couple. One was never at their desk, two promised to answer some questions by email, of which one did, but their quotes were not as useful as I'd hoped, and the second didn't even respond, despite me chasing them.

After about six weeks of not getting very far, I sat down and considered what my other options were, and I came up with a few alternative ways of trying to find people who might be able to help me. I rang a couple and emailed a couple of others, and struck gold when one woman said she'd be delighted to help me.

The answers she gave to my questions were great and raised a few points on the subject that I hadn't considered. This meant a bit more research was required, and some more quotes were needed. Christmas and New Year came and went (this is a nightmare time for getting quotes because everyone is too busy panicking about Christmas - or not at their desks for two weeks - and then they need another two weeks to catch up, because they were off for two weeks!).

Eventually, with some occasional chasing, but not nagging, these people came back to me with answers and quotes that have enabled me to develop the idea into a pitch-able piece. The quotes have helped in other ways too. I now know what the best structure is for this idea, and I can tell the editor that I've obtained quotes from great sources for this piece, and I can use the names of my interviewees to help me sell the idea to the editor.

There's still a long way to go - I've still to submit my pitch (one of many things I'll be doing this week) and then I need to await the editor's decision. But I feel the time spent on this idea was worth it, because now I can see a useful angle for twisting the idea to fit an American market too, as well as my intended British market.

So, if things don't go to plan straight away with your ideas, keep working on them. You may just come across a snippet of information, or find someone willing to help you, that will make the effort worthwhile. Some ideas are a little more hard work than others. But, hopefully, they're worth it.

Good luck.

Turning Little Ideas Into Bigger Ideas

2012-01-23T09:30:00.000Z

I'm currently reading Della Galton's "Moving On - From Short Story to Novel - a Step-By-Step Guide" and would recommend it to anyone interested in writing fiction, whether it be short stories or novels. Even if you only want to write short stories, Della's explanations of what makes a short story a short story, and what makes an idea better suited to a novel, will help clarify in your own mind, which ideas will work as short stories and which ones won't.

One point Della makes is that some short story ideas can be moved on to become novel ideas too. However, a novel is not a short story idea with extra words and description. It needs to have sub-plots, character development, and the action can take place over a far longer period of time.

Turning little ideas into bigger ideas is something that many writers consider. Non-fiction writers especially, are encouraged to consider writing a non-fiction book on a subject, if they've had a handful of articles on that subject published.

My first book, 100 Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, has been moved on twice. I can trace its origin back to a short filler (about 75 words in total, I think) in a dog magazine. I moved this on to become an 800-word article for a different dog magazine, before moving it on again into a 5,000-word book.

If you dream of moving on to bigger projects, whether it's from short stories to novels, or articles to non-fiction books, why not look back through some of your smaller ideas? It's quite possible, that if they were successful in one format, with a bit of work and development, they could work in another, larger, format too.

Good luck.

For more information about Della's book, Moving On, click here.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

2012-01-16T09:30:00.000Z

Having worked in local government, even if it was only for five and a half years, I can confirm that the phrase "what goes around, comes around," was said many times. It seemed that within a matter days of implementing a new policy, a decision would be taken to go back to the old way of doing things. And then there were the times when someone suggested a new system, to which someone else would say, "Oh yes, that's how we used to do it in the Seventies." It's as though policies, ideas and systems go full circle.

The same goes for magazines too. What goes around, eventually comes back around. I've just been commissioned by a magazine to do a walk I originally walked for them back in 2004. There are a couple of reasons for this: a) the route on the ground may have changed - footpaths get diverted occasionally - new houses get built where there were none before etc, but also b) the readership has changed.

There are some magazines whose readership 'churns'. They are designed to appeal to a reader at a specific stage of their interest in that subject. A magazine targeting photographers who are beginners will eventually lose their initial readership, because (hopefully) their readership has learned something from their pages and then moved onto more advance photography techniques - provided by a different magazine (but hopefully one produced by the same magazine company). What the magazine hopes to do is attract new beginner photographers to replace the ones who've moved on.

Now these new readers won't have read the articles in the previous issues, and they'll want to learn the same basic techniques. So the magazine will go back and revisit subjects it has tackled in the past. The new articles will reflect current trends and any new developments, but essentially, the same subject matter is being covered again within the magazine's pages.

If you've had articles published in the past, why not take another look at them? Can you update and refresh them? If so, look for a potential market first, but don't ignore the magazine that your original article was published in. If the subject matter was good enough for the readership then, chances are it might be ideal for today's new readership too. (Do undertake a proper market analysis though - some magazines occasionally 're-position' themselves in the marketplace - trying to attract different readers.)

And let's face it - if there's one thing writers would like to see coming around again ... it's an acceptance cheque!

Good luck.

Blogging Along ...

2012-01-09T09:30:00.000Z

Here we are, one week into the new year, so how are your New Year Resolutions going? Was one of them to do more writing? If so, have you considered blogging?

Many of my new students say they're thinking of starting a blog, and I often encourage them to do so, for several reasons:

Create Habits

It helps you to develop the regular habit of writing, or creating something. A blog is something that should be added to frequently. Therefore, it can help you create a writing routine. Don't set yourself too big a challenge. It's not necessary to blog every day, although, you can if you want. The subscribers amongst you know that I update this blog weekly. Giving yourself a regular time to sit down and write your next blog posting can help you to train your brain into thinking, "I'm sitting at my desk/chair/favourite windowsill, therefore I'm about to write." The more often you do this, the easier it will become. (Incidentally, I happened to be watching Country Tracks on BBC 1 yesterday, where one of the presenters went to Barbara Cartland's house. There, the presenter learned that Barbara sat down to write at 1.30pm. Not 1.35pm. Or 1.40pm. But 1.30pm. So that's how she wrote over 600 novels ... by sitting down to write at a regular time ... 1.30pm!)

Develop Style

The more you write, the more your writing style, or voice, will develop. This changes, subtly, over time. If you can, look back at something your wrote several years ago and compare it to your writing of today. You may be surprised by how much it has changed. Writing regularly encourages you to explain things, which can expand your vocabulary, whilst also enabling you to develop how you express your ideas. Your natural voice will come through. If you always see the funny side of things, for example, then the humour will come through in your voice.

Have Something To Say

If you're going to blog, you need to have something to say. However, I want to clarify this further. If you're going to blog, have something to say to your readers. Think about who your readers are, or could be. My blog is aimed at my Writers Bureau students, and also any other budding writer who happens to stumble across it. (I hope!) You can pick any topic, or one of your hobbies, and choose to write about that. Select something that interest you. As you continue adding to your blog, sometimes you'll realise there's a germ of an idea there that can be developed into an article or a piece of fiction.

But what if you don't know what to write about? What if you don't think you'll have any readers? You will always have at least one reader ... you. Those who keep diaries often find it easier to write, because they're in the habit of writing regularly. But a diary needn't be a physical book. So, why not think of your blog as your diary? Use your blog to write about your day, your thoughts, your observations. A blog does not have to be a PUBLIC document. When you set up a blog, you can make it PRIVATE, so it is for your eyes only. And the beauty of blogging is that you can tag each post. So, if you remember writing in your private diary blog that you visited a stunning beach location, but can't remember when it was, all you have to do is search for the tag (keyword) that you may have allocated to that particular post (such as beach, holiday, inspirational view).

A blog is what you make of it. You can use it to talk to the world, or you can use it to record you own innermost thoughts, which only you can read. But if you want to get into the habit of writing regularly, a blog can be a great way of developing that habit.

Good luck.

(Most people create blogs using www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. Other blogging sites are available.)

Unashamed plug ... Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T09:30:00.000Z

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope 2012 is the year when you achieve many of your writing dreams, and that some of my ramblings on this blog will help to point you in the right direction.

You could say that 2012 has already begun in a positive way for me, because my latest book, The Positively Productive Writer (TPPW), has been published early. It's official publication date is 27th January, but the distributors have taken delivery of the book and so bookshops and booksellers such as Amazon, are now fulfilling orders.

TPPW is not a 'how-to-write' book - there are plenty of those about already. Instead, it's a 'how-to-stay-motivated' and a 'how-not-to-let-rejection-get-you-down' book. It's about understanding what your writing dreams are, and then breaking them down into achievable steps. I explain why you should not deal with a rejected piece the day you get it back, and instead learn to turn the rejection round into a positive experience.

For me, writing is not just about sitting on your rear end and producing words (which is vitally important), but also about having the right attitude. It's possible to coax ourselves into that right attitude. Having a positive frame of mind helps us to become more productive writers. I believe that productive writers can then become successful writers. (A writer who doesn't produce any words is unlikely to become a successful writer!) TPPW offers a variety of techniques and methods to remain positive and put you in the right frame of mind.

I would like to thank Diane Perry, Julie Phillips, Lynne Hackles and Vivien Hampshire, whose experiences helped to illustrate some of the points I wanted to make in the book.

I must also thank everyone who kindly reviewed the book. To read those reviews, click here.

Many of my regular followers will know that I can be a bit of a tenacious b*gger at times. Well, TPPW is published by Compass Books, who were the tenth publisher I approached. The other nine publishers rejected the book. (Top tip - remember that - they rejected the book, they didn't reject me.) But, I didn't let those nine rejections get me down. I kept going. The tenacity within me kicked in. I kept submitting. And now my efforts have been rewarded. And if you subscribe to many of the writing magazines, then you'll have seen my name and The Positively Productive Writer crop up already (twice in the January issue of Writers' Forum, twice in the February issue of Writers' Forum, and on page 21 of the February issue of Writing Magazine and also in the next issue of The New Writer magazine.)

So, if you've made any writing New Year resolutions, or set yourselves a series of writing dreams to achieve this year, then The Positively Productive Writer could help you to make your writing dreams come true. And how positive would that be?

Good luck!

Start Jotting for Christmas 2012.

2011-12-26T09:30:00.000Z

Happy Boxing Day!

To paraphrase a line from a Christmas nursery rhyme, Christmas is over and we're all getting fat, so thinking about Christmas 2012 might not be at the top of your agenda today. However, the writer in you should be busy jotting down notes.

Many of you are aware that magazines start preparing their Christmas issues as early as June, however, it can be difficult sitting in a heatwave, trying to think about Christmas. The trick is to take out your notebook and make notes now. Go on! Shift your bottom from your comfy chair - you don't really need to be slumped in front of the television watching the repeat of yesterday's Eastenders or Coronation Street. And you don't need to worry about the children, because they're still playing with the cardboard boxes yesterday's toys came in.

Grab your notebook and pen, and jot down all you see, smell, hear, taste and feel. All you need are bullet points, although if you want to write more, then go for it. Things to consider are:

Advent calendars
The Nativity
Christmas trees
The spicy aroma of Mulled wine
Christmas lights
Mince Pies
Mistletoe
Wrapping paper
Mess!
An elderly relative snoring ... in front of the Queen
Turkey
More Turkey
Eggnog
Children arguing
More Turkey
Chocolates
The Queen's Speech
Candles
The snap of Christmas crackers
The groan at the so-called joke inside it
Carols
Midnight Mass
Even More Turkey
and so on....

It's far easier to make these notes whilst everything is in front of your eyes, nose and ears. See how much you can jot down in ten minutes. Ten minutes of notes now will save you so much time next June!

Have your camera to hand too. If you have any top tips for stuffing a turkey, take a photo now, while you're stuffing it. It'll be much more difficult to take a photo in June! Likewise, if you're writing a travel article about visiting a destination at Christmas, get out now and take photos of that place with the Christmas lights and decorations all up. Take photos of the Christmas shop windows displays.

A little preparation now, will come in immensely useful later in 2012 when you begin thinking about articles and short story ideas for next Christmas. And if you suddenly find yourself drafting the first version of your article or short story, even better! Put the draft aside for a couple of months, and let the editing begin when the decorations have been taken down, and the New Year Resolutions long forgotten.

Now you can put your feet up and relax, smug in the knowledge that you're prepared. All that's left to do is start tackling that teetering pile of Turkey sandwiches.

Good luck!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T09:30:00.000Z

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to you all, and thank you for your posts and comments on my blog this year. I hope you have a great time and that 2012 will be the year when many of you achieve your writing dreams.

Best wishes,

Simon

Dear Santa

2011-12-19T09:30:00.000Z

So, have you written your Christmas list yet?

I write two Christmas lists. One I give to my family listing what I would like from them (and I never know what to put on it, so it gets shorter every year, therefore I must be getting old) and the other one is for me. This second list is the one where I identify what I want to give to myself over the following year, through my writing. (This one seems to get longer every year.)

This year, I wanted to secure a publishing contract for a new non-fiction book. I can tick that off my list (more about which, next month). I also wanted to go to a new writing conference - and I did - which gave me access to a literary agent who offered me some good advice.

Another present I wanted to give to myself, was to learn more about the Amazon Kindle, and self-publish a second e-book - which I have also achieved this year, and seen sales too.

This is the time of year when many look back at what they've achieved over the last 12 months, before trying to gaze in to the future and identify what they hope to achieve in the coming year. But instead of creating a set of New Year Resolutions, why not write down an extra Christmas list for yourself, detailing the writing presents that you will give yourself over the next 12 months?

This does two things:

Writing it down helps you to focus on what you want to achieve.
It reminds you that you're the only one who can give yourself that present. (If you want to write an article every month, then only you can give yourself this present by sitting down and writing one ... every month!)

When we reach a certain age in childhood, we discover that Santa is not the well-fed chap with the bright red outfit and the facial hair problem. Christmas presents do not materialise down the chimney one night. They happen because real people make them happen. They go out and battle the crowds of shoppers to buy them, or they go to the effort of making a hand-made gift to give to you. So, if you create a Christmas list of what you want with your writing next year, just remember that Santa won't be the one to deliver it to you - only real people - you - can make that happen.

And this is where your first Christmas list comes in - the one you give to friends and family identifying the gifts you'd like to receive from them. Choose carefully, and those gifts could help you give yourself the present you want from your writing next year. If you're still stuck for things to put on your Christmas list of presents that others can buy for you, here are a couple of ideas:

A subscription to a writing magazine (Writing Magazine, The New Writer, Writers Forum.) When your creativity is flagging, the next issue will help reinvigorate your muse.
Notebooks, pens, and Post-It notes to help you to jot down those inspirational ideas.
Useful writing books (more of which, next month :-) but here's some ideas, in no particular order or preference).
Ask friends, or relatives, to buy you a ticket to a literary festival event.
Or perhaps, they don't have to give you anything of financial value - they can simply give you an IOU - I Owe You two hours of peace and quiet, so that you can write!

So, over the next few weeks, while everyone is busy watching the repeat of Mary Poppins or The Great Escape, why not take a bit of time to think about the writing gifts you'd like to give yourself over the next 12 months?

Good luck.

Don't Beware The Idea Snatcher!

2011-12-12T09:30:00.000Z

In the latest issue of Writing Magazine there's a great article by Helen Yendall about ideas and the fear of someone 'snatching' your idea. Essentially, her advice is to 'get over it', and I have to agree. For some of my newer students, this may come as a shock.

Idea theft is something that many new writers fear. Indeed, I have had one writer say to me, "I'm not sending off my article in case the editor pinches my idea." Well that's fine, do what you want, but what was the point of writing the article in the first place if you're not going to send it off? If all writers kept their ideas to themselves, fearing the editor would steal their ideas, then nothing would be published!

There is no copyright in ideas. An idea isn't something that is 'tangible'. Not until you write it down. Then it becomes tangible and you own the copyright in the way you have expressed that idea.

It is rare for an exact idea to be copied. It is common for many writers to have similar ideas. The 7th February 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. In the next few weeks we're going to be bombarded with articles, TV programmes, radio programmes, Internet articles about the writer. That's not to say that the writers of these TV and radio programmes, and articles, have stolen the idea from each other. They haven't. They'll have taken the theme of Charles Dickens and applied a different angle to create their idea.

We're all individuals. Our life experiences are unique to us. And it is those unique experiences that enable us to put our own individual twist on those ideas.

If you don't think this is possible, go to a writers' group, creative writing class, or workshop. There, you'll be given an idea. (In fact, you'll probably be given many!) You might have to take it away with you and write it up for the next meeting, or if it's a workshop, you may only have an hour to write something. But remember this: everyone is given the same basic idea. But when it comes to reading them out, every writer will have applied their own experiences and thoughts to the idea, and you'll hear that everyone's final written piece is completely different.

With ideas, it's all about what you do with them. Don't sit on them. Don't hoard them. Do something with them. Get them written and get them out there. And if you find another writer has had a similar idea to you, don't get angry about it. Get over it. Be pleased with yourself, because you're clearly thinking along the right lines!

Good luck!

Back Up ... Back Up ... Back Up ...

2011-12-05T09:30:00.000Z

Of the many nightmares a writer can have, losing all of our work must be one of the most frightening. Especially if it is a big project, like a novel, non-fiction book, or a series of articles.

But there are some online services which can prove useful to writers in several ways too. Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) offers registered users 2 gigabytes of storage, online, for free. It is possible to increase this to 8Gb for free, although further space is available for a fee. I find the free 2Gb is perfectly adequate for how I use it.

Dropbox installs a folder on your computer. (It works with all operating systems). Whatever you save in that folder is automatically saved and copied to an identical folder online. So, should your hard drive suddenly decide to go up in smoke (which has happened to me in the past) all is not lost. You simply switch on another computer and connect to your online Dropbox account, and you are up and running again.

Dropbox also allows you to work on the same project on different computers. When you have a Dropbox account, any computer you work on, can be linked to this. I have a desktop computer and a laptop, and so I have my Dropbox folder on both. If I'm working on a project on my desktop computer, when I save it, the updated copy is uploaded to my online Dropbox folder. Then, when I next switch on my laptop, one of the first things my laptop does is update the copy of the file from the online folder. This means that whichever computer I happen to be using, I can work with the current copy of the text. And should the worst happen, there's always a recent copy on my online folder.

I don't save everything to Dropbox. I save any current 'big' projects to my Dropbox folder, such as novels and non-fiction books. (They're the ones I would be most devastated about, if my computer were to suffer a catastrophe!)

There's also another online service called SugarSync. (www.sugarsync.com) It, too, enables you to use free online storage space (about 5Gb for free - more storage space can be acquired for a fee) as a back up to your work. Unlike Dropbox where you have to put the files you want backed up into one specific folder on your computer, SugarSync works differently - you tell it which of your existing folders you want it to back up. So by using a combination of the two free services can provide you with a more than adequate amount of back up space for your text.

Don't just rely on these online services though. Always take extra back up precautions. I save a complete copy of my work once a week, on two different hard drives, which means that the important files on Dropbox are backed up every time I save them (several times a day) and then again, when everything else is backed up weekly.

So, don't have nightmares - back up frequently!

Good luck.

A Spooky Way To Write?

2011-11-28T09:30:00.000Z

Ghost writing has nothing to do clanking chains, wailing spirits hiding under dust sheets, or skeletons getting up and boogying about in churchyards. It's actually about offering your skills as a writer to somebody else. However, your name doesn't get credited with the writing - instead that goes to the person who you're doing the writing work for. So, what's in it for the writer? Well, money. (Hopefully.)

Ghost writing is more common than you probably think. Many a celebrity memoir has been ghost written by a 'jobbing' writer. Hunter Davies has written the 'autobiographies' of Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne and John Prescott.

But, it's not just celebrities who need writers to write their words for them. If you think about it, everyone has a story to tell (just look at the true life magazines on the shelf every week). But not all of these people are good with words ... or writing them down and putting them into sentences that tell a compelling tale. Which is where the you, the ghost writer, come in.

Ghost writing is a business transaction. A writer offers their writing skills for payment. One of Lynne Hackles' first ghostwriting jobs was to write a love letter on behalf a friend. Her payment was a jam doughnut. Since then, Lynne's gone on to ghostwrite many other projects (this time for money), which she fits in around all of her other writing projects (short stories for magazines like Fiction Feast, columns for Writing Magazine, and many, many more).

It's possible to ghost write anything - a love letter, a best man's speech, an article, short story, autobiography, even a novel. If you would like to know more, I can recommend Lynne Hackles' book, Ghost writing. Here she tells how she began ghost writing, and demonstrates that many jobs are quite ordinary (just don't have your client hand over the cash in the window of a coffee shop, for all of your friends to see ... as Lynne once did. It gives a whole new meaning to 'services rendered'!). The book also has quotes from other ghost writers, each giving advice and tips for this line of work.

If you enjoy writing, and have never ghost written before, then Lynne's book will help lay down the groundwork, that many other ghosts have taken years to discover.

Good luck.

I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 6

2011-11-21T09:30:00.000Z

For the final posting in this I'll Put That Bit There mini-series, I wanted to look at Headers and Footers. If you're submitting your text to an editor within the main body of an email, (by cutting and pasting it, for example) then you don't need to worry about headers and footers in your manuscript. However, for many fiction manuscripts, when you have to submit a hard copy of your text, headers and footers are important.

Some magazines that accept short stories prefer manuscripts to be paper clipped together, not stapled. If you're sending a book manuscript to an agent, or publisher, then most of them stipulate that printed pages should not be bound in any way. (They do this because it makes it easier for them to read the text, not to annoy you.) However, the drawback of this is that it's much easier to lose a page or to drop the entire manuscript and have to pick up the pages one by one. Heaven forbid the writer who hasn't numbered the pages in either the header or the footer, in that situation!

If you're using Microsoft Word, to view the Header section of your manuscript, go to View, then select Header and Footer from the drop down menu. Word will take you to the header, to begin with. (For other word processing packages, checkout the Help section for 'Headers and Footers'.)

What should you put in your header? Well, on the right hand side of the page I type my surname, the manuscript title (or an abbreviated version if it is quite long) and the page number. So, my header will look something like this:

Whaley / Manuscript Title / Page Number

Whatever text you enter into your headers and footers, it will appear like this on EVERY page. (It is possible to set this up so that it doesn't print headers and footers on the first page, if you give your manuscript a cover sheet, or title page.)

This means that if you manually type in 1, for page 1, then every page will have 1 on it. So, for automatic page numbering in Word, go to Insert and select Page Numbers from the drop down menu. This will automatically insert the correct page number on each page.

In the footer of the manuscript, I insert a method of contact, usually my email address. That's in case a cover sheet with all of your contact details goes astray. Does this happen? Yes! Read this post here. You can't expect every editor to go to the lengths this editor went to, to track down this writer, when her cover sheet was separated from the main manuscript. At least by putting some contact detail (email address or telephone number) in the footer, you know it will appear on every page of the document.

One final word of warning. Competitions. If you enter manuscripts into competitions, check your headers and footers. Most competitions judge entries blindly - so they do not want any marks on the manuscript that can be used to identify the writer - that means any names or contact details in headers and footers should be removed! Failure to do so, could result in your entry being disqualified, and that's a waste of your entry fee. Simply put the title in your header, along with the page number.

Using headers and footers means that should an agent decide to drop your manuscript across the floor of her homeward-bound train, or if a competition judge opens a window and lets the fresh air blow all the entries across to the other side of the room (both such situations have happened), then at least you know your manuscript can be brought back together again, without too much trouble.

Good luck!

I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 5

2011-11-14T09:30:00.000Z

I often say to magazine and non-fiction book writers that offering photos with your submissions not only increases your chances of publication (because picture sourcing is immensely time consuming and therefore you're making the editor's job easier), but it can also increase your fee too.

Magazines are visual products these days (getting side tracked - did you buy last week's copy of Woman's Weekly magazine, which included a copy of its first issue over 100 years ago? Yes it had pictures, but there were an awful lot more words in it than today's magazine has!) so page layout is important. Photos and pictures help with this. But you are not the page layout designer, so you do not need to worry about where to put your photos in your script.

In fact, you do not 'insert' your photos anywhere into your word processing document. Magazines cannot take the photo from your word processing document and then use it successfully in their page layout software. When you import a photo into your word processor, there's a high chance that the word processor will process the image and throw away some of the data, so that your document does not become some humongous 56 gigabyte file! Magazines need high quality images and those inserted into documents are not as high quality as they could be.

When inserting images into a word processor, many then start moving the text around the image, which goes on to create other formatting problems within your document.

Giving a magazine the largest file size you can provide offers them flexibility. With a large file size, they may be able to use the image as a double-page spread Like so:

They can also use the image much smaller, if that's what they prefer. What they can't do, is take a smaller thumbnail image and use it as a double page spread. Once you start enlarging an image, the quality deteriorates quickly. And if the quality isn't in the image in the first place, because it has been placed into some word processing software, then it is practically unusable.

So, if you have suitable images, save them as individual files on your computer in JPEG format. When you save them, give them a useful file name that includes the following:

A unique reference number
A suitable caption
Clarification as to who owns the copyright

The photo in the top of this posting is one page of a six-page feature I wrote for Discover Britain magazine. The image of the unusual AA phone box was saved as follows:

IMG_0001 - The 1920 AA Phone box in Eardisland- Herefordshire - by Simon Whaley

When I wrote the feature, at the end of my article text, I added a subheading, List of Illustrations, and then I listed the file name of every image I was supplying with my accompanying article.

This is sufficient for an editor to identify which images they want to use, whilst also giving them enough information to caption the image on the page. There is no need to insert any images within your document anywhere.

I usually burn the images onto a CD Rom, although this is mainly because my camera has 21 mega pixels, so the average size of each of my photos is about 18 megabytes (and I supplied the editor with nearly 30 photos for this feature) so emailing this many images would bring down my own email account along with the magazine's too!

If you're pitching an editor with an idea and you have photos available, it can be useful to attach low resolution images to your email pitch, to give the editor a flavour of the types of images you have available. I always ask how the editor prefers to receive large-sized files. Some stipulate CD Rom submission, some will say it's okay to email if there are not too many images, whilst some magazines operate a specific email address for photos only. (Another reason for not inserting the images into your text!).

So next time you want to include images with your article, all you need to do is list the unique reference number, the image caption, and who owns the copyright in the photo at the bottom of your article. You do not need to insert the photos into your text where you think they ought to go. Just ask the editor how they prefer to receive image files and then follow their instructions.

Good luck.

I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 4

2011-11-07T09:30:00.000Z

Editors love bonus material - text that can be used to break up the page with further information, fascinating facts or practical what-to-do-next steps. These are referred to by a variety of names such as further information panels, boxouts, sidebars, or fact file boxes.

When you analyse a target publication, look out for these sections. Travel magazines practically always have them. This is where readers can find out which airlines fly to that destination, what the website address is for the local tourist board, or the websites for the tourist attractions mentioned in the article. Boxouts and sidebars are also used to provide extra quirky information. Take a look at the picture here - it's fact file at the end of a long article about Scotland, and is headed up as Top 10 Uninhabited Islands. This is extra information that does not appear within the main article.

If you see a magazine regularly uses these fact files, or boxouts, then you need to consider including one, or more, with your proposed article. And if you're targeting a travel magazine that has a standard sidebar of practical information for potential travellers with headings like:

How To Get There
Where To Stay
Where To Eat
What To Do
What To Avoid

... then you need to provide this information, with those headings, too.

But, you don't need to put this information in a box. Don't insert a Text Box into your manuscript, with a border all the way around, and then enter your information. Just give the information.

The safest way to do this is to put this information at the end of your article, after your concluding paragraph. Drop down a couple of lines and then give your Further Information Panel a heading. So, in the example in the photo here, the writer would simply have typed the heading:

Top 10 Uninhabited Islands.

You do not need to put in parentheses afterwards (boxout information) or (suitable for a side panel). Editors are quite clever and will be able to work it out, especially if you're following the format that the magazine uses for every article within its pages!

Then, underneath this heading, type the information that you're giving. In this Top 10 Uninhabited Islands example, you'll see that the text is bullet pointed. How the text is displayed in the magazine is down to the editor, or the page layout designer. You can use bullet points, although personally, if my headings have a number in them I number each point - the last thing I would want to do is offer ten top tips and only provide nine! What you don't need to do is use a different font size, or even a different font. Stick to the same font and size you have used throughout the rest of the article.

If you want to offer another boxout, then simply give that a new subheading and write the information underneath it.

So, remember. Further information panels, side bars, boxouts, or whatever you want to call them, come at the very end of your article, and the information they contain does not need to be inside a box, table, or grid.

Good luck.

I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 3

2011-10-31T09:30:00.000Z

Double spacing. Why do we do it? And what exactly is it?

Well, first things first: double spacing is NOT two spaces between every word, or sentence.

Double spacing means having a blank line between each line of text.

The image here shows how to set it up in Microsoft Word, although many other word processors operate in a similar fashion. In Word, go up to Tools, select Paragraph and the following window will appear.

About half way down the window are the options for spacing. In the middle of this section is the drop-down menu for line spacing. Select the arrow, and then choose Double from the drop down list.

THAT'S IT! Yes, that is all there is to it. (Okay, I lie, you also have to press OK at the bottom, too.)

DO NOT select anything in the boxes to the left, labelled Before or After. These need to be left at 0pt. (I've explained why in last week's post - I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 2)

So, why do we use double-spacing? Basically, because it's tradition. It's what writers always have done, since the days when anything printed, be it newspaper, magazine, or book, was published using hot metal presses. An editor would take a double-spaced typescript, use the extra space between each sentence to annotate to the typesetter any changes that needed making, or inserting any special instructions to the typesetter about headings, or inserting images, and then send the document to the typesetter for setting out on the metal presses.

Proofreaders and copy-editors needed double-spaced text to give them the space they required to annotate any corrections.

But since the advent of computers, hot metal presses have not been used to publish material. So why do we still do it? Double-spaced text is easier to read. (Try it. Print out one of your typescripts in double-spaced format and then print out the same text in single spaced format. Which is easier on the eye?) This is why writing competitions ask for double-spaced text. It is far easier for the judge to read. I once had to judge a pile of 166 short stories (of up to 4,500 words each) and it's surprising how quickly the eyes tire.

Editors know how much text there is on a double-spaced page. And yes, the gaps still give the editor space to write notes or comments for other staff to action.

When should you not double-space your text? When the editor tells you there's no need to. Yes, that's right. If an editor tells you there's no need to double-space, then you don't have to do it. But don't do this until you have permission from the editor. (Let's be honest, if an editor says he wants your manuscript on pink paper, in Comic Sans font, at size 8, then that's what you bloody well give him!) But until you are told otherwise, you give an editor double-spaced text.

So, when you set up your article, short story or book template, make sure you include double-spaced text. Whilst double-spaced text is no longer required for the publication process, it's what writers have been doing for years and what many publishers continue to ask for today.

Good luck.

I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 2

2011-10-24T09:30:00.000+01:00

Last week, I looked at text justification, this week, I thought I'd look at paragraph layout. This is an area that confuses many new students, yet it needn't. There are two accepted styles, and the key is using the same one throughout your piece; don't mix and match.

Your choice is to either use block paragraphing or indented paragraphing.

The style that many writers recognise is indented paragraphing. Indented paragraphing is what you see in most published articles, short stories and novels. This is where (generally with the exception of the first paragraph of the piece) the first line of each new paragraph is indented. The first word of the paragraph appears a few spaces to the right of the rest of the paragraph. So, to create your new paragraph, press the RETURN key on your keyboard once, then press the TAB key once. (Don't press the space bar several times to create your indent.)

Block paragraphing is what you see here in this posting. Instead of the first line of each paragraph being indented, an extra blank line appears between each paragraph. This is achieved by pressing the RETURN/ENTER key of your keyboard twice. Pressing it once, drops your cursor to the next line, pressing it the second time means your text now appears under that blank line.

So, why have two styles, especially when most published text uses the indented paragraph system? Here's the science bit ...

Publishers tend to use one of two computer software packages for designing the layout of their publications: QuarkXpress (from Quark) and InDesign (from Adobe). There are other software packages out there, but these are the two biggest. When you sell a piece of your writing, the publisher will import your text into their design package. A publisher explained to me that one of these programmes doesn't recognise an indented tab from some word processor packages, whereas it does recognise the block paragraphing and (ironically) converts the blocked paragraphing into indented paragraphing!

Personally, I prefer indented paragraphing. Whilst block paragraphing works well for non-fiction, I don't think it looks right in fiction, especially if your fiction contains a lot of dialogue. Indented paragraphing works well for fiction and non-fiction.

Finally, when you're setting up your page layout in your word processor, and setting up your double-spacing (more of which next week), make sure your spacing before and after is set at 0pt. Before and after spacing (seen on the left of this picture here) determines the space between paragraphs. Writers who use block paragraphing often use this to set the gap between each paragraph. Don't do it like this, because the publishers simply have to strip it all out. Just press the RETURN KEY twice.

So, to sum up with paragraphing, use either block paragraphing or indented paragraphing, but not both. And when you're writing, use the RETURN + TAB key (indented paragraphs), or the RETURN + RETURN key (block paragraph) combination.

Next week, I'll look at double-spacing and why every writer is told to use it, how to use it properly, and when you don't have to use it.

Good luck.

I'll Put That Bit There ... Part 1

2011-10-17T09:30:00.000+01:00

I've received a couple of queries recently about manuscript layout, particularly for magazines, so I thought this was something I'd look at again over the next few posts.

The key point I want to make here is that you are the writer, not the page layout designer. Think of yourself as the content supplier, not the designer.

Left/Right Justification
Joseline recently emailed enquiring whether text should be left and right justified, as it often is in published books and magazines.

First of all, here are some justification examples:

This is LEFT justified text. Notice how, when text is spread over several lines, it has a straight edge down the left hand side of the page/screen, but the text on the right has a 'ragged' edge, with variable amounts of white space between the last word on the line and the edge of the page/screen. The amount of white space depends upon the size of the following word, which is too big to fit on the previous line.

This is RIGHT justified text. Here, when text is spread over several lines, it has a straight edge down the right hand side of the page/screen, but the text on the left has a 'ragged' edge, with some white space between the edge of the page/screen and the first word on the line.

This is BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT justified text. This time, the text has a straight edge down the left and right hand side of the page/screen. This is how many books are published and how many magazine text columns are aligned. It looks neater. However, it also s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s the text across the page, inserting extra spaces and gaps between words to ensure that both sides of the page have a straight edge.

Because left AND right justified text has extra spaces to ensure both sides of the text have straight edges, this reduces the number of words on a page. Another problem this creates is that it adds extra 'hidden' characters in the text (a space is still a character, even though you can't 'see' it), which can cause problems when your text is copied from your word-processing document and imported into the publication's magazine layout software (such as Quark, Adobe Indesign). And then some poor person at the magazine has to sit there and delete all of the hidden characters.

So, all you need to do is LEFT JUSTIFY your text only.

You can also centre your text.

This is acceptable for titles ...

... BUT NOT YOUR WHOLE TEXT!

In Part 2, I'll look at paragraphing - should you indent, or use block paragraphs? And I'll try to explain why some magazines prefer indented paragraphs, when others prefer block paragraphs.

Good luck!

The Life Time of a Submission

2011-10-10T09:30:00.000+01:00

The November issue of Dogs Monthly magazine carries an article of mine about fireworks (I like the promotion of it on the front cover!). But this idea was first born in August 2006.

Having done the research for a different commissioned piece, I realised I could quickly produce an article for dog owners, using the same information, so I submitted this speculative article to a dog magazine on 17th August (not Dogs Monthly!). Of course, an article about how to help dogs cope with fireworks is best aimed at the November issue of a magazine, however, fireworks are just as much an issue for dogs owners at Christmas and New Year too, so the piece may also have been suitable for the December or January issues.

At the end of December (when the January issue had been published), I contacted the editor to enquire if they were still interested in my feature. I heard back in February 2007 - the editor liked it and wanted to retain it for possible use in the November 2007 issue.

Well, time flies and the next thing I realised was that it was January 2008 and the article hadn't been used. I tried contacting the magazine, but heard nothing back. I tried contacting again in January 2009, but heard nothing.

In May 2009, I contacted the magazine again, mentioning the dates I tried contacting the editor in the past, and enquiring whether they were still interested in the feature. The editor emailed back the following day, saying they remembered it, but could I send a duplicate copy. This I did by return. A few days later, the editor emailed saying that they hoped to use it in the November 2009 issue.

Well, I'm sure by now you can guess where this one is heading. Suffice to say, it didn't appear in the November issue. So, in January 2010, I emailed the editor and enquired if they were planning on using it in 2010, if not, then I wanted to offer the piece elsewhere. The editor replied, saying that they couldn't guarantee using it this year, so I was free to offer it elsewhere.

Which I did, to Dogs Monthly, at the end of July 2010. The feature wasn't used in their November issue (with a feeling of deja vu!), so in January 2011, I enquired if the article was of interest to the editor. She said yes, and in June 2011, she asked me to bring the feature up to date again (because I'd submitted it a year previously) and provide a short biography.

Then, lo and behold, after five years, the article finally saw publication.

There are a few points to make here:

1. I said at the beginning this was a speculative piece. When I'm commissioned to write a feature, I always try to get another article (or two) out of the research I've undertaken. Whilst I try to get commissions for these, sometimes it only takes a short while to write the 'extra' article and so I'll risk a speculative submission. This example shows the risk of speculative submissions. Commissioned work rarely gets treated in this way.
2. Maintaining accurate records is imperative. Remember, you should know exactly where all of your submissions are at any one time. This is a business. You are competing with other professionals, even if your work is written around your day job and looking after the family.
3. However, the main point I want to make here is to never give up. I never set out on a journey of five years, but that's what it ended up taking. And it's only by keeping on top of submissions and contacting editors, without hassling them, that this piece has finally been published (and paid for).

Who knows what happened at the first magazine I submitted it to. Perhaps there was a plan to use it but something better came up, which was used instead. I don't know. I don't hold any grudges against the first magazine I sent it to. (But I haven't sent them any more stuff since!)

So, if you haven't heard from an editor, don't necessarily assume that's the end of your submission. Make enquiries. Don't chase two days after you submitted the piece. Even editors have days off and annual leave, and rumour has it, they're human and get stuff like the flu and coughs and colds too. They don't like being hassled during the week that the magazine goes to press, and they only deal with urgent emails and phone calls in that week, so everyone else has to take a back seat. But if several months have passed, then it's not unreasonable to make contact and just ask if your submission is of interest.

And if it turns out your target market is not interested, then find a new one. Stay persistent, and you increase your chances of publication. Ten years is my record, so far, for writing a piece and then finally seeing it published.

Good luck!

Better Than Publication?

2011-10-03T09:30:00.000+01:00

For many, being published is one of the greatest feelings there is. For those of us earning a living from it, being paid for it is even better! But, can anything beat that feeling of publication? I think so. Reader interaction.

I had an article published in the September 2011 issue of Outdoor Photography, entitled Where There's A Will... It looked (in a fairly light-hearted way) at why photographers need a 'last will and testament' in this digital age.

A few days ago, I was reading the October issue of Outdoor Photography and read a letter from one reader praising my article. He said that whilst he always knew he ought to get a will written, my article pointed out the drawbacks of failing to do this. He's since seen a solicitor and now has a will.

I feel proud to have been part of this. That reader now has a will because of something that I wrote. Should he die tomorrow (and I hope he doesn't!), his family will find the administration of sorting out his finances much simpler. In a small way, I have influenced that reader's life. (Or perhaps I mean the aftermath of his death!) Seeing his letter in the magazine though, brought it home that what we write can affect people's lives.

Incidentally, I wrote a similar article on this topic for Writing Magazine, and you can read the article on my website here. All writers need wills, as well as photographers. (Actually, being blunt, EVERYBODY should have a will.)

A similar thing happened last week. As a member of the Society of Authors, I receive their quarterly publication, The Author. In it was an article I'd written about the benefits of writers taking a walk, getting away from their desks to stretch their muscles, having been hunched up over a keyboard for several hours at a time. I discussed, not only the physical benefits, but the mental benefits of walking too.

Within 48 hours of receiving my copy, I began getting emails from other society members, saying how much they'd enjoyed my article. Some authors contacted me to say they agreed with what I'd said, whilst others emailed to say that following my piece they too were going to give this a try.

And if you want to read why I think all writers should be walking away from their desks on a regular basis, then follow this link.

So, next time you have something published, don't just buy a copy of the magazine with your piece in it. Buy the next issue too, to find out whether your words moved the readers to write in too.

Good luck.

Remember - It's A Craft

2011-09-26T09:30:00.000+01:00

I was marking a couple of assignments over the weekend and I realised that two of them had been sent to me too early. The market analysis was not as in-depth as it could have been, not enough thought had been given to the article topic, nor to the editing process. One article even ended in mid sentence.

Now, don't get me wrong, I quite understand students' keenness to want to get going, writing and submitting. But it made me think back to the last country show that I went to, where I saw a man, sitting at his stall, working on his latest leather gift he was creating.

With his small wooden mallet, he hammered the punch into the leather he was working on, stopped, blew on it three times, before rubbing the tips of his fingers across the newly-created indentation. Then, he turned the leather over, rubbed his fingers across the braille-like mound he'd marked, before turning it back over and repeating the process. Only when he was happy with each indentation, did he move onto the next step.

At what point did this craftsman feel that he was starting to craft something? When he picked up his mallet? When he picked up the punch? When he first felt the indentation with his fingers? Or when he had the idea of what he was going to create?

It's easy to see the craft of writing beginning with the moment when you start writing, or at least, editing. But actually, the craft of writing begins with the idea, the angle you decide to take, and then how you will develop that idea for the market you've identified. The craftsman, here in this photo, spent time selecting the piece of leather he was going to use, in the same way that we should spend time selecting the idea that we are going to develop.

When the time comes for you to send off your article to an editor (or your tutor) think about it instead as a piece of physical artwork, like the leather goods this craftsman has on his stall in the photograph here. Are you really happy with it? If, instead of sending your text in an envelope, or via email, you had to place it on stall in a marquee at a country fair for passers-by to purchase, would you still have confidence to put it out on display? Would you be proud of your creation? A craftsman (or craftswoman) only put out their best work on display for others to buy. As writers, we should be striving for that attitude too. Whether it's a letter to a magazine, an article, short story, or novel, only when our work is the best we can possibly make it.

Good luck.

Have You Hearst The News?

2011-09-19T09:30:00.000+01:00

When readers go to their local newsagents and pick up a magazine, most people are not concerned with the company that publishes it. But earlier this year, in the UK, there were a few changes taking place behind the scenes, and some of the implications are beginning to filter through now. It's something many students need to be aware of, but if you're doing your market analysis properly, you should already have spotted some of these subtle changes.

Hachette Filipacchi, publisher of Elle, Elle Decoration, Psychologies and Red was bought by a company called the Hearst Corporation. Hearst also own the National Magazine Company, publishers of titles including Best, Company, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Prima and Reveal.

Hearst are now in the position where they can claim that their publications reach 33% of UK adult populations and 47% of the UK's women.

For those of you sending articles by post, check the Contents page for new contact details. Instead of addressing your letters to Best at the National Magazine Company you need to change it to Best at Hearst Magazines UK.

Those submitting and pitching by email will need to use new email addresses (although old email addresses will automatically re-direct for a while - but why not get it right first time?) Email addresses will be firstname.secondname@hearst.co.uk.

There have been a few casualties. She and Cosmopolitan Bride have ceased publication.

So, next time you buy a magazine you feel you are familiar with, just check out the contact details and confirm that you're using the correct company name or email address. It's a small detail, but small details matter.

Good luck.

Never Lose Your Nuggets!

2011-09-12T09:30:00.003+01:00

Today’s posting follows on from last week’s post about allowing yourself to write freely for your first draft. The first draft is not the place for perfection.

You may have heard of the phrase to kill your darlings. This is something that every writer comes across as some point during the self-critiquing process, when they are editing the text created in that first draft. There are times when everything comes together perfectly. The ideas flowed, the style is there and the words have rhythm. When you read that piece of text to yourself you experience a warm glow – this is what being a writer is all about, you tell yourself.

Unfortunately, those best bits, also known as your darlings, are not always appropriate for that particular piece of text. On the occasions when you need to cut excess wordage from your work, often it is your darlings that your deleting knife should be wielded at, but because of the emotional attachment you have to those phrases, you end up trying to delete everything else apart from your darlings. This is because the writer fears that they are throwing away their best work.

Now, as a writing tutor, I’ve always told students that nothing in this game is wasted. Accepting that a darling needs to be culled from a particular piece is a huge step for a writer to take in their learning journey, but it doesn’t mean that you have to throw it away, permanently. You can, and should, keep it.

One of the books I’m reading at the moment, (I often have several on the go at any one time) is The Secrets To Writing Great Comedy by Lesley Brown. (Hodder Teach Yourself - ISBN: 978-1-444-12892-5 - £12.99) In this book, Lesley refers to this moment of knowing when to kill your darlings, except she doesn’t refer to them as darlings, but as gold nuggets. And just like gold nuggets, their value can increase over time. There may come a moment when you are writing something and you suddenly remember that nugget of text that you had to cut from one piece, which would now fit a new piece you are currently writing. And, sometimes, that nugget of text works better in this new context than it did in the original piece for which you wrote it. Your nugget has appreciated in value!

When it comes to the editing process, forget the phrase kill your darlings, for this suggests getting rid of it, never to see it again, which isn’t true. Learn to accept that there will be times when you need to cut the bits of writing, that you enjoyed writing the most, from your current writing project. But understand that you are not killing something off, merely putting into your own private safe another gold nugget that might appreciate in value at some point in the future, and pay better dividends than it would now.

Look after your nuggets!

Good luck.

First Draft / Final Draft: Two Very Different Beasts

2011-09-05T09:30:00.005+01:00

It doesn’t matter whether you write articles, short stories, fillers, novels, non-fiction books or even blog postings … the first draft is exactly that … the first draft. It could be the first of two drafts, or the first of two hundred, but beginner writers need to understand that the first draft is never the final draft.

Many new writers don’t always appreciate this. The sheer euphoria at completing a first draft often has beginners reaching for an envelope and some stamps, or for a new email message, in order to send off their newly created piece of work. But this is not the right time. Writers are commonly told that the editing process is vital and that great writing isn’t written, but re-written.

Learning to accept that the first words you write won’t necessarily appear in your final draft offers many benefits:

1. It frees up your writing. Many of us were taught at school to write properly. (Some weren’t, but that’s another blog posting!) Sometimes though, this instils in us the desire to get our words right from the start. It’s as though we were taught to get one sentence right, before we began writing the next. This kills creativity. It kills the writer’s early voice. Accept that the first draft is never the last and therefore you can be free to write what you want to write. Ignore grammar. Ignore punctuation. Get your thoughts down on paper, whilst you remember them! You can get the grammar and punctuation sorted later!

2. Pooh-pooh Perfection. In the same way that a first draft allows you to forget grammar, punctuation, and even spelling, don’t get hung up on finding the right word. At this stage, any word will do. Sometimes we think that a multi-syllable word shows off our writing prowess, but coming up with that right multi-syllable word isn’t easy. So, don’t worry about it. Instead, opt for a simple word. Often, this simple word turns out to be the better word in the end, anyway.

3. Ignore the logical left. It’s the left-side of our brains that deal with the details of life, and for writers this means the editing process. First draft creation is not the time or the place for left-brain interference. Let the thoughts and ideas flow from your right-brain. Nine of those thoughts may be completely naff, but if your brain needs to dump them on paper first, before producing the amazing tenth idea, then you need to get those first nine ideas written first!

4. Ignore word lengths. The first draft is not the place to worry about word length. Just write. It doesn’t matter that you need to write a 1,000-word article or short story and your first draft is 3,000-words. It’s not your first draft that you’ll be sending off, is it? Once your first draft is complete, then you can let your logical left-brain jump into action and start culling.

Once a writer understands that a first draft is exactly that – a group of words that others will not see – it can free your brain from the restrictions of punctuation, grammar and perfection. And once you understand that you can throw perfection out of the window for the time being, you might surprise yourself at what you write in the first place.

Good luck.

Er ... Excuse Me ... Can I Take Your Picture, Please?

2011-08-29T09:30:00.182+01:00

Following my last post, Taking Better Travel Photos, Nan Sheppard commented about the rules with regards to taking photos of people. This is an area that can cause some confusion, so I thought I'd take the opportunity this week to explain the basics. Please note that in this posting I am referring to UK law. Laws in other countries may differ considerably.

The picture in this posting contains many people. Did I ask their permission before taking the photo? No. It simply wasn't possible. Do I need their permission if I want to use this photo to illustrate a magazine article? No.

In the UK, the law allows photographers in a public place to take photographs. Permission is not required from the people who are captured in the image if the photograph is used for editorial purposes. There are two key points here:

the photographer is in a public place,
the photograph is used for editorial purposes.

In this posting, what I mean by a public place is somewhere where the public have a legal right to be at any time of day, such as on the pavement beside a public road, or on a footpath in the countryside. A shopping mall is not a public place, because despite being full of members of the public, many are owned by private companies. So, when you enter a shopping mall you are stepping onto private land. It just happens that the landowner is happy for you to do so! Generally, public land is the road/highway and its pavement, a right of way across a piece of private land, common land, and land designated as open access (such as mountains, moor and heathland).

There are many places which people perceive are public places, but they are actually privately owned. Railway stations, car parks, shopping centres, National Trust properties, even many beaches, are all places where lots of people gather, but they are privately owned. To take photos for editorial purposes, or commercial purposes, in these places, you should have the landowner's permission. (Generally, taking photos for your own personal use, to record a family day out, is not a problem.)

For editorial purposes means for use in media, such as magazines and newspapers. In other words, I can use the photo above to illustrate an article in a magazine, but I could not use the photo above as an image on a T-Shirt, on a mug, or on a poster to sell to the general public. Those examples would be classified as commercial use of the image. Any image containing people (whether it is obvious who they are or not) which is going to be used for commercial purposes, must be accompanied by a model release form signed by every person in that image.

This is why, in the UK, the paparazzi can operate. They take their photos from a place where the public have a right to be - genrally they are on the pavement of a street - and their photos appear in newspapers and magazines.

Of course, there is nothing stopping you from being polite and asking people if they mind having their photo taken, even if, by law, you don't have to ask them. Often, you'll get a better photo, if you do. If you're at a seaside location, and see four senior citizens sitting on a bench on the promenade, wrapped up in winter coats and scarves, but each eating an ice-cream, that could make a great photo! Ask them if they mind having their photo taken. Most people are actually quite willing.

Obviously, extreme caution needs to be exercised when taking photographs in public places where children may be present. (This is an area of the law that some members of the legal profession feel ought to be clarified further.) The safest option is always to ask the parents' permission, or simply return to the site when children are not around.

For many travel articles, taking a photo of market scene, or a carnival procession will not cause any problems, because you'll be in a public space and, the chances are, those people won't even know that you are taking their photo. But just be aware that if you're taking a photo that includes one person, or a couple of people, then being polite and asking permission first, is a good policy to follow.

Good luck.

Taking Better Travel Photos

2011-08-22T09:30:00.099+01:00

Following on from last week's posting about writing travel articles, I thought I'd continue sharing some of Solange Hando's tips, this week looking at ways to take better photos.

I've had many writers ask why they should take photos, when they're a writer, not a photographer. The simple answer is, it increases the opportunity of publication. Gone are the days when magazines could pay a writer for the words and then send a photographer to get some photos. (Some of the prestigious magazines still do this ... Country Life, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, but most cannot afford to do this.) So, a writer who can offer photos is an editor's dream. Last week, I gained a commission from a magazine based upon some of the photos I had taken, which I included with my pitch. A friend of mine mentioned recently that she'd pitched an article to an editor, and he'd come back and asked her to show her a sample of the pictures she had available, before he would make a decision.

So, photos are important, especially for travel articles, but you don't need a fancy camera to take good pictures. These days, a simple point-and-shoot camera can produce great shots ... as long as the person taking the photo has some idea of what type of picture they want in the first place!

For travel articles, photos are essential, and these days, digital makes life so much easier. Editors expect digital images these days - in JPEG format.
If you have photos available when pitching an idea to an editor, include some of your best photos in your pitch - but just send low-res images.
Always send your best pictures - this is what catches the reader's eye when they flick through the magazine - and these are what will catch the editor's eye.
Photos can be obtained from tourist boards, however, some editors dislike this because tourist boards tend to send out the same photos to potential markets - which means the same picture gets used over and over again. A writer who can submit their own photos will be offering a different photo - something the reader won't have seen before.
Take loads of photos. Digital makes this easy! Photograph everything and anything! Take photos of information panels, general scenes, people doing things, unusual events. Whatever you see with your eyes - take a photo of it!
Every picture should tell a story. There has to be a reason for the picture in the first place. Why are you taking the image? Does it show how luxurious the hotel is that you are staying in? Does it show how close to the beach it is? Does it show the rats running away from the refuse bins out the back?
Think variety. Take pictures in portrait mode (ie. rotating the camera 90 degrees to take a tall and thin image) and also landscape mode - the traditional format (as in the image at the top of this blog). Take pictures without people in them, and take pictures with lots of people in them. Ideally, if you've done some market research before hand and have an idea as which publication you are targeting, look at the photos. Do they like photos with people in them, or photos without? Give the publication images that you know they like using.
Take photos of your accommodation - inside, outside, and every room - including the bathroom! (Take them as soon as you arrive and before you unpack, for that 'clean' look.)
Take pictures of funny signs - especially ones where they've tried to translate into English, but it hasn't quite worked.
Have something in the foreground - near to the front of the image - because this can help with the sense of scale.
When taking photos of people (where they agree to be photographed and look straight into the camera) take two photos. Take the first one (where the subject will 'pose') and then quickly take another one when the subject has 'relaxed' after the first one was taken. The second photo will be more natural.

And that's all there is to it!

Take a picture of your bathroom in your accommodation!

And take a photo of your room as soon as you arrive and before you unpack and make your room look untidy!

And take a picture of other rooms within the property too.

Finally, have something in the foreground to add a sense of scale.

Good luck!

Top Travel Writing Tips

2011-08-15T09:30:00.077+01:00

At the end of July I was at the Caerleon Writers Holiday and one of the workshops I attended was on travel writing, by Solange Hando.

I thought I'd share with you some of the useful tips that travel writers need to consider when writing travel-related articles.

Before You Go:

Buy a recent guidebook and read it. Find out about the places that people recommend visiting. It might also enable you to create a feature about great places to go that the guidebooks miss out on!
Research previous travel articles. (What's changed since they were written? Can you write an updated version?)
Jot down any ideas in your notebook that come to you as you read through the guidebook.
Look for any special approaching anniversaries.
Check out when there are any special market days or festivities. Find out about them in adavance and plan going to them.
Learn a little about local customs in order to become friendly with the locals. Once the locals appreciate that you have made an effort to understand their culture, they are more likely to open up to you and share knowledge with you.
Research your target market before you go. (If one magazine prefers photos of views, whereas another magazine prefers pictures with lots of people in them, you can then ensure you take the right type of photos for each market.)
Check to see whether the publication uses a picture of the writer 'on location'. If so - make sure you ask a passer-by to take your photo of you 'on location'!

When You Are There:

Keep a diary. Don't write down the information that you have in the guidebook, write down your personal experiences, what you see, feel, taste, smell and hear.
Whilst out and about, don't write copious notes - write enough to help jog your memory for when it's time to write up your notes at the end of the day. (Solange gave us an example: Monk + Crash Helmet and from that she recounted an interested anecdote! But those three words were enough to trigger the memories.)
Make a note of a dominant colour. Lanzerote is white because of the houses. Wales is green, because of the hills. (Actually, I think its green because of the rain, but still.)
Talk to people. At first, Solange thought the food in one place was very cheap, but it wasn't until she began talking to people at the adjacent table that she learned the alcoholic drinks were immensely expensive. What she was going to call a good place out for a cheap meal, suddenly became a venue that needed to be selected with care.
Make a note of email addresses and contact details of anyone official at any organisation or attraction you visit. It's useful to have this back-up to drop someone an email to check out a fact.
Collect everything you can - leaflets, postcards, business cards.
If you have a tape recorder, don't just use it for interviews - use it to record any sounds - it helps with atmosphere. Record a few minutes of the bells peeling in a local church, or the sound of a busy market place.
Look up! We spend too much time looking around places, but we often forget to look up. You just don't know what you could be missing out on!

Good luck.

If You're Going To Read Someone's Diary ...

2011-08-08T09:30:00.070+01:00

... I would recommend this one.

In September 2009, Rachel Johnson took over as the editor of The Lady, the oldest women's weekly magazine in the world, and was charged with turning the magazine around and increasing its circulation.

This diary is an account of her first twelve months and is absolutely hilarious. It's not an insight into what happens in a typical magazine, but for those interested in writing for magazines, it certainly shows how frenetic putting together a magazine can be.

I should offer a word of warning ... to those who may have sent in articles to The Lady during Rachel's first year of office. Occasionally, she starts her daily diary by listing the post that has come in, which includes detailing the outlines of some of the articles and proposals that freelance writers have submitted. Don't panic, she doesn't name names, but if you sent in something you might recognise it ... and not like Rachel's comments. (But then, shame on you for not doing your market analysis properly!)

Not only is it revealing about the sort of material that writers send to editors, but the lengths an editor goes to get the front cover image they're looking for is interesting. I was a bit surprised to read about Rachel going into her nearest Tescos store and comparing how the front cover of The Lady looked on the shelf, with the covers of Take a Break, Chat and the "juggernaut" that is The People's Friend. (I must admit, I've never thought of The People's Friend as a juggernaut!).

Anyway, if you want to know how Rachel got on during her first year as editor (a role she hadn't done since her University student days) then this is a great read.

For more information, click here.

Good luck!

Single Copy Purchases

2011-08-01T09:30:00.054+01:00

When it comes to analysing potential magazines, getting hold of a physical copy isn't always easy, especially if the title is not carried in your local newsagents. (County magazines are a great example of this - living in Shropshire, my local newsagents does not carry copies of Cumbria magazine, but that doesn't stop me writing for it!)

Traditionally, the only ways to get hold of a single copy were to find a large newsagents that did carry the title you were looking for, or to contact the magazine to see if you could purchase one issue, or even, if you were lucky, blag one for free from the editor.

But times are a-changing. One the UK's largest regional publishers, Archant, (who also publish several national titles too) have just launched a website called www.buyamag.co.uk, which does exactly what it says; it allows you to buy A magazine. Yes, you can take out a subscription, but you can also buy a SINGLE issue.

In fact, simply browsing this site may spark off potential ideas that may suit some of these titles, so it's worth a browse just for this!

Another potential (and money-saving) source of single issues is the Zinio website - www.zinio.com. Anyone with an Apple iPad, or other tablet device, may already be familiar with this service that allows you to buy electronic version of magazines - either an annual subscription, or simply a one-issue purchase, which is then downloaded to your gadget. If you don't have an iPad, or similar gadget, don't dismiss this service - it's possible to download Zinio's application on your Windows, Apple or Linux computer, enabling you to purchase single issues to read and analyse on screen.

My father, who has an iPad (and he's working very hard at convincing me to buy one!), says that what he likes about it is that prices are often cheaper. Some publications that may cost £3.95, or £4.25 for a physical copy from the newsagents can be purchased for as little as £1.79. (Zinio also has the advantage of being able to offer magazines from different countries including the USA and Russia!)

So, if you find it difficult to obtain single copies of specific magazines then consider looking at both of these websites. They may just provide you with the solution you are looking for.

Good luck.

Pitch Perfect

2011-07-25T09:30:00.059+01:00

After last week's successful pitch (albeit one reached via a rather circuitous route!) I thought this week, I'd briefly mention about another pitching success.

I was reading a magazine and had reached the Letters Page, where one reader's correspondence jumped out. It was moaning about a difficulty they were having and the letter ended with a question: did other readers have a similar problem?

I was about to construct a letter in response, but as I began outlining the points I wanted to make, I realised that there was an article here. Hmmm. Perhaps it was worth pitching it to the editor?

And so that's how I began my pitch. I mentioned the letter in question and said, here are the solutions I can offer to this reader's question, whereupon I then bullet-pointed my ideas. Within ten minutes, the editor had replied, with a Yes please! (I wish all pitches worked that way.)

By telling the editor that I was offering an article that would answer a reader's question, it shows that I read the magazine.
Using the letter as the inspiration for an idea, I knew that it was a topic that was of interest to the readership.
And by commissioning the article, the editor can show that he is listening to his readers and providing articles and information that he knows they are keen to learn.

Next time you read a letter in a magazine's letters page, consider replying with another letter, but check first whether you could get an article out of it. Instead of writing a letter to the letters page, you may be better off writing a query letter to the editor.

Good luck!

Pitch Imperfect

2011-07-18T09:30:00.174+01:00

(This is one of my longest posts, but I hope you find it worth it!)

Last week, I secured a commission from an American magazine (yippee!) for an article about some of the quieter lakes in the UK's Lake District. The editor made me work for it (quite rightly too), but I thought I would explore this process in this posting, because there are some students who may have been frightened off by the editor's first response. But hopefully, this post will illustrate that when an editor doesn't say, "Yes," they are not always saying, "No," either. Here's my pitch:

Lakeland's Lesser-Known Lakes
When people think of the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, UK, many think of the large bodies of water, such as Windermere, Derwent Water and Coniston Water with huge boats ploughing thousands of tourists up and down them all day long. However, there are hundreds of lakes, tarns and ponds in Lakeland, and this feature will explore ten of the lesser-known, but just as majestic, waters of:

Loweswater
Esthwaite Water
Loughrigg Tarn
Buttermere
Levers Water
Stickle tarn
Beacon Tarn
Crummock Water
Loughrigg Tarn
Moss Eccles Tarn

These lesser-known waters are just as interesting. For example, Crummock Water is fed by the tallest waterfall in the Lake District - Scale Force; Esthwaite Water is the most nutrient-rich body of water in Cumbria and the one that William Wordsworth rambled around and paddled in as a small boy; whilst Moss Eccles Tarn was owned by the writer, Beatrice Potter, who considered it an inspiration of many of her stories.

I envisage such a piece would be about 1200-words in length, with about 150-word introduction explaining the different names for a Lakeland lake or pond, followed by a brief summary of 100 words exploring each body of water, ending with a 50-word summary.

I can provide several hi-res digital images to illustrate the piece.

If you feel this idea may work better with different word length, I would be happy to accommodate this. I have attached a couple of lo-res images to demonstrate the kind of images I have available for these features.

Yours sincerely

Simon Whaley

Here's the response I received:

Hello Simon,

Thank you for your query. Those are nice looking images.

This sounds promising. That’s an interesting angle, if there’s enough to say. Several of these, such as Buttermere, are very well known, but I’ve not heard of some and I’ve been to the Lakes many times. Are all of these places accessible without being a hill-walker? I like treating the idea in gazette format. Assuming 1,200 words, is 10 the right number, or is it arbitrary? What do you actually have for images?

It’s a start.

Now, this wasn't a "Yes" but, it wasn't a "No" either. The editor's last comment, "It's a start," is a clear signal that he expected me to go away and think about the idea further.

I have seen replies along this theme that some of my students have received from editors and it surprises me how often, many of them think that the editor didn't quite like their idea enough to commission, so they think they should give up. NO! How many times do you hear writers moaning that they never receive a response to their pitches? Frequently! So, if an editor actually replies, then take note!

This is also an example of me not thinking about my pitch enough. (Yes, even I get it wrong sometimes!) I hadn't quite angled this correctly for the editor's readership. It was more of an idea of something that I wanted to write about, rather than what his readers would be interested in. So, what is the editor saying here?

He likes the idea. That's good news!
He likes the basic angle - lesser-known lakes.
He knows the area too - but he is not a hill-walker, like the majority of his readership. My pitch had failed to recognise this, and some of my suggestions would require a bit of a hike to see them.
Why had I chosen ten lakes?

I didn't reply to the editor for 24 hours, but spent the time, instead, focusing on his points. Here is my revised pitch:

Yes, thinking about it, I was suggesting ten, purely as a nice round number. Some of the tarns mentioned would require some hill-walking, so reflecting upon this, would the following seven sedately waters be more appropriate - all of which are accessible by car, one requiring a short level walk of about two-thirds of a mile, and none of which have tourist pleasure boats ploughing from one end to the other!

Loweswater - with its western tip lying less than 500 metres from the Lake District National Park boundary, this is, in my opinion, the most beautiful of the Lake District's lakes. Offering mirror-like reflections of majestic mountains on calm days, it's southern shore is flanked by ancient woodland, still home to the Red Squirrel. Hire a rowing boat from the National Trust but don't disturb the locals, one of which is Hunter Davies, biographer for many a celebrity, including the footballer Wayne Rooney, the official biographer of The Beatles, and Lakeland Legend, Alfred Wainwright.

Esthwaite Water - sandwiched between the Lake District's most popular lakes, Windermere and Coniston Water, this lake is often overlooked. Yet it is full of character and history. The most nutrient-rich lake in the Lake District, it is popular with all those interested in fishing (including the occasional passing Osprey) and was frequently paddled in by the young William Wordsworth, who went to school in nearby Hawkshead, and mentions it in his poem, The Prelude.

Crummock Water - fed by the highest waterfall in the Lake District, Scale Force, it is also acknowledged as the source of the River Cocker, which flows through Cockermouth (the town devastated by the flooding in 2009). It is believed that at one point Crummock Water was joined to Buttermere as one great lake.

Buttermere - This is the lake from which many hikers set out to climb Haystacks - Alfred Wainwrights favourite fell, the summit of which holds Inominate Tarn, where his ashes were scattered. The small village at its western edge, was the source of a scandal in the early 19th century, when Mary Robinson, the Maid of Buttermere, reputedly the most beautiful woman in the area, married a bigamist impostor, John Hatfield, which only came to light when the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wrote about the wedding in a London paper. Avoided by coaches because access to Buttermere and Crummock Water means negotiating Honister Pass, Buttermere offers an opportunity for a level walk around its edge in stunning scenery.

Moss Eccles Tarn - a short walk of about two-thirds of a mile up a gently rising track, starting from Beatrix Potter's House in Near Sawrey, brings you to Moss Eccles Tarn, on Claife Heights. Away from the crowds, this is where Beatrix Potter went rowing, and in the summer months it is full of lillies, which inspired Potter's story of Jeremy Fisher - the gentleman frog. Beatrix bought the tarn in 1913, the same year she got married.

Tarn Hows - Accessible via a single track road, which thankfully, the National trust have now made one way, Tarn Hows is evidence that man is capable of creating beauty, for these tarns, high in the hills between Hawkshead and Coniston, are man-made. Created by the MP for Leeds, they were later bought by Beatrix Potter, and offer great views of many of the Lake District's fells and mountains. A two-mile level path encircles the tarns, which freeze solid during the coldest of winters.

Brothers Water - Found alongside the Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale road, Brother's Water is in a bit of a quandry - it is either the Lake District's smallest lake, or it is its largest tarn. A level footpath from the nearby car park, offers visitors an opportunity to wander along its shores and through some of the oldest oak woodlands to be found in the Lake District. According to Dorothy Wordsworth's diaries, she wandered along this very path, the day after coming across those famous daffodils, which her brother, William wrote about. This was once called Broad Water, but was renamed when two brothers drown in it, in the 19th century.

Whereas many visitors to the Lake District head for the lakes with boats to ferry them from one end to the other, such as Windermere, Coniston, Ulswater and Derwent Water, this feature will focus on the lesser known lakes and tarns, reveal their physical qualities, and historical links, whilst also suggesting how best to explore them on foot.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Simon

So, my response to the editor's email was to cut the number of lakes from ten, down to seven, and I also went into a lot more detail about why I had chosen those seven particular lakes. And here is the editor's reply:

Hello Simon,

Good show. You’ve done the homework and taken the time to give me a good preview. Yes, let’s do this.

Yes, writers tend to gravitate to the “nice, round number,” but it’s not necessary. I think your seven waters work nicely – and it gives you a few more words per water or for contextual introduction.

We do work quite a bit in advance. I can put this on the edit calendar for the July issue, so you’ve got some time. That issue goes into production late winter; we’re in edit production now on the November issue.

Your pictures are gorgeous as well. You present these as examples, implying there are others. If, in fact, we can illustrate this story completely from your pics, we might do a contract for the text/pic package. If that sounds reasonable, then do send along low res images of whatever else we might like to see. Otherwise, I’m happy to do a contract for the text and we can work on the pics when the time comes.

Happy weekend.
See? The editor likes the fact that I took on board his comments and I adjusted my idea so that it meets his requirements better. Note his comments too about the 'nice, round number'. Editors love numbers, but here's proof that we don't have to go with the obvious ones all of the time.

So, there you go. An example of how a pitch can be won. Of course, if you can get it right first time, that's much better!

Good luck!

End of the World

2011-07-11T09:30:00.071+01:00

They say that a week is a long time in politics, but in newspapers, last week will certainly go down in history as one of the most dramatic, for one particular UK tabloid newspaper.

What might this have to do with us 'ordinary' writers (apart from the obvious fact that phone hacking is illegal)? Well, last week wasn't just about the News of the World. It was the week the last space shuttle took off from Florida. And last week was also the world premiere of the last Harry Potter film. Last week, it seems, was a week of many 'lasts'.

What last week also demonstrated is that there is a need for the media to carry out 'obituaries' for all of these various things whose lives were coming to an end. So, when the news broke that the issue of the News of the World published on 10th July 2011 would be last one in its 168-year history, the media then produced a summary (or obituary) of the News of the World's highlights over that past 168 years.

The reports of the last Harry Potter premiere looked back over the previous premieres, including the first premiere, when a young Daniel Radcliffe in the first Harry Potter movie looked as though he was barely out of nappies! Nor did he look old enough to be wearing glasses!

And reviews of the space shuttle programme included a look back at the very first shuttle launch, as well as some of the tragic expeditions.

So, when you hear of a batteship being retired, or a popular service coming to an end, think of it as a potential idea for a market. Might a publication be interested in an account summarising it's life, looking back over its achievements and/or failures? Sometimes, such decisions are announced well in advance (such as the final space shuttle mission), giving writers plenty of time to carry out the research and approach suitable markets.

As the saying goes, when one door closes, another door opens.

Good luck.

Short Story Workshop - 30th July - Northampton

2011-07-06T15:24:00.000+01:00

Helen Hunt is running a one-day workshop on short stories, on 30th July from 10.30am until 4pm, in Northampton. Places cost just £30 and includes lunch and one critique of a short story (if it is emailed to her in advance).

Helen's short stories have appeared in Take a Break's Fiction Feast, Woman's Weekly, The People's Friend, My Weekly, The Weekly News and Australia's That's Life Fast Fiction ... so she definitely knows what she is talking about!

For full details visit: http://fictionisstrangerthanfact.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-short-story-workshops.html

Simple Pleasures

2011-07-04T09:30:00.054+01:00

On Saturday morning, whilst lying in bed with the sun pouring through the half-opened curtains, I finished reading Simple Pleasures: Little Things That Make Life Worth Living. It was published on behalf of the National Trust and comprises short essays, many no more than 500 words, on what many may think are subjects not worth writing about.

Glancing down the Contents Page you might wonder what there is to write about being in the middle of nowhere, grooming the dog, running in the rain, or even the simple action of 'looking up'. But as your eyes travel along the lines on each page, it becomes clear that these well-known writers are jotting down the experience they enjoy when partaking in these activities.

A student emailed me last week, in quite a fluster, claiming that she felt a fraud because she hadn't written anything for months. Now, she was finding it difficult to write anything. "I have nothing to write about!" she exclaimed.

There is always something to write about - even if it is the frustration of not having written anything for months! But, perhaps, when we struggle to find something to write about, we struggle because we think we ought to write about something profound.

If you find yourself sitting down at your desk at your usual time of day for writing, and the words won't flow, then take ten minutes out. Think about something simple that has given you some pleasure today and write about that. It needn't be much - 200 words - if that - but enough for you to explore the thought and describe the experience that this simple pleasure has given you.

Simple Pleasures (ISBN: 9781847946416) includes:

A Nice Hot Bath by Prue Leith
A Good Log Fire by Ann Widdecombe
Collecting the Eggs by Jonathan Dimbleby
Looking Up by Lucinda Lambton
Bread and Cheese by AC Grayling
In Combe by Robert McCrum

I hope these examples illustrate the point ... the pleasure really does need to be something simple. And when you write about it, explain the experience that YOU gained from indulging in this simple pleasure.

Sometimes, the frustration of not knowing what to write about can overwhelm you. Which is ironic really, we get so much pleasure from the simple action of picking up a pen and notepad.

So, don't think too hard. Just think of a simple pleasure and write about the experience it gave you.

Good luck.

Whoops!

2011-06-27T09:30:00.048+01:00

Here's evidence that magazines get it wrong from time to time. In the latest issue of MacWorld magazine, a reader has written in to the Letters page pointing out the fact that last month's (July issue) Star letter seemed a little familiar. When the writer investigated, his sense of deja vu was not without grounding - the letter had been published the previous month - in the June issue of the same magazine!

The writer went on to ask why the letter was not the Star letter in June, but was deemed suitable as a Star Letter in the July issue!

Well, the magazine owned up to a mistake and printed an explanation (sort of) - apparently a new member of staff had taken over and so was not aware of what had been printed on the Letters page the previous month. Hmmm. Not sure I think that explains everything. After all, I'm sure there would have been a spare copy of the previous issue lying around the office somewhere!

Anyway, there are two points I want to make here - firstly, it just proves that magazine staff are human too, and they can make mistakes. And secondly, it also proves that you can get published by pointing out these errors! (The magazine could simply have ignored the writer who wrote in to point out this error, but they didn't - they published his letter.)

So, if you spot something in a magazine that doesn't look quite right ... then write in and let them know.

Good luck.

There's No Such Thing As Standing Still ...

2011-06-20T09:30:00.079+01:00

Fellow writer and friend, Julie Phillips, has started a Facebook page on the theme of 'Bring Back Fiction to Women's Magazines'. This is as a direct result of the weekly Take a Break magazine dropping its Coffee Break fiction slot. (It is continuing to publish its Fiction Feast monthly magazine though.)

This is a shame, because I have sold a couple of fiction stories to the weekly magazine, and this paid more for the story in its Coffee Break fiction slot, than it does for stories it uses in its Fiction Feast publication!

If you'd like to join Julie's Bring Back Fiction to Women's Magazines campaign, then please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_217894074910266 (you will need to login to Facebook to see this).

I mention this for two reasons - firstly, to publicise Julie's Facebook page. Secondly, this is a good example of demonstrating that magazines don't stand still. They change over time. They evolve. Every so often, a new editor will be brought in and they will revamp the magazine, give it a new style, drop some regular slots and bring in new columns and writers. Other magazines that have undergone such changes recently are MacUser magazine and Esquire.

Following on from last week's post, where I recommended that you actually scrutinise a physical copy of a magazine, this week's message is that once you've done this, that isn't the end of the matter. If it has been a while since you last looked at a particular title, then take a look at the latest copy. Not only may you spot a change in the contact details, but the magazine may have changed quite drastically too.

Occasionally, when magazines want to increase their circulation, or appeal to a slightly different audience, they will undergo a radical change. One such magazine is My Weekly. Six years ago, the average age of its readership was 62. In 2006, its owners, DC Thompson, spent £1 million revamping the magazine, targeting it at a younger readership, aged mid-40s and upwards. It ditched a lot of its 'comfy' features, such as nostalgia, and children's stories, and began offering articles on health, travel and, of course, celebrities!

So the message here this week is, magazines don't stand still and rest on their laurels. It's a tough market place out there for advertising. To get the advertising revenues in, a magazine has to attract a regular readership. Every now and then, it might change or update the magazine in an attempt to keep its existing readership, whilst trying to appeal to new readers too. If you haven't looked at a specific magazine for more than 12 months, it might be worth picking up the latest issue. You may be surprised by what you see.

Good luck.

Let's Get Physical!

2011-06-13T09:30:00.073+01:00

I've noticed a trend amongst some of my students, recently. Their market analysis hasn't been as detailed as it could be. Now, I know that some people are just so keen to get started on writing up their great idea that they think this is an easy bit to skip, but there's more to it than that. They are using the internet as their ONLY source of analysis, and when you are starting out, that isn't sufficient. You can learn much more by looking at a physical copy of the publication.

Whilst many magazines have an online presence, the amount of information they have on their website varies. Some magazines upload a virtual copy of the entire contents, adverts and all. Those are great - just like looking at the physical copy. However, some merely offer an abridged version, with shortened articles, and this is what is causing the problems. One student had read example articles at 500 words, but when I looked at a physical copy of the magazine, I realised that these were abridged versions and the print copy articles were nearer 1,000 words. So, clearly, if you've written a 500-word article and the editor uses soemthing that is twice a long, then your piece simply doesn't fit. It will be rejected.

Seeing a physical copy also has other benefits. I think it is easier to gain a better overview of the publication's style and ethos, simply by the way that other objects, like photos, sidebars, further information panels, boxouts, etc are dealt with on the physical page. This isn't necessarily the same as on a webpage. A computer magazine that I read has a laid-back, humorous approach to articles and information, yet if you were to read the same material online, the friendly, chatty style does not come across as well - not because different words are used (the words are the same) but the website uses a blogging format, which means there isn't the creative freedom to design the webpage in the same humorous way as they do on the physical page.

Also, some magazines only share the information online that they think will bring in the most online advertising. So, an online copy of a magazine may not show the letters page, whereas the print version will.

The Internet is immensley useful, but it doesn't always give you the whole picture. Sometimes, the best way to get to know a publication is to look at a physical copy. That isn't always easy, but it's an important point to note. It hasn't been lost on me, the fact that the foreign publications I've had successes with are the ones where I've been able to obtain a physical copy of the publication, rather than rely on the Internet version.

And just before I go, a small plug ... I've been invited to run a weekend course on behalf of the Relax & Write workshops, in Derbyshire in April 2012, where I'll be offering my Seven Steps to Publication Success. A breakdown of the weekend's course, (and who to contact with regards to booking - not me!) can be found on my website here:
http://www.simonwhaley.co.uk/tutoringtalks/relax-and-write-courses/

Essentially, we'll look at quick ways to get published, how to analyse magazines, identify the best slots in magazines that are open to freelance writers, the different ways to structure an article and how to deal with boxouts, fact files and photos.

Good luck.

Think Like A Writer ... Not A Reader

2011-06-06T09:30:00.060+01:00

"None of the magazines I like use freelance writers," is a common moan I hear from students. "Women's magazines just don't interest me," is another I hear from some of my male students.

One thing these comments have in common, is that these potential writers are going into their local newsagents, gazing at the magazines on the shelves in front of them and thinking like a READER.

NO. NO. NO. NO! If you want to be a writer, then you have to look at magazines as a WRITER. Don't buy a magazine because you think it looks like one that you'll enjoy reading - buy it to see if you might be able to write something for it.

This means going out of your way to buy a magazine you wouldn't normally buy. Buy titles you've never looked at before. Buy titles you've never heard of before. Buy titles you can't even pronounce! (The picture in this posting, being one such publication.)

I am no gardener, but I have had articles published in gardening magazines. I haven't built my own house, but I had an article published in SelfBuild & Design magazine. I don't live in Cumbria, but I've had several articles published in the county magazine, Cumbria.

Every publication you see is a potential market. Remember, every word you read has been written by somebody, so take a closer look. Why shouldn't that somebody be you? For the men, that means buying the women's magazines ... and yes, they do use articles written by men, because I've done it. And for the women, that means buying men's magazines, like Men's Health or What Car? ... and yes ... I've seen articles written by women in both of these.

Don't let your prejudices as a reader, influence your thinking as a writer. I often say to students that writing for the magazines they enjoy reading can be a good thing to start off with, because as a regular reader, you already know what the magazine is about and the type of articles they like to use. (As a reader, you'll have been subconsciously doing the market analysis bit, as you've read the publication for your personal enjoyment.) However, the publications you read are simply the very pinprick at the tip of that iceberg of publications.

Next time you see a magazine you've never seen before, take a closer look. If you've never looked at it before, how do you know that you won't be able to write something for it?

Good luck.

Notebook Jottings

2011-05-30T09:30:00.080+01:00

You do have a notebook don't you? EVERY writer should have a notebook with them at ALL times, in order to capture that important idea, before it disappears into the black hole that also resides in our brain.

But, do you use your notebook properly?

For a writer, a notebook is an ideas album and a memory log. If you write down everything that comes to mind, you are creating a physical representation of all of your thoughts and ideas. Jot down everything:

Ideas
General thoughts
Things to do
Dreams or goals that you aspire to
Your experiences

Don't worry about how you might be able to use this information. Your notebook is simply the collection tool. Once you've written it down it is there to refer to at some point in the future. Possibly later on today, but then, maybe not for many years to come.

Writing regularly in a notebook helps a writer to develop their own style and voice. It's the regularity that improves a writer's communication skill. Even the action of writing something down can make it more real. Jot down your dream and it's there for you to see on paper. It's the memory-jogger, that just might spur you on to take some action to achieve it.

Of course, it's important to take time to read through your notebooks. Remind yourself of your thoughts and ideas. This action can spark off more ideas in itself. The other day I was looking through one of my old notebooks, and as I flicked through the pages, I came across three, separate, short phrases, each of which went on to become titles of books I have had published. It's exciting seeing an idea you had many years ago and then realising that because you jotted it down in your notebook, it grew to become something exciting!

So, what can a writer do to make the most of their notebooks?

Date your entries. I use one page per idea / thought / comment. I put the date in the top left hand corner. In the middle of the page, at the top, in capitals, I put an encapsulating word or phrase, followed by a brief description - ARTICLE IDEA - Time Management, SHORT STORY - Fridge Thief. This helps me when I'm looking through my notebooks. Sometimes, if I am looking for something in particular, I may remember roughly when I made the comment, so the date helps narrow the search. Or, I may remember it was an article idea, so I simply flick through for my ARTICLE IDEA headings.
Write in it regularly. Jot down ideas as they occur (so small notebooks you can carry around with you at all times are useful here). However, it's also useful to sit down for five or ten minutes at the end of the day and make a note of your thoughts about what has happened today, or any comments about things that have happened today.
Don't give yourself any rules about what can and can't be written in your notebook. It's your notebook, you can write ANYTHING in it!
Be truthful. Write down your innermost thoughts. Get down on paper what you are really thinking. You may encapsulate a feeling or emotion that you can use in a short story or novel at a later date.
Remember your senses - especially when you're away from home. Write down sights, smells, tastes, sounds and things that you've touched.

A notebook is just as important a tool for a writer as a keyboard. The more you use it, the more effective it will be.

Good luck!

Every Action Has An Equal And Opposite Reaction

2011-05-23T09:30:00.069+01:00

When a chef puts a frying pan onto a burning gas stove, it gets hot. When a chef puts some ingredients together, a culinary dish is created. When a chef drops and egg, he makes a mess on the floor!

The old laws of science still apply - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I was thinking about this the other day when a student commented that she wanted to get to the stage in her writing career where she could switch on her computer one morning and find an email from an editor offering her a commission.

I too like days like that! They do happen - but as Newton's law says, in order to get that reaction, first you need to undertake some action yourself. In order for an editor to email you with a commission, you need to tell the editor that you exist and offer him, or her, an idea that they can't resist.

Next month, an article I was commissioned to write will appear in an American magazine. It took two years to get that commission. First of all, I obtained a couple of sample issues of the magazine so that I could study it. Then I emailed the editor with three ideas. They were rejected. So, I emailed three more article ideas. They too were rejected. So, I emailed another three ideas, two of which were rejected, but one was accepted.

In order to get that 'reaction' of a commission - I had to take some action myself. In fact, I had to take quite a lot of action, in order to get the reaction that I wanted. (My first action - three ideas - were rejected, so the rejection was a reaction - just not the reaction I was looking for!)

It may seem obvious to some people, but as with so much in life, if you want something to happen, it is down to you to do make it happen. That is so true of writers. If you want to have a novel published, you have to write one first. If you want an editor to commission you, you have to pitch them first.

There is a saying in the world of fiction that Drama never comes knocking on your character's door - your character has to knock on Drama's door. In other words - your character needs to take some kind of action, that will generate the drama to unfold.

Next time you want something to happen in your writing life, think first about what sort of action you need to take to make it happen. Then do it!

Good luck.

Make the Middle your Beginning

2011-05-16T09:30:00.071+01:00

Your beginning is not always the beginning. Sometimes your middle is the real beginning. Let me explain.

On Friday I marked a few assignments, a couple of which were improved by cutting the beginning. This is a common problem for both non-fiction and fiction writers, I've found. Even if you sit down and outline your article or short story and are happy that your beginning, middle and end are correct, when it comes to the actual writing process, beginning the beginning isn't always easy. And in my opinion, those writers who don't plan or outline their writing suffer from weaker openings even more.

Sometimes when we write, even if we have planned that opening, it takes us a while to sort out our opening sentence. Until the process of writing has actually begun, it isn't always easy for our brains to be clear about what it is we actually want to say. So, we begin writing something and after ten or fifteen minutes, suddenly the fog inside our brains lifts, and the focus becomes apparent - we know exactly what we want to say and how we want to say it. That's when the words begin to flow.

Writers who are starting out are then pleased when they have reached the end. That's it. Their article or short story is written. But as the maxim goes, although writing is hard, it is the rewriting that makes a piece. Editing is important. When you've finished your piece, put it aside for a while and when you come back to it, try the following:

Read your text through once, without making any amendments, or correcting any spelling/typing mistakes.
Read your text through again, but this time, start at paragraph three.
Read your text through again, this time starting at paragraph four.

This technique can be quite enlightening. What you might think is a paragraph approaching the middle of your article, may well provide a much stronger beginning. And if you read through your text starting at your new beginning of paragraph three, or four, often it is surprising how little information is lost (if any) simply by deleting the first two or three paragraphs. Often your new opening paragraph grabs the reader's attention much more effectively.

Next time you write something, try this technique. Deleting the first two or three paragraphs can lead to a dramatic improvement to your overall piece.

Good luck.

What Does Your Newsagents Say About Your Neighbourhood?

2011-05-09T09:30:00.085+01:00

Have you stopped to look at the magazines on your local newsagent's shelf? And when I say look, I mean really look.

I raise the question, because last week, a friend and I were in a large branch of WHSmiths, in one of my local towns, and we were browsing the shelves, as any writer does. And what we found ourselves doing was moaning, yet again, because for some inexplicable reason the Annoyance Fairy had paid a visit again by re-arranging the entire magazine department. Where the Women's Magazines once stood, was now Gardening, the History section was now Computer Games, whilst Travel had got up an left only to be replaced with Guns and Shooting.

However, it transpires that the Annoyance Fairy had done us a favour. Before, we would simply browse the shelves where our preferred markets could be found, but now, we had to take our time and really look at the magazines. And it was quite revealing.

Take a closer look at the photo in this posting. You'll see that there is a selection of magazines arranged on the shelf here, but look at the label at the bottom of the shelf. What's the subject matter of these magazines? Can you see? Yes, that's it. Take a closer a look. Yes! Your eyes are not deceiving you! It says 'Tattoo'. My local WHSmiths has an entire section devoted entirely to Tattoo magazines! We counted 13 titles with the word Tattoo, or Skin, in the title and there were also a couple of other Tattoo-associated titles there too.

Now this is not a market I had ever considered before ... mainly because my body is tattoo-free, but clearly in this local town there is a huge readership who are interested in this subject. (In fact, as we walked around the rest of the shops we began playing a game - spot the Tattoo magazine reader!)

I came away with several new magazines I hadn't seen before, including one tattoo periodical, purely because on this occasion I had stopped to take my time to actually look at the titles on ALL of the shelves. And when I come across a new magazine, immediately the ideas begin flowing. Especially for the tattoo publication.

Perhaps I need a tattoo first, so that I know what I'm talking about. What do you think I should go for? A huge eagle on my back? A Celtic Knot on my calf? Or a snake wrapping itself around my arm?

In the meantime, nip into your local newsagents and take a good look on the shelves (top and bottom). What do your newsagent's shelves say about your home town? And could you write anything to entertain them?

Good luck!

Getting Your Facts Right

2011-05-02T22:10:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Newspapers occasionally get things wrong. Usually it's somebody's age (Simon Whaley, 82,) and when this mistake is made it's usually offensive (older), rather than flattering (younger).

But, recently, Australia's Weekend Courier-Mail got more than someone's age wrong.

100 Stories for Queensland is a charity anthology, proceeds of which will go to the Queensland Premier's Flood Appeal. To generate some publicity for the upcoming publication, the organisers interested the Weekend Courier-Mail in an interview, which was published last weekend. What was printed though, was not what the organisers were expecting.

Click on this link here, to see some highlights of what was printed, followed by Jodi Cleghorn's clarifications. It's quite shocking how wrong they got it! And I would encourage you to read it - not only to see the horrendous errors made, but also to get a clear idea about what the anthology is about and trying to achieve.

The good news is that the eBook version is available now for download. Click here for details. It contains 100, uplifting or humorous stories, (including one of mine!) and will also be available as a Print on Demand book in the next few days.

If only the Weekend Courier-Mail put as much editorial effort into their text, as Jodi and her editorial team did with this anthology!

Good luck!

The Simple Things in Life

2011-04-25T22:43:00.000+01:00

It is often the simple things in life that give the most pleasure. (Admittedly, the picture of a plastic jug may be confusing you at the moment! Let me paint a picture.)

Unusually, for a British Bank Holiday, the weather has been amazing - blue skies, sunshine and a gentle breeze. For part of the weekend, I've been on Uncle duties. Now, I could have entertained my nephew by taking him to a theme park, or a tourist attraction. But instead, we placed a large plastic box on the patio, filled it with water and then threw in some plastic bottles, jugs and a few balls too. Oh ... and then I found the water pistol!

For several hours, a water fight ensued and we were all soaked through. Despite it being only water, having someone chase you with a large jug of water is guaranteed to have you screaming and laughing around the garden, whether you're two-and-three-quarters, or 40 something. And a thoroughly drenched Uncle appears to be a very funny sight to a young nephew!

So, what has this to do with writing? Well, over the weekend, a student was explaining about the difficulty she was having with her writing. It had been several months since she'd been able to write anything and, whilst she had a few ideas that she wanted to develop for some magazines, whenever she sat down to produce an outline for them, she found herself getting stuck.

If it's been a while since you've done any writing, instead of working on what you think you should be writing, do some completely different writing. Write for pleasure - go back to the simple basics. Don't sit at your desk trying to come up with an outline for a magazine article, or a short story. Take yourself off somewhere nice - with a nice pen and notebook, or a laptop computer. Go to your favourite cafe, or pub. Don't buy a coffee, buy a Iced Caffè Mocha, or whatever else you fancy. Treat yourself! Then make yourself comfortable, and people watch. And jot down what you see.

Don't worry about what you're writing - just write. Enjoy the pleasure of simply tapping away on a laptop, or running a pen along the lines of your notebook. Remember what it is like to simply write. Remember what it is like to write simply. Don't edit. Don't analyse. Just write. Take pleasure from watching the words appear before you as you describe your surroundings. Whether it's watching your fingers press those keys, or enjoying the feel of the nib rolling against the paper, enjoy the action of writing. There's no official market for these words. No one else will read these words, except you. You are simply writing for you.

Rekindle the enjoyment of the simple things in life.

Good luck.

Meet The Editor of Psychologies Mag - Wednesday 20th April 2011

2011-04-18T14:53:00.000+01:00

This has just been brought to my attention - apologies for the short notice - but if anyone is in London (Covent Garden) on Wednesday 20th April (6pm to 8pm), there's an opportunity to meet Louise Chunn, editor of Psychologies magazine. And because the deadline is fast approaching, ticket prices have dropped to £10.

Click on the picture to see a larger version with more details. If you'd like to book a place, or require further details, then email: Stephanie Barker at stephanie@maggiesemple.com

I know Psychologies is a popular magazine with students and readers, so if you're in the area, it could be a useful £10 spent!

Good luck!

The Writers' News Q&A Panel

2011-04-18T09:30:00.082+01:00

At the York Festival of Writing there was a Writers' News Q&A panel comprising:

Donna Cornden - editor at Piatkus
Beverley Birch - Commissioning Editor at Hodder Children's Books
Hannah Westwood - Agent at Rogers, Coleridge and White
Piers Blofeld - Agent at Sheil Land
Jonathan Telfer - Editor at Writers' News and Writing Magazine.

Here's a summary of the snippets of information these wise people passed onto us.

For editors in publishing houses, many find pitching a new book that they really love, to the sales team, is like entering the Dragon's Den!
Some agents said they take on one new writer for every thousand manuscripts they read.
Some editors said that they take on one agent-submitted manuscript for every three to four-hundred agented submissions! (Combine these last two statistics together to ascertain the realities of getting a novel published!)
The editors felt that e-books could be the saviour of publishing. The fact that e-books are so easy to buy (for whichever device you choose to read it on) means that impulse purchases are more common with e-books.
The e-book market in the USA is about 12 months ahead of the market in the UK.
In America, more than half of all the books published are self-published, than trade published.
Authors have got to do more to market their books. Beverley Birch said that Hatchette has a small marketing department covering 4 imprints (2 fiction and 2 non-fiction). It's not a lot of staff to go around the many, many books that are published.
Authors should be encouraged to build links with book reviewers.
If an author is going to blog, try to have something to say, rather than merely regurgitating something from the book. Readers expect a blog to promote a book, but to add value to the book's content.
Producing an e-book is not as simple as saving your text to PDF format and uploading it. Publishers have found that each of the different e-book readers have different formatting structures, which means that the publisher has to produce a different e-book file for each different format of e-book reader (which means that page breaks and line breaks are in different places too - this causes complications for books containing tables or illustrations, for example.) Producing a PROFESSIONAL e-book takes time and money. Publishers are concerned that authors who upload their own texts into e-book format (such as Amazon's Kindle) and then price them very cheaply - at say less than £1, or even free - are devaluing the e-book market for ALL authors, including the professional ones.
Writers are encouraged to follow publishers on Twitter.

So, as you can see, there are some interesting points there. You may, or may not, agree with some, or all, of them, but it is a snapshot of the sorts of things publishers and agents are trying to get to grips with at the moment.

Good luck!

Agents ... And Their Secrets

2011-04-11T09:30:00.088+01:00

Continuing my feedback from the Festival of Writing at York, I thought I'd share some secrets that a couple of literary agents gave us during a packed Q&A discussion. On the panel were agents from the following agencies:

United Agents
Ampersand Agency
Greene & Heaton

Here's what they had to say:

Agents handle a variety of genres, they don't specialise. This may come as a shock to some of you, after all, we're often told that we should submit our historical novels to an agent who likes historical novels, rather than one who represents a lot of authors who write about romantic cosy crime. What the agents on the panel said was that they are generalists, not specialists. The important rule was to read their submission guidelines on their websites. If these state that they don't like historical novels, or children's fiction, then don't send it. However, just because they represent a lot of chick-lit, it doesn't mean to say that they wouldn't be interested in an historical novel. Which leads me onto my next point.
Agents don't know what they do want to see, but they know what they don't want to see. Get it? In other words, if an agent says they don't want to read children's fiction, then they don't want to read it! But, if you were to ask an agent what sort of novel they are currently looking for, they wouldn't be able to tell you because they won't know until they start reading it!
Despite the fact that many agents are generalists, they do like to see a cover letter that demonstrates some research has gone into an author's submission. When approaching an agent, name them in your cover letter. Don't submit your novel or non-fiction book to an 'agency' - send it to a specific person. Explain why you've picked them.
It's common practise for a potential author to submit 3 chapters and a synopsis of a novel to an agent. Most agents on the panel said that they read the chapters first and then, if they liked them, they then read the synopsis.
If you have a curriculum vitae of your writing achievements, include it. Agents said that they did find this useful. But don't think that agents are only interested in writers who've had something (articles, short stories, etc) published before. Agents are interested in anyone with a good novel or non-fiction book!
All agents agreed that at the moment, their pet hate is initials in names! They want to know the full name of whoever is sending their work to them. So, no more JK Rowling, VS Pritchett or PD James! Tell agents your Christian name!
More and more agents are accepting submissions by email now. Check their websites for guidance.
Agents expect potential authors to be tweeters and bloggers!
Don't say that your novel is in the style of [insert favourite author's name], instead, state which genre your novel is in, and then name some of your favourite authors.
An author won't know it, but when an agent begins reading a submission and they find themselves thinking, "Fred Bloggs at HarperCollins, might like this, Freda Bloggs at Transworld would definitely be interested in this, and Ivor Bigchequebook at Hodder likes this sort of thing," that's when an agent becomes interested. In other words, agents really know the editors at the publishers. Really know them. They know their likes and dislikes. So, when they read something, the more editor names that pop into their head who they think might like your text, the more excited the agent becomes.

Good luck.

PS - It's currently the London Book Fair, where agents and publishers are busy trading and negotiating deals. Agents are working (even) longer hours than usual, so if you have a submission with an agent at the moment DO NOT contact them to find out how things are going. They are not in the office. And when they get back into the office they'll have all of the paperwork to deal with from the work generated by the fair. In other words, avoid getting in touch with them until mid-May at the earliest!

Embrace Your Failures

2011-04-04T09:30:00.100+01:00

The opening speaker at the York Festival of Writing was David Nobbs, novelist and creator of the successful Reggie Perrin character. His speech was frank and honest. He spoke about his writing life and was upfront about his failures.

As writers we face failure on a regular basis. Perhaps we sit down to write an article, short story or novel scene, but for whatever reason, the writing doesn't flow. Perhaps we send off our writing, only to have it rejected. Perhaps we send off a series of email pitches and hear nothing back. If any profession has any experience of failure, it's writing!

But David Nobbs was quite clear - every writer needs failure. Without failures, we cannot appreciate success. Often, it is failure that spurs us onto our successes.

Before David Nobbs had the success he did with Reggie Perrin, he'd had a go at writing a situation comedy set in a lighthouse. He told us that he's analysed the popular situation comedy, Steptoe and Son, and realised that the characters were trapped by their circumstances. So, make a couple of characters as lighthouse keepers and keep them isolated on their own in a lighthouse and you have people that are quite literally trapped. It didn't work and a second series wasn't commissioned.

Nobbs explained how difficult this failure was to come to terms with. But it inspired him to write something else. And along came Reggie Perrin.

There are a couple of quotes I want to share with you. David said:

"Accept that you will write good stuff and that you will also write bad things."

"If a day's writing isn't working, then go and do something else - cricket, the pub - anything. BUT DON"T DO THIS TWO DAYS RUNNING!"

I think both statements are valid. Even the most famous of writers don't write perfect prose every time. In fact some of it may be pretty naff! But, of course, we only see the good stuff of their writing, whereas we see both the good and the bad that we write!

And on those occasions when the words won't flow, it seems pointless sitting there trying to force them out. Getting up and doing something completely different can help to stimulate the creative juices. Although, as David says, don't stay away from your writing for too long. Writers are supposed to write!

Often, when we write something and send it off, we have an idea of how it will succeed. An article will be accepted and published in a magazine, a short story will win a competition, a novel will be snapped up by a publisher. When what we envisage fails to happen, we perceive it as a failure. However, every piece of writing we produce helps us to develop and grow as a writer. Even if that piece did not succeed as we intended, it still helps us to progress along our journey of being a writer. Without tasting the bitterness of rejection, we don't appreciate the sweetness of success.

David Nobbs finished his talk with, "When you write, enjoy it, because at least one person has!" And next time a piece of writing fails to achieve the dreams you held for it, just remember that the writing has helped you to grow as a writer, and your next effort may just be the success that you dream of.

Good luck.

Residential Courses

2011-03-29T11:30:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to bring to your attention a couple of residential writing courses coming up at the Perpigne Activities Centre in the South of France, being run by some good friends and excellent tutors.

Lorraine Mace is a columnist for Writing Magazine, freelance writer, competition judge and creative writing tutor (at the Writers Bureau) and will be running a course entitled, Writing for Magazines. During the week - from September 24^th to October 1st - there’ll also be the opportunity to have a one-to-one tutorial to gain individual help and advice on all aspects of writing.

A few weeks earlier, July 26th to August 2nd, Iain Pattison, who has tutored for the Writers Bureau and is the author of Cracking the Short Story Market, will be running a course on - you've guessed it - writing short stories.

For further details of Lorraine's course visit:
http://www.perpigneholidays.co.uk/courses/creative-writing/writing-for-magazines/

whilst more details about Iain's course can be found here:
http://www.perpigneholidays.co.uk/courses/creative-writing/short-story-writing/

Festival Fallout

2011-03-28T09:30:00.179+01:00

I'm writing this post whilst I'm still awake (and scheduling it to appear at its usual time) because if I go to sleep now, without having written it, I'm not sure when I shall wake up. I've spent the last three days at the Festival of Writing in York and these events are informative, amazing opportunities, great fun and blooming knackering! You don't realise how far you walk at these events, between workshops, talks, lectures and meals! (I took over 10,000 footsteps on Saturday!)

I'll be reveal more about the advice given at these various workshops over the coming weeks, but I thought I'd offer you a taster here, now, whilst much of it is still fresh in my head. (It's going to take a while to go through all of my notes!)

In the picture on the left, on stage are Carole Blake, one of this country's most important and influential literary agents (she is the agent for Barbara Erskine, and has been for the past 32 years), and Patrick Janson-Smith, a publisher, who spent around 25 years in charge of the Transworld imprint, part of Random House. (Patrick published and helped launch the careers of some authors you may have heard of: Terry Pratchett, Bill Bryson, Andy McNab).

Both expressed the importance of writing the best book that you can write. And when you've written it, edit it hard to ensure that it is as polished as it can be? Why? Because not only are you competing with all of those other new, wannabe writers, but you are also competing with the big, already established, authors too.

British books actually sell well in Germany, France, and Italy, in fact one of Carole's clients sells tens of thousands of copies of her books in the UK, but hundreds of thousands of copies in Germany. (If you've ever wondered, it is the foreign publisher who pays to provide a 'full and fair' translation of the text.)

Patrick explained that authors are now expected to be 'performance artists'. That doesn't mean to say that you have to appear on television quiz show panels, or literature festivals, (although many will be pleased if you do) but blogging, tweeting and social networking is becoming vital for authors. Carole then interjected to say that because of this, agents were now pushing for changes in contracts. A full time novelist, for example, may be previously have been expected to produce a novel every 12 months. But with all of this extra promotional (or performing) activities, agents are trying to get this treadmill extended to a novel every 18 months. Authors are finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to write the novels, because of the constant promotional work now required!

E-books were mentioned many times. In America, e-books account for 50% of total sales for some titles. E-books are coming and there's no escaping them.

This panel discussion here included: Donna Condon, editor at Piatkus Books, Beverley Birch, editor at Hodder Children's Books, Hannah Westland, agent at Rogers, Coleridge and White, Piers Blofeld, agent at Sheil Land, and Jonathan Telfer, editor of Writers News / Writing magazine.

They discussed the benefits and drawbacks of E-books, stating that most saw E-books were seen as an opportunity. They believed that E-books meant that more authors would be bought, tried and tested, which could lead to more books being sold overall (both print and in electronic format). However, they also warned against authors uploading their own text onto platforms such as Amazon and offering it for free, or cheaply, for less than £1. This, they said, undermines the e-book market, which not only affects traditional authors, but ultimately all authors, including those uploading their texts online. Both agents and publishers are against devaluing an authors work. Now, many people will disagree with that and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it may be something you want to bear in mind, if you're toying with the idea of 'whacking' your text onto the Internet to see if it gains any interest from the public before approaching an agent or a publisher. Their message was, "don't."

Want to be demoralised? Agents take on, roughly, one new author for every one thousand manuscripts they read.

It's common for festivals to offer 'goodie bags' and the York Festival was no different. Here are the two hardback books and five paperback books that were in my goodie bag. I have plenty of reading for the next few months!

I had an opportunity to discuss my novel with a London agent, and a 'book doctor' (editor) which I found immensely useful. These ten-minute one-to-one chats with these experts are nerve-wracking. Some writers received positive comments, whilst others had their dreams dashed. It can be emotional in many ways, going to an event like this. And of course, it's an opportunity to meet lots of other writers and make new friends. It does mean that the nights are late (which doesn't help when the event takes place over the weekend when the clocks go forward for British Summer Time).

Any networking opportunity can help your writing dreams. And over the next few days, many of the agents here will be receiving letters from festival attendees beginning with phrase, "It was great to meet you at the Festival of Writing at York last weekend. As promised, pleased find enclosed the first three chapters and synopsis of my novel ..."

These events are an investment in your writing career.

Good luck.

A Sense of Place

2011-03-21T09:30:00.064Z

So, if you ever wonder what people get up to at a writers' circle, then the picture here should be quite revealing! Actually, the group's Vice Chair, Julie Phillips, produced an interesting workshop at our meeting on Saturday. Having worked with children at her daughter's school, she'd been inspired by the amount of creativity the children exhibited during play, so to inspire some creativity in us adults, she brought along a range of toys to play with!

Some played Twister, whilst others reacquainted themselves with Lego, and Play-doh (I'm particularly proud of my palm trees in this image) and we had a great laugh. When the time to stop playing arrived, we behaved like 5-year-olds and cried, "Oh miss!" and some even progressed into a full blown tantrum. But eventually, we returned to our desks and began writing.

When it was time to discuss the exercise, one key word kept cropping up - senses. The aroma of the Play-doh sparked off many memories, as did the feel of the lego bricks and the sound of squealing and laughter with many of the board games. Julie had even rigged up a few boxes containing some unusual textures for us to feel and guess. (The Strawberry Jelly produced the most squeals.)

Our senses are important to our writing, and if ever you find it difficult getting started with your writing, then the following exercise may prove useful:

Exercise 1
Write a paragraph describing your favourite place (a holiday venue, a room at home, meeting place) using your sense of sight only.

Exercise 2
Now, write another paragraph or two describing the same favourite place, but this time you can only use your senses of sight, sound, smell and touch.

Read both paragraphs and see which one provides the most powerful description. If you want, you can try merging the two exercises together, to provide a fully-rounded description of your favourite place.

Use more of your senses in your writing and you'll invoke memories of those senses in your readership too. Oh, and don't forget to have some fun from time to time!

Good luck!

A Breathtakingly Stunning Post

2011-03-14T09:30:00.093Z

As writers, do we always choose the right words? That question crossed my mind yesterday when, in a moment of madness (I have them quite frequently), I found myself gawping at the snow lying in the tops of the Lake District's fells. The moment of madness was not to do with the gawping, but with the snap decision to have a day trip to the Lake District, travelling up from Shropshire.

But there, before me, lay a most stunning scene. As soon as I thought of the word 'stunning', a conversation on the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild forum came to mind. When it comes to describing a view, scene or location, do we think about what we're writing? Take 'stunning' as an example. The verb to stun means to "make somebody dazed or briefly unconscious." Hmmm, so if the scene is stunning the person viewing it will be knocked unconscious, if only briefly. Do scenes actually knock people unconscious?

And then there's 'breathtaking'. If views are breathtaking, the mountain tops of the Lake District should be littered with bodies that have had the breath taken from them.

One forum member discussed his hatred of the word 'nestled'. It always annoyed him to read of towns 'nestling' in their surrounding hills. According to two of my dictionaries, to nestle is to settle down snugly or comfortably. How many towns do you see wandering around their locality and then hoisting up their skirts as they wiggle their bums and nestle into the folds of the surrounding land?

In reality, many of these words have become cliches and our use of them is simple laziness. We can't be bothered to come up with something more original. So, next time you find yourself writing a travel article and want to describe the scene in front of you, just stop and think for a moment. Are the words that spring to mind the most appropriate? Do they mean what you think they mean and are you being lazy with your choice of words?

As for my view, well, all I can say is that it was pulchritudinous ;-)

Good luck!

PS - Sally Quilford's excellent blog, Quiller's Place, is hosting an Anti-Conning Writers' Day on 25th March. She's looking for examples of unscrupulous or dubious 'services' that are offered to writers in order to bring these scams to the attention of writers. For more information, visit the post in question here: http://sallyquilfordblog.co.uk/2011/03/anti-conning-writers-day-friday-25th.html

Focus On Opportunities.

2011-03-07T09:30:00.085Z

While you're reading this, I shall be battling my way through crowds similar to those in this picture. In fact, I could even be in this picture here, because it was taken at last year's Focus On Imaging Show at the NEC in Birmingham. (If you think you've spotted me, I should be standing next to a (shorter) bloke with little hair - also known as my Dad.)

Anyway, assuming the drivers of Arriva Trains Wales have done as they've promised and finished their strike action on Sunday night, I should be shuffling my way between stands at Europe's largest photographic trade show. But what has this got to do with writing? The answer is - Opportunities. Trade shows and exhibitions offer a wealth of opportunities, whatever the specialist trade or subject matter.

Firstly, look out for magazines. At the Focus On Imaging Show, many of the photographic magazines will be there. Not the editorial team, but the subscriptions department, looking to sign up new subscribers. What this means though, is that you may come across magazines that you don't see on your local newsagents shelf. That could be because your newsagents simply can't carry a wide range of magazines, or perhaps the magazine is aimed at a specific trade or professional body, and therefore, is not available in the shops.

These subscription stands appreciate that people may not want to take a subscription at the show (although there may be a tempting 'show offer') but what they also do is sell back copies cheaply. I've bought back copies of magazines for £1 at trade shows like this. Whereas the current copy may cost £4, I'll pick up the previous three issue for £3. That's great value for market analysis!

Alternatively, you can often buy the current issue at normal price, useful in itself if the publication isn't available in your local newsagents.

Of course, these shows are a great place to get to know a target publication's readership! You're standing right next to them!

Publishers sometimes attend these shows - especially niche publishers. It was whilst I was at the Outdoors Show one year, that I came across a stand selling outdoor books. It wasn't a book retailer, but a publisher, and they also had copies of their latest catalogue available, which I took. Flicking through it at home a few days later, I had an idea for a book and after a bit more research, put forward a proposal, which became my fifth book, Best Walks in the Welsh Borders.

It goes without saying that, with so many people at events like this, the opportunities for eavesdropping are great! At last year's show, I overheard one woman say to a gentleman, "Here, yours doesn't extend that far!" They were looking at the equipment on a tripod stand, but I may find use for that in an article or short story one day!

So, next time you go to a trade show with friends or family, enjoy your day out, but keep wearing that writer's hat of yours. You never know what writing opportunities may arise from it!

Good luck!

(PS - if you want to know what I did on the day of World Book Night, visit my new personal blog, on my recently revamped website at http://www.simonwhaley.co.uk/blog/ )

The Letters Page Isn't Just For Grovelling

2011-02-28T09:30:00.070Z

There's a letter in the March 2011 issue of Outdoor Photography magazine, which proves that not all published letters are by grovelling readers, lashing loads of praise upon the editor for doing a good job. Actually, this letter forces the editor to apologise for doing their job - editing - wrongly.

It's a good example though of the benefits of having a Letters Page in a magazine. Not only do letters offer readers a chance to comment and feedback upon the articles and the magazine, but it also gives the editor an opportunity to offer a right of reply.

The letter in question queries the writer's statements about the advice offered to fellow photographers, when the photographs used to illustrate the article did not follow the advice the writer was giving. It's a valid point for a reader to make. If article writers make a statement and enclose photographs, the photographs should at least back up the article. (It's no good saying that the beach offers an opportunity to escape from the crowds, if the photo of the beach demonstrates there's not room for an ant to move!)

However, because the letter writer made this point, disputing the article, the editor has used the Letters Page to clarify things. Firstly, the editor has commented, "The original text that [the writer] Ian provided for the article was edited to fit available space, but that edit did change the understanding of the original text." (Note: this doesn't mean to say that the writer didn't produce an article of the right length - he may have been commissioned for X number of words, and provided them, but a change in the magazine's contents could have reduced the space available for his piece, hence the need for the editor to start editing.) The editor then allowed the article writer to add their comments to, offering them the right to reply, too.

So, if you're targeting a Letters Page, don't automatically assume that you have to be gushing praise in order to get published. If you have a valid criticism about something you've read, your letter could give the editor an opportunity explain, apologise or to clarify. You don't have to be praiseworthy to be published, when writing letters. If you're criticising an article and raising a valid point, it certainly proves that you've read the magazine!

And if you write articles, just bear in mind that the Letters Page could offer you the opportunity to put things right. A similar situation happened to me once, where an editor was forced to cut the space available and had to edit my text, changing the meaning. They apologised on the Letters Page and gave me a few words to say something on the matter too!

Good luck!

With A Little Help From Your Friends ...

2011-02-21T21:03:00.001Z

Firstly, regular readers amongst you may have realised that I'm a little late in producing this post for my blog. Well, my excuse is that I've been on 'Uncle Duties' for the past 48 hours, and as you can see from the picture here, my two and a half-year-old nephew likes sitting at my desk and typing away on my computer! His mummy has taken him home now, so I've been able to claim back my desk!

There were several ideas I was going to draw upon for today's blog, but that all changed at last minute, following something that happened today. I got paid. Yippee!

I'd encourage you to read Alex Gazzola's post on his Mistakes Writers Make blog about the mistake in not chasing your dues. As a freelance writer, you are a 'business' and it's sad to say that most businesses experience late payers from time to time. I've only completely missed out on being paid once, when a magazine went bust and my name was added to the long list of creditors who have to take their place behind the taxman, who basically takes pretty much everything of whatever is left! But, occasionally, I do come across a late payer from time to time.

Indeed, on Alex's post, I'd commented that I was chasing some £800 of late payments from 3 magazines, £300 of which had been outstanding since the middle of November. I'm delighted to say that I've now successfully extracted payment from all of my late payers, the last one being the £300 due from November.

I only achieved this, with a little help from a writers' organisation called the OWPG - the Outdoor Writers' and Photographer's Guild. Membership of the organisation includes access to a forum where members can share news, information, leads and advice, so I decided to post about the problems I was having with a publication that I knew other Guild members wrote for. I didn't go ranting and raving about the magazine, or calling the editor something immensely rude - I simply stuck to the facts. I told members that I was due the £300 in mid November, that I'd sent an invoice, followed by a statement of account after 30 days and 60 days, that my emails and phone calls had gone unanswered and I was one step away from threatening legal action with my 90-day statement of account. I then ended my forum post by stating that other Guild members may wish to bear in mind my experience, should they decide to pitch any ideas to the editor.

Some members did post replies, stating that they'd too had problems, but finally extracted payment after threatening legal action. I was fortunate in that one of the Guild's members happened to have a meeting with the editor today and so he brought up my outstanding payment on my behalf. Later on in the day, another Guild member and regular contributor to the magazine happened to be talking to the editor and mentioned my payment problem. (I'm sure the editor isn't keen on employing my services again now, although, to be honest, after an experience like this, I'm less inclined to pitch any further ideas to him.)

Hours later, I received an email from the editor apologising for the delay and the money was sitting in my bank account.

Being a member of the OWPG clearly helped me get paid, so if your writing takes off, I would encourage you to consider joining an appropriate organisation. There are several out there, depending upon your writing specialism. Sometimes their membership fees look a little steep, but they come into their own when they can help you out of a little difficulty.

Useful writers' organisations include:

The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild
The Society of Authors
The National union of Journalists
The British Guild of Travel Writers
The British Guild of Beer Writers (no, I'm not making this one up!)
Bureau of Freelance Photographers
Circle of Wine Writers (hmmm, there seems to be a trend here!)
Crime Writers' Association
The Garden Media Guild
Guild of Agricultural Journalists
Guild of Health Writers
Guild of Motoring Writers (This sounds like a guild of writers who write whilst driving, although I'm sure it isn't.)
Medical Journalists' Association
Romantic Novelists' Association
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain

and there are many, many more. A good place to find many of these is in the Writers' Artists' Yearbook and The Writer's Handbook, both available from Amazon.

In an occupation that can feel lonely during difficult times, it's nice to know that you have friends you can call upon.

Good luck.

Everything You Tweet Will Be Taken Down In Evidence And Used Against You

2011-02-14T09:30:00.093Z

One of my students recently asked me about the rules regarding quoting somebody's Tweet. (For those of you who don't know, a tweet is a message of up to 140 characters that can be posted on the Twitter website, for that person's followers to see.)

Ironically, a couple of days later, on 8th February 2011, the UK's Press Complaints Commission ruled that Twitter messages were not private, and therefore quoting them was not an invasion of someone's privacy. To read the ruling and background behind the case, click here.

They decided that although someone's tweets were distributed to only the people who were following them, any of those followers could distribute the tweet to any of their own followers, and therefore the 'tweeter' had no control over who could and could not view the text.

From a writer's perspective, it's useful to have a clarification like this, because any quote can add authority and credence to an article you may be writing.

However, I would still urge a word of caution when quoting a tweet. If you do want to quote a tweet, then you should (as with ANY quote) attribute it to its source. For Twitter, this means attributing the tweet to the name of the twitter account, (which begins with the @symbol) and not the Tweeter's Profile name. Search for one of Twitter's most famous and prolific tweeters, Stephen Fry, and you'll see around 20 profiles. Now some are clearly not Stephen Fry, but others aren't as clear cut. In other words, a Twitter account may not actually represent who they claim to represent. (Twitter strongly encourages 'spoof' or 'fake' accounts to make it clear that they are not the real thing, but that doesn't guarantee anything!) Therefore, by attributing the quote to the Twitter account, rather than the name of the person the account purportedly represents, should prevent you from getting into any trouble!

As an aside, if anyone reading this post isn't on Twitter, then I would encourage you to consider it. There is a huge number of writers on Twitter, sharing a lot of ideas and offering support. It doesn't matter whether you write non-fiction, or fiction, you'll find many like-minded people and well-known writers there.

And to get you started here are some Twitter accounts worth following:

@simonwhaley (that's me, of course!)
@WritersMistakes (Alex Gazzola - whose blog is Mistakes Writers Make (And How To Avoid Them and fellow WB tutor)
@PennyLegg (fellow WB tutor)
@lomace (fellow WB tutor)
@writersbureau (the official account for The Writers Bureau)

@WritingMagazine
@FMNews (Freelance Market News)
@thenewwritermag

I follow fellow writers, publishers, magazines and published novelists.

To sign up to Twitter, visit www.twitter.com

Before you do, there's some excellent guidance about how writers can use Twitter at Nicola Morgan's brilliant blog, Help! I Need A Publisher and I would encourage any newbie to Twitter to read these postings.

Good luck!

Boot Sale

2011-02-07T09:30:00.066Z

So there I was last week, following my map to check that I was on the right path for the walk I was doing for Country Walking magazine, when I came upon this sight.

As you can see, the locals are clearly 'barking' mad by trying to 'branch' out with this new idea. (Okay, I'll stop now.) But what a fantastic opportunity for a writer. Already I've submitted this to one of the women's magazines that pays for humorous pictures. It's also generated an article idea, and it's raised several questions, which could lead to more articles or short stories:

Who started it? Did someone throw an old pair of shoes up there for a laugh and then someone else thought of sticking up the sign and adding another pair of shoes?
I wonder if the person who started it pops back to count how many pairs the tree now has.
Does anybody swap shoes? If there were a pair of boots/shoes swinging in the tree that looked in better condition than those you were wearing, would you swap? (Assuming they were your size!)
What would you think if you passed a person walking down a country lane with a pair of socks on their feet, and then ten minutes later, came across this tree?
How many people have tried throwing a pair of shoes high in the sky, in an attempt to loop them over a branch, only to watch those shoes plummet back down to earth and hit them in the face?
If those shoes could tell stories about the people they once belonged to, what would they say?

And so it goes on.

One of my new students recently asked me where I get my ideas from. And as I tell everyone, ideas are everywhere, if you know where to look. The idea may not be obvious at first, which is why it is useful to ask questions. All it takes is five minutes and you could have dozens of ideas all waiting to be explored. And, of course, if that doesn't work, then do what I did and go out and find them.

The trick with ideas is not to think about what something means to you, but what it could mean to someone else (a potential reader). I'm tempted to say, try thinking with the boot on the other foot.

Good luck.

Writing As Therapy

2011-01-31T09:30:00.079Z

When I was 16 years old, my parents separated and my Dad moved in with the woman who was to become his second wife. It was a difficult time for everyone involved and in those early days the separation was all that anyone could think of.

At the time, there were only a few weeks to go, before I sat my O level exams and it was important for me to sit down and get back into 'revision mode'. But I couldn't, because all I could think about was our current family circumstances.

However, the writer inside me urged me to pick up a pen, so I did. I decided to write a letter expressing all of my feelings. It was one of the best things ever did. (It was also one of the worst things I ever did, because as a naive 16-year-old I didn't think about what the consequences were of posting the letter!) The act of sitting down and writing the letter enabled me to clear my head. Once it was written, I was able to think about other things ... like revision.

It's something I still do today with my writing. Sometimes, I find I'm not able to get on with the project I want to, because I'm thinking of something else. At the time though, whatever it is that my mind is thinking about, isn't always clear. Other writers may think this as Writer's Block, but I don't believe in the dreaded block. This is because my solution to this difficulty is to sit down and write!

So, whenever I can't get started on the writing project that I want to, I pick up a pen and notebook and I start writing a letter. It's a letter to myself, and in it I simple start by saying, For some reason I can't get started on XXX project and it's annoying me. Perhaps it's because of .... and I let my mind wander freely.

Sometimes my letter produces an interesting response. Perhaps there is a family issue that needs dealing with. Or perhaps I have a couple of other ideas floating around in my head and I just need to spend time jotting down the ideas, so that they don't get forgotten and I can come back later to them.

But after about 20 minutes, my mind feels clearer once more, and I'm ready to get working on my writing project again.

I've learned my lesson - I don't post these letters - they stay in my notebook. But I know that writing a letter to myself can get me writing again. Writing is therapy and it can help us to recover our minds. It's one reason why personal diaries and journals can be so effective for a writer.

So next time you feel stuck and unable to settle down to write, pick up a pen and notebook and undertake a little therapy. Write a letter to yourself. Tell yourself what it is you are thinking. You might be surprised by what you reveal. It may also motivate you into cracking on with your other writing projects too.

Good luck.

Outlining the Outline

2011-01-24T09:30:00.109Z

I was marking an assignment over the weekend, when I came across one student who was having difficulty outlining the article she wanted to write. In the end she'd skipped this bit and written her article. However, she hadn't. She admitted it had taken her three attempts to finish it.

When we get an idea, the urge to write the article can overwhelm us. Don't! It's important that you have a clear idea as to whom you are writing it for. You need to know your target market and therefore, your readership. Only then can you begin to angle your idea to make it of interest to your intended readers.

If you're unsure as to whom you want to target, think a bit more about your idea. What is it that you want to say? What do you want readers to learn from your article? This may help you to identify who your idea is aimed at.

For example, if you have an idea about how to take better photographs, what are your tips going to be? Will they be tips that a professional photographer will use, or those that a family member might use when snapping their children playing? Get this clear in your mind, and you can then start searching for magazines that these readers might buy.

When it comes to outlining the article, think about everything that you want to say. Forget about a beginning, a middle and an end for the moment, just jot down everything you feel is important at the moment. What are those tips? List them. List every one of them. (The last thing you want to do is forget one of them!)

If you need to do some research, then think about the questions your reader would ask:

Do I need a special camera?
Do I need a special lens?
What are the benefits of having a tripod?
How should I frame my picture?

And so on.

When you've listed all of your tips, or questions, start playing about with their order. Sometimes you might find that one particular question more naturally follows after one further down. Or perhaps, for a reader to understand one tip, they need to comprehend another tip earlier.

Do this, and you'll slowly begin to produce your article's outline. This may be infuriating when all you want to do is get down and start writing, but it will help you in the end. It will enable you to produce a more coherent article.

Outlining can be difficult when you get started, so a useful tip is to create an outline from an existing published article. Sit down and read the article in full. Then read it again, but this time, summarise each paragraph in one sentence. Then on the next line, write a sentence that summarises the next paragraph. Do this for the whole article and you'll produce a basic outline. If you can, try this technique with different articles from different magazines and you'll start to see a pattern which you can use in your own pieces.

Outlines are worth it, because they make your articles stronger, well-argued and more entertaining for the reader.

Good luck!

100 Stories for Queensland

2011-01-17T09:30:00.063Z

It's impossible not to have heard about the horrendous flooding that has been taking place in Australia, and now here's a project where writers can play their part in helping with the immense recovery process.

Following the huge success of the anthologies, 100 Stories for Haiti and 50 Stories for Pakistan, an anthology of 100 stories will be produced, which will be sold to raise money for the Queensland flood victims. 100% of the profits from this anthology will be donated to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

100 Stories for Queensland is headed by Brisbane resident and co-owner of eMergent Publishing, Jodi Cleghorn, and UK author, Trevor Belshaw. The management team is made up of Maureen Vincent-Northam, David W Robinson and Nick Daws who all worked on the Haiti and Pakistan anthologies with McQueen. They are assisted by a growing band of 20 volunteer readers and editors from across the globe. McQueen is working behind the scenes, organising the audio book and podcasts in conjunction with UK author and podcaster Em Newman.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 28th January, and submissions should be made electronically, via the SubmishMash website (http://100storiesforqueensland.submishmash.com/Submit)

Stories should be upbeat and generally positive, and can be in any genre, and must be between 500 and 1000 words in length. Further rules can be viewed at the SubmishMash website address above.

If you enjoy writing fiction, then give this a go. It's a tight deadline, but that's not a bad thing because it will help to focus your mind! There's just over ten days until the cut-off for submissions, so there's still time to plan an approach.

Spend a day creating and developing an idea.
Over the next three days, produce your first draft.
Put it aside on day five and ignore it.
Read it through on day six and undertake an initial edit.
Ignore it on day seven.
Review and edit further on day eight.
If needs be, put it aside again for another 24 hours.
Day ten, make one more read-through to check for errors and then submit it.

Submitting an entry is a great way to create a new short story, get experience of working to a tight deadline, and offer you an opportunity to help people cope with the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Good luck.

Competition - Win A Paid, 12 Month Blogging Contract

2011-01-10T15:40:00.000Z

I've just heard of the following competition from Candis magazine, where they're looking for a new blogger. The prize winner will be required to update their blog at least twice a month for a 12 month period, for which they will be paid £150 per month.

Details are as follows:

Would you like to share your news and views with thousands of Candis readers? Then enter our competition to win a 12-month writing contract for our website!
For the past year our fabulous Candis blogger, Melanie Crabb, has kept us entertained with stories of her hilarious family life. Her blogs have gained a huge following - and now it's time to appoint her heir. So we're looking for someone special to take up the metaphorical pen and bring us a brilliant new blog.

The winner will be profiled in a future issue and win a 12-month contract to write for the Candis website. And you'll be paid for your efforts - our winning blogger will get £150 a month for the full year!

If you can craft your day-to-day life into sparkling prose, and know one end of the keyboard from the other, we want to hear from you. Ideally you will be immersed in family life, with children of all ages, and you'll be happy to tell us all about them - not to mention the rest of the family. You might be a mum or a dad, grandma or grandad, married or single, and you might go out to work or be a stay at home parent. Either way we want to reflect the kind of family life that other readers will recognise with (and even sometimes sympathise with).

Whatever you have to say and however you say it, if you think it will entertain and enlighten us then we want to hear from you!

*Terms & Conditions: Closing date for entries is 31st January 2011. The judges' decision is final. The winner will be required to update their blog at least twice a month. Winning payments will be paid monthly for the duration of the 12-month contract.

See: http://www.candis.co.uk/blogcomp2011?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Newhall+Publications&utm_campaign=Blog+competition+Feb+2011&utm_content=blog&dm_i=CTQ,CA8P,1VR2E2,YT9Z,1 for more information.

Good luck!

Looking At Things From A Different Angle

2011-01-10T09:30:00.106Z

This is the view looking across the market town of Ludlow, Shropshire. It's not a view that many people see, because they're too busy wandering along the streets below. I like this picture, because it's taken from a different angle - it's not a viewpoint that we're used to seeing. To see Ludlow from this angle requires a bit of effort. To reach it, you have to climb 200 steps, in a tight, confined space, and if that doesn't put you off, the warning at the foot of the climb advising those with a heart condition not to undertake the climb, probably will.

It's always worth considering a different angle with your writing too. Like climbing those 200 steps, it may involve a bit of effort, but it's usually worth it. Too often, when we think of an idea, we use the first one that comes to mind. We tend not to look around to see if it is the best angle, we simply go with the initial idea. It's the different angle that editors and readers love. It may not be entirely original (I am not the only person to have seen Ludlow from this viewpoint, after all), but it'll be more original than the angle that everyone else is taking.

October 2005 saw the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. From March 2005 onwards, I was inundated with articles students were writing, which they were hoping to place in magazines to co-incide with the anniversary. Many of these articles recounted the facts about the battle and Nelson's death. On the whole, most of these articles were perfectly good, well-written articles, of publishable quality. But they were all from the same angle.

Another student was clearly thinking about the Trafalgar anniversary, but instead of going with the obvious angle, he decided to write about Nelson's mistress, Lady Hamilton. For her, the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson's death was a life-changing moment, and not for the better. It marked the start of her decline into debt and drink.

The article stood out because all the other articles focused on Nelson, but this one didn't. The writer had chosen a different angle about the Battle of Trafalgar. Faced with a deluge of articles on the same topic, an editor is more likely to pick the one that looks at the subject from a different, more refreshing angle. (Remember too, this happened nearly six years ago, and I can still remember the article in question, such was its difference.)

The same goes with fiction. If a story isn't working well why not take a look at the character's viewpoint you are using? Would it work better from a different character's perspective? If you're story is about a first date, most writers may begin with the women's point of view. Some may go from the man's perspective. But why not use the waiter who is serving them their meal instead? Or the taxi driver who is dropping them back to their respective addresses ... or is he?

Next time you sit down to write something, just stop and think about your angle. Are you making the obvious choice? If so, try to put in a bit more effort to come up with something completely different. You may be surprised with where it takes you.

Good luck.

Just Do It!

2011-01-03T17:42:00.000Z

Hello and happy new year to you all! I'm posting this later than planned because I've been away for a few days. It was all rather last minute, but it was great. For various reasons we've never been able to go away for New Year, but this year, the opportunity arose.

At 4pm on Wednesday 29th December, we had no plans to go away. We were planning on having a day trip to the Lake District the following day (it's three hours driving each way) but I was a bit concerned because of the amount of fog that was forecast. Which is when I had the idea - why not see if I could book a couple of nights in a self-catering cottage, travel up on Thursday and come back on New Year's Day? Then I began thinking about it a bit more, and another little voice told me to stop being silly. People book holiday accommodation for Christmas and New Year months, even years, in advance. There was no point.

Yet the idea wasn't letting go. Go on! Give the agency a ring, it kept saying. So I did. And guess what? They had one property available. I only wanted it for two nights, but the agency said they couldn't let it for two nights - or rather - they could, but they'd have to charge me the short break price, which is for three nights. Then the agency said that for an additional £15 we could have the cottage for four nights. Sold! So, within 30 minutes of having the idea, the accommodation was booked and all sorted, and at 8.30 the following morning, I was on my way up to the Lake District.

As we say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new, everybody looks back at what they have achieved in the last year and plans what they hope to do in the next. But we should also remember, that whatever it is we plan to do in 2011, it won't happen unless we get off our backsides and do it.

So if 2011 is the year that you've decided to get ten articles or short stories published, or to write the first draft of a novel, or to try to get an agent, remember that none of this will happen unless you get off your backside and do something about it. Don't sit there thinking about what are the chances of your idea working. Sometimes we can think too much. Just do it! It's the only way to find out. If you want to target a new market, then do it. If you want to go to a literary festival, then do it.

We had a lovely time in the Lake District; it was a wonderful way to begin the new year. I'm so glad I picked up the phone to the self-catering agency.

Whatever your dream is for 2011, don't think about it too much. JUST DO IT!

Good luck.

Spot The Difference

2010-12-20T09:30:00.141Z

For this week's blog posting, I want you to take a look at both of these pictures.

The first image, with the blue sky, was taken in February 2009. The second image was taken last weekend. (Don't panic - the snow has thawed at least once between when these pictures were taken!)

I enjoy photography because it's possible to take two pictures of the same scene and get two completely different images. Despite being different pictures, both of them contain many of the same features:

snow
sheep in the field
a bare tree
fences denoting field boundaries

We can achieve the same effect with our writing too. When writing an article, it's often necessary to carry out some research. Invariably, we collect a lot of information and where many beginner-writers go wrong is that they think they have to include all of their research in their article. They don't. When you analyse your target publication, you should get to know the reader and then write your article using the research you've uncovered that will be of interest to them.

Targeting your writing this way, means that it is possible to get more than one article from each 'idea' depending upon the facts and information you include within your piece. Many of those pieces will contain similar pieces of information - in the same way that my two images above contain similar features, but because I've looked at those scenes from a different angle, they've produced two very different photos. Tackling your writing in the same way can produce two very different articles as well.

In my local neck of the woods, there is a 24-hour walking challenge called the Long Mynd Hike. (I haven't done it by the way - at 50-miles in 24-hours, it's a little too pressurised for my kind of walking.) But, I have written about it. For a local county magazine, I focused in on the history behind the event, and how it has grown into one of the biggest walking events in the Midlands. For a hiking magazine, I decided to concentrate on the walking challenge itself (the route includes climbing a total height of over 8,000 feet - that's the same as climbing Ben Nevis - the UK's highest mountain - twice).

Many of the features within the articles were the same. I included similar quotes from the organisers in both pieces, I mentioned how the hike came about in both features, and I also included the finishing times of the fastest completers in both articles. (The fastest people achieve all 50 miles, and 8,000 feet of climbing in less than 9 hours!) But despite these common features, they were very different articles.

So, next time your write an article, take a step back and look at all of the information in front of you. If you were to focus in on a different area, could you write another one, two, three or four articles from your research? In some ways, writing an article is no different to taking a picture. In both cases, we select the scene we're going to focus on and then create our masterpiece.

If you live in one of the countries which seems to shut down over the Christmas period (assuming the snow doesn't achieve this first) why not take some time out to review some of your previously written material and look for a different picture? It could help you get your writing off to great start in 2011!

Good luck.

Your Vote Counts - Update
Those of you who have followed my blog for some time now, may remember an appeal I put out on behalf of a student of mine, John Price, whose writing group, Rising Brook Writers had applied for grant funding to buy some computer equipment to enable them to create a regular newsletter for their housebound members. It was possible for the public to send a text message to support the grant application. (See http://simonwhaleytutor.blogspot.com/2008/10/your-vote-could-make-difference.html for more info). Well, I'm delighted to say that they were successful and the group has gone from strength to strength. So much so, that they recently produced their own novel 'Fair Deal'.

As John explains, "The story is built up week by week during the group’s workshops and through an on-line bulletin that enables those who can’t get to meetings to also contribute. The process has been variously described as like pegging out washing on a line or completing a jigsaw puzzle when the picture on the box keeps changing. As contributors email their pieces to the editor, the story gradually comes together in chunks of around 500 words with each piece being shuffled forwards and backwards to achieve the best fit."

"The latest tale of mayhem is Fare Deal, a farce that features, in the best Carry On tradition, an ill-fated wedding between an Old-Labour family and the local aristocracy, a vicar with a liking for fairy costumes, unscrupulous rival cab companies, and Vera and Gloria supplementing their pensions at Big Bertha’s ‘personal services’ establishment. Farce is a difficult genre even for the most experienced writers but the absurdity of this unfolding catastrophe is guaranteed to stretch your chuckle muscles."

It is what I call, great British farce, which is right up my street, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's clear to see that everyone in the group enjoyed writing it and is well worth a read.

Copies can be obtained from Rising Brook Writers (Box WB), Rising Brook Library, Merrey Road, Stafford ST17 9LX, in return for a donation of £6.00 per copy, which also covers postage and packing. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Rising Brook Writers’.

Enjoy.

And before I go, I'd like to congratulate Amshan KumaAmshan.

And on that note, it's time for me to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, wherever you are.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

And The Winner Is ....

2010-12-13T09:30:00.060Z

Well, I have to say, I was a little taken aback when I discovered that I had 57 entries to judge in my mini-competition to win a copy of Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. What a romantic lot you are! Or perhaps that should be, what a lot of hopeful, romantic writers you are!

I loved the diversity of stories; they weren't just about romantic love between humans, but also the unconditional love between a human and a pet, unrequited love of a first teenage crush, and even the calorie-hogging love of chocolate!

But, let's get on with the show. In true Oscar-winning style, first, I shall announce the nominations - those who made it to my final four. They are:

Helen Lowry
Carina Barnett
Rob Innis
Maria Perry Mohan

Now I've made those four people nervous, and the television camera has focused on their anticipatory faces (probably as they practise their smiling-whilst-accept-defeat-graciously faces) let's move to the nitty-gritty.

My thumb slips under the envelope flap (it's a gold one, of course - the envelope, not my thumb) and together with my index finger, pulls out the card with the winning name.

And the winner is....
(Scroll down ...)

(keep scrolling...)

(and a little more scrolling ....)

CARINA BARNETT !

(Everyone in the auditorium are on their feet.)

Congratulations Carina, your copy of Kate Walker's book is in the post to you. And here is her winning entry.

He is next in line at my till. I feel his eyes on me and fumble as I pack Mrs Johnson's shopping. I am aware only of him. Waiting. As I reach to scan his Chianti, our fingers touch, his tanned and slender. I picture them entwined in my own and colour floods into my face. When I look up, his eyes smile into mine. The lashes are thick and dark and I have a sudden, vivid vision of them white with age. I somehow know that when they are, I will still be gazing into them.

So, once again, congratulations to Carina, and thank you to everyone who took the time to enter. I'm tempted to run another competition in the future!

Free Short Story Anthology

2010-12-06T09:30:00.028Z

Writers Abroad, is for Ex-pat, English speaking writers who live away from their 'natural' country. To celebrate National Short Story Week (November 22nd to 28th 2010), they've written and produced an anthology of short stories.

A PDF version of the anthology can be downloaded, free of charge from the group's website at http://www.writersabroad.spruz.com/ or, if you prefer a hard copy, one can be ordered directly from Lulu.com at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/wa-anthology/13841400?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/3

With a foreword by fellow WB tutor, Lorraine Mace, there's a mixture of stories, all with the theme of living abroad. It's well worth a read!

And thanks to those of you who have already sent me a submission for my competition to win a copy of Kate Walker's book, 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - see my previous post http://simonwhaleytutor.blogspot.com/2010/11/12-point-guide-to-writing-romance-and.html. I'm looking forward to judging this. The closing date for entries is this Friday, 10th December.

Good luck!

A 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance and a 100 word competition!

2010-11-29T09:57:00.000Z

Anyone who knows Kate Walker, knows that she's an expert when it comes to writing romantic fiction.Well, someone who writes over 50 romantic novels that have been published in over 50 different countries, selling over 15 million books worldwide, clearly knows their stuff! (And if ever you get a chance to hear Kate talk about writing romantic fiction - or rather, how not to write romantic fiction (a talk she did at the Caerleon Writers' Holiday one year about the various names inexperienced romantic writers gave to their character's 'bits and pieces' was absolutely hilarious) then go, because you'll learn so much ... even if it is just to learn how to avoid using terms such as a 'throbbing manhood'.)

Kate's authoritative guide, Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, is packed full of advice and the third edition has just been published. Fourteen chapters explore the world of writing romance, from defining what romance is (which any bloke my find useful, irrespective of whether they write or not!), how to use sensuality to build up tension, finding out what makes a good hero, to creating a believable, happy ending. Each chapter has a set of 12 questions that the romance writer should ask about their work, which will help them to improve their text.

Kate also explains the tricky subject of writing the love scenes (not sex scenes - this is romance, remember?), whilst reminding you that the hero has to be an upstanding character (no, that isn't a euphemism) and consider safe sex. Modern romance needs to reflect modern society.

The book ends with a section of advice from other, prolific and expert romantic writers, including Julie Cohen, Kate Hardy, Natasha Oakley, Gill Sanderson and Trish Wylie.

Here's your opportunity to win a copy of Kate's book.
If you've ever thought of giving romantic fiction a go, then read Kate's book. And here's one way you can do that.

1. In no more than 100 words, write a love-at-first-sight scene between two characters.
2. Email your entry to simonwhaley[at]gmail.com
3. The deadline for entries is 10th December 2010.
4. The winner will be notified within a week, and the winning entry will appear on this blog.

Good luck!

Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is published by Aber Publishing, priced £10.99.

Visit Kate Walker's site at www.kate-walker.com/

An Unfortunate Incident At A Booker Party

2010-11-22T09:30:00.079Z

At my writers' circle meeting on Saturday morning, we were fortunate to have as our guest speaker, Alan Maher, Publishing Director and Chief Executive of Tindal St Press.

Tindal St Press are known for publishing award-winning novels. It was originally set up in 1998 in the front room of a house in Moseley, Birmingham, in an attempt to prove that regional writing can be both literary and publishable.

Of the first 4 books that they published, 3 were shortlisted for various awards, but it was in 2003 that Clare Morrall's book, Astonishing Splashes of Colour was published, then long-listed for the Booker Prize. And when it was then short-listed for the Booker Prize, apparently, the phones didn't stop ringing!

In 2007, they published Catherine O'Flynn's, What Was Lost, which won the Costa First Book Award in 2007, won Waterstones Newcomer of the Year British Books Award in 2008, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize and the Orange Fiction prize.

It's not often that you get the chance to talk to directly to publishers, particularly those who publish such award-winning novels, but after a brief explanation of the history behind this Arts Council funded, not-for-profit company, Alan kindly opened up the floor to questions.

He explained that:

they receive 600 submissions a year (they are a small publisher) but only publish about 6 books a year, highlighting the size of the competition.
when a publisher likes a book, they then have to go around and encourage everybody else (Sales, Marketing, etc) to get behind the book too. If an entire publishing company doesn't love a book they are publishing, then it won't get published.
many of the books they reject, are brilliantly written novels, but they are just not right for them.

Tindal St Press publish regional, literary fiction. So, if they are sent a brilliant novel set in London, they will reject it. If they receive a brilliant novel set in the Black Country district of the West Midlands, but it isn't a literary novel, they will reject it. Which just demonstrates that even when sending out novels, you have to know your market.

It was a great opportunity to chat to someone like Alan and it's one of the reasons why I encourage all writers to go to a writers' group, or a literary festival, because you never know what opportunities may arise from the meeting.

You'll be able to gain some inside knowledge and a few laughs too! Alan told us of a time when he was at one of the Booker Prize parties and was talking to John Carey, one of the judges, when his tooth fell out!

So, next time you get an opportunity to mix with the publishing world, give it a go. You never know what you might learn, or what opportunities may open up for you!

Good luck.

It All Started When ...

2010-11-15T09:30:00.062Z

Have you noticed? We are awash with biographies. I'm not moaning about the plethora of celebrity memoirs piled up on the 3 for 2 tables in bookshops this Christmas (although publishers were saying last year that the celebrity memoir had had its day), but instead, the short biographies in magazines.

Appearing either at the foot of an article or under a 'Contributor List' on the contents page, more editors want to share some of their writers' lives with their readers.

If you spot your target publication giving the lowdown on its writers, then you should consider including one with your submission. As always, copy the style and format of the biographies used in your target publication.

"But I'm only a beginner!" I hear you cry. "I've nothing to say in my biography!"

Rubbish! Take a closer look at the biogs in your target magazine and you'll see that they sell the writer's experience in the topic they're writing about, not their writing credentials. Take the latest issue of Lakeland Walker magazine and one of its contributors, Andy Stothert:

Andy has been wandering about on the Lakeland fells for over forty years and his passion for the high places of the Lake District is stronger than ever. His passion is his work, as he earns his crust mainly from taking photos of this astounding landscape.

See? This tells the reader why Andy knows what he's talking about in his article - he's been wandering the Lake District for over forty years. He's an expert on this subject, which is why you should read the article. And that's what you need to do remember when writing your biographies.

Mention the key facts that sell yourself as an expert.
Keep it short.
Make it appropriate for your readership.

Here's my biography that appears at the end of my article in this month's Ezee Writer feature, entitled 'Success With Series' - an article about writing non-fiction books.

Simon Whaley is a tutor for the Writers Bureau and the author of over 400 articles. He has also written several short stories and nine non-fiction books, including the bestselling “100 Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human.” You can follow more of Simon’s advice at his ‘Simon Says!’ blog: http://simonwhaleytutor.blogspot.com and onTwitter.com.

You can read the article at http://www.writersbureau.com/e-zee-writer/november-2010/page3.htm

For an article about organising self-catering breaks in the UK for Holiday Cottages magazine, my biography read as follows:

Simon Whaley has been organising self-catering holidays in the UK for nearly twenty years. These breaks have ranged from a week's solo self-catering in Scotland, to organising short breaks for groups of up to 12 in Wales. He's been stuck up one-in-three gradients, bullied by ghosts and marvelled at the view of the local cement works in a national park. In his opinion, you can always tell the quality of a self-catering cottage by the state of its frying pan.

Two different biographies aimed at two different markets, but both about the same person!

So, next time you send off an article, consider revealing a little bit more about yourself ... but not too much!

Good luck.

Remembering ...

2010-11-11T12:11:00.000Z

It's certainly a fierce weather day out there today, so when the sun peeked out briefly, I decided to chance it and go out for my daily walk. The timing was perfect because I was able to stand at our local War Memorial for the two minutes silence at 11 o'clock.

I watched as local residents placed poppies around the six-inch railings surrounding our stone cross, each with a loved one's name carefully inscribed. I couldn't help but notice that all the writing was spidery - a sign of the age of those doing the remembering - or a sign of emotion as the name was written - or both.

It's an immensely moving moment watching men in their 80s and 90s saluting fallen comrades who never came home to continue with their lives as they have done.

I found myself wondering about them then. Whenever I go to workshops or writers' circles, many writers tell me how they came to writing later on in life. Yet, those we are remembering today and on Sunday, never had that chance of a 'later on in life' moment. How many great writers have we lost in all wars, past and present, that we don't know about because they weren't given the opportunity?

At the end of the two minutes, people began drifting away and I continued on my walk. About twenty minutes later, on my way back, I saw an elderly gentleman walking towards me. I recognised him as one of those who'd saluted fallen comrades at the war memorial. As he approached, I could see he wanted to chat, so I spoke first.

"Wasn't it lovely how the sun came out whilst we were at the war memorial?"

"The sun always shines on the righteous! Mind you, I've stood there in all weathers," he said, proudly.

"It is a bit rough today."

"We need it rough, son," he continued. "Reminds us we're the ones who are alive."

And on that note, he turned and walked on.

The weather may be rough outside. Your life may not make it easy for you to be a writer. But we are alive and because of those who gave up their lives for us, we can be a writer and write what we like.

So, if you enjoy writing, try to make time to do some today. Call it a small token thank you, to those who were never given the opportunity.

A Retreat Is As Good As A Rest

2010-11-09T11:30:00.000Z

This week's post has been delayed slightly, because yesterday I was traveling back from my writers' circle's annual retreat. Eleven of us headed into the depths of Wales for a weekend writing break.

The idea behind our retreat is that members can devote as much of their day to writing. We hire a large self-catering property, giving us all plenty of room to spread out and write. Several of the group are currently tackling NaNoWriMo, so were able to increase their word counts significantly. We have few rules on our retreats.

You get up ... when you want.
You get your own breakfast ... when you want.
You get your own midday snack ... when you want.
But we all eat together in the evening.
Nobody is forced to do any writing ... although this is such a wonderful opportunity everybody does! (And there is something to be said about the guilt factor, if everyone is writing and you're not!)

The whole point behind a retreat is that it offers a freedom that you don't get at home. On Sunday morning I woke at 7am (much to my disgust because we'd been chatting until 1.30am!) and had been thinking of how to structure a short story idea I'd had for several months yet hadn't been able to write. I began reading a short story magazine and the third story had the structure I needed. Suddenly, I knew what to do, and began writing.

By 9.30am, I'd written nearly 800 words and was clear what my ending was going to be and how I would achieve this. My reward was breakfast! If I were at home, others in the household would be shouting, "The kettle's on, do you want a cup of tea?" or "Are you having breakfast this morning?" On retreat, you're free to do what you want, when you want, or rather, when it is convenient for your writing. After breakfast, I went back to my room and finished the rest of the story.

Part of retreating is going out and exploring, and this usually involves a good walk! It's always good to stretch your legs and get some fresh air because it re-invigorates the brain ... and also allows the photographers amongst us to take candid moments. (There are some censored images that will not be appearing on this blog.)

After the walk, I returned to my room, where I typed up my short story and undertook a basic first edit. Others were tackling edits for their publishers, or structuring the outline for a new children's book, ploughing on with NaNoWriMo, or plotting a new poem. And the benefit of being surrounded by other writers is that you can ask writerly questions. Several retreats ago, one member said, "What's a better way of saying glutimus maximus?" to which the other seven writers in the room, all replied simultaneously, "arse!" With help like that on retreat, you can't go wrong can you?

You don't have to go away with writing friends to benefit from a retreat (although if you can, do!). The whole point about our retreat is that it's a change from our normal daily routine. Simply altering your own routine, for one day, can make your day more interesting and creatively stimulating. If the first part of your writing day involves you switching on your computer and checking your emails, then make a conscious decision not to do that for one day. Go and sit down with a notebook and pen instead. Don't sit at your writing desk, plonk your bum in a comfy chair.

Changing your surroundings for an hour or two can make a wonderful difference.

At the end of a 'normal' day - plan a 'different' writing day:

Decide what you're going to write about.
Decide where you're going to write - in a different room at home, in the garden (if it's warm enough), in the local library, or at a cafe.
Make sure you have everything you need with you - pens, notebooks, research material. You don't want to have to keep nipping back to your usual writing place.
Treat yourself to 'special' drinks. Don't make instant coffee, have a latte, ground or percolated coffee. Or instead of Sainsburys Red Label tea, have an Earl Grey.

No matter what you do, however big or small, change it in some way. Use a different pen. Write in a different notebook. Do some completely different writing. (I spend most of my time writing non-fiction, so tackling fiction whilst I was away was wonderful.)

Start off small, with an morning, or afternoon retreat, and you may surprise yourself with what you achieve. Do it once, and you'll soon find yourself planning the next. On my retreat, I managed 3,000 words over the weekend. And now, sitting back at my writing desk, I feel completely refreshed.

So even though I was still productive over the weekend, as I said in my title, a retreat is as good as a rest!

Good luck.

Wannabe A Writer We've Heard Of?

2010-11-01T09:30:00.096Z

Writing isn't just about sitting in your garret and churning out the words - although, if you've signed up to this month's NaNoWriMo challenge, then this is probably what you'll be doing for the next 30 days!

And even if you are going to be chained to your desk, trying to conjure up 50,000 words over the next month, taking some time out to relax could be a productive step, so why not get hold of Jane Wenham-Jones' excellent follow-up to her highly-successful book, Wannabe A Writer, called Wannabe A Writer We've Heard Of?

Here, she explains why, and how, writers should publicise themselves. It doesn't matter whether you write fiction, or non-fiction, books, short stories or articles, you need to tell the world that you are a writer. (A journalist wouldn't expect a scoop news story to come knocking on their door, although it can happen, but only if the world knows he or she is a journalist in the first place!)

Although this is geared up to book writers, any writer can gain some useful knowledge from Jane's humorous look at a side of life many writers would happily ignore. Let's face it, if we wanted to be centre stage, many of us would have become actors, rather than writers! But these days, it is the writer who blogs, tweets, facebooks, myspaces, and uses any other social media networking opportunity who is more likely to be taken on by a publisher. We all need to up for a bit of publicity if we want our books or writing to sell.

This book reveals all about blurbs, book launches, book signings, promoting yourself through newspaper and magazine articles, getting on television game shows, networking, websites, newsletters, Twitter, and Facebook. It's a rip-roaring read, but practical too. And only Jane Wenham-Jones could write a book where Joanna Trollope can be found under Trojan Condoms. (I'm referring to the index.)

Wannabe A Writer We've Heard Of? by Jane Wenham-Jones
Published by Accent Press
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 978-1906373979

Further details can be found at http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1906373973/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=03WCFAXPRWF0AJEGSN78&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

Strangest Genius; The Stained Glass World of Harry Clarke

I also wanted to mention a book by one of my students, Lucy Costigan, written in partnership with photographer Michael Cullen. Lucy's book has been nominated in the Irish Book Awards, in The International Education Services Best Irish Published Book of the Year category.

Votes can be made online and I would encourage anyone who has read Lucy's book (and if you haven't, why not take a look) to vote online at http://www.irishbookawards.ie/PublicVote.aspx Those who vote can also enter a competition to win €100 of book tokens.

Strangest Genius; The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke
Published By The History Press Ltd
Price: £50.00
ISBN: 978-1845889715

Further details can be found at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strangest-Genius-Stained-Glass-Clarke/dp/1845889711/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288541857&sr=8-1

Good luck, Lucy!

Writing - It's Just Like Climbing Mountains

2010-10-25T10:02:00.000+01:00

I began marking a student's assignment yesterday and their first comments were apologising for the delay in sending this latest exercise through. She was surprised at how much work was involved and how long it had taken her to complete it.

Many beginner writers believe that writing is easy. You just pick up a pen and sit down to write. Whilst this IS true, (there's no other way of writing, without actually doing some writing) what they don't realise is that that isn't it! There's a lot of honing and editing to endure before the text is perfect.

True writers are those who understand that writing is like mountain climbing. There are many who set off at the bottom, full of enthusiasm and raring to go. Then the incline gets steeper and suddenly the novelty starts wearing off. Out of puff, many turn around and return to the bottom, having underestimated the challenge ahead. It is the real writers who continue climbing.

Basecamp
A little preparation works wonders. When I climb a mountain, I plan my route in advance. I sit down and consult the map, looking for a suitable route up and and enjoyable route back down. I identify stages where I can stop for breath ... I mean ... stop to take a nice photograph. I try to gauge what time I should be at the summit to ensure I allow enough time to get back.

The same goes for my writing. I plan out roughly what I need to do. Where should I look to find out further information and background material? When is my deadline? Where should I be at each stage of my writing? In my own imagination, the summit of the mountain is the completion of my first draft. Getting the first draft written is always my challenge. Once I've done that, the editing process is all downhill! So, if I have a deadline of two weeks, then I will plan to be at my first draft summit by the end of week one.

Viewpoint 1
It's imperative that you plan these 'photographic breaks' on your climb. When climbing mountains, the view changes with every step you make. At the end of the day, or your writing time, stop and look back over what you've just written. Perhaps the path was harder going than it looked. But there's nothing to worry about now. You wouldn't drop back down a mountain at this stage and look for an easier path up, would you? You're here now. The next stage, is a new day, so look forward to the next viewpoint. How are you going to get there? Jot down a few simple notes to remind yourself when you're next back at your writing desk.

Viewpoint 2
At the end of your next day's writing time, stop and take another look at the view. Refreshed from your break at Viewpoint 1, you'll find it easier to get going again on the next stage, if you're clear about where you're heading. Mountain paths have a habit of getting steeper as you draw towards the summit, especially if it turns out to be a false summit. But no matter how many false summits I encounter on my climb, the fact remains - I am higher than I was before. As I progress to each viewpoint in my writing, I know that I'm further in my journey. I might wish I was at the top now, when I'm not, but I know the summit is closer than it was two days ago!

Viewpoint 3
As you near the summit, you get a better overall picture of what lies beneath you. You see the bigger picture now. It's tempting to start planning your descent, or the changes to your text now, because you can see it better from this viewpoint. But don't. You don't start descending, until you've reached the top. By all means, make a note of any changes to the path back down that you'd like to make, but don't make them now - now is the time for that final burst to the summit.

Summit - Hooray!

First things first, have a break and enjoy the view! You've achieved the toughest part. Creating something new can be daunting, but the sense of achievement when you've created it is overwhelming! Remind yourself as you look back over your text, that back down at the bottom, none of this had happened. You've made it happen.

Enjoy the moment and share your news. Walkers share their experiences too at summits. Watch out for that nasty patch of stinging nettles by the third stile - they pounce when your back is turned! Tell other writers about finishing your first draft, and the view you can see now. They may offer you some helpful suggestions for your editing route back down to basecamp.

Then remind yourself of your route down. Do you need to make any changes to your path? Is there an easier track you can take? Can you take the path you planned or are you tight for time now? With some writing projects, deadlines can change as quickly as the weather turns on a mountain. Sometimes, it's necessary to get back down quickly, but you should always do so safely, don't take risks. Taking a short cut with the editing process can be risky.

Back at Basecamp
When you finally return to basecamp, you'll feel another sense of achievement. It's finished. You did it! Walker's celebrate a mountain climb with some completely unhealthy rewards - a drink in the pub, some fast food (well, faster than the climb up) or an entire packet of chocolate hobnobs. But that's okay, because they've worked hard for it. And writers who finish writing and editing their work should reward themselves too. It's what motivates us for tomorrow's mountain.

basecamp next week end, I'll be able to look back over this week and see what I've achieved. And because I've planned my route out beforehand, I know which summit I'm conquering this week.

Good luck.

Scrivener for Macs .... and Windows in 2011!

2010-10-21T16:10:00.000+01:00

Those of us using Apple Macs have had the joy of using a programme called Scrivener for some time now. It was created by a writer, for writers, and it assists writers by allowing us to focus on the content we are writing and worry about the structure later. It works best (in my opinion) for large projects - the non-fiction books, the novel and the screenplay, although it can be used for any form of writing.

It's a great in that it allows you to store all of your research data and information (including pictures, soundtracks and movies) in the same file as the document you are writing.)

Scrivener is not a word processor, although it can do the basics of bold, italics and underlining, etc. Instead, it allows you to write a scene, or a collection of scenes, in any order that you like. What makes Scrivener better than a word processor, is that you can move huge chunks of text around, quickly, easily and without cutting and pasting. So, if you decide that scene 14 would be better as scene 2, you simply drag and drop. Here's how the programme is described by the developers:

Scrivener allows you to split up a long text into smaller, more manageable chunks (chapters, scenes, main points - how large or small is up to you) and to edit them independently or together as one long document. Its structural tools include a corkboard and an outliner for rearranging the constituent parts of your draft, so that you can plan your work in advance or get an overview and restructure it after the first pass. You can also refer to research documents (such as images and PDF files) by having them alongside your text as you work.

When your manuscript is complete, you can compile it into one long document for printing or for exporting to a word processor such as Microsoft Word.

To find out more, visit the Scrivener website at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/index.html

There's a great video demonstration available at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/videos/ScrivenerIntro.mov

Why am I mentioning this now?

Well, the second version of Scrivener is about to be released for Apple Mac users, but in 2011, for the first time, there'll be a version for Windows users too. And, any Windows computer user who tackles this year's NaNoWriMo event (National Novel Writing Month in November) and successfully completes the required 50,000 words during that month (and gets their verification certificate) can obtain a 50% off discount voucher of the Windows version when it is released early next year. (A single license will be $40, so the voucher will drop it down to $20.)

To find out more:

Scrivener for Mac Users: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

Scrivener for Windows Users:http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/

Good luck if you're planning to do NaNoWriMo this year.

How To Turn 3p Into £100

2010-10-19T17:27:00.000+01:00

Just take a look at this cheque. Yes, that's right. Barclays Bank sent me a cheque for 3 pence. (It wouldn't have happened in my day when I worked on the 'Open and Close' account section.)

I closed an account and did they simply transfer the outstanding credit interest to my current account? No. They sent me a cheque. Ooh, I can feel the steam rising from your own ears as you read this! Infuriating isn't it? Not only have the banks made a mess of our economy, but they clearly have money to waste by posting cheques of 3p out to their customers. (Yes, it was sent first class.)

So, how many times have I told you that you should send off a letter to a magazine when you have something to say? Well, spotting an opportunity I decided to do just that and I wrote to Moneywise magazine. And guess what? It's their Star Letter in the October issue! And what's the prize for their Star letter? £100 of M&S vouchers!

So that, my dear readers, is how you turn 3p into £100.

Can anyone better that?

Good luck!

Where Do You Write?

2010-10-18T09:57:00.000+01:00

This time last week I was taking this picture of Loweswater, in the Lake District, Cumbria. (Looking out of my bedroom/office window now, the weather is a little different.)

The scenery instilled calmness and serenity - it was certainly inspirational - I've still to type up the article I drafted with pen and paper at the end of that day, but the idea was inspired by this view.

As I've mentioned before in this blog, whenever I go away, I make a point of buying the local magazines and in one was an article about the writer, Hunter Davies. Hunter is a prolific writer, author and journalist and ghostwriter of many celebrity biographies including; The Beatles, Wordsworth, John Prescott, Wayne Rooney and Gazza. The article explained how Hunter Davies splits his year into two - he lives for six months in London, and for the other (sunnier) six months he lives in the Lake District. In fact, he lives here at Loweswater. (I'm jealous now.)

The reason I mention this is that here in the UK, British Summer Time ends in a couple of weeks and the clocks will go back an hour (fall back, spring forward - for those who can never remember) and this process reinforces upon us the onset of winter. It's a time when our habits change, and it's worth considering changing where you write. Now I'm not saying that you need to consider travelling like Hunter, from one end of the country to the other, but is where you write during the summer months the best place to write during the winter months?

During the winter months, daylight is scarcer and I much prefer working in natural daylight, so I move my desk next to the window in order to maximise the amount of time I can use this resource. (It's also where the radiator is situated, which is also a bonus!) Spend a few minutes considering your writing environment. I don't like using the darker evenings and the colder weather as an excuse not to write. Like Hunter, I find moving to a new writing place, even if it is from one side of the room to the other, the start of a new phase. It reinvigorates my excitement about sitting down at my desk each morning to work. It's different. And then just as spring takes a hold again, in preparation for the coming summer, I'll move back across to the other side of the room.

Hunter Davies is in his mid-seventies now, and shows no signs of retiring. (Isn't writing just the best job in the world anyway? Who does retire from writing?) Having a summer writing place and a winter writing place could be just what you need to maintain your inspiration levels. You may have the opportunity of moving further than me - perhaps into an adjacent room. However limiting your opportunities are, take a few minutes to consider your options. It could reawaken your creativity.

Good luck.

Nuturing the Realtionship

2010-10-11T09:29:00.094+01:00

Last week I blogged about sowing your seeds continuously, and those who do will be rewarded when a seed suddenly flowers unexpectedly. A couple of days ago, one of my students, Dave, wrote to update me of his efforts. For those of you who follow regularly, Dave is my student who regularly submits jokes to That's Life's 'Rude Jokes of the Week' slot. He's just seen his 60th in print (yes, 60 jokes at £15 a time totals £900 - so he's laughing all the way to the bank.) He definitely knows where to sow his humorous seeds anyway!

However, Dave has also been submitting articles to a variety of magazines, including one of the railway publications. He's been sending work in on spec, and the editor has liked what Dave has written, asking him to continue sending in material.

When he spoke to another member of the editorial team a few days ago, they told him that the editorial staff were due to get together some time this month to plan out the issues for the coming year. At first Dave considered this to be bad news - if they knew what they wanted for the next 12 issues, any ideas he had might not fit in.

However, when a magazine plans out the future, they don't decide at that one meeting what is going to be on every page of every issue for the next 12 months. They tend to plan a theme, identifying specific ideas for some specific pages within the magazine. Effectively, they create an editorial calendar, which is often used by the advertising department to sell advertising space. (If an issue is going to be focusing on Railway holidays, then the advertising department will approach holiday companies that offer railway holidays inviting them to advertise in this specific issue.)

But, now that Dave has a relationship with the staff at this magazine, he's in a position where he could ask for a copy of the editorial calendar when it's been created. That way, he can 'twist' his ideas to fit the theme of a specific issue. By approaching the editor by email with an idea (and remember, the editorial staff now know him), his chances of success are greater, if he's pitching an article idea on a topic that the magazine wants to cover.

Sometimes a relationship with a customer (yes, the magazines and publishers are your customers - and remember - the customer is always right!) needs some careful handling. But nurture it correctly and it could blossom into a rewarding relationship.

Good luck.

UK Reader's Digest Competition - Watch for Copyright

2010-10-08T14:15:00.000+01:00

The UK edition of Reader's Digest is running a competition for a 100-word story. The story has to be 100 words exactly. Stories of 99 words will be rejected.

The story that appeals most to the panel of judges will win £5,000, with the two runners up winning £100 of book tokens. All three will be printed in the Reader's Digest.

However, you should always read the terms and conditions of a competition.

Further information can be found here.
http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/magazine/179-Reader%27s-Digest-Main/1382-Web-Exclusives-100-word-story.html

Full details of terms and conditions can be found here.
http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/magazine/179-Reader%27s-Digest-Main/1387-Web-Exclusives-100-word-terms-and-conditions.html

NOTE: "Contributions become world copyright of Vivat Direct Ltd (t/a Reader's Digest)." The terms and conditions of this competition state that the copyright of ANY ENTRY SUBMITTED INTO THE COMPETITION will become the property of Reader's Digest and its parent company.

IF YOU DO NOT WANT THEM TO HAVE COPYRIGHT OF YOUR STORY - DO NOT ENTER THIS COMPETITION.

I just wanted to clarify that it is not the writers of the winning entries who lose their copyright - but every writer who submits an entry who will lose their copyright in their creation.

Sowing Seeds For The Future

2010-10-04T09:30:00.096+01:00

There are times with this writing game when you may feel that all of your efforts are being ignored. You send off a submission ... and hear nothing. You query an editor with a great idea ... and hear nothing. However, all of these actions are not wasted. You are, in fact, sowing possible seeds for the future.

Last February, I approached an editor with an idea for an article about the Long Mynd Hike, which takes place, here where I live, during the first weekend of October. Hikers set off at 1pm on Saturday from the centre of the village, and within 24 hours have to walk the local hills - a circular route of 50 miles (80km) which includes over 8,000 feet of climbing. These sorts of events tend to take place in our National Parks, but the Long Mynd Hike takes place less then fifty miles from Birmingham City Centre. Having chatted to one of the founder members of the hike, I could offer an interview and background piece.

But I heard nothing.

After two weeks I approached the editor to enquire whether he'd had an opportunity to consider my idea.

I still had no reply.

So, two weeks later, I made another enquiry, by email.

Nothing.

At the end of April, I made one last ditch attempt and telephoned the editor, but he wasn't there. I left a message, but he did not ring back.

It seemed that this seed had fallen on stony ground, however that was not the case. In the middle of September I received an email, from the editor I'd originally approached back in February. Could I help him out? Another writer had let him down at the last minute and he desperately needed a feature to fill several pages within the magazine. The idea that I had proposed back in February would fit neatly, but (and here comes an element of the freelancing world that may seem a little unfair in all of this) could I produce the article within the next 24 hours?

Now, novice writers may see this as unfair - I'd originally approached the editor six months ago, and if he'd made the decision then, I could have had a couple of months to produce a fantastic feature, and now all I had was 24 hours to produce a fantastic feature!

But, back then, the editor didn't know he was going to have a problem with a piece in this issue and I saw this as an opportunity to show an editor that I could be relied upon. It was hard work, but I did it, and within the deadline. And, I saw it as bonus work too. Because I hadn't heard from the editor about my original submission, I'd written off this idea with this market.

And that's how freelance writing works sometimes. You may send off ideas and submissions but not hear back straight away. That doesn't matter, because sometimes those seeds do go on to germinate, and when they flower, it is always a beautiful surprise.

Incidentally, if any of you fancy climbing a total of 8,000 feet and walking for 50 miles around the Shropshire countryside, you may be interested to know that the quickest entrants achieve all this within nine hours!

Good luck.

The Oxford Comma

2010-09-27T09:35:00.000+01:00

Okay, I don't usually get technical with punctuation, but having read a brilliant example on Twitter this morning, and having had this issue crop up with an assignment I was marking over the weekend, I thought it was worth mentioning.

When I was at school (which for me was many Prime Ministers ago), I was always told that we had to use a comma to separate words in a list. For example, if I'd been on a school visit to a local farm, the teacher may have asked me to write about it. As a seven year old, I'd have written something like this:

Last week I went to the farm and I saw cows, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and geese.

My teacher would have praised me for using a comma to separate each item in my list of animals. I would also have been praised for NOT using a comma after the word 'horses' and before the word 'and'. I was always told at school that we did not need a comma before an 'and'.

BUT ... there are times when you do, and it is known as the serial comma, although many people know it as the Oxford comma, because it is a stylistic point used by the Oxford University Press.

Which brings me to the great example mentioned on Twitter this morning. Here is a sentence that has a list and does not have a comma before the word 'and':

"I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis and JK Rowling."

Reading this sentence as it is, it suggests that this author is the love child of Martin Amis and JK Rowling! Now, I'm sure this isn't the case ... Martin Amis and JK Rowling may never have even met ... but this sentence, as it stands, tells us that this book is dedicated to two people.

To clarify the sentence, we need to insert the Oxford comma, before the word 'and', like so:

"I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis, and JK Rowling."

Suddenly, all becomes clearer! Instead of dedicating the book to two people (Martin Amis and JK Rowling), the book is now dedicated to four people (Martin Amis, JK Rowling and both of the author's parents). The Oxford comma may break the rule that I was always taught at school, but it clarifies the sentence, which is what all good punctuation should do.

A comma may only be a small squiggle of ink, but sometimes, it's an important squiggle!

Good luck!

Make The Most Of Opportunities ... Before They Disappear!

2010-09-20T09:30:00.106+01:00

So, there I was, last Thursday, with a magazine editor sitting on my sofa, drinking a coffee I'd made him five minutes earlier, when he flabbergasted me. It had nothing to do with a decision he was making - but the reason he was making it.

Inside the back page of his monthly magazine was a sunny/cloudy column. Somebody would write a 300-word pessimistic outlook on life, and then someone else would counteract this with a 300-word optimistic version.

At the bottom of the page was his call for submissions - he asked writers to submit something suitable for one of the 300 word slots (either a pessimistic outlook, or an optimistic one) and someone from the editorial team would write the other pessimistic/optimistic angle. I had my piece published in the March issue. So what was it that the editor said that flabbergasted me?

How many freelance submissions do you think he'd received during the two year period (that's 24 issues)?

1,000?
800?
392?
89?

No. The answer was none of those. In two years, all he had received were four submissions. Four. FOUR! And one of those was mine, whilst another was from a friend in my writers' group.

No wonder he was dropping the column. He was fed up of having to write it himself each month!

So the message is, don't dismiss any writing opportunity. If you see an editor calling for submissions at the bottom of a page, then give it a bloody go! Write something and send it off. You don't know how grateful the editor may be! And when you've done it once, do it again. Who knows where it may lead? The editor may ask you to write more things for the magazine.

The editor sitting on my sofa believed that many writers simply assumed that hundreds of other writers were sending material in. Don't fall for that assumption. If you do, you could find that the opportunity is taken away.

Good luck.