Changing the appearance of your poem or short story can enhance that affect. Change the font – if you tend to use Ariel it can be quite startling to see your words in Times New Roman. Courier has the appearance of an old fashioned typewriter and will give your manuscript an instant 1960s make over. Short story writers can also alter the page format. Change the paper from portrait to landscape and insert two columns – it will now look like a page from a book.

Next read your entry aloud. Any phrase you stumble over needs revision – it’s a sure sign that something isn’t working.

Also ask yourself if the story really hangs together. What do your character (s) want and how do they try to get it? Do they succeed?

Are there too many minor characters? Are they all absolutely necessary to the plot?

Read more of my advice HERE in the last of my articles as writer in residence of the Hystrectomy Association.

You may want to catch up on my earlier articles:

What Poets Shouldn’t Do

Five Flash Fiction Tips

How to Write A Short Story

Why Entering Competitions is Good for Writers

It’s later than you think….