Life after 2020 – the theme of an international short story competition
What will the future bring? How will we respond to climate change? What does the Higgs-Boson mean to you? Are robots more than vacuum cleaners? Will death be conquered? I’ve … Continue reading
10 rules for writing a synopsis
I’m away for a few days so here is something from a year ago which I think is still interesting – synopsis training. The agent Carole Blake, author of From … Continue reading
If you want to write a dystopia start with this map…
This fictional map shows what the British Isles might look like in 2100 if sea levels rise and are 100 meters higher than they were in 2000. The artist/cartographer Jay … Continue reading
My Writing Process – Blog Tour
First of all, a big thank you to Laura Wilkinson for suggesting that I take part in this tour. Laura writes two very different types of fiction – erotic romance … Continue reading
Time Traveling With A Pen — memories and memoirs
I’m not here right now. I’m over on Kathy Pooler’s fascinating blog Memoir Writer’s Journey posting about how to locate memories and use the techniques of creative writing to write … Continue reading
Write a gritty, urban novella for 18 to 24 year olds about modern Britain – SALT are calling for submissions
SALT is an innovative and independent publisher celebrating 15 years in the business with a new experiment in fiction. Books for their Modern Fiction list will appear as ebooks only … Continue reading
How Poetry is Made
So, that’s how it is done… A wonderful new year card from Pighog, the award winning independent publishers.
What are you doing today? Isabel Allende does the same thing on this day every year
“I start all my books on January eighth. Can you imagine January seventh? It’s hell. Every year on January seventh, I prepare my physical space. I clean up everything from … Continue reading
The most popular posts of 2013 were about publishing opportunities, the Nobel Prize and a rather misleading X rated story…
Looking back at the last 12 months, a strong theme emerges. The most popular posts were ones that gave information on submissions and competitions (especially free ones) and those that … Continue reading
GUEST POST – THE ROUTE TO PUBLICATION James Christie author of Dear Miss Landau on making the impossible come true
I am very happy on the first day of 2014 to turn my blog over to James Christie. His route to publishing Dear Miss Landau, his first book, was a … Continue reading
Why writers need to have empathy
Just before Christmas Sarah Rayner, author of five novels including the international bestseller One Moment One Morning pointed me in the direction of this excellent short film that dissects the … Continue reading
International Writers in Residence Program where you get to keep the house
This is the most exciting and original literary project I’ve ever heard of and its aim is to heal a broken city. Detroit – home of Motown, Hip Hop, and … Continue reading
International Writing Competition about Australia
The Stringybark Short Story Award 2013 is now open. They accept every genre — the only catch is that your story must have some link to Australia. Length: maximum 1500 … Continue reading
Do Writers need Creative Writing Exercises?
You won’t be surprised that I am going to say yes to that question as I’ve just produced a book of 30 exercises, BACK TO CREATIVE WRITING SCHOOL, but what … Continue reading
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 