BRIDGET WHELAN writer

for writers and readers….

Take part in a poetry slam without leaving home

Pangaea Poetry, an international poetry organisation, are looking for poets from across the world to take part in their 3rd annual poetry slam in July. The competition, supported by Arts … Continue reading →

June 13, 2016 · 8 Comments

Writing theory? It’s not for writers, said William Faulkner QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)

Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would … Continue reading →

June 12, 2016 · 9 Comments

Summer Sale! Creative Writing Guide only 99p/ 99 cent

Because the sun is shining. Because I haven’t had the central heating on for, oh, at least a week. Because the days are still growing longer (northern hemisphere only). Until … Continue reading →

June 10, 2016 · Leave a comment

Writers and Olympic athletes don’t have a lot in common – Paul Theroux Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)

Notice how many of the Olympic athletes effusively thanked their mothers for their success? “She drove me to my practice at four in the morning,” etc. Writing is not figure … Continue reading →

June 5, 2016 · Leave a comment

Children’s Book Writing Competition

Gransnet – the slightly creaky older version of Mumsnet – is out to discover a new children’s author. The competition They are looking for books for  children aged between 3 … Continue reading →

June 2, 2016 · 4 Comments

Legends of the Burren

I visited the Burren many years ago – it’s an extraordinary landscape and Ali Isaac has captured both the beauty and the stories that lie just under the surface. Cromwell’s … Continue reading →

May 30, 2016 · Leave a comment

The writer’s style – Robert Frost: Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)

Style is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and what he is saying. It is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward. Robert Frost

May 29, 2016 · Leave a comment

Do we hate short stories in the UK?

You would be forgiven for thinking that’s true because very, very few collections are published by British publishers. But hold, I hear you say: I like reading short stories…(you did … Continue reading →

May 24, 2016 · 2 Comments

Graham Greene on why short stories are perfect and novels aren’t – QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)

With a novel, which takes perhaps years to write, the author is not the same man he was at the end of the book as he was at the beginning. … Continue reading →

May 22, 2016 · 1 Comment

International humour competition

In honour of the man beloved by quotation compilers, Mark Twain House and Musuem are running the third annual writing competition. You don’t have to write in the style of … Continue reading →

May 19, 2016 · 19 Comments

Jane Eyre and the Legendary Gytrash

Originally posted on Mimi Matthews:
Snarling dog from Darwin’s Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, 1872.(Image Courtesy of The Wellcome Library, CC BY 4.0.) According to Charlotte Brontë’s 1847…

May 16, 2016 · 1 Comment

Stephen King on the hardest things to put into words: Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)

The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they … Continue reading →

May 15, 2016 · 6 Comments

Short stories explode – novels smoke, says Paolo Bacigalupi Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)

Short fiction seems more targeted – hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they hit, they explode, and you never forget them. Long fiction feels more like … Continue reading →

May 8, 2016 · 2 Comments

International short story competition

Le me be frank, the prizes on offer in the Willesden Herald short story competition won’t raise your blood pressure. 1st prize is a one-off Willesden Herald mug inscribed “The … Continue reading →

May 4, 2016 · 17 Comments

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