Feel I should be writing a poem or something.

But as I’m not I thought I might have a go at this:

A Fiction Desk comp about gardens

Exploring our theme of ‘gardens’…

Until the end of July, we’re looking for short stories on a theme of ‘gardens’:

“Private gardens, public gardens, or shared gardens. The neighbour’s garden, or gardens of the rich and famous. Secret gardens, exotic gardens, well-kept gardens, forgotten gardens, haunted gardens, dangerous gardens, gardens of the past or of the future. What do they mean to us? How do we use them – or not use them? What might happen in them – or not happen?”

Indeed – what might happen in them. It must be the weird in me but my first thought was of course burying the body under the patio, then I thought ‘perhaps I should write a really moving poem about all our old dead pets buried in the Cat Cemetery (aka the shady border)’ and then I got all teary remembering all those tails and whiskers and had to stop for a cup of coffee and some toast. You know how it is. Lockdown Lunacy.

So. Gardens it is.

https://www.thefictiondesk.com/submissions/garden-stories.php
This little fella’s up for it…

see – just too many legs…

                  ..and don’t even mention those eyes..

That’s it, really.

Strange days.

 

 

Who’s to know? What will the next fashion in writing be? As writers, alone with our keyboards and our thoughts, it can get demoralising when we’re receiving decline after decline ‘…not what we’re looking for at the moment…’ ‘…not on our current list of whatevers…’ So what’s to do? Get out that great big shiny crystal ball I’d say and give it a good polish. Failing that, get on the internet and do some research or buy a trade newspaper and see what those in the know are chattering about.

Some say young adult, some say fantasy, some say non-fiction – but all signs point to audio and digital rather than an old fashioned love-it-or-hate-it paper version of your book. No doubt such changes will be driven by authors in their twenties and thirties, embracing technology in a way that older authors don’t. If you are an autonomous author you can of course continue to write your kind of novel, and you will find your audience eventually, but it can be hard work. If you are agented the hill is no less steep, and you will have helping hands along the way – but only if you’ve ticked the agent’s ‘Ah yes this is exactly what we’re looking for’ box. Slippery old eel, that just what we’re looking for idea. Checking out an agent’s website you will see that each agent gives and indication of their likes and possibly dislikes, and if you’re not writing what they like, don’t bother sending your work to them. Save yourself the misery of a no thanks. If you want to be agented, find an agent that, like you, likes crime, or horror, or romance – funnily enough you’ll stand more of a chance of them taking notice of your work. Have a look at what’s going on in the world – does your book align with any world events? I’m guessing the next five years will show a rise in dystopian After The World Ended novels, especially for young and new adult readers – and most of it will be on an audio or digital platform.  If you’re a self-publisher then you have the freedom to write what you like, but that is not a get out of jail clause for sloppy writing. Some self-published author’s work I’ve read has come across as them just talking very loudly at me, brow-beating me with what they think a good book is because that’s exactly what theirs is and am I paying attention?
There may well be an uptake in Immigration writing, words of those from war-ridden countries who have been freed from refugee camps and tell it like it is; when America has a new president we may well see a raft of political thrillers again, and not forgetting AI, fantasy and science fiction for young adult and older readers alike (according to my research) – all set to be popular in the next 24 months. Likewise Life Before The Internet is also growing in popularity for millennial readers; a hankering perhaps to experience what their parents and grandparents sometimes speak of ‘Oh yes, there were only three television channels and they went off at midnight!’ But then there were four, then five, then all-night tv, dial up phones were replaced by push button ones and a what? A mobile telephone? What even is that? Another world, eh? So fantasy and science fiction can come full circle and join hands with memoir and historical romance, if you wanted them to.

See, back where we started. Story telling.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Photo by Findaway Voices on Unsplash

Findaway Voices

On a wet and windy night last week I attended the Bedford International Writing Competition winners announcement evening at the lovely Quarry Theatre. Congratulations go to winner Torshia Seales whose short story The Longest Rope was a moving and evocative tale of loss, love, and freedom.  Judge Eleanor Dryden gave a wonderful speech on the importance of short stories and the incredible talent she’d seen displayed in all the entries. For a shortlister who didn’t quite make it to the top three, it was great to hear these words of encouragement and support from someone so experienced and knowledgeable in the publishing trade.  Other prizes up for grabs were for poetry, short story in the 17-30 age group and local Bedford prizes. Two charities, SMART, and Schoolreaders, which helps to improve childhood literacy, also benefitted from some of the competition entry fees. 

It was a great evening and if you’ve ever been shortlisted you’ll know what that buzz feels like!  This year’s competition opens on May 1^st– so if you’re reading this, absolutely go for it! I will!

Bedford Writing Comp 2020

 

In his book The Ritual of Writing, Andrew Anderson considers writing as a spiritual practice – an unusual and intriguing concept.

The more I read however, the more it makes sense to connect your writing with seasonal celebrations, with nature and your sense of place within it.  For many – even in today’s hurried and worrisome world – or maybe because of it – ritual is an important part of life. You could say that setting the clocks back in the autumn then forward again in the spring has become modern ritual, such actions inviting particular emotions within us. Clocks go back, we all grunt and groan about the winter; clocks go forward, and the simple ritual of changing the time can make us feel brighter, more optimistic, because we have been gifted more daylight. We haven’t of course, but it just feels like it. Such is the power of ritual: ‘It’s the summer!’says Anderson, ‘Time for heat waves and holidays…I find summer is the season for focusing on the here and now, for writing in the present tense.’ I fully get that – as sunlight and warmth breathe new life into the new season we feel the directness of it, and Anderson encourages us to embrace it.
However, Andrew Anderson’s book delves far deeper than how we feel when changing the clocks. He is exploring the fascinating relationship between writing and ritual within Pagan spirituality. In essence, Anderson suggests we take more account of the natural world around us, listen to the seasons, the weather, and the bird, insect, amphibian life we cannot see – ever more important
for a planet threatened as it is by over-heating, deforestation and destruction.
As a creative writing tutor Anderson offers writing tasks throughout the book – short writing exercises to help the reader approach a subject or idea from a different, more spiritual aspect. But don’t worry, if you’re not sure what that means Anderson’s clear and concise instructions will soon get you on your way and it becomes easy. This is practical and informative workbook for lay or experienced writer. It is accessible, easy to read but at the same time giving plenty of time for the reader to pause and reconsider, and perhaps take a different path. Anderson encourages you to develop your writing, go out of your comfort zone and give it a go. There are no losers, only winners, and you may find your writing improves because of it.

Each chapter is clear, informative, unusual, and Anderson is very keen to encourage the reader to read their work out loud. Much can be learned from hearing your words set free – hearing them as others would – and that is a great tool for editing. Speechwriters the world over will read and re-read their speeches out loud to ensure that their message reaches their audience in the best condition, with correct inflection, with pauses in the right places, everything mixing together to create the best prose they can. Think of the famous speeches from history – you can bet they weren’t scribbled on the back of a matchbox or quickly noted on a phone before they were set free. No, they were considered, written, read out, re-written. Anderson cannot rate this approach highly enough as a way to improve your work. And he’s right.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to make of this book when it arrived through the post, but it has been an interesting and honest way of approaching writing. Critics say never mention the weather, well…I may have to disagree. From snow (James Joyce’s The Dead) to wind (Wuthering Heights) there’s a lot to be said for embracing the rush of nature and its affect on our writing. As Anderson says,

            ‘I want to finish this book with a reminder to keep working on your writing while out and about in wild spaces. As a follower of an earth-base religion, there is no better way of honouring nature than writing whilst amongst her beauty.’
Here here, Mr. Anderson.

Published by Moon Books
£8.99