At the end of last month I was at the Oxford Indie Book Fair as part of Banbury Writers’ Cafe, strutting our stuff and mixing and mingling. It was a fun day out and someone even bought my book which caused both merriment and delight. It’s been ages since A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories saw the light of day and the sale did give me slight surge of energy to get on with the sequel. However, as founder and Festival Director of the South Warwickshire Literary Festival there don’t seem to be enough minutes in a day to actually get round to it. So I thought I’d do a little blog instead. Well, y’know… displacement activity and all that…
My first collection of short stories I self-published yonks ago amidst teenagers’ driving lessons, daily taxi trips to college, walking my neighbour’s dog, writing a novel, working part-time, attending writing courses and a myriad of other activities now all lost in time. Six years later you’d think I’d have got round to A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories pt 2 wouldn’t you. Hmm. I have to agree. But no. The work’s all there, waiting for the Big E. Yep that’s right. The Big Edit. So, obviously daunted by the fact that this was a job I really needed to do I got on and did other things instead. Live Lit Evenings. Self-Publisher’s Showcase at the Stratford Literary Festival. Reviewing. Runner-up in writing competitions. My goodness what an impressive list of excuses!
Having chastised myself over a glass of red wine and an early advent calendar – what? don’t tell me you haven’t been tempted – I decided to send myself away…from myself…and am going to a writing weekend festival at Gladstone’s Library in February. This has given me tremendous focus to spend the weekend working on my current novel with the intention of actually finishing it. As in, ending it. As in, making it complete and done with. And I’m really looking forward to it. I have my story arc, my gang of characters, I have happy and sad, I have inciting incidents and unexpected What Ifs. I have it all ready to go and this time, I’m gonna do it. I must have known when I bought the 2024 Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook that I was up to something.
So as Christmas approaches I shall go with the flow of the season, meanwhile feeling the excitement of my novel writing weekend growing, like a little bird getting bigger and bigger until it’s ready to fly.
And how about you, dear reader? Where are your writing endeavours taking you in the coming months? Leave a comment if you will, I’d love to know.
Take a look. What do you see? Nothing much? Or a giant googly-eyed monster looming out of the darkness over this fence?
Horror writing. The best is all in the detail. Or lack of it. Let the reader use their imagination, let them see things through your words. Sounds easy, right? Well we all know it’s not. How to create tension, how to get the reader hiding – metaphorically – under the bed. How how how. As a horror/ghost story lover since childhood I’ve tried so many times to write a really good ghost story. Wrote, edited, believed. Set it aside. Went back several months later and howled like the proverbial wolf man with laughter at just how awful it was. The trick, as I understand it, is to leave the reader with a feeling that either a thin trickle of cold water is dripping down their back or a merest touch from a ghostly hand has just brushed their neck. Right. I’ll get on it then. Sounds so eeeeeeasy.
What do we need?
A creepy setting. Could be a grave yard but that is sooo yesterday. Unless it’s a modern grave yard. What is a modern grave yard? (cue internet search for 21st century funerals)
Odd characters. The sort that appear unexpectedly and look just a bit…y’know… deranged in an unthreatening kind of way – until it’s too late
A mystery. Take your pick. A mystery sound. A mystery sighting. A mystery smell. A mystery person. A mystery mystery…. you get the idea.
An unexpected and clever twist. Unexpected and Clever? Jeez. Not making this easy.
A monster. Or unexplained creature. Like a googly-eyed monster leering over a fence. Just sayin.
And, I suppose, knowing what it is people are scared of these days. There’s enough ghost hunter footage out there that tells us we are still afraid of the paranormal, because now, we could say – and I’m just putting it out there – it could actually be real. Which is scarier: the ghost idea or the concept that it is real?
Or at least stand a chance. Having been the curator and administrator of several writing competitions over the last few years I understand what comp organisers mean when they ask for ‘new voices’ or ‘new ideas’ or ‘fresh perspectives’. What they are politely saying is please don’t send us any more stories on death, divorce, dementia, aged parents, losing children, losing your mind, nostalgia, what you did at school, how the old days were better and absolutely nothing that involves the wearing of rose tinted glasses. Sometimes the old adage write what you know is not necessarily a good thing. The list above is of course a list of life events but does everyone need to read about yours? Or if they do, can you write it in a different way? Can you step out of your comfort zone and write something set in the future for example? Or, if you are sci-fi writer, write an historical piece?
If you enter a lot of competitions but seem to get nowhere, there has to be a reason, right? Do you read previous winners and runner-ups? Can you see the difference in what the winner has written and your entry? Do you have a favourite piece of your own work that you enter in many comps but get nowhere with? Dare I say there has to be a reason for that. I know, brutal, and after all, one judge’s opinion is just that, their opinion – because they didn’t choose you doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t like your work, they just liked someone else’s more. But there is a good chance that it failed at the first hurdle because the subject chosen was commonplace and there could be fifteen other entries written on the same subject. Do not be so in love with your story that you can’t see its flaws.
A long time ago I read a winning short story about a wake. Oh here we go, I thought. Same old same old. But no. The setting was Belfast in the 1970s and a bomb exploded just outside where the wake was taking place. Consequently nearly all the action of the story took place from a child’s perspective as they hid from the chaos underneath the bier. The story stuck with me because I pre-judged it as being the usual death/funeral story with the usual mourners with no doubt a stereotypical end. And it wasn’t any of those. If the writer is still out there and reading this – your work worked! I can still recall it now, many years later.
I’ve entered a few competitions in the last few months and not reached any longlists, let alone short lists. But it always serves as a good shake to my writing. Simply, write better! I know what I must do.
Tips!
1. Always read previous winners. How many include the life events mentioned earlier? If none, and yours does, maybe think twice before sending it in.
2. Buy anthologies – good ones. Professional writers’ groups and small publishers will print their winning collections and they are a good place to start.
3. Spare a thought for the organisers, readers and judges receiving your work. They are not therapists! Yes, your work can be emotive, but don’t slip into self-indulgence or melancholy.
4. Choose a subject different from your usual choice. Used to be a teacher so feel compelled to write a school-based story? Or a dentist, just itching to write about customers and their teeth? Stand back, take a deep breath, and walk the other way.
5. Ask for beta readers. Ask me, if you like!
6. Here’s a prompt for you: You are in Peru. You see a small artefact on the ground and pick it up. What happens next? 800-1000 words; no life events!
A few blogs back I wrote about being inspired by art. Well, with that in mind, I painted this picture to give vent to my lack of artistic talent. Like it? Not bad is it. I like the way the lines all merge together in a conclusion of colour that burst from the screen.
Confession time.
It’s a photo. It’s a photo of the sky and some plants taken through a wibbly wobbly window but it looks ok doesn’t it! Think you’re looking at one thing, but really you’re looking at another. That’s the trick. Now turn that into clever writing.
What do I mean by clever writing? What even is that?! Do I even know?
I guess I mean presenting the reader at the beginning with what they think is one thing but by the time they get to the end realise it’s a different thing altogether – but in a good way. Isn’t that what they call a Twist? Or Plot? Or maybe even a Plot Twist?
So here’re a few tips for you, should be you interested. Just my thoughts and observations… nothing too taxing. Let me know if you agree…or not
Do your research then write like you haven’t. Eh? Wha..? As in, make your story so natural that your readers are drawn in straight away, without any time to argue the toss or disagree with what you’ve written. Make sure you know what you’re writing about in terms of exposition, especially in historic fiction.
Writing science fiction? Make your new world as relatable as this old one and your readers will be there from the get-go. With time and good pacing of chapters you can unfold your new world without anyone really noticing and then bam – they’re residents of your new world without even booking a removal van.
Without doubt clever dialogue is the way forward. What is clever dialogue? Is it what you hear all around, every day? Or is it well structured, over-long and completely unlikely? Do we speak now as Mr Darcy spoke then? Be brief. Be bright. Be Clever. If in doubt, chuck it out.
Nab yourself a clever idea which will grow into your story giving rise to a great plot. Clever idea huh? Well excuse me while I just pop down to the clever plot shop. Simple’s always best. Make it too complicated – too many brush strokes – and you’ll lose your reader. Say for example you’re writing a cli-fi, how about the seas suddenly freezing over rather than warming up? Oh Contraire I hear you gasp. It’s a 180 to the current crisis, so why not?
Characters always help in a story, don’t you think? Making them mad a genius or an astronaut lost in space s a bit too clever – you’d have to know a lot about geniuses or space to pull that one off effectively. Nah, go clever. Writing crime? Police procedure? Let’s have no more of the grizzled-nearly-sacked-maverick-cop with a penchant for late night whiskey, but something cleverer. A deaf detective? Could be interesting.
Develop a good support cast. Could be a horse. Could be a kid. Could be an older gent or lady with a secret past. Make your support characters shine.
Read. Read other authors; work out why you like what they write. Read authors you’ve never heard of in genres you’d never normally consider. Give it a go, and be clever about it. Obvs.
Fancy having a go? Writing comps are a great way to hone your work, use a different voice, try something new, test yourself – 100 word flash anyone?! I’ve rounded up a few here for your delectation. Don’t forget to check the rules – some won’t take stuff already published online for example – and go for it. Everyone loves to win!
Closing on June 30th is the South Warwickshire Creative Writing Competition Only £3 to enter with a £50 prize in each category, they’re looking for 800 words of fiction, creative non-fiction or 40 lines of poetry, all genres accepted. Still time to get your entry in.
Here’s a free comp to enter, closing date also 30th June. The annual Writers College Short Story Competition is held to acknowledge excellence in creative writing in the short story form. The competition is open to any writer who is unpublished, or has been published fewer than four times. The competition is open the writers just beginning their writing journey. The 2023 theme is ‘Words Have Consequences.’
The Creative Ink Writing Short Story Competition 2023 is open to writers across the globe until July 31st 2023 at 4pm (GMT). Stories do not need to follow any particular theme or genre, but must be written in English. Maximum word count is 3000 words. 1st prize: £1000, plus a free creative writing course of the winner’s choice and publication on their site. 2 runners-up: £200 each. Entry fee: £9.
If you like a bit of flash, try Free Flash Fiction Write, edit and submit by 10 pm Friday 23rd June 2023 a flash fiction piece of between 100 and 300 words, on any theme. 1x Winner will receive £150.00 and publication, 2x Highly Commended will receive £30.00 and publication, 2x Shortlisted will receive £20.00 and publication £3.75 fee per entry/story via PayPal or Stripe, £2.25 fee per entry/story via BACS (click here) (UK Bank accounts only ).
Here’s something a little unusual, or maybe not. If you like witches, then this one’s for you. A Coven of Witches is the next anthology from West Avenue Publishing and this is your chance to have your work included. All submissions must include witches, or a witch, as the main theme of the piece. Each author may submit up to three pieces for consideration. They accept short stories of up to 5,000 words and poetry of any length. Please email your submission as a Word document to westavenuepublishing@outlook.com Submissions will close at midnight GMT on the 30th of June 2023. The list of successful authors will be published on their website no later than 31st of July 2023, so please do keep an eye out. Successful writers will receive a one off payment of £10. Writers will retain all copyrights for their submission/s.
Jacci Gooding, Author 
You must be logged in to post a comment.