AU
  
You are currently viewing the Australia version of the site.
Would you like to switch to your local site?
13 MIN READ TIME

A question of time

The writer Paul Theroux is as well known for his travel writing as he is for his novels, though in his latest publication, a book of essays with the title Figures in a Landscape, he describes himself as ‘semi well-known’ – surely an understatement.

To be fair this is in context of recommending making journeys about which you hope to gather material as anonymously as possible lest you influence events around you and interactions with others along the way. He describes this as his way of doing things.

Read the complete article and many more in this issue of Writing Magazine
Purchase options below
If you own the issue, Login to read the full article now.
Single Digital Issue October 2019
 
$9.99 / issue
This issue and other back issues are not included in a new subscription. Subscriptions include the latest regular issue and new issues released during your subscription. Writing Magazine
Annual Digital Subscription $77.99 billed annually
Save
35%
$6.50 / issue
Monthly Digital Subscription $7.99 billed monthly
Save
20%
$7.99 / issue
Monthly Digital Subscription $9.99 billed monthly
$9.99 / issue

This article is from...


View Issues
Writing Magazine
October 2019
VIEW IN STORE

Other Articles in this Issue


Writing Magazine
Welcome…
This is always a busy month in the WM office. And not
REGULARS
THE WORLD OF WRITING
Derek Hudson finds brain food, writer workouts, author insecurities and a literary treasure trove in this month’s world of writing
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We want to hear your news and views on the writing
Editorial calendar
Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance submissions. Here are some themes to consider for the coming months
By any other name…
Patrick Forsyth suggests that author ego may lose you sales
Novel Ideas
Think writing has an age limit? Lynne Hackles takes
ASK THE EXPERTS
Social minefield
Charlotte Murphy, trainee solicitor, and Éamon Chawke, partner at Briffa, The Society of Authors’ solicitors, offer some advice on social media for writers
THE DEVIL is in the detail
Piers Blofeld offers a word of warning to authors about the dangers of dealing with a difficult agent
Ask a Literary Consultant
How do you write characters whose lives and experiences differ from your own? Cornerstones managing editor Julie Gourinchas advises a writer wanting to proceed with sensitivity
Screen dreams
Jane Wenham-Jones finds practical suggestions for a writer who is tempted to try TV screenplays but realistic about the chance of succeeding in such a competitive industry
Helpline
Diana Cambridge solves your writing problems
Resources for poetry writers
Tarja Moles looks at what’s out there for poets wanting to research and develop their skills
BEHIND THE TAPE
Expert advice to get the details right in your crime fiction, from serving police officer Lisa Cutts
CREATIVE WRITING
SETTING OUT: The first chapter
Author James McCreet looks at the most important part of the novel (for readers)
Every chapter tells a story
Adrian Magson looks at how chapters help writers shape and structure their story
Under the Microscope
James McCreet applies his forensic criticism to the beginning of a young writer’s YA novel
Creative tention
A good storyteller piles on the pressure to keep readers hooked, says Margaret James
I wish I’d known…
with Sue Moorcroft
Memories are made of this
Helen M Walters uses a short story by Katherine Mansfield to explore how conflicting memories can add layers to your fiction
How not to WRITE A PICTURE BOOK
Amy Sparkes launches WM’s Picture Book Prize by telling you the mistakes not to make
Transcending time
YA author Adrienne Young explains the enduring appeal of fantasy to readers (and writers!) of all ages
TO BOLDLY GO BY THE RULES
Alex Davis offers his top ten tips for writing science fiction
WRITING LIFE
Block busters
Worry that you might be suffering from the dreaded writer’s block? Banish fear with fun in these exercises from Alex Smith
Gadgetise your writing
Hone your skills and pocket some swag by targeting filler slots in mags that interest you, as Simon Elson explains
Blessings in disguise
KH Irvine describes how losing her agent turned out to be a good thing
Under the covers
First-time author Gillian Harvey counts down to her publication
Away from your desk
Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and places to visit
Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3
Listen carefully. The future is aural. Simon Whaley hears what two authors have to say about audiobooks.
One door closes…
Lorraine Mace encourages any writer feeling as if the door to success has been slammed in their face
INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES
TRUNK’S CALL
Baby Ganesh Agency author Vaseem Khan learnt discipline, craft and patience during a 23-year ‘apprenticeship’, he tells Tina Jackson
HOW I got published
The YA author describes how using editorial services helped him draft and structure a publishable debut
HANIF KUREISHI
Tony Rossiter looks at the bestselling author who put British Asian writing firmly on the map
ADELE PARKS
The prolific bestselling novelist shares her top five reads with Judith Spelman
CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP
If your writing group would like to feature here, whether
SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT
Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe
ANITA FRANK
Living in a haunted farmhouse inspired a ghostly debut, says Adrian Magson
ANDREW CROFTS
The ghostwriter tells Lynne Hackles how he stays close to home to write
COMPETITIONS AND EXERCISES
Seasonal greetings
Embrace the turning seasons with these creative writing exercises from Jenny Alexander
Linda’s Demons
Linda slouched under the harsh fluorescent light, her
Branching out
Flesh out your fictional characters by giving them a family tree in this writing group exercise from Julie Phillips
POETRY
Opposites attract
Alison Chisholm explores an exceptional poem that resulted from the challenge of a themed competition
Poetry in practice
Play with rhyming couplets to give yourself a change of pace, suggests Doris Corti
We wish you…
Alison Chisholm launches WM’s Christmas Poetry Competition
Genius poetry
Alison Chisholm is impressed with the winners of the competition for works celebrating Leonardo da Vinci
WRITERS’ NEWS
Rewarding literary talent
Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying
Koontz goes with the flow
In an illustration of the way Amazon is changing the
Quick flash
The Edinburgh International Flash Fiction Award 2020
A compelling episode
Win $10,000 for a pilot episode script for a drama
UK MAGAZINE MARKET
A weekly feel-good fixture
Championing collections
The 2019 Edge Hill Short Story Prize shortlist has
Crime time or screen time?
Crime and thriller festival Capital Crime has conducted
FLASHES
Delicious. magazine editor Karen Barnes welcomes letters
GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET
Keen for pitches and ideas for future issues from journalists
Fantasy winners
The nominations for World Fantasy Award Best Novel
Brave weirdos here
A print and online literary and arts biannual, American
Seasonal strangeness
Enter odd, strange and downright peculiar short seasonal
Keep it short
Past winners of the international Short Story Competition
ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET
Longreads is a US-based website dedicated to the publication
Give your writing a scifitrip
Original previously unpublished submissions are wanted
It’s a Funny Old World
Belgian writer Georges Simenon (1903-1989) the author
FLASHES
First prize is €2,000 and a residency at the Tyrone
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
A magazine to break into
GLOBAL FICTION MARKET
Get to know Tiny Fox
Enlist
Lists on the themes of nature, travel, lifestyle and
US LITERARY MARKET
A destination to aim for
Centre stage for over 55s
An unproduced writer over 55 based in NW England could
Contemplate space
Lichfield Cathedral Poetry Festival is inviting entries
FLASHES
Prizes are €300 for both poetry and flash fiction in
GLOBAL LITERARY MARK
Land your story
Debut snags top UK SF prize
Tade Thompson has won the 33rd Arthur C Clarke Award
An island of possibility for new northern crime writers
Crime author LJ Ross, who recently simultaneously topped
Great poems for Gregory O’Donoghue
Munster Literature Centre is inviting entries for the
UK NON-FICTION MARKET
Ferret looking for newshounds
MA creative writing
The Massachusetts Review has a reputation for literary
Do it for Dylan
Indigo Dreams’ forthcoming anthology invites poems
And another thing…
‘There’s a big office upstairs with a nice view of
FLASHES
David Hollingsworth is the editor of What’s On TV magazine.
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
Dip in to Blue Nib
Small but beautiful
A small independent publisher based in Manchester,
GLOBAL POETRY MARKET
Red Dashboard is a quirky US indie publishing ‘intriguing
INTRODUCTIONS
Writing Magazine presents a selection of football magazines currently accepting contributions. We strongly recommend that you read back issues, familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites for submission details.
Get going with Gransnet
Gransnet and Harper Collins imprint HQ have teamed
UK LITERARY MARKET
Let your writing hop here
FLASHES
Fergus Collins edits BBC Countryfile magazine, and
GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET
Inspiring young minds
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
Reach for the top
Library loans
Public Lending Right’s annual figures show the most
UK WELLBEING MARKET
Making sense of mental health
FLASHES
Garry Coward- Williams edits Amateur Gardening magazine
ONLINE TECHNOLOGY MARKET
Real Life is a website devoted to essays about living
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
Get a Slice of the action
Cherry seeds
Cherry Tree is a literary annual put together by this
Get graphic for
Win £1,000 and publication in the Observer/Jonathan
INTERNATIONAL
Sword & Kettle Press publish ‘Corvid Queen’ their
FLASHES
Jessica Gunn is the editor of Waitrose & Partners
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
An internationally acclaimed literary journal publishing
GLOBAL BOOK MARKET
Turner Publishing Company is an award-winning US independent
Don’t delay your Dalkey entries
Win €1,000 in the Dalkey Creates Writing Festival international
Press seeks poems for prizes
Win a top prize of $5,000 for an unpublished poetry
UK MAGAZINE MARKET
Practical Boat Owner is a magazine aimed at real boat
Get your shorts down for Southport
Southport Writers’ Circle is inviting entries for the
FLASHES
‘A literary journal from another dimension’, Outlook
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
Submissions are open for the annual Upstreet magazine
GLOBAL FICTION MARKET
City Owl Press is a US print and digital indie founded
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
Zyzzyva is a well established American literary journal
UK FICTION MARKET
Fairlight Books publishes literary fiction and cross-genre
ONLINE ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET
Wild Lot Press is a website, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
COMPETITION GUIDE2020
Welcome…
Regular WM readers might remember that we introduced
Open competitions
Fill your inkwells and dive into your creative well with a sneak peek at our competition programme for the first six months of 2020
SUBSCRIBER–ONLY Short story competitions
The short story competitions previewed here are open
COMPETITION GUIDE 2020
Pick your favourites and start scheduling your entries with over 660 competitions to enter. Could this be the year you win big!
Young love vs
Swanwick winner Poetry winner
Olly’s Monster Night
Swanwick winner Writing for children
The Heart That Was Left In the Wardrobe
Swanwick winner Short story
Chat
X
Pocketmags Support