Welcome…

Dear Reader Where do you write? Are you one of those

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Ingenious demises, character motivations and endings in sight are all part of this month’s world of writing, as Derek Hudson discovers

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We want to hear your news and views on the writing world, your advice for fellow writers – and don’t forget to tell us what you would like to see featured in a future issue…

Helpline

Diana Cambridge solves your writing problems

Editorial calendar

Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance submissions. Here are some themes to consider for the coming months.

Novel Ideas

Life can get in the way but words will find a way out, says Lynne Hackles

Keep an eye out

Look out for things that could enliven your travel writing, advises Patrick Forsyth

WRITERS’ VOICE: CLARIFYING copyright

Be clear about what copyright is and how assigning it could affect you with advice from the Society of Authors’ Nicola Solomon

On Writing

Tony Rossiter explores great words from great writers

From the OTHE SIDE R OF THE DESK

Literary agent Piers Blofeld knows where all the ‘invisible’ working class writers are – at the top of the bestseller lists

ASK A LITERARY CONSULTANT

After the London Book Fair, Helen Corner Bryant responds to queries about what agents are looking for right now

Clean & polish

Jane Wenham-Jones encourages a writer with five books under her belt to overcome her fear of the editing process

BEHIND THE TAPE

Expert advice to get the details right in your crime fiction, from serving police officer Lisa Cutts

Research without

Tarja Moles explains how to research online without worrying about privacy issues

Definite article

Want to get into magazine writing? Kerrie Flanagan lists the top ten things you need to know to make a success of article writing

Go your own way

Continuing from last month, Alex Davis shares insider advice on going freelance in literature

Writing tandem

If two heads are better than one, Simon Whaley finds out if two writers are better than one.

Knitting ideas

Stuck for content ideas? Fear not, with advice from author Rachel Brimble, the solution is at your fingertips

SCREEN PRINT

How often are writers accurately portrayed on screen? From first-draft bestsellers to journalists who never file copy, not that often, but Michael Renouf picks some that are closer to reality.

Time to make time

What are you going to give up to write? Helen Yendall looks at solutions for people who say they don’t have enough time to write

The A to Z of a writing shed

For many of us, a writing shed is a pipe dream. Louise Tondeur made hers a reality, and offers practical advice for would-be shed scribes

Away from your desk

Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and places to visit

The disgruntled diva

Lorraine Mace is getting hacked off with someone else getting the credit for her words

Band on the page

Taylor Jenkins-Reid mimics music journalism to tell an unconventional and wholly convincing rock’n’roll story in her new novel.Tina Jackson learns how she pieced it together

How I got published NICKI THORNTON

The debut author tells Dolores Gordon Smith how her novel, The Last Chance Hotel, won the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition in 2016.

The style & technique of JULIAN BARNES

Tony Rossiter examines a writer who believes that fiction can be more truthful than journalism

VANESSA SAVAGE

The debut thriller writer shares her top five reads with Judith Spelman

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether you need new members, have an event to publicise or to suggest tips for other groups, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing Magazine and would like to feature here, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

LUKE TURNER

The author talks to Margaret James about exploring forests and sexuality in his acclaimed memoir

WRITERS’ NEWS

Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets, opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news.

It’s a Funny Old World

Weird book titles continue to raise smiles, although

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Unusual suggestions wanted

UK SMALL PRESS MARKET

Welsh women’s writing

Vocabulary matters

A good grasp of language is vital for writers, says Patrick Forsyth

ONLINE BUSINESS MARKET

Words wanted from women who wow

GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET

Endless chicken soup

And another thing…

‘The thing that I like about novels is that they are

ONLINE FINANCE MARKET

Save money and make money

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

JNew opportunity

GLOBAL DARK FICTION MARKET

US independent dark fantasy and horror publisher Nightscape

UK AGENT MARKET

International is the word

UK FICTION MARKET

Words wanted

UK AGENT MARKET

Agent opens doors

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

Books ‘n Pieces Magazine is published by an indie publisherfriendly

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Small and perfectly formed

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Open door at Aussie Pan Macmillan

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Georgia Review is a long established magazine with

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

At home on the road

JACQUELINE WINSPEAR

The bestselling mystery author lives in California but her mind is in wartime London, she tells Lynne Hackles

Moving on

Sometimes you put your heart and soul into a manuscript and it just doesn’t work out. Take counselling from Sophie Beal about the best ways of dealing with a writing breakdown

Upstage, downpage

Keep control of the balance of your story by taking Adrian Magson’s advice on not letting secondary characters take over

under the microscope

James McCreet puts the beginning of a reader’s novel under his forensic gaze

The end is nigh

Get past the hump and finish your novel by following Margaret’s James’s sound advice

I wish I’d known…

‘What do I wish I’d always known? It’s a great question

A pig of a PROBLEM

Make your story move along by putting obstacles in your characters’ way, with advice from Helen M Walters

I’m hooked!

In the second half of her two-parter on creating irresistible children’s fiction, Amy Sparkes looks at honing the idea

Write well

Explore the therapeutic properties of writing in these exercises from Jenny Alexander

Tom

1st place TWIST STORY COMPETITION £200

BUILDING BLOCKS

Fine-tune the words and sentences you use in this writing group exercise from Julie Phillips

The Girl with al the Books

1st place MID-STORY SENTENCE COMPETITION £100

ODES TO AUTUMN

Alison Chisholm is entranced by the winners of WM’s Autumn Poetry Competition

A poetic transformation

Alison Chisholm explores a poem that sparked the creation of a series of novels

Poetry in practice

Get young children started on poetry with Doris Corti’s advice

Poetry from A to Z

Poet Alison Chisholm reaches the conclusion of her alphabet of poetry