Writing Magazine

Published by Warners Group Publications plc West Street,

DEAR READER

Whoever we are, and whatever we write, we

A sense of PLACE

Leo Vardiashvili moved to the UK as a refugee from civil war-torn Georgia when he was 12. His acclaimed debut novel, Hard by a Great Forest, vividly evokes memories of a bygone Tbilisi. Here, he sets out methods of conjuring place that you can apply to your own locations and settings

WRITING FROM THE WOUND

Writing from personal experience is rightly valued, but there are pitfalls. Are you trading your fear, pain, and suffering for commissions, comments, and shares? Greta Solomon explores the minefields inherent in personal writing is easy,’ wrote Ernest Hemmingway. ‘You simply cut yourself open and bleed onto the page.’

Even ghosts die

What does a ghostwriter do? Ghostwriter Joy Hindle outlines what it’s like to be a ghost, what the job of inhabiting someone else’s story involves, and whether the ghosts will sur vive the progression of AI

Novel Ideas

In it for the money, honey

The world of writing

What goes through a writer’s brain? Readers’ letters and dispatches from the wide world of writing

Subscribers’ news

To feature in Subscribers’ News contact: tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

Criminal minds

Set the crime scene with yout writing group in these exercises from Julie Phillips

Get the write idea

Explore the creative writing potential in various set-ups in these exercises to try right now

TOP TERZA RIMAS

Alison Chisholm is impressed by the two very different approaches to the form that won WM’s Terza Rima Poetry Competition

He Looked After The Fish

OPEN SHORT STORY 500 WORDS WINNER

Break or be Broken

Rebecca Klassen is co-editor of The Phare. Her

COMPETITION LAUNCHES

Writing Competitions, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications Ltd, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH

READING THE SIGNS

Photo by Rii Schroer Sarah Marsh talks about using her experience of exploring her relationship with voice and language as a Deaf writer in her debut novel A Sign of Her Own

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: YOUR WRITING NEW BEGINNING

The Spotlight page got off to a great

Act of GENIUS

Daisy Goodwin talks to Tina Jackson about bringing opera icon Maria Callas to life in her glorious new novel, Diva

Your writing critiqued

James McCreet applies his forensic criticism to the beginning of a reader’s manuscript

THE FIRST BUILDING BLOCK:STRUCTURE, PLOT AND STORY

The middles of your stories need never be soggy again if you follow the advice of author and tutor Ian Ayris on using plot points to progress the line of tension in your narrative

REAL LIFE, great stories

The first of a new regular column on creative non-fiction with Jenny Alexander

Linked lives

International bestseller Carmel Harrington describes setting the scene for her sweeping new generational saga, The Girl from Donegal

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Alison Chisholm is delighted with a comic poem written in short creative bursts

MURDEROUS INTENT

Does someone get killed in your work-in-progress? Margaret James looks at different kinds of novels in the murder genre, and when we should care about the victim

Five quick questions 5

1. When and where did your journey as

Short story CLINIC

Helen Walters helps you diagnose what’s wrong with your short fiction, with an example story by William Carlos Williams

WINNERS TAKE ALL!

Amy Sparkes talks to the top three prize-winners of the Writing Magazine Chapter Book Prize about their winning entries

Fish Publishing

www.fishpublishing.com

Sensory OVERLOAD

Deepen the fear factor by using sensor y effects in your stories, with this advice on applying the five senses in horror fiction from Alex Davis

CLAIRE COUGHLAN

A lot of work went into creating the book that landed the debut Irish crime writer her major publishing deal

SHELF LIFE

GREGG HURWITZ

CLARE MACKINTOSH

Lynne Hackles talks to the bestselling crime writer, whose latest book is a work of non-fiction about coming through grief

BUSINESS BANKING

Business bank accounts are not just for multi-national companies. There are benefits for writers too, as Simon Whaley explains

Migration

Tarja Moles offers advice for writers wanting to know more about the movement of people from their place of origin

Behind the tape

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

HANNAH SCHOFIELD

Simon Whaley caught up with romance-loving Hannah Schofield after she won the Romantic Novelist Association’s Agent of the Year award for the second year running.

GET PUBLISHED

You’ve read the advice – now get into print! Find the most up-to-date calls for submissions, writing competitions to enter and publishing opportunities to suit you and your writing in our easy-to-navigate news pages

Book in to Book Fair?

As the publishing industry’s annual showcase looms, Cornerstones’ Monica Chakraverty runs through what an author could take from a visit to the London Book Fair

INDIE MAGS AND WEBSITES

Redivider Redivider is the biannual online journal put

ANTHOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES

Idea generation Independent US speculative fiction publisher Air

DEVELOPMENT COMPETITIONS

Creative Future Writers’ Award 2024 The theme for

FICTION OPPORTUNITIES

Several imprints with this publisher

WRITING FOR CHILDREN OPPORTUNITIES

Fun for children Award winning children’s magazine Aquila

LITMAG OPPORTUNITIES

Philosophy and ethics in conversation Short stories where

INDIE MAGS AND WEBSITES

Cult Cult wants ‘the weird, the risk-taking: the

NON-FICTION SUBMISSIONS

The Fitzcarraldo Editions/Mahler & Lewitt Studios Essay Prize

SCRIPTWRITING OPPORTUNITIES

Prize for LGBTQ+ playscripts The Carlo Annoni International

NOVEL COMPETITIONS

Sapere Books Competition 2024 Win a five-book publishing

Find a niche

Being, or becoming, an expert can be a route to (repeated) publication , says Patrick Forsyth

POETRY COMPETITIONS

The E.H.P. Barnard Spring Poetry Prize 2024 The

Little darlings?

When children travel, they provide many an oppor tunity for the writer, says Patrick Forsyth

SMALL PRESS OPPORTUNITIES

Autonomous Press Autonomous Press are determinedly niche, publishing

SHORT STORY COMPETITIONS

Fowey Festival Short Story Competition 2024 The annual

SHORT FIC AND POETRY COMPS

The Mairtín Crawford Awards 2024

TAKING TURNS TO BE TOP DOG?

The relationship between the author and the publisher’s marketing department needs to be handled with care, says literary agent Piers Blofeld