Narrative

Making sure every thing in a piece of writing is connected and possesses internal logic and flow is vital if you want to engage readers, argues James McCreet

GOOD haunting

As his new collection of ghost stories is published, author Adam Macqueen talks about his take on supernatural fiction and offers intriguing tips to get you writing your own spooky stories in the run-up to Halloween

Immaculate rejection

Every writer has to face rejection at some point – and it always stings. Novelist Julie Shackman offers advice, taken from her own experience, on how to overcome rejection and use it to work towards getting your writing published

GETTING THE FEAR

Debut novelist Raghav Rao describes his experience of pre-publication terrors – and offers coping strategies for fellow writers in a similar position

WRITING EVERYDAY VOICES

Draw on your background and experience to create authentic characters whose voices ring true, advises author K.L. Slater, whose own YA books and psychological thrillers are informed by her working class background

Skeleton keys

As the latest Kay Scarpetta novel is published, Patricia Cornwell, queen of forensic crime writing, talks to Tina Jackson about dead bodies, extreme research, and the possibilities of other life-forms

DEAR READER

Do you find that various times of year

REAL LIFE, great stories

Use your lived experience to make a point in a personal essay with advice from Jenny Alexander

Your writing critiqued

James McCreet applies a forensic micro-critique to the beginning of a reader’s dystopian novel

THE BUILDING BLOCK OF CHARACTER: PART FIVE

Give your stories more depth and resonance by creating rounded antagonists, advises author and tutor Ian Ayris

Stage ghosts

Edward Carey describes how the beginning of his latest novel evolved with the idea of going to the theatre in a pandemic

ACE TRIBUTE

Alison Chisholm enjoys a poem about tennis star Roger Federer that takes an unlikely turn

Playing with the past

Margaret James looks at the timeless draw of reading, and writing, historical fiction

5 Five quick questions

1. When and where did your journey as

Why are you like that?

Look beyond character flaws to discover motivation, says Helen Walters, with an example story by Edith Wharton

OWN VOICES

Amy Sparkes talks to to children’s authors about the importance of writing stories that reflect their lived experience

Planet B

The urgent implications of climate change give an edge to writing sci-fi. Alex Davis looks at the vital questions involved in finding ‘another Earth’ in science-fiction

DANN MCDORMAN

The post-modern mystery author tells Lynne Hackles about following the fun, and trying to remember the great ideas he gets when he goes running

HELEN HECKETY

The writer and performer describes how she wanted her debut to represent a realistic disabled person like her

SHELF LIFE

NICK TRIPLOW

TIMOTHY JANOVSKY

The author talks to Margaret James about how his contemporary queer romances tell diverse love stories that take in aspects of modern life from mental health issues to online dating

Arresting developments

Characters can surprise you when you least expect it, says Lynne Hackles

The world of writing

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

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: YOUR WRITING Pick an emotion

Pick and emotion, we asked, and the WM

Subscribers’ news

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

Get the write idea

Explore the narrative potential of specific items and objects in these creative writing exercises

Tea With Garibaldi

Fred Johnson lives in Darlington and has been writing, on and off, for twenty years. He has had stories published in the Harvey Duckman SF/Fantasy series and in several anthologies, and is always aiming to get that novel finished. He enjoys pottering around the garden and playing his guitar – where he’s an expert at the Writer’s Block Blues.

Suncatcher IV

Dominic Bell is a former oil rig worker

SELF PUBLISHING SUCCESS

Simon Whaley chats to three first-time authors about their self-publishing experiences

MOOC learning

Find out how a massive open online course can help you with your research with advice from Tarja Moles

Behind the tape

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

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

How are you?

Linking health and travel gives lots to write about, says Patrick Forsyth

A worthy antagonist

Your protagonist’s opponent is key to creating the tension in your novel, advises Cornerstones’ Monica Chakraverty

GENERAL NEWS

The Aldiss Award Named after the late British

PODCAST MARKET

New writing centre north New Writing North is

FICTION COMPETITIONS

The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2024 The free-entry

ANTHOLOGY MARKETS

Rowan Prose Rowan Prose will be publishing two

INDEPENDENT PRESSES

Creature Publishing Creature Publishing is a Brooklyn-based US

LITMAGS INVITING SUBMISSIONS

Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores Now approaching its

NATURE WRITING COMPETITION

The Solstice Prize 2024 The contest is for

NOVEL COMPETITION

2024 Blue Pencil Agency Pitch Prize The 2024

SHORT STORY COMPETITIONS

ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award 2024 The ALCS Tom-Gallon

SMALL PRESSES

Port Crow Press Port Crow Press is a

Be prepared

Be ready to make the most of unexpected opportunities, says Patrick Forsyth

NON-FICTION OPPORTUNITIES

Naval History Naval History is a bimonthly

POETRY COMPETITIONS

Poem: 99 2024 Poem 99 is a competition