Editing without tears

You’ve drafted a novel! Brilliant! But it’s a long way from being ready for a reader. Author James McCreet provides a systematic way to edit a finished novel or an early draft

Meet your readers!

Book PR is an essential element in getting your book in front of its readers – but how exactly does it work, and what can you do to make the most of it? As her debut novel is published, top-flight book PR Becky Hunter explains how publicity works – from the inside – and advises you how to create opportunities for exposure

WRITER’S WORKSHOP: Point of view and voice

In part three of his series on character and voice , author and creative writing tutor Ian Ayris explores how you can use point of view and voice to really inhabit your characters so they come to life on the page

KEEPING IT REAL

Author, broadcaster and fitness teacher Tina Baker talks to Tina Jackson about creating her no-holds-barred domestic thrillers, representing working class lives, the way she weaves lived experience into her writing and what it was like to embark on a Creative Writing MA in her 50s

THE WRITERS' SUMMER SCHOOL

www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk

WE WANT YOUR WRITING

(and we’ll pay you for it!)

WRITER'S NEWS

58 Anthology submissions Four anthology calls waiting for

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR WRITING

www.writersbureau.com

Improve your creative writing competition chances

Want your writing competition entries to impress judges and win prizes? Here are some helpful hints for writers with their eyes on the prize

COMPETITION GUIDE 2023

Pick your favourites and start scheduling your entries, with over 500 competitions to enter – surely something for every writer!

How to find good writing competitions

Follow this ten-point checklist from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) to avoid bad writing competitions and give yourself a winning advantage

Welcome...

Dear Reader It’s time to start planning your

MAXIMUM SENTENCE

Criminal barrister turned million-selling author Helen Fields describes what her years in court have taught her about delivering a well-paced crime stor y, and what you can learn from her experience

CATALYST FOR CHANGES

Bestselling author of female-lead fiction Lucy Diamond reveals how she retrofitted the prologue that sets up what happens in her new novel

Boundaries? What boundaries?

Writers should be prepared to take creative risks, but how far is too far when it comes to commercial fiction? Margaret James argues against playing it too safe, but recommends a measured approach.

5 Five quick5 questions

1. When and where did your journey as

TO P OF THE CROP: Picture Book Prize winners

Are you on tenterhooks to find out who came top in the Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize? This month, Amy Sparkes introduces the winners in the picture book categor y

Stories that sing

Helen M Walters explores what short story writers can learn from music , songwriters and lyrics via a short story themed round the effect of music by Willa Cather

HANNAH DOLBY

The debut author finally found the key to success when she realised that she – and her lead character – could be funny

SHELF LIFE

Laura Purcell , the author of acclaimed (and very spooky) gothic mysteries, talks us through the titles that made the most profound impression on her , and describes how she wrote her new novel, The Whispering Muse

L AUR A PURCELL

My seventh novel The Whispering Muse is set

FELIX FRANCIS

The author tells Lynne Hackles about following in his father’s footsteps as an author of horse-racing thrillers, and how he works

The world of writing

Ghostwriting, good company, making a mess... Miscellany and our readers’ news and views...

Subscribers’ news

SHARE YOUR NEWS To feature in subscribers’ news

NIGHTMARES CAN BE FUN

My second novel, Frenzy Island, was inspired by

THE LIFE OF A LANDSCAPE

LIVES AND TIMES OF SMITHILLS ESTATE SMITHILLS ESTATE

Dark deal

The dramatic North East coastline provides the inspiration

Cat tales for Currach Books

Towards the end of the first year of

Phoenix Writers

Phoenix Writers are a diverse, friendly – and

Create a writing retreat life

You want to go on a writing retreat but there just isn’t the money. Author Julia Bartz explores how to thread elements of enjoyment and community into your writing life, even if you don’t have the time or funds for an official retreat.

BEWARE the hype

Your job is to write your book, says Adrian Magson, without paying attention to the hard sell of other authors’ titles

MAKE THE SCENE

With many of us planning on attending in-real-life writing events this year, Alex Davis puts on his writing and literature events organiser hat with this guide to make the most of conventions and conferences IRL

Not first choice

Patrick Forsyth highlights a range of subsidiary potential topics

Wonderful things

Celebrate the 100th aniversar y of the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb in WM’s latest poetry competition, with advice from adjudicator Alison Chisholm

WINNER

The Scapegoat

Writing the art

Alison Chisholm reveals the winners of WM’s Ekphrastic Poetr y Competition, for poems related to an ar twork

RUNNER UP

A Plea from an Art Dealer

Those that Remain

FIRST PLACE £200 Dominic Bell is a

Occupational INJURY

Writers suffer work-related aches and pains and Gillian Harvey is tr ying to be stoic about how much it hurts

Get the write idea

How do particular circumstances shape what you write? Find out in these creative writing exercises to try right now.

FLAT PAC K FUN

This month, it’s time to get creative in a practical way, so roll up your sleeves and channel your inner engineer and builder to inspire your writing in these writing group exercises from Julie Phillips

On familiar ground

Explore a place that means something special to you –and using what you know in your work – in these creative writing exercises from Jenny Alexander

The future’s . . . not all write?

Now ChatGPT has arrived, is AI going to put us all out of a job? Gary Dalkin looks at the way recent developments in artificial intelligence might impact on writers.

PITCHING TO PODCASTS

Fancy being a guest on a podcast? Simon Whaley explores how to pitch yourself and why it can be useful marketing.

Finding freedom

Tarja Moles explains how you can use the Freedom of Information Act as a research tool

Behind the tape

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

Querying the agent

Sarah Conkerton, Assistant Editor at Cornerstones, discusses questions to ask and things to consider before signing with an agent

The Jane Martin Poetry Prize 2023

POETRY COMPETITIONS

The Welsh Poetry Competition 2023

The international Welsh Poetry Competition has a first

BOOK TO FILM

Leïla Slimani’s 2016 novel Lullaby has been adapted

The Plough Poetry Prize 2023

Now in its 20th year, the Plough Poetry

Wirral Poetry Festival Open Poetry Competition 2023

Win a £250 first prize for poems no

PHILIP K. DICK AWARD FINALISTS

The 2023 Philip K. Dick Award finalists have

NON-FICTION OPEN FOR SUBMISSION

First personal As a sub-newsletter of the free

Hard times pitches

Patrick Forsyth discusses pitching in a recession

Novel Ideas

Roll up your sleeves

PITCH PERFECT

Too many queries make themselves easy to discard. Make sure yours isn’t one of them by taking note of what Piers Blofeld has to say on attracting agent attention for the right reasons

ANTHOLOGIES INVITING SUBMISSIONS

Cohesion Press

Labyrinth Anthologies

The Labyrinth Anthologies editorial team provide ‘a queer

Rock and a Hard Place Press

Rock and a Hard Place Press call themselves

Workers Write!

The Workers Write! editorial team are seeking stories

SMALL PRESSES SEEKING SUBMISSIONS

Nat 1 Publishing

ArrrowHeart Publishing

ArrrowHeart Publishing’s mission is ‘to tell diverse stories

Purple Unicorn Media

Purple Unicorn Media is open for submissions for

Goatshed Press

Goatshed Press aims ‘to deliver exciting, unpretentious content,

Hachette Children’s Novel Award 2023

Hachette Children’s Novel Award 2023 is for unpublished

The Ruber y Book Award 2023

The annual international Rubery Book Award is for

Bath Novel Award 2023

The international Bath Novel Award 2023 for emerging

FOR YOUNG WRITERS

Previously unpublished prose, poetry, hybrid works, plays, scripts

BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR LEON

Leon Conrad, whose piece on ‘Structure: The writer’s

SUBMISSIONS: INDIE MAGS AND WEBSITES

Consequence Forum Consequence Forum presents readings, panels, and

SCRIPT COMPETITIONS

A new playwriting initiative for ‘historically marginalised artists’

Sitcom Mission

Sitcom Mission is inviting original 15-minute sitcom comedy

Carlo Annoni International Playwriting Award

Plays written in either English or Italian on

REWARDING READING

The American Library Association has announced the 2023

SHORT FICTION COMPETITIONS

X marks the spot

Henshaw Press Short Story Competition

The next quarterly Henshaw Press Short Story Competition

Desperate to write

The Desperate Literature Prize is inviting submissions of

The MTP Short Story Competition

The MTP Short Story Competition invites entries of

Wild Atlantic Writing Awards

Wild Atlantic Writing Awards invite submissions on the

Frome Festival Short Stor y Competition 2023

The Frome Festival Short Story Competition is an

FICTION AND POETRY SUBMISSIONS

Infinity pool US-based print magazine Infinite Worlds was

After life

Psychopomp.com is a new US-based indie press just

A-lister books

Crime and thriller, romance, saga and general fiction

Transformative tales

Salamander is a nationally recognized US magazine publishing

Getting medieval on your weird fiction

Sentinel Creatives is an independent South African publisher

All points Southword

Southword: New International Writing is an Irish print

Inspirational womxn

Sword and Silk is a ‘small traditional publishing

Diverse voices welcomed

Kallisto Gaia Press is the home of The

Writing Magazine competitions 2023

Get a creative start with a sneak peek at our competition programme for the next few months. Enter online at www.writers-online.co.uk or see the relevant issue of Writing Magazine for more details. Prizes are £200/£50 (open), £100/£125 (subscriber-only) and £100/£50 (poetry) , with publication in WM for the winner. Please note, competitions will open for entries on publication of the full competition details in the relevant issue of Writing Magazine.

OCTOBER 500 word

Any style, theme or genre are acceptable this month, just keep your entries to a strict 500-word limit.

POETRY COMPETITIONS OPEN TO ALL

Haiku JUNE It’s two for one this month

NINETEEN, TWENTY, MY PLATE’S EMPTY

Iqbal was joint runner-up in the Evening Standard

Postcard from Santiago to the British Museum

Jeannie is a Christian writer based in Chichester

REMEMBRANCE

Amitha is a keen reader who’s had a