A WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR

For nearly a year now, we’ve done everything

The world of writing

Lost classics, litigation loopholes, literary lapses and light at the end of the tunnel – all the latest from the wonderful world of writing

LETTERS

STAR LETTER

Editorial calendar

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

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Write me Latah

New tricks

Patrick Forsyth suggests a possible need to take new directions

Novel Ideas

Rhino hide

The smallest steps

Crime writer and SoA board member Sam Blake on slowing down to stay focused in uncertain times

STATE OF AMERICA

Piers Blofeld wonders if US’s cultural influence may be waning in the light of recent events, and what this might mean for the book trade

Experimenting with form

Stuart MacBride explains the benefits of shaking things up from time to time

Whose point of view?

Cornerstones desk editor Sarah Rouse gives guidelines about POV to a writer who wants to combine multiple viewpoints

Audio-visual material

Research expert Tarja Moles describes how to add texture to your writing by using sound and image files

Behind the tape

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

Indie or TRADITIONAL?

That is the question!

HOW I BROKE ALL THE RULES

Writing Magazine assistant editor Tina Jackson encourages you to follow your heart, not the rulebook

Writer’s retreat

Want a change of scenery? Dream of running away to these spectacular literary-themed AirBnbs, suggests, Rosalind Moody

WRITING COURSES 2021

Expand your writing horizons with courses, workshops and retreats during 2021. These are sorted geographically but, under lockdown, most organisations are now running events online – the perfect chance to check out courses that would normally be too far afield, so make sure you check each area to find the right course for you

Lockdown block

Jane Wenham Jones offers advice for a writer who had wanted some time to finish her novel – but hadn’t bargained for enforced isolation

Under the covers Belief relief

Gillian Harvey wonders if writers might not have a secret seam of self-belief

HOW TO SUCCEED with a series

Why write one novel when publishers love a series? Simon Whaley chats to two successful series authors

What’s in a name (or three)?

Name changes mean Lorraine Mace worries she won’t recognise her own books

Cosy Crime Pays For Indy Author

Lynn Florkiewicz’s dream of being a writer began when she was just six years old, but it had to sit on the back-burner until, at the age of 45, she took a creative writing course with The Writers Bureau, and started out on a whole new adventure…

Bringing sexy back

Melanie Blake is a formidable woman with a mission, to bring  back bonkbusters, as Tina Jackson discovers

Wibke Brueggemann

The debut YA author felt as if she was being tested all along the way until a stroke of luck led to her first novel being accepted

SHELF LIFE

TAP HERE To read an extract from Light

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP

If your writing group would like to feature

SUBSCRIBER NEWS

Finding the right footing ‘I’ve just published my

Amanda James

The genre-busting novelist tells Margaret James that her work isn’t easily pigeon-holed, which is why she combines traditional and self-publishing

Sam Mills

The novelist and memoirist tells Lynne Hackles about combining caring for her father with creative writing

Aim for the target

Setting targets will help you progress your writing, says Adrian Magson

The sense of a woman

How to write compelling female characters, by screenwriter, lecturer and author Helen Jacey

Your writing critiqued

Author and lecturer James McCreet applies his forensic criticism to the first 300 words of a reader’s work in progress

In it to win it!

Amy Sparkes showcases the  winners of Writing Magazine’s 2020 Picture Book Prize

Getting stuck in

Margaret James sets out the questions you need to ask yourself in order to keep your reader glued to the page

I wish I’d known

‘At the grand old age of 57, my

BODY LANGUAGE

Helen M Walters looks at the significance of body parts in your fiction, with a gruesome short story by Robert Louis Stevenson

The stuff of legend

Alex Davis looks at mythology as inspiration for fantasy fiction

Library of emotions

WINNER £ 200 Karmen Spiljak is a Slovenian-Belgian writer

Record breakers

Julie Phillips invites writing group members to go for world records – in these exercises, of course

Stuff & nonsense

Think about the objects that you’ve surrounded yourself with in these creative writing exercises from Jenny Alexander

Wish Upon a Star

Susan Rocks lives in East Dorset and has had several short stories published both online and in print. Last year, Susan was longlisted for the Penguin/Random House writenow2020 competition and is busy editing her first novel, The  Butterfly Effect, whilst plucking up the  courage to finally submit to agents. She is also writing the first draft of her second novel. This is her second Writing Magazine competition win and can confirm this win is equally as exciting as the first. She can be found on Twitter @SusanRocks3

MILITARY BEARING

Alison Chisholm is impressed by a tribute poem that conjures strong images of the lifelong impact of war

Poetry in practice

Be aware of the effects different line lengths can have on your poem, says Doris Corti

Big prizes from Bridport

Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets,

Best of the west

The prestigious Yeovil Literary Prize 2021 is inviting

Many a true word

The King Lear Prizes Spring 2021 are inviting

Aim for the heights

Entries are being accepted for the Alpine Fellowship

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Climb to success

Cornerstones elevate under-represented writers

Literary consultancy Cornerstones has been awarded Arts Council

A new future for Interzone

After fifteen years of editing and producing Interzone,

FLASHES

Prizes are £600, £300 and £150 in the

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Make some noise

Conflict is the theme

Writers under the age of 18 years are

Mature stories wanted

With an aim to encourage writers over the

Covid in womags

At the start of the pandemic, most magazines

GET INTO AGENDA

Agenda is a British poetry journal run by

Dark hearts

Ghost Orchid Press is a Cambridge independent looking

Don’t be late

The Writers’ Co-op editorial team are putting together

FLASHES

Following the success of Wild Poems in 2020,

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A bright present

Speculative submissions

JayHenge Publishing is an indie press with a

Promote your books

A new Facebook group has been set up

Get into Sundress

Sundress Publications is a non-profit literary press collective

Top crop for Costa

Marking the 50th anniversary since the launch in

FLASHES

Ver Poets Open Competition 2021 has prizes of

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Her majesty’s request

Break into commercial fiction

Avon has teamed up with the Mushens Entertainment

Get writing pit for this competition

The Friends of Manning’s Pit Saki Short Story

Reflecting nature

Win a £1,000 first prize for nature-themed poetry

ONLINE FICTION MARKET

Choose your own

FLASHES

The Free Flash Fiction competition invites entries between

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God’s love

Show your work

Publishing themed issues four times a year, Apparition

Sparkle here

Crime and mystery stories of all genre and

INTRODUCTIONS

Writing Magazine presents a selection of current submission calls from publishers. We strongly recommend that you read back issues, familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites for submission details

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Diverse ideas

FLASHES

The Short Fiction/ University of Essex International Short

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Reflect different experiences

Weird thoughts fiction

Original ‘thought provoking weird fiction’ in the form

Wild and wonderful

Literary magazine The Wild Hunt is celebrating its

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Fency opinions

Brave the Beeb!

The BBC National Short Story Award 2021 is

Quarter comp monthly

The Writing Quarter organises a monthly free to

FLASHES

The 2021 Fitzcarraldo Editions/Mahler & Lewitt Studios Essay

UK FICTION MARKET

Cast a spellbound

Enter the royal reading room

On 1 January, on the Prince of Wales’

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

The Common Tongue magazine publishes dark fantasy and

FLASHES

Bridge House Publishing is inviting entries for its next

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Publication with faith

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Have your voice heard

Go adventuring

Submissions are invited for the 2021 Wilbur Smith

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Get lucky with your horror

Dealing with doom and gloom

The travel industry is in hiatus but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to write about, says Patrick Forsyth

FLASHES

The Dead Cat Poetry Prize is a new

UK BOOK MARKET

Seeing thing differently