Winter is a great time for hiding away and writing but now spring is just round the corner, its time to think about spring cleaning your writing routine. What can you change about the way you write – or where you write – or what you write – that will spur you on for the next six months?
Go through your writing projects – what are you truly committed to and what could you put aside? Be ruthless but remember you can always come back to projects. Its just a case of being focussed on what you really want to do.
What about entering the Bridport writing competition? The Bridport Prize has different categories for flash fiction, poetry and fiction and has some of the richest prize pots in writing. Check out the website: www.bridportprize.org.uk Closing date for entries is 30 June. There are some great judges and literary agents have their eyes on the winners.
Can you change your writing schedule? Sometimes if you give yourself less time to write, you become more productive in that time. Don’t stare at the wall, go out and let the ideas spin out in your head before writing them down.
Are you the Next Big Author? publishers are always on the look out for the next big thing – five of the biggest publishers are participating in a new publishing initiative, the Next Big Author. During May, writers can submit between 5k and 7k words in the form of chapters of an unpublished book uploaded to the writers’ site www.youwriteon.com and on July 1 the five highest entrants will receive a critique from one of the participating publishers.
Want to publish directly on Kindle? Amazon have launched Kindle Singles, digitial format short stories between 5k and 30k words. Anyone with an Amazon account can publish their titles as an ebook with the Kindle Store by going to https:/kdp.amazon.com
Or if you don’t fancy publishing your short stories yourself, think about the great Shortfire Press (www.shortfirepress.com)
Don’t be alone! Come along to the next London Writers’ Club event on March 29 with publisher and digital media exec., Alison Hennessey of Vintage Books/Random House. Booking details below.
Do you need some constructive feedback on your first fifty pages and synopsis? Unsure of whether its working or if you need a change of direction, email us to find out more.