Writing Round Up, Cool Exercise and Submission Opportunity
Write Better Now
Every Monday, we’re sending out a quick round-up of what we talked about and some cool links to check out to help all of us become better writers.
As a reminder, on Wednesdays the WRITE BETTER NOW podcast comes out here (and everywhere).
Later in the week there is a bonus post for paid subscribers because, honestly, it’s super kind of you to support me that way, and I want to make sure to make it’s worth your while. Thank you for being here.
Here we go!
On the podcast, we talked about Dwight Swain’s four basic structure/steps to story and the sexy part of story structure: scene and sequel
And I continued with mid-level plotting.
Writing Exercise of Awesome
This exercise comes from the ever awesome WritersHQ site. And it’s actually fun.
What? Writing can be fun. Yes, yes, it can!
You know you want to try it! GO TRY IT!
Cool Links By Other People and a Place to Submit!
Dwight Swain has a book, The Techniques of a Selling Writer and it is helpful and what I’ve been referencing this week.
Race by Elizabeth Alexander.
Over on Chuck Wendig’s TERRIBLE MINDS blog we have a cool piece about Alan Baxter: Sallow Bend, and The Power of Small Town Horror.
A quick podcast on BBC in praise of the cliché.
Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2022
The Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2022 is open for entries from February 25, 2022!
The deadline for receipt of all entries is September 30, 2022 at 4pm (GMT).
Entries will only be accepted through Submittable.
Entries can be on any subject, theme or genre.
Entry fee: £9 per entry. You can submit multiple entries as long as each entry is paid for individually and includes a separate entry form.
Maximum word count is 3,000 words.
All entries are judged anonymously. Please do not include your name, address, phone number, email, website, social media details, etc. on the short story document or in the file name as this will result in disqualification.
Formatting your short story:
Your story must be written in English. A maximum of 3,000 words. No minimum. Title not included in the word count.
Please submit a typed story in Arial or Times New Roman, 12pt, black. Double spaced.
Include a front page which details the title of story and the word count ONLY. The author’s name should not be included anywhere in the document or the file name.
No illustrations.
Save as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx). We also accept file types .rtf, .pdf, with the
Short Story title as the file name. Please do not include the author’s name in the file name or it will be disqualified.
Final Judge: Kerry Hadley-Pryce.
Kerry Hadley-Pryce is a writer and academic. Her first novel, ‘The Black Country’ (Salt Publishing 2015), written as part of her MA Creative Writing, was awarded the Michael Schmidt Prize for Outstanding Achievement. Her second novel, ‘Gamble’ (Salt Publishing 2018) was shortlisted for the Encore Second Novel Award 2019. She is working on her third novel, ‘God’s Country’. She teaches creative writing and has short stories published in Fictive Dream, The Incubator and Brum Radio. You can find out more about Kerry here.
Full Terms & Conditions here.
FAQ here.
Entries will be accepted through Submittable only. If you have questions about Submittable or are having technical difficulties submitting your work, please contact Submittable Customer Support at https://www.submittable.com/help/submitter/Â
And here’s another great one!
Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction (Deadline September 30 – $5000)
Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize (Deadline September 30 – $2500)
The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative novels (generally over 40,000 words, but there is no hard minimum). A $5,000 advance and publication by Dzanc Books will be awarded to the winner. Finalists will be compiled in-house and passed along for evaluation to this year’s judges: Angel Khoury (Between Tides), Josip Novakovich (Honey in the Carcase and Heritage of Smoke), and Blair Austin, author of Dioramas, which was chosen as the winner of last year’s Prize for Fiction.Â
The Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize celebrates imaginative and inventive writing in book-length collections (generally over 40,000 words, but there is no hard minimum). Past winners include Nino Cipri, (Homesick), Anne Valente (By Light We Knew Our Names), Chaya Bhuvaneswar (White Dancing Elephants), Jen Grow (My Life as a Mermaid), Julie Stewart (Water and Blood), and Ethel Rohan (In the Event of Contact). The winning submission will be awarded a $2,500 advance and publication by Dzanc Books. The contests are open to new, upcoming, and established writers alike.Â
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION MOMENT(S)
So, I’m teaching another cool six-month class at the Writing Barn in Austin. It’s a pretty fantastic place. And the class is super fun. I’ve had a ton of students get unblocked and get published and get awards and things. It’s a lovely community. You should check it out or just come hang out with me as your writing coach. I offer a ton of different options.
And as always, I’m editing on Reedsy, and editing and coaching through my website (or contact me here).
NEW PODCAST! DUDE, NO!
Oh! And we have a new podcast (you have to write a podcast so this is vaguely related out TUESDAY! TUESDAY IS SO SOON! And I’m super excited. I would LOVE IT if you could check it out. There’s a couple trailers up already. You can find them here!
Dude, No! is a podcast that joins the creepy, the deadly, the macabre, and the outdoors.Â
Dude, No! careens into all things scary as hosts Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar explore the terrifying, covering things like true crime, Big Foot, and why people get stem corns.Â
Whether it’s murder, giant apes, kidnappings, or just Carrie’s love for manatees, join us as we enter the world of the dark and the scary as we sometimes even find some laughs there.Â
I’m super excited about this. I hope you’re super excited with me! AND HAPPY WRITING!