Category Archives: Short stories for magazines

What Do Your Short Story characters Look Like?

Characterisation is the means by which you make your fictional characters appear to be real people. It is probably the most important part of any piece of fiction. If the reader doesn’t care about your character, he or she won’t … Continue reading

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Writing for The Friend

Last week I was lucky enough to listen to a talk – as well as have a chat with – Shirley Blair, Fiction ed of The People’s Friend.  Fascinating stuff.  Here are ten things you may or may not know … Continue reading

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Creating Suspense in Short Stories – Three Top Tips

I used to believe that the art of writing suspense was mostly about technique – short sentences build tension and pace, longer sentences slow it down. But suspense means so much more than this. So what does the word suspense … Continue reading

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Woman’s Weekly Fiction Workshops – Hot Tips

A couple of Fridays ago I was teaching again with Gaynor Davies at the Blue Fin Buildings, our subject, Writing Short Stories for Woman’s Weekly. I thought you might like an update. There are two more short story workshops planned … Continue reading

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The Journey of a Woman’s Weekly Short Story – from arrival to publication

Last Friday I was lucky enough to be teaching at Woman’s Weekly’s offices in London with Fiction Editor, Gaynor Davies.  While I was there, I thought it would be very interesting to find out exactly what happens to our stories … Continue reading

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Four Myths About Writing Short Stories for Magazines

Writing stories for magazines is easy – right? Er – no – we all know that’s a myth. If you’re reading my blog, then chances are, you’ll know it from personal experience. Once you have sold a few stories to … Continue reading

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Issue Led Stories

Issue led stories are controversial – or can be? Should we write them? Especially for magazines. Or should we stick to nice safe subjects like weddings and car boot sales and summer balls. Not that I’ve got anything against these … Continue reading

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Market Research – it’s a bore, but if you want to sell more!

Market research is a lot simpler than it sounds. If you want to sell short stories then you need to find out who buys them and what they are looking for. Do research your market before sending anything. Read several … Continue reading

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So what is a short story then?

This is a question I regularly get asked by students. I was doing a talk at a writers’ group in Bournemouth on Monday evening and it came up again.  I know I have my own definition, it’s one I’ve refined … Continue reading

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Speed Short Story writing

How many short stories can you write in a week? How many in a day? I’ve just read a feature in Writing Magazine,  October Issue, about a guy who wrote, edited and formatted a novella length story in a week. … Continue reading

Posted in Inspiration, Short stories for magazines, Writing | 15 Comments