This is a blog you’ll enjoy if you like writing! I write for magazines in the UK and abroad and I am also the Agony Aunt for Writers’ Forum magazine.



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The Short Story Writer’s Toolshed

Does anyone remember my Writer’s Toolshed series in Writers’ Forum magazine?  It ran for a year and was a series of features focused on writing and selling the magazine short story.

Well here’s some good news if you missed it. I’ve put the whole thing together in this handy little ebook. I’ve updated it and added a few extra bits.  It should complement my other writing books – it doesn’t replace them. Although I’m talking about the same subjects the Toolshed is a slightly different approach. How to Write and Sell Short Stories is for the writer who wants more depth whereas The Short Story Writer’s Toolshed is for the writer in a hurry.

If you write short stories, particularly for magazines then I think you might like both.

At the moment The Short Story Writer’s Toolshed is FREE. And I’d love any feedback you may have if you have the time to give it.

Only £1.88 (or similar local equivalent)
Read the first few pages here, for free
Purchase it now from amazon.co.uk | amazon.com

The FREE Kindle reader app is available for all smart phones, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Download it here.

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Posted in News, Writing | 6 Comments

ePublishing Course – Bournemouth 1st December

 

Just a quick note to introduce Peter Jones, who is my guest blogger today and the tutor of my next Saturday course in Bournemouth on 1st December.  Peter is the author of How to Do Everything and be Happy, which he self published both electronically and in print, and which turned out to be rather successful. I’ll let him tell you about that. 🙂 But suffice to say he knows his stuff. Although I am not teaching this course I shall be there to hold his hand so to speak. And I can vouch for his course personally as I have attended it myself. If you are in the business of self publishing (or you want to be) then I don’t think you’ll find a much finer tutor on the subject than Peter. So over to you, honey.

Many people know me as the author of How To Do Everything and Be Happy. Few people realise however that it was originally self-published, first as an ebook, and then a paperback, and that the sales went so well that the second edition was snapped up by audible.com (the audio book people) and re-published by Harper Collins (new paperback version available to pre-order now on amazon or download as an e-bookblah blah blah) .

A spin off of all this self-publishing malarkey was being asked if I’d like to run a two part mini-course on “e-publishing” as part of the Swanwick Summer Writer’s School. I did, and it was a blast! So much so that I’m doing it again, in Bournemouth, on the 1st of December! I humbly present to you…

ePublishing – (self) Publishing & Publicity in the digital age

Course Content

Whether you want to publish a print book, an e-book, or even an audio book, this one day course will ensure that your first steps in the world of e-publishing are in the right direction.

In the morning we’ll be covering the different options available to the modern e-publisher, how to get started, and pitfalls to avoid. In the afternoon we cover the real work of e-publishing – publicity – with a whistle stop tour of websites, blogging, facebook, twitter, reviews, competitions, give-aways, and pricing.

Is the Course for you?

This course is aimed at those who think they might want to self-publish a work of fiction or non-fiction that is mainly, or completely, text. It may also be of interest to established self-published authors who are struggling with book-marketing, or who aren’t seeing the book sales they would like.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the day you’ll know everything you need to know about ePublishing, the skills required, the costs involved, whether it’s for you, and how to get started.

You’ll also have a step-by-step marketing plan tailored to your own personal skills, abilities and time constraints.

Time and Cost

Saturday 1st December 2012

10.00 am (prompt)
to 4.00 pm (not-so-prompt)

A mere £35.00. Payable in advance (no payment on the day please).
Places are limited so please book early. Hey, why not do it now!

Book your online, via credit card or paypal. Just click here

Venue

PelhamsPark, Millhams Road, Kinson,Bournemouth, BH10 7LH


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Queries?

Drop me a line via my Stay In Touch page.

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Eleven Qualities Every Professional Writer Needs

I’ve been editing a piece on writing short stories that I did for Writers’ Forum some time ago. I just came across this list of qualities a professional writer needs, and I thought it might be quite fun to share it with you. It’s very tongue in cheek, but oh how true!

Eleven Qualities Every Professional Writer Needs

Patience

Sensitivity (whilst writing)

A thick skin! (whilst being rejected)

Patience

A sense of humour

A very stubborn streak

Patience

The ability to exist on next to no money

Diligence

Courage

And did I mention patience!

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Posted in Tips on writing | 1 Comment

Tips on giving and receiving constructive feedback on your writing

Constructive feedback is something that we do a lot in my writing classes, i.e. students read out work for which they’d like feedback.  For me it’s very valuable, and is the reason I still attend a writing class as well as teach them.  But I’m well aware of how sensitive we are as writers, so I produced this tongue in cheek tip sheet, which I hope others might find useful.

For the critic

Please be constructive.   Think about how the manuscript could be improved and tell the writer which bits you really liked – as well as which bits you didn’t think worked as well. This is very important.

Think about how the piece began – did the opening catch your attention?  Did you want to find out what happened next?  Was the ending satisfying? If not, why not?

Please give feedback on the writing – not the subject matter.  (And definitely not the writer!)

If you have some specialist knowledge on a subject that might be useful – eg the piece has a medical slant and you’re a nurse or doctor – please say so.

For the victim!

Don’t take constructive feedback on your work personally.  Remember it is only someone else’s opinion and it is your manuscript.  At the end of the day you don’t have to change anything if you don’t want to.

However, if several people mention the same point – then it may be worth listening to them.

Please don’t argue with critics (although this can be tempting!) In the interests of class serenity, it is much better to nod, smile, pretend you’re writing down everything they say and totally ignore it.  However, if you do write down what they say, you might read it later and find that you actually agree with it. 

And Finally….

Listening to feedback about your work is not easy – it is on a par with having someone criticise your close family.   But it is one of the best ways there are to learn the skills of writing.  I personally have learned so much from feedback. It’s worth it.

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Posted in Tips on writing, Writing | 8 Comments

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.

Did it suffer for being written fast? Is it possible to write good fiction fast? It got me thinking.

When I first started writing full time in September 2000, I wrote three short stories a week. The first one on Monday morning, the second on Monday afternoon, and the third on Tuesday morning. I edited them across the week. I did this every single week without exception. Holidays – pah! who needs them!

I also taught four creative writing classes, one on Wednesday morning, One on Thursday morning, one on Thursday afternoon and one on Friday morning. These all needed preparation too. Hence I had to cram the short stories into the earlier part of the week.

Did my work suffer for this? I don’t think so. I’m judging this by the yardstick of sales and I sold 90% of my work.

Interestingly, this pattern of working has changed across the years. I haven’t written three short stories a week for a while. I’ve been doing other things, for example, writing novels and non fiction, editing for a publisher, as well as teaching, although interestingly I only now teach two classes a week. I must be getting lazy 🙂

But this week, I reverted to my original working pattern. I wrote one short story on Monday morning, one on Monday afternoon and one today.

They were – in case you are interested – 2400 words, 1000 words and 2300 words respectively. Although that might change on the edits.

Oh it was so brilliant, so exhilarating, so exciting. I haven’t felt so inspired or motivated for absolutely ages. I’m not sure why. Is it something to do with speed writing. Is this speed writing. It certainly was compared to what I’ve done lately.  But the ideas for more short fiction are also coming thick and fast. It feels brilliant.

I will let you know if I sell them. But does anyone else write like this. Do share.

Della xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Wacky Filing Systems

I always find it interesting what other writers do to keep track of their stories. I know some of us have paper filing systems (I do) and some of us keep track of our stories on spreadsheets.

I prefer the paper filing systems because when I finish writing and editing a story which I do direct on to the computer, and then I send it out, which I tend to also do by email, I quite like to sit and fill in a paper record.  I know, I’m odd like that!  For every story I ever write I keep a blank postcard. It has the title at the top of the card and the number of words, and then below this, I write down the markets where this story will go, for example, Woman’s Weekly, Take a Break etc. Then I list the date sent on the first market and when the story is either sold or returned I list the date again, with any comments.

Recently I ran out of white postcards, so I decided it would be fun to get some different coloured postcards and colour code my stories. So now I have:

Yellow – humorous stories

Blue – emotional stories

Green – twists

Pink – romance

I know, I am quite mad. but it’s quite good fun, watching the colours build up in my index card filing box and seeing how many of each type I write. 🙂

Does anyone else do this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Tips on writing, Writing | 4 Comments

Free Fiction Friday

If you follow me on twitter, subscribe to my public facebook updates or have liked the daily della facebook page, you’ll have noticed that for the past couple of weeks I’ve been giving away an issue of Daily Della every Friday. I know, generous is my middle name 🙂

This seems to be quite popular. One of my friends said I should call it “Free Fiction Friday” – which rather appeals to me. So I am!

So… from now on, each Friday* between now and Christmas, you’ll be able to download a new Daily Della (featuring some of my favourite short stories from the last twenty five years) from amazon.co.uk or amazon.com, for absolutely nothing!

There’s one there now, should you be fancying something free right now.

Oh and by the way, they’re not just for your coffee break. They go very well with a nice glass of wine too 🙂

Happy reading!

Love

Della

* and maybe a few days either side 🙂

(The FREE Kindle reader app is available for all smart phones, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Download it here.)

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Daily Della Number Ten!

This week’s Daily Della is out today, and takes the number of issues available into double figures! So, as a big thank you to all those lovely readers who’ve download any of the previous nine, you can get number ten for FREE – but only for a few days. Click either of the links below.

If you haven’t had a chance to try any of the anthologies, Daily Della #10 might be a good place to start. The lead story, Feeding The Ducks, is one of my all time favourites.

Happy reading!

Love, Della

Feeding The Ducks – Daily Della #10

Fourth in a series of Twist-in-the-Tale Daily Dellas – five short stories, each with an unexpected ending.

Feeding The Ducks; Maggie leaves home for her dream job and her dream man, but when things don’t work she’s too ashamed to tell anyone and pretends everything is fine. But Paul knows her better than most and refusing to be fobbed off he tracks her down in London. Can he persuade her she is still very much loved, even though both their futures are changed for ever?

Honeymoon; What else are you going to do on your honeymoon – if not stay in bed all day – but when Becky and Danny miss breakfast, dinner and tea, the hotel staff are beginning to get worried. Although they are far too posh to say anything – aren’t they?

Plan B; Becky’s had enough of trying to get her lazy husband to find a job or even help around the house. So she decides to shock him into action and enlists her mother’s help. Mums are experts on marriages, aren’t they? But perhaps there is more going on here than meets the eye?

Beneath The Wrappings;Dee is looking forward to her fortieth birthday until her friends and family start telling her it’s all downhill from here. Still, at least the presents will be good, she consoles herself. She tells everyone to surprise her – certain that her friends and family will know what she wants. But do any of them really know what’s beneath the wrappings at all?Dee is about to find out.

My Brother’s Shoes; When Mark’s brother dies just before his daughter Nikki is to get married, Mark is called upon to give his niece away. He is desperately worried that he cannot fill his brother’s shoes. They haven’t always seen eye to eye. But he knows for Nikki’s sake he has to try.

Usually £1.53 (or local equivalent)
Read the first few pages for free.
Purchase it now from amazon.co.uk | amazon.com


See all the books in the Daily Della series here

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How to Write and Sell Short Stories in a Changing Market

Shameless self promotion below 🙂

I am doing a course called: How to write and sell short stories in a changing market – Saturday 20 October, 10 till 4.00 in Bournemouth.

Is the short story market dead? I don’t think so. Although you may have to think a little laterally to find good markets. This course will focus on writing short stories for some of the new as well as existing (paying) markets currently open to submissions.
(Suitable for beginners and experienced writers)
Cost: £35.00

There will be workshops 🙂

Please email me or reply to post for further details.

Thanks

Della

 

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Posted in Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Writing | Leave a comment

Value For Money – Daily Della #09

Bonjour Fiction Fans! More short fiction for your daily coffee break. Enjoy!

Value For Money – Daily Della #09

Third in a series of Twist-in-the-Tale Daily Dellas – five short stories, each with an unexpected ending.

Value For Money; Sarah’s next-door neighbour, Nick, is a dab hand at DIY. Unfortunately, her boyfriend, Danny isn’t, but that doesn’t stop him trying to outdo Nick. Sarah is desperate to prevent Danny’s DIY disasters, although it takes her a while to come up with the perfect solution.

The Best Laid Plans; Katie doesn’t plan on spending her 25th wedding anniversary in bed – well, not in a hospital bed anyway. But then perhaps she shouldn’t be surprised as she and Paul don’t have a very good track record when it comes to anniversaries. But Paul has a plan. Can he carry it out before fate intervenes?

The Forgery; Jason is thrilled when Grace Harding brings a valuable Stubbs Painting into his antique shop, offering it for sale. He tells the old lady it’s not worth that much – as it’s an excellent forgery – although it does still have some value. Jason isn’t the only one who’s not being completely honest, but who will get the better of who?

Horse Sense; Sarah loves horses, but hasn’t wanted anything to do with them since she broke up with her farrier boyfriend, Micky. The associations are just too painful. But then her sister, Carol, asks her if she’ll help her out with her horse and she grudgingly agrees. Can she learn to move on?

The Homing Instinct; Tara, who owns an animal sanctuary, thinks Ben Anderson is the perfect owner for one of her dogs. But Albert, who works for Tara, has other ideas. So what exactly is going on that Tara doesn’t know about? And should she be as worried as Albert is?

Only £1.53 (or local equivalent)
Read the first few pages for free
Purchase it now from amazon.co.uk | amazon.com


See all the books in the Daily Della series here

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