Sandra

Thanks Jonathan, Raine – more food for thought!

Glad you’d read on, though… 😉

Well that’s just unreasonable WB 😉

Jacques Anquetil, first five time winner of the Tour de France was once asked what advice he’d give aspiring bike racers. ‘Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike’ was his answer. The equivalent for aspiring writers could be ‘write a book, write a book, write a book’.

*air punch* Yes, publishing moves at a glacial pace but this is a fabulous stride forwards – at last. I saw your lovely agent at York, though we didn’t have a chance to chat. I do know how much she adores you though. (Don’t we all!) xx

ps – I’d love to catch up on your story of getting an agent, if you fancied sharing? I know there are so many different paths and I’d love to hear what yours was like x

Oh my goodness, this is brilliant! Congratulations to you! (And to your agent)

Huge congratulations CJ. Faberoo

I am clearly stealing all my tips from people who can put them much better than I can!!

Thanks GG, it’s a great idea isn’t it? I don’t have any control over the deadline unfortunately, it’s not a zine I have any involvement in. But people have another two weeks to submit something, and as it’s for 250 word flash, there should be a bit of time to get something in

YAAAAS!! Actual real definite contracts are the best sort of contracts. SO much well done! Break out the cake! 🙂

WHOOP! that’s so exciting. Congratulations CJ.

Nice one CJ. I’ll look forward to it.

Brilliant CJ. I’m so looking forward to reading it. And yes the legal wranglings always take a long time – especially with US, possibly the most letigious country in the wor;ld! Congratulations – really stoked for you 🙂

Great idea, Mad, and some good ones here.

Hmm. Steven King said something similar to Raine’s ‘Write the first draft for yourself, edit for your readers’ with his ‘Write the first draft with the door closed, the second draft with the door open’ which has always stuck with me.

I also found the discipline of writing something, anything, for at…[Read more]

Thanks Lorraine. To some extent you’re reading my mind! I’ve changed the opening, she’s on a three day pass, we’re down to one policeman, added sensory bits, edited, edited. Your comments are very helpful. I think I might just put it on my website.

Good idea, Mad.
Umm. One I heard that I think made sense in terms of the editing process was ‘Write the first draft for yourself, edit for your readers.’

Also, Find the theme of your story. Themes tie characters, plots and subplots together.

Also (Although I am rubbish at doing this), when finishing for the day, stop in the middle of a scene,…[Read more]

This is brilliant, John. So much the opposite of where I expected it to go at the opening! I love her poise with the police – it adds such an element of shiver-factor.

I agree with others that a light dusting of other sensory details would help make the thing more potent, but I like the easy, matter of fact voice so don’t lose that.

One thing…[Read more]

THis is great Squidge, love the immediate dive into her PoV, her frustrations and doubts. My only two thoughts are …
– some of the descriptive paragraph (Tilda gritted her teeth…) might be worth trimming. It’s a chunk of … background I guess, that perhaps needs only a hint here, with more details as you go on?
– and, I think someone else…[Read more]