Writing Information
| |
Writing Information |
|
|
|
|
Six Tips for Submitting Fiction - if you want it to get published
You can learn a lot about what it takes to place a story in an ezine by starting up one of your own. Last month I started work on a new ezine for writers, which I intended to use to publish high-quality, contemporary fiction, from writers all over the world. We placed a few adverts asking for submissions of just that. What we got was a revelation. As a writer myself, I know how competitive the market is. Even non-paying markets are deluged by wannabe writers desperate for a by-line and some publicity. Competition, I had thought, would surely lead to a high quality of submissions, with every writer determined to submit only their very best work. Not so. Of the handful of submissions we received the day after the adverts went out, only around four were fiction. One was a "how to write" style article. One was an essay on "the day my gran died". Two were stories about vampires. One guy just sent us his CV - in Arabic. Tip one, then: read the guidelines carefully. If the market you're aiming at publishes fiction, then no matter how brilliant your essay or article is, it's not going to be accepted. Neither is your CV?. Tip two, I hardly even need mention: If the publication is in English, don't send your submission in Arabic, on the off-chance that the poor, beleaguered publisher will understand it. Simple. Having deleted the non-fiction submissions, I moved onto the "good stuff". Or so I thought. Of the four remaining pieces of writing, none had been proofread too carefully. One story made reference to a businessman "clenching the deal." One made frequent use of the word "teh" and had apparently random. Punctuation. A bit like. This. The other two were ? stories about vampires. Tip three: Proofread. Or, ideally, get someone else to do it for you. Any writer knows that once you've worked on a piece of writing, you become blind to its mistakes. You can "proof" it as many times as you like, but you'll still just see what you think is there, rather than what actually is there. In any artistic endeavour, a fresh pair of eyes is essential in providing a little bit of clarity and perspective. For this reason, I present: Tip four: constructive criticism is your friend. There are a lot of aspiring writers our there. Get together with one, even if it's only by email, and swap stories with them. Chances are they'll be able to point out something about your story that you've missed. They may have some knowledge about your subject matter that you lack - for example, the fact that it's called a "bass" guitar, not a "base guitar", as one enlightening submission had it. Tip five: let your writing do the talking. When it comes to biographical info, less is more. I want to read your story, not a breath-by-breath account of the last twenty years of your life. Keep it simple, keep it short. And tip number six? Well, if you're thinking of submitting your writing to a publisher, visit our online writing community first for tips, articles, and our popular manuscript appraisal service. Amber McNaught runs Writing World, a new agency for freelance writers. Writing World provides a free agency service which helps writers find work, and helps employers find the best writer for their project. Writing World also offers a range of service such as proofreading, edting and manuscript appraisal services to new and aspiring writers. Visit the Writing World website at http://www.writingworld.org
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Every Result is an Asset Not long ago, I went to an Internet Marketing Seminar. One of the speakers was John Reese, a man who set the Internet world abuzz in August 2004 by achieving the amazing result of just over a million dollars worth of sales in 18 hours. The Dreaded Daily Word Count Open any book on 'how to write,' and somewhere you will find a discussion of how many words you should write every day. Forget the struggle to get ourselves to the paper or the computer every day, now we have to produce a certain number of words?Me? I don't write every day (Quick! Call the Writer Police!), I don't do 2000 words, and you don't have to either. Go With The Flow: Write With Transition Words and Phrases One of the most common weaknesses I see in day-to-day writing is poor logical flow from one idea or point to the next. This usually takes the form of a bunch of seemingly unrelated phrases thrown together with little or no sense of sequence, continuity, or relativity. Writing Made Them Rich #4: Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho was born on August 24th 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.At age 17 he announced his intention to be a writer. Does Your Story Have A Theme? Creative Writing Tips -It should.A theme is a one-line explanation of your story. Learning to Question Your Elephant Child: Who, What, Where, When and Why Having problems writing? I don't know why. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll writes up to five columns a week. What Does It Take To Make Your Memories Into Publishable Memoirs? Why should you consider creating a memoir of your personal experiences for publication?Who would want to read your life story?I believe the main reason you may want to think about writing a memoir of your life is fairly simple. Everyone has different experiences in life that we learn from, that shape our lives, that hurt us, help us, give us insight, and allow us to grow. I Am Biodegradable - My Writing Is Not My dad was wrong. I just discovered that I am good for nuthin' after all. Have You Settled On First Choice When Choosing A Title? Short Story Writing Tips -We've established what a title should be and we've also established your title is your selling tool. So if it can make or break the sale of your story, then we'll have to agree that it is extremely important. The Blank Mind Many writers stare at the blank page or clean computer screen and wait for inspiration with a feeling of hopelessness. That white page or screen is always a struggle to fill, and it probably will always be for most writers. The Writing Club Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts enter the mind, long stringed and meaningful sentences trip over each other to receive attention at the front of the brain alongside all the brilliant findings, results, meanings that speak volumes and hard hitting phrases that are just the ticket to open the door to success. The last thought in the brain before sleep overrides this brilliant future work is, "must use that tomorrow". Revving Up Your Writing Productivity Productivity begins by recognizing and valuing your brilliance, time, and space. It starts with awareness of what works and what does not. Seven Compelling Reasons to Get Your Name on a Book Cover Have you ever considered writing a book? If so, maybe you've already established firmly in mind your exact purpose for becoming an author. Your reasons may match one or more of those below. Written Communications - 6 Tips on Language & Tone In most aspects of business, we will be expected to write a message to a client or customer, in the form of a letter, memo or e-mail. Language and tone in these communications is vital to the relationship with the recipient, and can mean the difference between a sale and a lost prospect. How NOT to Get a Freelance Writing Job In the business of freelance writing, it's not enough to be good at writing. You also have to be good at finding work - and selling yourself when you do. A New Way To Self Publish More and more good authors are turning to the Internet to self publish. There are several reasons for that. Characters In A Romance Novel Before you even begin writing your novel, you need to know who your characters will be. Minimally, you would want two major characters, the hero and the heroine. The Practice of Writing Virgil, the great Roman poet, wrote "Practice and thought might gradually forge many an art." From this we can assume that practice comes before thought, and so it is with present day writers. Another Way to Show Your Expertise: Write a Book! Maybe you should write a book! This is not as difficult as it sounds. You're already an expert in a field by virtue of your work experience and/or academic credentials. Use These 3 Editing Tips to Ensure Your Writing Hits the Bull's-Eye The first step in the writing process is to put your ideas down on paper. Once you have text to work with, the second step is to revise what you have written to make it as clear, accurate and powerful as you can.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 www.Info-StoreHouse.com |
