*** PLEASE check your word count (100 words exactly – no more, no less – EXcluding title) and submit more than one story to give yourself a better chance of being placed. ***
Hello everyone. Yes, August’s competition – with the theme of ‘ticking’ is now closed, with the results due to be announced this Friday, 8th September. The theme for September is ‘afraid, very afraid’ which you can now submit and any time during until Saturday 30th September (midnight UK time).
And remember, you can send up to three stories per month (individually or at the same time). It’s worth doing because some people have missed out because of errors (usually not 100 words exactly) in the only entry they send so they are immediately disqualified. This happened again last month. <sigh>
September’s theme is ‘afraid, very afraid’ to use however you wish. You can write them whenever you like but don’t send them to me until Friday 1st September.
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Tags: competitions, contests, flash fiction competitions, flash fiction contests, free 100-word competition, free competitions, short story competitions, short story contests, writing competitions, writing contests
Hello and welcome to my blog. Depending on content received, this blog’s usual schedule is (when content available)…
- Monday – poetry;
- Wednesday – book review (either by myself or a guest); the last Wednesday of the month is the deadline for the 6-word stories (you can submit up to ten per month!).
- Friday – the results of the previous month’s 100-word free monthly competition (the second Friday of the month), a <500-word flash fiction (posted every first and third Friday), or the latest batch of 6-word stories (the last Friday of the month).
- Saturday – a spotlight or guest post, which then heads the blog for the weekend.
- Every weekday (6.30pm UK time), I also post writing exercises on / from the Online Writing Groups.
Should you be looking for something dark…
Rachel Dove - Author
Today I am pleased to share my review of Lisa Stone’s fiction debut.
SYNOPSIS
A gripping new thriller debut that asks the question, how deep in our hearts does evil lie?
When critically ill Jacob Wilson is given a life-saving heart transplant, his parents are relieved that their loving son has been saved.
However, before long, his family are forced to accept that something has changed in Jacob. Their once loving son is slowly being replaced by a violent man whose mood swings leave them terrified – but is it their fault?
Jacob’s girlfriend, Rosie, is convinced the man she loves is suffering from stress. But when his moods turn on her, she begins to doubt herself – and she can only hide the bruises for so long.
When a terrible crime is committed, Jacob’s family are forced to confront their darkest fears. Has the boy they raised become a…
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*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… my best-selling eBooks – now available in eBook and paperback format!
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs. As you’ll see by the heading numbers, you may have missed a few but the links are listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there. So here are your poetry and short story exercises…
Poetry Writing Exercises 1222: Friday 22nd September
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… six are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and another is FREE!
Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.
Below are the four – you can do them in any order.
- Keywords: inspiration, very, obviously, really, life
- Random: between hard covers
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- One-word prompt: huge
Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Story Writing Exercises 1226: Friday 22 Sept
Here are your four story exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts (or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript), do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price and the other two are FREE (when using coupon codes)!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: adverbs, author, blog, books, competitions, creative writing, creative writing courses, crime, critique, erotica, exercises, feedback, fiction, film, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, literature, monologue, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, mystery, non-fiction, nonfiction, novels, online courses, online creative writing courses, pantoum, plays, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, prose, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, science fiction, scripts, scriptwriting, short stories, short story, sonnet, tanka, terza rima, thriller, triolet, tv, villanelle, writer, writing, writing exercises, writing group, writing poetry, writing workshop
*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… my best-selling eBooks – now available in eBook and paperback format!
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs. As you’ll see by the heading numbers, you may have missed a few but the links are listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there. So here are your poetry and short story exercises…
Poetry Writing Exercises 1221: Thursday 21st September
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… six are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and another is FREE!
Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.
Below are the four – you can do them in any order.
- Keywords: selected, outside, look, interested, behind
- Random: both sides
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Thursday Title: The Book I Would Never Lend
Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Story Writing Exercises 1225: Thursday 21 Sept
Here are your four story exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts (or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript), do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price and the other two are FREE (when using coupon codes)!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: adverbs, author, blog, books, competitions, creative writing, creative writing courses, crime, critique, erotica, exercises, feedback, fiction, film, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, literature, monologue, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, mystery, non-fiction, nonfiction, novels, online courses, online creative writing courses, pantoum, plays, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, prose, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, science fiction, scripts, scriptwriting, short stories, short story, sonnet, tanka, terza rima, thriller, triolet, tv, villanelle, writer, writing, writing exercises, writing group, writing poetry, writing workshop
So exciting… what a collaboration this is.
JO LAMBERT - A WRITER'S JOURNEY
Jane Risdon has been a great friend of mine for quite a while. With her long career in the music business she became an invaluable source of information and support during the time I was writing The Other Side of Morning where rock star Christian Rosetti featured as one of the main characters.
And now I’m really pleased to be able to return the compliment with a pre-publication promotion for her forthcoming collaboration with Christina Jones…
Two women, one love story.
June 1968. Renza falls head over heels for heart throb guitarist Scott. But after a romantic summer together they are torn apart when Renza’s family moves away.
December 1968. On the night she believes to be her last, Stella meets Scott at a local dance. He’s the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen and if this one night is all they have, she’ll take it.
As the final colourful…
View original post 180 more words
*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… my best-selling eBooks – now available in eBook and paperback format!
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs. As you’ll see by the heading numbers, you may have missed a few but the links are listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there. So here are your poetry and short story exercises…
Poetry Writing Exercises 1220: Wednesday 20th September
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… six are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and another is FREE!
Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.
Below are the four – you can do them in any order.
- Keywords: sandy, times, also, absolute, Polly
- Random: a pogo stick
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Sentence start: You’re listening to…
Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Story Writing Exercises 1224: Wednesday 20 Sept
Here are your four story exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts (or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript), do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price and the other two are FREE (when using coupon codes)!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: adverbs, author, blog, books, competitions, creative writing, creative writing courses, crime, critique, erotica, exercises, feedback, fiction, film, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, literature, monologue, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, mystery, non-fiction, nonfiction, novels, online courses, online creative writing courses, pantoum, plays, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, prose, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, science fiction, scripts, scriptwriting, short stories, short story, sonnet, tanka, terza rima, thriller, triolet, tv, villanelle, writer, writing, writing exercises, writing group, writing poetry, writing workshop
Gallery
Ooh, another competition winner. Do you have experience of writing competitions? If so, please email me and you might get included in my Writers’ Forum column. 🙂
JO LAMBERT - A WRITER'S JOURNEY
Good morning Kathryn and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?
Hi Jo, and thank you for having me on your blog. It seems quite some time since I walked through the doors of the wonderful world of interviews and blogs, and I feel quite at home!
So, recently married to the love of my life, having at last found happiness (and that last piece of jigsaw I was painstakingly trying to find) I am starting to settle down and continue this lifelong journey of mine – one which involves my passion for writing. I guess my life has been a series of books, many chapters that have usually ended on a cliff-hanger. And now? Well, I’m still a passionate writer, always soul searching, plotting and discovering, but now I’m a happy and passionate writer, content with my life, no longer searching for that…
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