Writing-World - the site for freelance writers

Speaking of humour writing....

which we weren't really, but following tenuously on from from this post, I thought I may as well mention Twitter Titters.

This is a book of humour writing which has been produced in aid of Comic Relief. I contributed a short piece to the book, which also features work from a group of really talented writers, including Dave Spikey, Cally Taylor, Iain Aitch, Paul Oswell and more.

I bought it in paperback (it's also available as a download), and my copy arrived a couple of days ago. I've seen my name in print lots of times in newspapers and magazines, as well as on the web, but I have to say, it was a nice feeling to be published in a book!

Proceeds go to charity, and you can buy it here.

Tuesday Writer's Block: What book influences your writing the most?

This week (And hopefully every week from now on) I'm taking part in the Tuesday Writer's Block, started by the lovely Erin over at Mirkwood Cottage. As Erin explains in her own post, each week she's going to be giving us a a topic to write a few paragraphs on, and then discussing her favourite answers, so once you've read this, you should head over to Mirkwood Cottage and take part!

This week, Erin asks, "Which book influences your writing most?"

This is an easy one for me, although I'm going to cheat and pick a series of books rather than one particular tome. As I mentioned recent at Forever Amber, I was an Enid Blyton fanatic as a child, and, now I come to mention it, I still love reading those books now. The Famous Five, the Adventure Series, The Five Find-Outers and Dog... basically, if it has a bunch of kids having adventures with an animal of some description, you could count me in.

Ask Writing World: Do I need permission to use song titles in my story?

I'm writing (or trying to write) my first novel, and want to mention the name of a particular song, which is important to the two main characters. Am I allowed to do this, or will I get into trouble with the songwriter?  ~ Caroline, Massachusetts

Caroline,

If it's only a song title, and not song lyrics you're going to be quoting you should be fine, as titles aren't covered by the stringent copyright laws that cover other types of writing. Lyrics, on the other hand, are a whole different matter, and it can be quite expensive to obtain permission to use them in a written work. A song title shouldn't be a problem, but any queries like this will be cleared up by your publishers (assuming you're going to go the traditional publishing route) long before your book is even printed, so don't worry too much at this stage, and concentrate on the writing. Good luck!

New Year's Writing Resolutions : three tips for success

At this time of year, suddenly everyone decides to be a writer.

OK, so maybe "everyone" is an exaggeration, but there's no doubt that early January is when we get the highest number of "How do I become a freelance writer?" and "Can you give me a job?" enquiries. It's also the time when thousands of new novels get started, and thousands more short stories are penned, their authors all determined that this year will be the year that they'll finally finish that magnum opus and be able to call themselves a published writer at last.

Maybe you're one of these resolution-making people yourself? If so, I have one question for you: what's stopping you?

It's all very easy to say that resolutions are made to broken, but a new year is as good a time as any to decide to start a new writing career - or kick start an old one - so while you're swearing off the cigarettes and signing up for the gym, it could be a good idea to form some writing-based resolutions, too. If you're not quite sure what those resolutions should be, here are some tips for you:

1. Set small goals
Realistically, it's going to be difficult to write a novel from scratch and get it published by this time next year - especially if you've never done it before. Instead, set smaller goals that you'll at least have a chance of achieving.

2. Tell someone

Keeping your goals to yourself is an excellent way to convince yourself you don't actually have to meet them. Tell someone what you aim to achieve with your writing career this year, or, better still, write your goals down and display them somewhere prominent. Now you have a much bigger incentive to actually achieve them.

3. Write

It's a truth told so often that it's become a cliche, but writer's write. Clearly there are lots of different types of writing you could chose to do, and lots of different ways to actually go about doing it, so I'm not going to tell you that you must write every day, every week or even every month. What I am going to tell you is that if you're determined to make your writing career a success in 2008, you're going to have to write. Stick with us throughout the year for tips and hints how to do it...

Where to find story ideas for NaNoWriMo (or any other fiction)

So, the computer is all fired up, the coffee is percolating and you're all ready to write the great American/British/<insert your nationality here> novel. There's just one problem: what on earth are you going to write about?

If you're still struggling for story inspiration with one day to go, try these sources of great story ideas:

Snopes.com

It aims to either prove or debunk all those urban legends that float around the Internet (not to mention other places), but those myths and legends could make a great story. Sure, some of them have been well and truly dismissed by this site, but what if they were actually true? There are so many different urban myths here, ranging from the spooky to the just plain strange, that there has to be something that will spark off a story idea.

Mysterious Britain

Writing a mystery or ghost story? This is just one of the websites out there that contains details of some of the great mysteries of our times, both solves and unsolved. Try taking a real-life mystery and solving it in your novel - and if you don't find one to inspire you on this site, a quick Google will turn up more unsolved mysteries than there are unfinished NaNoWriMo novels.

Newark News

I've picked the Newark News totally at random, but most local newspapers are filled with human interest stories, some of which could form the seed of a story idea. In this paper alone, for instance, we have a couple dead in a car-crash, a community opposing a homeless shelter, and a rather intriguing personal ad. What could the circumstances have been that led to the crash? Why would the neighbourhood oppose the shelter? Just who is Lee Graham, anyway, and why is someone searching for him? All great stories, just waiting to be told...

Creative Writing Prompts

Again, this is one of many websites containing writing prompts which will help start you off with your story. All you have to do is pick one and write it!

Know of another great source of writing inspiration? Drop us a comment and tell us about it!

Five Tips for NaNoWriMo

1. Set a realistic daily word count.
50,000 words in 30 days works out as 1666 words per day, but unless you're a lot more dedicated than I am, you're probably not going to write every day. Allow for weekends, holidays, special occasions... and those days when you get up and you just can't get anything down on paper, no matter M<,how hard you try.

2. Get your family and friends on board.
You'll find it a whole lot easier to take NaNoWriMo seriously if your friends and family take it seriously, too. Explain to them that this is something that's important to you, and that they should treat it almost as if it was a job. That means that if you tell them you haven't met your word count for the day, they don't nag you to come out for a drink, or otherwise persuade you not to bother.

3. Minimise distractions.
If you can't sit down at a computer without checking your email, looking at your Bloglines account and doing one hundred and one other things that aren't writing, you need to look long and hard at your work setup. Consider using good old pen and paper (just like in the old days!), requisitioning that old computer that doesn't have any Internet access, or just disconnecting yourself from the Net. Similarly, if TV or family members tend to distract you, take yourself to the local library/coffee shop/<insert writing venue of choice> to make sure you get the work done.

4. Take time out.
Sometimes the best way to beat writer's block is to take a step away from the screen, walk the dog, make some coffee, and allow yourself to think about something other than your unfinished novel. The dog will thank you, too.

5. Forget everything you've ever known about how stories should be written
You know the kind of things I mean: starting at the beginning and writing until you reach the end; writing a synopsis before you even think about starting Chapter 1; writing in chapters; doing lots of research - the list goes on. None of this applies to a NaNoWriMo novel. Instead, don't be afraid to mix it up: write the scenes that interest you the most and skip out the ones that don't; write the end first, if that's easiest for you; if you're not quite sure whether you've got your facts right, make a mental note to check it out later, and just keep going. No, it's not the way to produce the perfect first draft, but then, that's not the point, is it? (And there's no such thing as the perfect first draft anyway...)

Good luck!

National Novel Writing Month kicks off this week!

It's almost November, which, for aspiring fiction writers, means one thing only: National Novel Writing Month - or NaNoWriMo as it's affectionately known.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, the best place to start is at the NaNoWriMo website. In a nutshell, though, the challenge is to write a 50,000 word "novel" during the month of November. Nothing matters except that all-important word count, meaning that you learn to resist the urge to edit, or to spend hours on end creating perfectly crafted sentences - you just sit down and write.

The idea is that by the end of the month, you'll have the bare bones of a novel. No, it may not be a great one, and it may not be the best writing you'll ever do, but you'll at least have something approaching a "novel" - and let's face it, that's more than most of us manage in our lifetimes. You'll also have learned how to stop procrastinating and just get on with the important business of writing - a valuable lesson indeed.

I've just signed up (even although I have only the vaguest idea what I'm going to write about) and you can view my profile here. Anyone care to join me?

Prose and Poetry Prizes from The New Writer Magazine writing contest

One of the major annual international competitions for short stories, novellas, single poems, poetry collections, essays and articles has just launched, offering cash prizes, plus publication in The Collection - a special edition of The New Writer Magazine.

Closing Date:
30 November 2007

Accepts:
Stories up to 4,000 words, serials/novellas up to 20,000 words on any subject or theme, in any genre (not children's). Previously published work is not eligible.

Single poems up to 40 lines and collections of between 6 - 10 poems. Single poem entries must be previously unpublished; previously published poems can be included as part of a collection.

Essays, articles and interviews covering any writing-related or literary theme in its widest sense up to 2,000 words.

Prizes:
Short Stories: 1st prize £300, 2nd £200, 3rd £100. Novella: 1st prize £300.  Entry fees £4 per short story (TNW subscribers two entries at same fee) or £10 per serial/novella.

Poetry:
Collection: 1st prize £300, 2nd £200, 3rd £100.  Single: 1st prize £100, 2nd £75, 3rd £50.

Essays, articles and interviews: 1st prize £150, 2nd £100, 3rd £50.  Single entry £4

For more information and submission guidelines, visit The New Writer

A t-shirt for writers: Writing well is the best revenge

It's not often that we writers are catered for by the fashion industry, so when I saw this "Writing well is the best revenge" t-shirt over at Fussy.org, I just had to share. These are priced from $20, and are going straight onto my wish list. And is writing well the best revenge? Damn sure it is...

Legal Issues for Freelance Writers: Finding out that your work has been used but you haven't been paid

This morning I was chatting on the phone to a new client (who’s just ordered three months worth of writing – yay!) . “Oh, by the way,” he said casually, “I was in London last month, and I saw your by-line in a magazine I picked up on the train…”

The magazine in question is one which commissioned me to write a feature for them in April 2005. Over two years ago. I sent the finished piece in on-time… and then heard nothing. Now, I know magazines have long lead times, but they can also change their minds, and I have to admit that when emails to the commissioning editor turned up nothing, I’d pretty much given up on this one. I’d actually forgotten about it (which isn’t like me!) until my client mentioned it to me this morning.

Needless to say, I haven’t received any payment for the use of my article in this magazine. I’ve now emailed the editor to find out what’s happening with it: it would have been nice to have known that it was being published though.

The lesson? Keep tabs on the publications you’re pitching too. This was a magazine which is distributed in London only, and as I don’t live there I’m incredibly lucky that someone else happened to see the article and remember that it was me who wrote it. Had this client not happened to pick up a magazine someone had left on a train, I might never have known that my work had been published.

I can only hope that the editor wasn’t banking on that small fact…