Short Story Competitions

 I have written a number of short stories this year and decided to have a little look to see if there are any short story competitions I could enter my stories into.

I ended up spending hours researching various competitions online and discovered the following things:

1.       Most short story competitions take place in the first half of the year- oops, seems I have missed them!

2.       There are very few “free to enter” competitions. Those that are “free to enter” are either for children or already published writers. The competitions that seem to be the most prestigious and have the highest monetary prize were exclusively for published writers. So not only do published writers already have their foot in the door of the writing world, they can enter for free and gain a substantial prize…hardly seems fair to me…

3.       Most competitions require an entry free and I couldn’t help but notice that some of those entry fees are rather extortionate.

After my many hours of research, I decided that the best option for me is to wait until January and take another look at what there is to offer. But I did find two competitions that seem a little bit more up my street. One was for teenage readers, which is exactly who my short stories are aimed at, and I really liked the ethos of the site- promoting reading for pleasure for young people. Fingers crossed the judges like it!

Visit to the Cotswolds- my break between finishing my second draft and before I start editing

I have spent the past five days in the quaint beauty of the Cotswolds- a lovely interim between finishing draft number two and before I start the arduous and pain-staking task of editing. I have also found some more sources for inspiration and really taken time to appreciate the splendour of the British countryside.

This is the first time I have been to the Cotswolds and I will certainly be going again. We spent most days walking and were fortunate enough to have pleasant weather for October. I enjoyed watching two sheepdog herd their sheep, walking through a field that had hundreds of pheasants flying out in a mad panic (although it did make me jump), seeing a number of red kites and kestrels and just generally appreciating all the autumnal colours.

It has been a lovely mini-break and now I am back home I am going to make a start on my editing. Wish me luck! 

Second Book- Complete!

Thirty-six chapters and 42,245 words later, I have finally finished my second book. It is a YA mystery, inspired by one of the short stories in the short story collection (book number one) that I wrote earlier this year. I have been writing since April and it feels really good to reach this milestone.

I started writing book number one in February as a way of getting myself back into writing, and short stories definitely eased me in until, very quickly, it became a collection. As I am trying to challenge myself this year and do all the things I have been putting off/ been afraid to do, I sent it to a few agents but to no avail. There isn’t really a market for YA gothic short stories.

Instead of giving up, and also not wanting the concepts and characters from my collection to go to waste, I decided to start turning them into longer stories with more nuanced plots- hence the birth of book number two.

I am really proud of getting it done, but I know there is still a lot of work to do. I haven’t edited or really proofread it yet, and with 42, 245 words, I imagine that is going to take me a really long time. And, I would also like to have some verdicts of the finished thing from some readers before I start the terrifying process of emailing agents.

But for now, I can kick back and say- “I have finished my second book of 2020!”

A little update...

 Just a little update from the last time I blogged. I was so close to finishing the second draft of my WIP with only 2-3 chapters left to go but I haven’t really written anything for the past two weeks. It is partly because of two reasons.

Reason 1: It was my birthday, so I spent last weekend celebrating with close family (it was my mum’s birthday too) and enjoying all the bookish gifts I have been given. This includes some comic books and an Edgar Allan Poe stationary set (!).

Reason 2: Work has gotten super busy towards the end of term, what with mock exams, marking and various other things which all seem to happen at the same time making the end of term relentlessly hectic and non-stop. I have come home late every evening, usually with work to still finish at home, so I haven’t had the time nor energy for writing.

However, my holiday is coming up, and I am planning on spending 5 days in the Cotswolds, so hopefully that will inspire me to get on with my writing and get those final chapters done!

Fingers crossed for a more promising update next time!