Writing Magazine

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Writing Magazine1 min read
Dear Reader
Happy New Year, and welcome to your first issue of 2025! Wouldn’t it be marvellous if this was your breakthrough writing year? The one where you completed that manuscript, found your voice, landed an agent/publisher, beat the block, saw a piece you’r
Writing Magazine6 min read
Make Time To Write
Having welcomed in the new year, time stretches ahead of us like an empty page, waiting to be filled with writing. Whatever your good intentions, actually getting down to writing can be hard. We are all busy people, and it can sometimes feel that lif
Writing Magazine6 min read
Fall Back In Love With Your Novel
As writers, we spend a lot of time on the ledge. You know the one. The I’m-going-to-quit ledge. The blood, sweat, tears and time (so much time) that goes into writing a novel can exhaust even the hardiest among us. Rejection is built into the publica
Writing Magazine6 min read
A changing MARKETPLACE
In the past year or so, we’ve seen several popular print magazines disappear from the newsagent’s shelves, including Reader’s Digest, Your Cat and Evergreen. Each of these offered a good source of income in terms of fillers and articles. But the mark
Writing Magazine6 min read
Getting Into (someone Else’s) Character
When I began writing fiction as a child, it seemed natural to write about the characters I knew and loved. My first stories featured William Brown from the Just William series. Later, I graduated to writing Doctor Who fan fiction. Using familiar char
Writing Magazine7 min read
Time On Your Side
Gone, it seems, are the days of saving up for things, working hard for the rewards, playing the long game. Life is short, live for today, live in the moment people tell us. And though that may be true, it’s also true that some things cannot be rushed
Writing Magazine7 min read
Lighting The Path
In the writing world, Julia Cameron, the creator of The Artist’s Way, is the nearest thing we have to a guru. ‘I am very much an accidental guru!’ she laughs down the phone from New Mexico. The Artists’ Way, a twelve-week course in finding your creat
Writing Magazine3 min read
REAL LIFE, Great Stories
Non-fiction may be narrative-led (a true story) or subject-led (an exploration of a topic) and this month we’re looking at creative non-fiction that combines the two. One of my favourite examples is Nigel Slater’s Toast, which is described in the cov
Writing Magazine6 min read
Your Writing Critiqued
The elderly tramp steamer Gudrun B ran in on the darkened coast of Cornwall1, her blue-and-yellow Swedish ensign blowing taut to starboard in the stiff westerly;2 as she came under the lee of the land, the seas moderated abruptly,3 and the flag flapp
Writing Magazine6 min read
TENSE AND POINT OF VIEW: PART TWO First Person
In the last issue we encountered the Building Block of Tense and Point of View. Having reduced the sixteen or so different tenses to just two – past and present – we described Point of View as from what perspective or through whose eyes the story bei
Writing Magazine5 min read
Jenny Morris
Growing up, I wanted to be a scientist rather than a writer. I loved the idea that all the answers to my questions could be found in a book. Then, halfway through my PhD in research psychology, one of my closest friends suddenly and unexpectedly died
Writing Magazine2 min read
New Year, New Writing
When I do get around to thinking about New Year resolutions, mine are always the same. Listen more, talk less and write every day. Even as I think them, I know they’re not going to work. I am not a brilliant listener. As other people speak to me, tho
Writing Magazine5 min read
Amy Jordan
The Dark Hours is my first novel featuring retired detective Julia Harte and will be published on 30 January. Initially, I didn’t plan to write from the point of view of a retired detective, but the opening scene came into my head fully formed, and i
Writing Magazine6 min read
The World Of Writing
I’m tired most of the time these days. I’m afraid early morning alarms, age and caring for a family member suffering chronic pain might be catching up with me. And I find myself with little time and motivation to write very much. Often my output is l
Writing Magazine1 min read
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: YOUR WRITING Who am I?
‘Who am I?’, the theme of the submission call in the December issue, made us certain of a couple of things: our readers are talented, and prolific, writers! Original thinkers too, with words at the heart of their identity. Every month the submissions
Writing Magazine1 min read
Poetry
Waking in the half light of dawnI throw the duvet over ridiculeScatter doubts with a swish of the curtainsAnd clutch my dreams close,Up and down the ladder of lifeAlone, sometimes lonelyBut, with a blank pageHope.I chase my thoughts aroundCajoling th
Writing Magazine3 min read
Prose
Sometimes, Gillian asks, “What’s your name?” and then, “Do I know you?” The woman, the one she hardly recognises, doesn’t answer; she’s staring into the mirror, applying her outside face: foundation to hide imperfections, concealer for the dark circl
Writing Magazine1 min read
We Want Your Writing
Each month in WM, we feature creative writing by our subscribers. Selected pieces will be published in WM and we pay £50 for prose and £25 for poetry, and provide a mini-critique explaining what made the pieces stand out to us. As this issue marks th
Writing Magazine5 min read
Subscribers’ News
As one of the first women ordained alongside men to be priests in the Church of England, I have had the privilege of sharing in the lives of people from all walks of life, writes subscriber Hazel Whitehead. Rich or poor, saint or sinner – all human b
Writing Magazine6 min read
Following Your Fears
We are often asked where we get our ideas from. Certainly not from reading newspapers, or true crime stories, or from other thrillers. They don’t come when we are sitting opposite each other with a notebook, asking ourselves what our next book will b
Writing Magazine5 min read
Pigeon Post
Poems about the natural world proliferate. The seasons, weather, bird and animal life, sea and landscapes, trees and gardens are source material that never loses its appeal. It’s as if every new generation of poets rediscovers nature for itself, and
Writing Magazine4 min read
Talk On The Wild Side
IIs anyone old enough to remember the 1950s television show in which panellists were asked to identify mysterious objects from museums, and then assign them to one of the categories above? I vaguely remember my own parents tuning in but, as a small c
Writing Magazine2 min read
Five Quick Questions 5
When and where did your journey as an author begin? I’ve had a lifelong passion for writing and have been a journalist since my early twenties, but it is only in the past few years that I have had the time to make a serious attempt at writing novels.
Writing Magazine6 min read
Dream Home
This month’s story, ‘Ma’ame Pelagie’ by Kate Chopin, is one in which setting is very important, both in a general and a very specific sense. The wider setting is the Southern US, post-Civil War, and the very specific setting is a particular mansion i
Writing Magazine6 min read
Spread Your Wings
To me 2025 sounds like something lifted from the pages of science-fiction, but here we are in January of a fresh year. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be taking some time here to reflect on what you did last year and, more importantly, what the ne
Writing Magazine6 min read
Writing Hobby Or Writing Business?
Have you ever wondered when our writing hobby becomes a writing business? Is it when we win a small writing competition and bank the £25 cheque? Is it when we have a letter published in our favourite magazine and win a small prize? Or is it when we s
Writing Magazine6 min read
It All Adds Up
Happy New Year to you! 2025 begins, full of opportunity and promise. Wherever you are in your writing journey, here are 25 tips for 2025 (in no particular order) to help you make the most of the year ahead. Work out what you want to achieve by the en
Writing Magazine4 min read
Focus Groups
Focus groups are used in qualitative research and they typically involve a group of six to ten people sharing their opinions, beliefs and attitudes about a particular product, service, concept or idea. The discussion is facilitated by a moderator who
Writing Magazine2 min read
Behind The Tape
If you have a query for Lisa, please send it by email to [email protected] QMy questions relate to 1960s CID. If a victim goes missing from their home in London and then is found murdered in Cheshire, would it be possible for a Metropolita
Writing Magazine2 min read
Hosting A Bookshop Event
THOUGHTS ON SELF PUBLISHING WITH Hosting an event with a local bookshop is a powerful way for self-published authors to build local awareness, attract media attention, and connect personally with readers and retailers. Here’s how to plan, prepare, an
Writing Magazine4 min read
Aria Aber
German born and raised Aria Aber now lives in Los Angeles and has just started working as a professor. ‘My days are now structured around teaching hours. I barely have time to write, but am sure the rhythm will return sometime soon: I just need to ge
Writing Magazine3 min read
Sarah Hornsley
After graduating from Durham University with a First Class Honours in History, Sarah Hornley’s publishing career began at the publishers Orion in 2012, before a brief spell working in script development. She became a literary agent in 2015 and appear
Writing Magazine3 min read
Get Published
Just four days after the recent US election set Donald Trump on a path to return to the White House, a group of five men holding Nazi flags paraded on the sidewalk outside American Legion Post 141 in Howell, Livingston County, Michigan, where the Fow
Writing Magazine3 min read
Reel ‘em in
Agents continue to look for something they can really get behind in terms of concept, such as a fresh viewpoint, quirky concept or total immersion in a world that’s so different from our own. Publishers and agents are naturally market-driven in terms
Writing Magazine4 min read
General News
The Bridport Prize has launched a ‘sort of’ new prize, writes Gary Dalkin. Sort of, because the Never Too Late Award is new, it isn’t actually a separate prize, but rather an additional award to be given to the highest placed writer aged 60+ across t
Writing Magazine2 min read
Indie Mags And Websites Accepting Submissions
beestung is an online micro-magazine for non-binary and two-spirit writers and readers. It publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, hybrids, and art by non-binary, genderqueer and two-spirit creators. Payment is a US$20 honorarium. Website: ht
Writing Magazine1 min read
Fiction Submissions
3rd Wednesday is an independent quarterly journal of literary and visual arts inviting submissions of quality poetry and fiction, writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. Poetry may be formal or experimental. Submit no more than three. Fiction in the form of short
Writing Magazine4 min read
Competitions With Multiple Categories
Win prizes for poetry and flash fiction in the litfest’s writing competitions for poetry up to 40 lines and flash fiction up to 500 words. In each category there are prizes of £200 and £100. The poetry judge is Patrick Osada and the fiction judge is
Writing Magazine2 min read
Independent Publishers Accepting Submissions
Founded in 1992, Birlinn is an Edinburgh-based independent publisher with five imprints – Arena Sport, Birlinn, BC Books, John Donald and Polygon, writes Gary Dalkin. Published authors include Alistair Moffat, Mollie Hughes, Polly Pullar, Patrick Bak
Writing Magazine2 min read
Writing For Children Competitions
The writing contest is for poetry and short fiction aimed at children between five and twelve. The competition from Tim Saunders Publications invites entries of unpublished poetry in any style (max 30 lines), flash fiction (max 300 words) and short s
Writing Magazine1 min read
Poetry Opportunities
Open until January15th, the editorial team at Beautiful Days Press will be reading manuscripts of both full-length poetry books and poetry chapbooks, to be published in 2025-26, writes PDR Lindsay Salmon. Beautiful Days Press is an NYC-based publishe
Writing Magazine2 min read
Small Press Opportunities
Alternating Current Press is an indie press dedicated to publishing and promoting literature which ‘challenges readers and has an innate sense of self, timelessness, and atmosphere,’ writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. The team love ‘science, history, homebou
Writing Magazine1 min read
Staying Ahead
Everyone has some unexpected events in their life. Hopefully many are good, but some cause disruption. I had an operation recently (all done now, thank you) and being out of action for a while, I was surprised at just how much needed rearranging in a
Writing Magazine5 min read
Nonfiction Opportunities
The Walrus describes itself as Canada’s Conversation, provoking new thinking and sparking debating on matters vital to Canadians, writes Gary Dalkin. It is a registered charity publishing independent, fact-based journalism in a national magazine eigh
Writing Magazine2 min read
Poetry Competitions
The world’s only celebration of the literature of feline mortality is inviting entries. The Dead Cat Poetry Prize launched in 2021. This is the third iteration of the prize. Enter original, unpublished poems featuring dead cats up to 60 lines. The cl
Writing Magazine1 min read
Novel Competitions
The biennial competition for first-time prose writers has a £10,000 prize. The DRF Writers Award from the Deborah Rogers Foundation for writers within the British Commonwealth and Eire invites submissions of 15,000-20,000 words of a work in progress,
Writing Magazine2 min read
Short Story Competitions
Win a £1,000 first prize in the next Award, which closes on 2 February. The Bath Flash Fiction Award, which runs three times a year, is given for original, unpublished short fiction up to 300 words. The winner will receive £1,000, and there are secon
Writing Magazine2 min read
Anthology Submissions
The editorial team at Parsec inc seek stories for their 22nd anthology, Dark Hearts, writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. The anthology has a women-centred theme and anyone can submit ‘speculative stories and poems about women who are antiheroes.’ Send them st
Writing Magazine2 min read
A Sense Of Place
One aspect of the travel writer’s task is not simply to describe a place, but to describe the atmospheric nature of it. It is a challenge, not least because what you feel is personal and subjective. It is many years since I visited the Taj Mahal, an
Writing Magazine6 min read
Laughter Lines
Humorous writing is a serious business. A humorous poem is a tale usually (but not exclusively) written in a single voice. Think about it in terms of a stand-up comedian delivering a routine on stage or television. The script has to be funny, but the
Writing Magazine7 min read
Always
Danny Gibson ran out of the school gates and I went after him, running hell for leather with our backsides still burning from the beating Mr Jenkins had just given us. Small mercy that he’d used the flat bat and not the cane. We pounded across the co
Writing Magazine3 min read
Tech Takeover
An extraordinary amount of my time last month was spent attempting to draft Artificial Intelligence clauses for contracts. I’ve had four contracts to negotiate – the UK and one US and lots of important-sounding emails have been buzzing backwards and
Writing Magazine1 min read
Still Time To Enter
www.writers-online.co.uk/writing-competitions Writing Competitions, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications Ltd, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH WIN! £2,050 IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION £1,200 TO BE WON Win a whopping £1,000 first prize for

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