writing

Hi folks, Is anyone interested in doing a NaNoWriMo style event in November? After all the issues with the official Nanowrimo organisation, I'm not keen on registering with the event through any of their official channels, however, I am keen to attempt 50k words in November and am on the hunt...

"What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript one hopes to publish." Thomas Wolfe

If writing and publishing a book is like giving birth to a child, then book marketing is like rearing it. Heather Hart

I just loved that title. Interesting interview and evidence there are places to sell stories even today. Authors of Issue 146: Alex Sobel New 47 minutes ago Alex Sobel, author of "The Eight Things You'll Never Be Now That You're Slowly Turning Into a Giant Spider Creature", joined us for an...

I have just learned there are places that will pay you actual money for stories. Something Claire G knows already. This is apparently a good site to find those places...

I’m delighted to announce that we have two joint winners for this month’s ONE PERFECT SENTENCE contest… Claire & Jonny! Graphics for both are below, and are going out on our social media right now. I loved all the entries! Here are the top three places together with a special mention...

Without a function, we cease to be. So, I will write till I die. Farley Mowat

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” E. L. Doctorow

Just a reminder that this months inaugural One Perfect Sentence contest closes soon – you will find an exact countdown timer on the Colony’s home page, at the top of the right-hand column. The contest has been designed to be… Easy on your writing schedule – one sentence being less...

All my writing has been an effort ton sort nout the paradoxes of my life. Nancy Friday

New blog post by Claire G – discussions in this thread, please --- I’m Fine Whenever I meet someone new, I try to learn their language. I don’t mean French or German; I mean things like what they convey without actually saying the words, or the way they might say something but mean something...

New blog post by AgentPete – discussions in this thread, please --- Come over here for a moment, would you? But be careful of the edge of the table, it’s rather sharp. Good. Now you can see things from my side of the desk. That towering pile you see in front of you? It’s what some unkind...

I’ve been wondering about chapter lengths. In my current WIP, I’ve let the scenes and story dictate the length of the chapters, and consequently, some are rather long, and some are very short. The inconsistency hasn’t gone unnoticed by first readers. So, I’ve been looking at chapter lengths in...

...over here, in a new section. Have a go! It’s the antidote to all other writing contests (you’ll enjoy it a lot more!). So now it's started – you need to start to play around with the voting. Everyone so far has been awfully restrained and hasn’t voted… that’s got to change! I did say in the...

Talent isn’t enough . . . Writing is work. Anyone can do this, anyone can learn to do this. It’s not rocket science, it’s habits of mind and habits of work. I started with people much more talented than me, and they’re dead or in jail or not writing. The difference between myself and them is...

Per Hermingway. Only I use a keyboard instead of a typewriter. In his day I would have bled whiteout. Boy do I NOT miss typewriters. But having seen multiple things on social media about how people who do things they don't want to do live longer- I figure writers have the chance to outlive...

New blog post by Jake E – discussions in this thread, please --- I recently had a great movie night with my daughter. We made a fort (three kitchen chairs with a blanket thrown over the top and far too many stuffed toys to get comfortable), we made popcorn and a bowl of Skittles, and settled...

Write beautifully what people don’t want to hear. Frederick Seidel

New blog post by Robinne Weiss – discussions in this thread, please --- As a writer, I tend to focus on plot. I love a good action scene, and I also enjoy writing dialogue (probably stems from loving to talk, myself. LOL!). Over the years, I’ve developed a method for outlining my novels that’s...