Writers' Miscellany

We all need a bit of help sometimes, so we aim to gather together some bits and pieces that might assist the busy writer. Here you might find anything, from some handy hints on writing practice to info on places to submit your work, details of upcoming competitions to other miscellaneous musings that might carry you through your writing day.

Writing Competitions

These are a really good way to get your writing moving, especially if you have been stuck in something of a creative rut. Writing to a specific brief can focus your thoughts and can provide a useful prompt. They can be a good way to boost your confidence, give you some creds to add to your writing CV and you might even be lucky enough to pick up a cash prize!

The weblink below has a comprehensive list of upcoming competitions that has been carefully put together by blogger Stuart Aken. He created this to be a handy, free resource for writers, but if you find it useful and feel like buying him a coffee in return, there's a button where you can make a small (gratefully received) donation! Click here to see details...

Neon literary magazine also has details of competition listing that might be useful to writers. Click here for details

Rules of Writing

We all know that half the fun of rules is breaking them, and there are plenty of writers who pay no mind to such prescriptive diktats. But there is a plethora of wise words out there from writers who have proved they more than know their stuff. If you think that scribes such as Neil Gaiman, Martin Amis, Roddy Doyle, Stephen King and Diana Wynne Jones might have some advice you could benefit from, have a browse of this carefully curated list of writing rules. We find them useful; you may not. But if you're going to go around breaking them, you could do worse than check out the rules in the first place!

Writing Rules.pdf