by Dr. John Yeoman Have you ever entered a short story contest and failed to win? And wondered why? You may have made one or more of these seven ‘killer’ mistakes. How do I know? Since 2009, I’ve judged more than 6000 entries in the Writers’ Village short story award. And I’ve given every […]
13 Reasons Why You Should Write a Short Story This Month
by Anne R. Allen Mashable reported this week that the buzzword of the moment is “snackable content”—described as “bite-sized chunks of info that can be quickly ‘consumed’ by its audience.” That’s why short fiction is hot. Ditto creative nonfiction essays. But the word hasn’t reached all writers. Recently I saw a newbie writer ask for […]
How to Write a Prize-Worthy Short Story: A Step-by-Step Guide
by Editor Jodie Renner Writing short stories is a great way to test the waters of fiction without making a huge commitment, or to experiment with different genres, characters, settings, and voices. Even if you’ve published a novel or two, it’s a good idea to try to release a few high-quality, well-edited short stories […]
The New Golden Age of Short Fiction: 12 Reasons to Write a Short Story This Month
by Anne R. Allen I recently heard from a writer who said she felt disrespected by her writing group. They were all working on novels and memoir and didn’t take her short fiction work seriously.I saw another writer on Google Plus asking for help because his work kept coming in at around 40 pages—like that […]
Six Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Need to Ignore
by Anne R. Allen A couple of weeks ago, when I wrote a post about writing as a hobby as opposed to a profession (hint: they’re both good choices), I got a couple of comments from new writers who were discouraged to read how much work and dedication it takes to become a professional writer. They […]