Blog

I was surprised to find blog isn't listed in my dictionary. Then I looked at the cover and saw how old it is. That was a surprise too. The nineties don't seem all that long ago – but it's time enough for blogs to have become popular and start to decline.

A few years ago My Weekly asked me for a few words about myself, to put under one of my stories. I mentioned this blog and the editor helpfully described blogs as online diaries, for those who were unfamiliar with them.

I'm not sure precisely how long I've had this blog, but I recall mentioning my engagement on it and that was over nine years ago. That's a lot of posts!

I'm thinking of somehow combining this blog with my Womagwriter one (which is for those who write for women's magazines). Although I'd still have the same amount of research to do, I think it would be slightly easier and less time consuming to only have the one blog.

What do you think about that? Any suggestions for the best way to go about it? Or maybe I should just stop one of them?

Fellow blogger Paula Readman recently invited me over to her blog for a virtual tea and chat.

If you're interested in the subject of blogging, you may like to join #WritingChat this evening. This is a Twitter event held 8-9 (UK time) every Wednesday evening. There's always a theme – this week it's 'Does blogging still work for writers?' Participants are encouraged to suggest topics for further discussions.

To take part, just tweet at the appropriate time, using the #WritingChat hashtag. (Without that, we'll probably miss your comments.)

And now for what you probably visited this blog for – free to enter writing competitions.

The Val Wood prize is for feel good stories of 2,000 words. There's a £100 prize, plus publication.

Amazon are offering a £20,000 for 'outstanding writing'. I know I'm cynical, but as readers play a significant role in deciding who wins, outstanding marketing is also going to play a big part. Still; like all the competitions I blog about, it's free to enter. If you intended to publish through Amazon anyway, you might as well have a go.

Bardsy are offering $345 and a six month placement on their Elite Writers' Scheme to the winning writer of a short story about dreams.

Dressed

Dressed is the past tense of dress or dressing.  Most of these words are connected with putting things on – a person wearing clothes is dressed, as is a salad sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Gardens can be dressed with compost or fertiliser, a Christmas tree with baubles, or a graze with a plaster.

We can get dressed up in our smartest clothes, or give a dressing down to those who didn't make the effort. If we really want to get things right, we may even have a dress rehearsal.

Stone and meat can both be dressed – in these cases it means trimmed to get them ready for cooking or building.

Lots of things can be dressed up in an attempt to make them seem better. Probably best not to try that with our writing though. Editors, publishers and competition judges will soon see through a dressy font, pretentious wording and fancy formatting. If you try either this monthly free short story competition, or this one, or even this one, put your efforts into what you write, not how it looks and you could win a cash prize.

My latest short story collection is called Dressed To Impress. Here's the blurb –

We choose our clothes to help us stand out, make a statement, or to hide inside. They may show who we really are or be our disguise. Perhaps they'll help us play a part, get the job done, or be a means for revenge.

Clothes can warm, comfort and reassure us. We might buy or borrow them, damage or repair, give them away or have them taken. The items in our wardrobe might bring back memories, express hope for the future, or offer a surprise.

From glasses to shoes, fancy dress to fancy dresses, designer wear to charity donations, the clothes we wear all have a story to tell. This book contains 24 of them.

What kind of dressing do you like best?

Industry

Industry is a type of trade or manufacture, it can refer to trade and manufacture collectively. Those things will often happen in an industrial environment. Industry may also mean great activity or diligence. Those who demonstrate this are industrious.









Publishing is an industry. We don't always like to think of it that way, but it is. In common with most other industries money is the main driving force. It's often not the only one, but it's very important. If (for example) a magazine doesn't sell enough copies to buy more paper, it can't print the next issue.

If a publisher doesn't think our book will sell, they can't risk paying for an editor, cover designer, print run etc, or they won't be able to pay the royalties earned by their existing authors – and that wouldn't be fair, would it?




This month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question is – There have been many industry changes in the last decade, so what are some changes you would like to see happen in the next decade?

I'd like to see things level out a bit more. Instead of a few authors making vast fortunes and the rest struggling to make any kind of profit, I'd like more of us to earn at least the minimum wage. But then I'd like that for those who work in all other industries too.

Things could be worse though. There are opportunities for 'ordinary' writers. Free to enter writing competitions are part of that. They offer the possibility of winning some money, improving your craft, building confidence, perhaps even getting noticed by someone in the industry. (Which is one reason I blog about them so frequently.)

This one from Nottingham Writers' Studio is for up to 5,000 words of fiction or non fiction to be included in an anthology titled Black Lives. The top prizes if £250. All published entries will earn at least £30.

For the Perito prize, you're asked to write between 1,000 and 2,000 words of fiction on the theme of accessibility and inclusivity. The top prize is £500. There's an anthology involved there too.

This competition from Southampton University is for children. They're asked to write books on sustainability, for which they could win £200. (It's the 3rd competition down – you'll find others on the site for adult writers.)