These are the results from our last writing contest – we don’t have one running on this site at the moment but are thinking of starting a new site with a more regular writing contest. We had a lot of great essays this time, but could only pick one winner, and it was… Jail Time, Poo, and Writing by Crystal Aceves Crystal will get a free edit and we’re going
I knew I was meant to write the moment I discovered not everyone salivates over a blank notebook and a freely flowing ink pen. I knew I was meant to convey my thoughts through people who didn’t exist outside of my imagination. I knew I’d spend my days playing in cream pages soaked with black typeface. I knew I was meant to live a thousand lives within my own.
Like many, I’d struggled for a number of years trying to squeeze out a book. Then it hit me, it hit me like a freight train, and now I can’t stop writing. Yes, I can almost, hear you thinking as you read this. Jerk! If it makes you feel better, I’ve heard it to my face too, and on more than one occasion. What I’d started to do, as
Life takes on a peculiar existential clarity when you realize, ten minutes too late, that you have absentmindedly swallowed a potentially lethal dose of your dog’s high-potency thyroid medication. As I tried unsuccessfully to undo my terrible mistake (without getting too explicit, suffice it to say that I am in no danger of ever becoming bulimic), my life flashed before my eyes. I’m not talking about the part of
You love gardens. You have always loved gardens. You have appreciated the gardens of others since you were a child. You daydream about gardens at odd moments, and some gardens are like old friends you return to when you need a lift to your spirits. Gardens have helped you through some tough times in your life. You’d like to create one that might help someone else. You decide that you’d
Cursing, Crockery and Cream Buns How to Handle Rejection SUPER SAGE Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil – but there is no way around them. (Isaac Asimov) FAB FIVE Reject: To throw back. OUCH! Dear Reject. As a writer you make a great dishwasher. Pain. Hurt. Embarrassment. Deeply personal. Ego. This is me. An
1 – How to write a book. Let’s get this straight. There is only ONE way to write a book. ONE. Nur Ein. Il n’y a que un. As Ernest Hemmingway put it…. “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Textbook Ernest. Brief and to the point. There’s nothing more you need to know. 2 – How not
Tim Grahl’s book Your First 1000 Copies (kindle version): 1. “Do you get a lot of questions when you share your book ideas to family and friends?” Should be “with family and friends” or “show your book ideas.” 2. “Your true fans will show you the same devotion, but only if you given them the adventure-driven content to do so.” It’s a great guide to book marketing and getting started
Many things in life can stop you from writing your masterpiece — dying being the most final. But sometimes, even death cannot stop you from finishing what you started. As human beings, we are born to create. Art surrounds us in nature at every turn. And just like the heartwood of a tree, our creative gene is at the very core of our being. It is unfortunate how few
Good writing is always sought after and consumed eagerly by hungry readers, who often go on empty stomachs for days searching for its delicate and fragile existence as the warm fire to their stomachs. However, the opposite is true as well; the very word “writing” can be taken away and chopped into a million tiny pieces and ripped of its true morals. There are three main categories which an aspiring