Hornsea Writer, Madeleine McDonald, On Writing

Give me a 3-word summary of what you will be doing, writing-wise, in the coming year.

Anything and everything.

Tell me more:

In 2022 my aim was to submit something somewhere once a week to competitions or anthologies that either paid a cash prize or rewarded authors indirectly by publishing under an ISBN number. Alas, online magazines that fill their pages by asking authors to work for no pay are mushrooming, and are to be avoided like the plague.

I am grateful to those generous writers who donate their time and effort to spread the word among fellow scribes by posting lists of worthwhile opportunities on the Internet.

In terms of success, in 2022, I had three short stories, and two non-fiction pieces published. 2023 has started well, with the publication of one poem and two cosy crime shorts.

A new departure for me was selecting and introducing stories for The Best of Cafe Lit 11. All the authors published on the CafeLit website are good writers, and selecting only a few took careful thought.

Tell me about a writing-related event from last year

The success I relished the most was to win Press 53's monthly competition to tell a story in 53 words exactly, after submitting to them for years. Their contest is great fun and I shall carry on trying.

Learn more about Madeleine here.

53 Words, No More, No Less

Winston, the Press 53 mascot

The small indie publishing house Press 53 runs a monthly writing competition, offering a different prompt each month and inviting short stories of exactly 53 words. I often enter the competition, for the fun of devising a new story within the word limit.

This is the first time I have won, with a retelling of the Philemon and Baucis legend. I’m convinced it would have been the husband who jumped in and asked the gods that the couple might die at the same time. Trust a man to go for the grand gesture. Whereas the wife would have asked for something more practical. 

Photo by David Tip on Unsplash

You can read my story here.

Madeleine McDonald enjoys the challenge of writing flash fiction. Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio and published in various anthologies. Her novels include the contemporaries Enchantment in Morocco and The Rescued Heart, and the historical A Shackled Inheritance.

Hone Writing Skills Via Entering Competitions

There's nothing like setting ourselves targets - New Year's Resolutions or not - and the continued honing of our writing skills should be a priority. 

One of the easiest methods is to write outside of our comfort zones. It truly makes us think about sentence structure, characterisation, and speech patterns other than those used as a norm.

However, writers are often strapped for time, and so writing as an exercise can too easily be pushed down the workaday list of priorities. 

Writing specifically for competitions circumvents this by offering a targeted set of constraints: market, wordcount, theme, deadline. Writers merely need to add the creative spark.

Across on his blog, member Stuart Aken runs a massive Resources page which includes a link to a substantial Creative Writing Contests Table, updated on a regular basis. Even better, many are free to enter; all offer prizes.

So what's stopping you?


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Creative #Writing #Contests Submissions Feb-Oct 2019

Members of Hornsea Writers hold a wealth of information on their individual websites. 

Multi-genre writer Stuart Aken is prolific in his reach, from sharing his love of photography to his inquisitive nature. He runs a series on Discovering The Write Word, currently at #57, and where else could you find lists of 6,500+ female, male, and non-gender names from around the globe? Check out his Resources page.

His list of on-going competitions for writers encompasses everything from poetry to flash fiction to short stories to novellas and novels. Those free to enter are handily marked in red. The list is currently seven pages in length, so there will be something to catch everyone's eye. Check out the list HERE or follow the link from his Resources page.

Blood Red Dust is the first of his Generation Mars trilogy. Read about it HERE.

FINDING INSPIRATION IN WINE AND ALIENS

  

I trawl writing newsletters for competitions. I have even won a couple of prizes, ranging from a box of felt-tip pens to a more welcome £50 cheque. For one thing, respecting a 500-word, or even a 50-word, deadline in flash fiction competitions is excellent discipline in making every word count.

   Another reason is that tackling an unfamiliar theme, or venturing into an unknown setting, can unlock reservoirs of creativity. Once you start looking, there is no shortage of unusual subjects to tackle. Every year, the Bulwer Lytton prize offers the opportunity to commit every crime in an author's arsenal by penning the most ludicrous opening sentence to a novel, and I compose my entry with glee. I was once published inside a Christmas cracker, one of a special set of 12.  For various competitions, I attempted to see the world from the viewpoint of a ghost, a witch, a tree and a cactus. Alas, none of my supernatural creations dripped gore, making them unsuitable for most of the horror competitions advertised, but in a sideways fashion they have influenced the way I write about real life.

   My latest effort has been a fun competition run by Wine Tourism Spain, which requested entries on the unlikely pairing of aliens and wine. A mish-mash of sci-fi and travel writing, within a limited word count? The source of inspiration in real life had to be a glass or two of chilled Rueda Verdejo. To see what I wrote, visit my blog.  

Madeleine McDonald