Simon Whaley's Business of Writing Newsletter: February 2023
Welcome to the February newsletter.
I’m writing this while on dog-sitting duties. I’m currently in charge of (although, at times, it feels more like I’m the slave of) Betsy and Phoebe, the Welsh Springer Spaniels. Phoebe is Betsy’s daughter, and is a bundle of non-stop energy. Meanwhile, Betsy is currently pregnant. She’s not due for another two weeks yet . . . at least, I hope not! Because of that, I’m having to walk them separately most of the time, because Betsy waddles at two miles and hour, whereas Pheobe hurtles at ninety.
This means my writing schedule is a bit awry at the moment, which probably isn’t a bad thing. Instead, I’ve brought a lot of reading and research with me, which I’m hoping to catch up with.
Resting Writer?
And, in some ways, I could do with a bit of a rest. The month began with not one, but two walks for Country Walking magazine, both of 12-miles in length. I prefer slightly shorter walks, between seven and nine miles, but these longer walks also come with a writing challenge. It doesn’t matter how long the walk is, the magazine insists that the word count for the directions is still the same: 500. Trying to squeeze 12 miles of route directions into 500 words can be challenging, especially as I don’t want the reader getting lost!
And then, really, it’s closer to 400 words for the route description because I need about a hundred words to ‘sell’ the route to potential walkers.
The upside is that it forces me to make every word count. There’s no room for tautology (saying the same thing twice over using different words). It’s amazing how many times I write drop down or climb up. You can only drop down so there’s no need to say down. Similarly, climbing usually takes place in an uphill direction, so the up isn’t necessary. (Yes, you can climb down from something, and so I would argue in that instance it IS necessary to write climb down.)
I’m currently editing a book at the moment. It’s an autobiography, and the author has used a particular tautology throughout. It’s a phrase I know I use, time and time again. How many times do you say, My own, as in, “my own journey,” or “my own son/daughter”?
In these examples, own isn’t necessary (and considering the phrase appears in the first chapter 27 times, that’s 27 words that will be deleted!).
Ask The Agent
In other news, I’ve been working on a new column for Writing Magazine, where I interview literary agents. The first piece will appear in the June issue, and for the first issue I chatted to John Jarrold, an agent who specialises in representing Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. I asked him what the most common mistakes he found in work submitted to him, and this is what he said:
”Don’t start with an info-dump—thread necessary background information in over the first thirty or forty pages through POV thoughts and dialogue. Then, of course, expand it through the book.”
I think you’ll agree, that’s useful no matter in which genre you write.
Short Story Competition
If any of you enjoy entering short story competitions, then why not take a look at the competition being run by the writers’ group I go to? Named in memory of one of our founder members, the Doris Gooderson Short Story competition is looking for entries on any theme, in English, of no more than 1200 words. There’s an entry fee of £5, and the first prize is £200, second is £100 and third is £50. We donate at least half (often more) of any profits to the Severn Hospice, and since we’ve been doing this, everyone who has supported our competition has helped us raise nearly £1,900.
If you’d like to know more, then all the rules and details of how to enter can be found here.
Get Your Free Download - Quick!
Before I go, I just wanted to remind you that the Business of Writing: Volume 4 is out. This is a collection of 25 articles that first appeared in Writing Magazine between 2021 and the start of 2023. As a newsletter subscriber, you can download a free PDF copy by following this link here. I’ll remove this link on 15th March, so download it while you can, if you haven’t already.
Popular on Medium
Finally, over the past month, or so, a couple of my Medium articles have proved popular with writers. As subscribers, you can read them for free using the following links:
Until next month, keeeeeeeeep writing!