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Writing Courses – Five tips on finding a good one?

Written by Della Galton on . Posted in Short stories for magazines, Woman's Weekly, Writing, Writing conferences & schools. 2 Comments

I am lucky enough to be able to teach creative writing at various venues.  This is Woman’s Weekly’s new home at Canary Wharf. How can you fail to be inspired by this view?

Tip Number One – Credibility

Do the course organisers have the credibility factor? Yes, if they are a respected publisher. such as Woman’s Weekly, they certainly do.  Choose carefully.

Tip Number Two – Marketability

Can the course organisers actually buy the work you produce? Yes, in Woman’s Weekly’s case – they buy twenty plus stories a month. They  also buy features. Which means that what you learn on the course may actually help you to sell your story to them.

Tip Number Three – Venue and accessibility

Woman’s Weekly have courses in London and in Birmingham. They cost £79 for a full day’s course. Choose from fiction, poetry or journalism. Check here for details.

Another wonderful venue, particularly if you are looking for something longer than a day is Writers’ Holiday, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.   Check out their winter weekend in February 2018 but be quick because it books up fast. £229 fully inclusive.

Tip Number Three – Inclusivity

Does your course include all levels of experience?  If you’re a beginner you don’t want to feel out of your depth. But equally if you’re a more experienced writer you don’t want to sit through a course that is too basic. Check with the organisers.  Both the Writers’ Holiday, at Fishguard and Woman’s Weekly cover all levels of experience, often on the same course.

Tip Number Five –  The Fun Factor

It’s not all about the work, it’s wonderful to have fun too.  Choose a course which has a reputation for friendliness.  This is where The Writers’ Holiday comes into its own. Ann and Gerry Hobbs, who run Writers’ Holiday, are amazing. It would be hard to find a nicer couple. Nothing is too much trouble. Don’t take my word for it. Check out their  website. www.writersholiday.net

And while we’re on the subject of friendly, I’m pretty friendly myself. Here are the details of my next two Saturday courses in Bournemouth. They run from 10 am till 4.00 pm.

Saturday 5 August, 2017 – Fiction Workshop – summer special DISCOUNT RATE £29.00

A day of inspirational workshops, designed to get your creative juices flowing. Workshop based. Places will be on a first come, first served basis.

Saturday 11 November 2017 – Writing Your First Novel £45.00

  • The first chapter and beyond.
  • Writing the synopsis and cover letter.
  • Approaching agents and publishers.

Please contact me if you’d like to book. I will leave you with some biscuits.  These are the ones Woman’s Weekly have on their courses – just saying!

Thanks for reading.

Ten Stories NOT to send to Woman’s Weekly

Written by Della Galton on . Posted in ideas, Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Woman's Weekly, Writing. 20 Comments

Woman’s Weekly at Blue Fin Buildings

I was lucky enough to be teaching with the very lovely Gaynor Davies at Woman’s Weekly last Monday. Here are a list of stories she currently does NOT WANT because a) they have too many already or b) they’d been done to death. So PLEASE DON’T DO THESE. hot off the press.

  1. Stories about weddings.
  2. Stories about funerals.
  3. Stories about women finding themselves by doing a bungee jump (who’d have thunk it!)
  4. Woman looking after neighbour’s cat/dog/budgie and coincidentally finding the man of her dreams! (Damn!)
  5. You think it’s a child’s first day at school (told from viewpoint of mum) but it’s actually a man leaving a woman. (that’s one I haven’t even thought of!!!).
  6. Retired husband getting under wife’s feet.
  7. Stories about adoption – mother finding child or child finding mother.
  8. Stories about infidelity – how many actual endings are there? Either she forgives him or she doesn’t.
  9. Stories in letter format. Or any other story structure that you have sold them a few times. (It was good the first time – but not quite so original on the third outing!).
  10. Children persuading elderly parents to downsize.

So what else is left? We asked Gaynor this. Here’s what she said. Stories about people, warm stories, quirky stories, believable stories. Stories with ends that do not read like the punchline to a joke. Maybe a bit of something sensual – but still within the Woman’s Weekly boundaries. These can stretch further than you think.

They  are always short of 1000 words (900-1000) and 2000 words (1800 to 2000) and also 8000 words for the Fiction Specials. Happy Writing.

And did I mention I have two new novellas out – both previously published as Serials for Woman’s Weekly – in case you’d like a feel for what they DO like 🙂

Someone Else’s Child. Click here for a closer look.

Facing The Future. Click here for a closer look.

My novel, Ice and a Slice, is also on promotion from November 1st. 99p for a full length novel. Click here for a closer look.
Thank you for reading.

Woman’s Weekly Fiction Workshops – Hot Tips

Written by Della Galton on . Posted in Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Woman's Weekly, Writing. 19 Comments

A couple of Fridays ago I was teaching again with Gaynor Davies at the Blue Fin Buildings, our subject, Writing Short Stories for Woman’s Weekly. I thought you might like an update. There are two more short story workshops planned at IPC, by the way, 15 August and 1st September 2014, click here for more details and as they are so popular I’m also in discussion with Gaynor about doing another one this year, probably in October. So don’t worry if you can’t get to one of these.

In the meantime for those who can’t make a workshop, here are a few tips from myself and Gaynor hot off the press. I must point out these are my tips, as I understand them, not direct quotes from Gaynor. (Just in case any of the Woman’s Weekly team are reading).

  • When Woman’s Weekly first came out their aim was ‘To be useful and not deal with the sordid side of life’.  An old adage which still holds true today.  But do be contemporary.
  • Today’s fiction should be escapist, but also believable.
  • Many stories are rejected because they are too old fashioned.
  • They need stories that have an individual voice so don’t copy the style of previously published stories.
  • They also want variety.
  • They are always looking for more humour.
  • Most popular lengths are one pagers (900-1000) and two pagers (1800-2000)
  • You can go up to 8000 words for the special and (top tip) they don’t get many of these.
  • On a technical level – keep the style simple. Cut adverbs and don’t get too wordy. The verb of speech ‘said’ is fine. Characters don’t need to exclaim, explain and expostulate.
  • Remember that imagery is good but too many images can cancel each other out.
  • Woman’s Weekly stories must have a proper ending – you don’t have to tie up the ends in a neat bow, but stories can’t be completely open ended either.

In the latest Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special (May – on sale 1st April to 6th May) I have a short story called By The Book (page 24 if you’re interested.) By The Book is a light romance about online dating. I don’t do many romance stories, mainly because it’s so hard not to get predictable. I was inspired however to write this story by Peter Jones’ latest book How to Start Dating and Stop Waiting which is very entertaining and also a brilliant guide to internet dating.

Woman’s Weekly are also very keen to get new serial writers. Serials go up to five parts, which is a lovely length if you want to write longer than a story but aren’t ready for a novel. The current one, called Amos Browne by Leonora Francis is excellent. If you would like to look at another example of a serial you could try my latest novella Shadowman, which was once a serial in Woman’s Weekly but is now having a second lease of life as a novella. If you buy it in the next day or two it’s only 99p too – as it’s on an Amazon Countdown promotion can’t say fairer than that!

And as I’m in ‘shameless promotion’ mode, if you’d like to read any more short stories by yours truly please do check out my collection of Daily Della titles, for example, Lessons in Love which is just £1.53. All of my Daily Della stories were previously published in magazines so they will give you a flavour of the type of story required.

There is a fabulous roof top terrace canteen at Woman’s Weekly, by the way, which does amazing shortbread – just in case you were still trying to make up your mind on whether to book up for a course.

If you’d like to know any more about the art of writing short stories, please also check out my Short Story Writer’s Toolshed which is £1.99 for kindle.

Thank you for reading. And here’s hoping none of our stories stay in the cupboard (see previous blog, journey of a woman’s weekly story) for long!

Wednesday Writing Spot – Woman’s Weekly Live, Manchester

Written by Della Galton on . Posted in News, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing. Leave a Comment

By the time you read this I’ll be on my way to Manchester. I’m teaching short story workshops with Gaynor Davies and Jane Wenham Jones at the Woman’s Weekly Live Show.  Click on the link for more details of the programme and how to get tickets. Last year we did the same thing and it was fabulous. We’re teaching workshops between 10.00 and 4.00 Thurday 12th, Friday 13th (oo-er) and Saturday 14th September. Jane is doing How to Kick Start Your Writing, Gaynor is doing Writing Short Stories and Serials for Woman’s Weekly and I’m doing 21st Century Romance – Writing with Passion.  We are also doing one to ones – so you can bring your stories along for a (brief) critique.

So, if you do happen to be in the vicinity of Event City Manchester on any of the three days, please pop by and say hello. It will be great to see you.

It’s a fabulous show, plenty to see and do from cookery demonstrations to fashion displays.

Oh, and by the way, if you fancy reading one of my stories, writtten especially for Woman’s Weekly, I have two in the current issue (September – issue 9) of the Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special. (not the one pictured). On sale now. It’s the one that mentions Woman’s Weekly Live on the cover at the top.

If you’d like any more advice on writing short stories, please check out my two writing guides. How to Write and Sell Short Stories published by Accent Press and The Short Story Writers’ Toolshed published by Soundhaven.com

Tell your friends!

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