Costa Blanca News’ weekly feature supporting local writers, in conjunction with Writers' Ink
WELCOME to our Writers’ Ink group’s weekly words. We provide news, views, tips and examples of writing by authors and poets, local and beyond.
Founded in 2010 by WordPlay, our purpose is to encourage writers to write and get them published and read. Keep writing! Warm greetings everyone,
IS it me? Or is it colder than usual here? The weather is too ‘British’ for my liking… Please hurry up spring, or at least show signs of it!
It’s been a mixed week with minor problems… No television for a day and a half, much to my hubby’s disgust. Well, when you are retired and it’s winter, it is a comfort… If only his crossword puzzles would be delivered… but he keeps busy as he does the cooking, bless him. Enough about domestic bliss, although ‘im indoors does paint colour into my writing days now and then, with his limericks and jokes, which I put on Facebook for a chuckle or two. Continuing in the writing theme, he also wrote a memoir a few years ago, called A Life Worth Living, as he has a retentive memory, lucky man. Enough about us!
Anyone looking for a home for their poems and short stories, could do no better than check out ‘Publishing and other Forms of Insanity’ on Facebook. At present, there are several paying markets listed and looking for writers: Agni, Baltimore Review, Black Denim, Okey-Panky to mention just a few, click on and check them out. One never knows! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I was quite surprised by the ‘staying power’ of some authors and their publications when I came across them yesterday. Several of the most popular, still selling very well, thank you, are the following: The Ten most-underrated Sherlock Holmes stories, The Ten best Emily Dickinson poems, The Ten best Haruki Murakami books, Heavy Metal gets its Mojo Back, New Bambi translation reveals the dark origins of the Disney story, and The Seven Weirdest stories of the Ancient World. It just goes to show…
A few more tips for aspiring, and perspiring… writers. Try not to aim too high, for its painful if you fall down – which might sound a tad defeatist, but it’s always good to be aware and keep supposed ‘fame’ and glory into perspective. No one seems to know what the secret route to success really is (except for being stinking rich that is) but life is always full of bad and good surprises. So keep plodding on and you never know, you might hit the jackpot. Of course, it is obvious that the better the writing, the better chances one has to ‘make it big.’ But nothing is set in concrete as the following information proves…The Help by Kathryn Stockett (an excellent book I read a few years ago) was turned down no less than 60 times before hitting the New York Best Times Seller’s list for 100 weeks. I bet a few agents and publishers felt silly… Samuel Beckett’s Murphy was rejected 40 times, and one publisher told him: “The novel racket has reached such a pass today, that a book such as yours which makes real demands on the reader’s intelligence and general knowledge, has less chance of ever gaining a hearing.” Was his face red when Beckett won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969? The Murphy manuscript was sold for one million dollars. Even James Patterson - one of the most successful writers in the world – was rejected on 31 occasions. The foregoing can have two, farreaching effects on a writer – it can either make a novice immediately give up and despair (which dedicated writers rarely do) or think, well if they can eventually succeed, so can I ! So, that’s the spirit… upwards and onwards…
Of course, the above must come across as a bit high-flown for anyone eager to take up writing as a hobby. And, let us face it, if anyone wants to concentrate on short stories, rather than the more laborious task of writing a book, why not? Magazines now and then advertise for good short story writers. Anyone can search online for short story-paying competitions or other options. So, whatever your choice, if you really want to write, DO! As has been mentioned many times, our group Writers’ Ink is always happy and willing to help new or experienced writers. That said, there are numerous other groups all over the world just as helpful, so reach out and take that helping hand, and who knows, you may join the swelling ranks of authors. It’s most enjoyable and, while vexing at times, often great fun.
Take good care.
Sincerely Joy Lennick