Think you could write a story about this photo in less than 300 words? You could win a $100 Amazon.com giftcard if you do!
Source: theshortestfiction.com
The writers of Red are taking questions live, now!
Join us on Facebook to ask your questions and see what the authors have to say.
Writer's Relief Blog: "Cover Letters And Query Letters; A Checklist For Writers"
At Writer’s Relief, we have spent many years learning what literary agents and editors are really looking for in the submission process, and we’re happy to share our expertise with you. The following cover and query letter checklist will help you master the basics and get your writing published!
If you haven’t already read our cover and query letter basics post to learn the difference between a cover letter and a query letter, please feel free to do so!
Source: writersrelief
Writing tips
Want to know the first things we look for in our writers? Check it out.
“Before I write down one word, I have to have the character in my mind through and through. I must penetrate into the last wrinkle of his soul.”
~HENRIK IBSEN
This was emailed to me yesterday, an awesome visualization of archetypes in the alignment system — a way of plotting characters on a good vs. evil, law vs. chaos matrix. I think archetypes are really helpful in creating characters, but just a small, small string in their fabric. The story should shape the characters into three dimensions (not just one-dimensional, quintessential archetypes) and the characters should shape the story. Rarely can the two co-exist apart.
Source: justinmclachlan
Rebecca Gale talks Red
In Trying Too Hard, one of the short stories in Red: Several marvelous, sensational, absurd, visionary, peculiar, unthinkable, wicked and totally untrue stories
I’d seen Cal in the philosophy library before, bent over a book, scribbling into notepads. But I didn’t actually meet Cal until my first semester of sophomore year, a time I was contemplating studying abroad. I had visions of myself sitting at the Sorbonne, embracing French culture with an effortless nonchalance that would give me a sense of structure to my day. I would not be one of the “drunk Americans” that I’d heard traipsed across Europe, backpacking in the Alps and getting high in Amsterdam.
We asked if she’d tell us a little bit about what went into writing that passage: “I wanted to give the main character the option to explore a life outside of her own. For a college student, I felt that would be studying abroad. I liked the idea that the character would project her own image of something exotic and different as being in a different country. Yet she goes even farther and wants to be different from the “drunk Americans” she references.
“This was a chance to foreshadow what else the characters might want to escape from.”
“ Jessica stood back, letting the two of them talk for a moment, but that look on her face as she watched him with Ethan — damn her and her preternatural insight into all facets of the human condition! She clearly knew something was up. Spent some time talking with a dead guy while I was gone? Obviously. To her, it must’ve been written all over his face. He’d rarely felt so self-conscious.
Source: boxfirepress.com
Justin McLachlan tells us how long it took him to write the first draft of Time Up, and how long it took to edit.
Source: youtu.be
Call for submissions for fiction anthology
There’s a red scarf lying in the road. How did it get there?
We’re looking for sci-fi and fantasy (loosely defined) short fiction stories that answer this question for an upcoming paperback and ebook anthology.
The Details: Stories must be a minimum 2,000 words. They don’t have to focus exclusively around the red scarf, but it should be a story element. We’re offering two copies of the finished trade paperback and a prorata share of the royalties on net sales. We’ll talk specifics if we’re interested in your story and offer a contract.
Head to our submission form to send us your stories.
