Writing prompt – very small chairs

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I encountered these less-than half-sized chairs in a sort of storage room of a school that had given some of its spaces over to an art trail.

SmallChairs cr Judy Darley

Something about all those little seats waiting to be set down and put to use got my imagination whirring.

Imagine a school of the future where a population boom makes space so valuable child must sit in tiered rows at school. Who chooses who sets where? Is there an advantage to the comfort of ground level, or are the children set above, with better views and potentially boosted courage due to their daily climb, more likely to thrive?

What might they see from their perch?

Or perhaps these small chairs bring something else to mind. What can you weave from this sight?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Enter Mslexia’s poetry competitions

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Button on Kilve Beach cr Judy DarleyMslexia’s Women’s Poetry Competition and Pamphlet Competition are open for entries of poetry pamphlets and individual poems.

Both competitions have a closing date of 4th December 2023.

Mslexia Poetry Competition

You are invited to submit poems of any length, on any subject. Your £10 entry fee allows you to submit up to three poems.

The judge is Fiona Benson.

The winner of the single poem category will receive £2,000.

The second prize-winner gets £500 and the third prize-winner gets £250.

There’s also a special  Unpublished Poet Prize of £250, which will be awarded to the best poem by an unpublished poet.

The four winners, plus 16 additional finalists, will be published in Mslexia.

The winner and finalists will be announced on 1 March 2024.

Mslexia Pamphlet Competition

You’re invited to submit a collection of up to 20 poems, of up to 24 pages. To be eligible, you must never have had a full-length collection published previously.

The winner of the pamphlet category will receive prize £250, plus publication of the winning pamphlet by Bloodaxe Books. A selected poem from the winning pamphlet will be published in Mslexia.

The judge is Imtiaz Dharker.

The entry fee is £20.

The winner will be announced on 1 September 2024.

You can find full details of how to enter at www.mslexia.co.uk.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – flap

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Red Admiral by Judy Darley

I never expected to see a red admiral butterfly flapping around my neighbourhood on a chilly November day. This one is clearly aware of its naval namesake, as it’s perched on the boat motif that adorns Bristol wheelie bins.

And yes, it is the butterfly that’s upside-down, and not the photo or the bin.

It’s an odd image, though, isn’t it? There are so many directions you could take this prompt in, from a climate fiction tale on butterfly sightings in November, and what this bodes for our planet, or a fable about a red admiral butterfly meeting a naval admiral, or even, taking into account the butterfly’s topsy-turvy posture, a piece revelling in the natural world’s eccentrics. It’s up to you! Take this idea, and fly with it.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

How to keep writing – making sense of the mud

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Victoria Park frost by Judy Darley

I’ve written articles for mindfulness and creativity magazines about how to stay motivated, and yet this year has been the first where I actually struggled with something like writer’s block myself. Life is a big, unwieldy and yet disproportionately short edifice, and nothing has made me more aware of this than losing my dad last year. My imagination has been narrower and darker than I’ve ever known it, which I think may be hormonal, or a symptom of life.

But, and here’s the sunshine, I’ve continued to write. Not all of it worth showing to anyone,  but an occasional scattering of words on a page or a screen that came from my brain to my fingertips in an order that made some kind of sense, even if not the glowing sensational sense I always secretly hope for.

More importantly, I’ve realised that that’s enough – for now, for this muddy, clarty year. (If you don’t know the word ‘clarty’, ask a northerner. Funnily enough, auto-correct wants to change it to ‘clarity’ which is almost the exact antithesis of the meaning).

I’ve realised that while I’ve been fretting about losing my flow, other things have been happening. I’ve been absorbing and thinking and mulling and above all, reflecting. Sometimes we need to hit pause and simply digest.

So if you’ve hit a similar wall or got stuck in some clarty mud, don’t fret. It’s all part of the process, and, hopefully, will pass.

In the meantime, treat yourself kindly, read widely, think deeply, and when the sun shines, walk out into it. Maybe some of that glow will rub off on you and your writing.

Writing prompt – debris

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River mud and debris

Rivers carry all traces of our lives, from rubbish to sewage. Looking down on the debris covering the mud, I can’t help wondering how those things ended up there? Were they thrown or did they wash up? Have they been lurking beneath the silt for years and only just emerged? Who did they belong to?

There’s nearly always a bike or a shopping trolley.

What will future generations make of this disarray?

Can you turn this into a fable that suggests a less wasteful future?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Enter the Bath Children’s Novel Award

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Roman Baths by Judy DarleyThe Bath Children’s Novel Award invites submissions of books for children or teenagers from unpublished, self-published and independently published authors worldwide.

Previous winners include Struan Murray for the manuscript of Orphans of the Tide (published by Puffin in 2020), Lucy Van Smit for The Hurting (Chickenhouse, 2018) and Matthew Fox for The Sky Over Rebecca (Hachette, 2022).

Longlisted submissions are whittled down to a shortlist chosen by Junior Judges aged seven to seventeen years. Those Shortlisted manuscripts will then be judged by Jessica Hare, who runs the Children’s Books department at The Agency where she represents authors writing for every age and genre, as well as illustrators.

Deadline: 30th November 2023
Prize: £3,000, plus the coveted Minerva trophy.
Entry fee: £29 per manuscript with sponsored places available for low income writers.

Initial submissions are up to the first 5,000 words plus one page synopsis of novel or chapter book manuscripts for children, novels for teens, or up to three entire picture book texts with summaries.

Entries should not include any photographs, maps or artwork.

Shortlistees win a compilation of award readers’ comments on their full manuscript and all listees win feedback on their opening pages and synopsis from Cornerstones Literary Consultancy’s Editorial Director and Head of Scouting Monica Chakraverty.

The writer of the most promising longlisted novel will  win a place worth £1,800 on acclaimed online course Edit Your Novel the Professional Way from longlist prize co-sponsors Professional Writing Academy and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.

Find full details and enter here: https://bathnovelaward.co.uk/childrens-novel-award/ 

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – snap

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Photographer, robin and squirrel_Photo by Judy Darley

A photographer’s lens can offer a precisely edited view of the world, and raise questions about why they chose to capture that particular scene rather than another, as well as what exists beyond that frame.

Look at any instagram feed and you’ll receive an artfully skewed impression of a life. What does the selection of shared images tell you about the photographer? Why is this the story they’ve chosen to tell? What might they have opted to leave out?

If you look at your own photos, what themes or preoccupations can you spot? What does this suggest?

Can you use this to inspire a tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

On your marks… NaNoWriMo!

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Dove Holes to Whaley Bridge gap in wall by Judy DarleyWednesday 1st November marks the start of NaNoWriMo 2023. Are you taking part? I love the concept of this word-packed month, with ardent writers across the world hunched over laptops sweating out every last drop of inspiration.

New to the concept? It’s pretty simple really. As they state on the NaNoWriMo website: “On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.”

I know plenty of writers this enforced period of productivity really suits. For some folks it seems to be the ideal way to stoke up ideas and get them to catch alight on the page.

For me, the beginning stages of novel-writing are all about thinking ahead, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do some speedy planning even as you begin to write. After all, what else are you going to do when waiting for buses, in post office queues and doing the washing up?

Here are my top five preparation tips to ensure you make the most of this exceptional month.

1. Form a vision of the story you’re aiming to tell, with the beginning already shaped in your mind. If possible, do the same for the ending. Having an idea of the finale you’re working towards will mean you’re far less likely to veer off track!

2. Spend some time considering your characters – get to know who they are, how they think, what their goals are, and how they might help or hinder each other.

3. Know your setting. It really helps if you can really picture the place where your characters are spending time. Base it on somewhere you know, use maps or, for an imagined place, doodle your map! This is one of my favourites, particularly if it offers a valid excuse to meander in a much loved wilderness or similar.

4. Pick out a few dramatic moments your plot will cover and brainstorm them, then set them aside. Whenever your enthusiasm wanes over the intensive NaNoWriMo period, treat yourself by delving into one of those to reinvigorate your writing energy.

5. Finally, make sure you have plenty of sustenance to hand. For me, the essentials are coffee and chocolate. What are yours?

If you’re not a long-form junkie, why not take part in the flash version? Launched by the inimitable Nancy Stohlman in 2012, Flash Nano urges you to pledge to write 30 mini stories in 30 days. In 2021, more than 1,500 people took part. Even if not all turn out to be sparkling examples, you should end up with some that make your heart zing!

Writing prompt – dove

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Statue_JudyDarley

This statue in port of Kaleici, Antalya, is of a sea captain named Mustafa Ekizler, who lived here between 1905 and 2000. Mustafa is famed for having been present at “numerous events” including the 1919-21 Italian Occupation and Turkish-Greek exchange. He earned his living from the sea for 85 years, but is mostly renowned for bearing witness, and is regarded as an icon of the area’s tumultuous history.

My favourite thing about this statue, however, is the bronze dove on the captain’s shoulder. What better way to prevent pigeons crapping on your monument than by suggesting that job’s already taken? In fact, the dove is there to symbolise peace, and is so covetable that it’s been stolen twice previously.

If someone created a commemorative statue of you, what should be sitting on your shoulder? What could it symbolise?

Can you use this to inspire a tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Enter Ironclad Creative Short Story Competition Winter 2023

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Dusk by Judy DarleyIronclad Creative CIC is seeking stories that respond in any way to the word ‘Dusk.’

The Ironclad Creative Short Story Competition is for both published and unpublished writers. They’re hungry for original writing in English and you can be from anywhere in the world.

Your story can be any genre and length up to 6k words.

However, they’re not accepting plays or poetry for this competition.
They says: “We’re looking for writers who have exciting voices and can move us.”
Deadline:
23:59 (GMT) on 16th November 2023
Entry Fee:
£6 per story
You could win:
  • The winning writer will be offered a prize of £100 and publication in the Ironclad Creative CIC anthology
  • The second place writer will be offered a prize of £50 and publication in their anthology
  • Two further shortlisted writers will be offered prizes of £25 each, and publication in the anthology
  • Up to 10 other longlisted writers will be offered publication in the anthology (depending on the length of the winning, second place and shortlisted stories).

If you’re submitting more than one story, you need to pay £6 per entry. Include your name and ONE title in the reference & email subject line. Then ensure you make clear in your email what the title of the multiple entries are AND state the total amount you paid via PayPal.

A small number of free places are available for low income writers. Please email michelle@ironcladcreative.org to request this but don’t send your work – if they have free entries left, they’ll let you know what to do.

Find full details here and make sure you’ve read the terms and conditions before entering.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley(at)iCloud(dot)com.