Aspiring writers, it’s time to sharpen your pencils
Published authors emphasised the importance of including the ‘who, what, where, why, when and how’ of story writing.
It’s that time of the year when writers sharpen their pencils and imaginations to pen stories for the Writers 2000 annual writing competition. Published authors Sarah Bullen and Jann Weeratunga recently spoke to the Writers 2000 group on their Facebook page using Zoom. They each gave constructive advice on successful story writing.
Both Sarah and Jann emphasised the importance of including the ‘who, what, where, why, when and how’ of story-writing. Bullen, a life coach and literary agent, said it’s important to write what you know. Before you start, plot your story with a mind map – keeping in mind the challenge your hero will face and how these issues will be addressed and resolved.
Start your story with an exciting incident to grab your reader’s interest. This sets the scene for what’s to come. Give your hero a challenge – a challenge your reader can identify with – and something unpleasant s/he has no choice but to follow through with. Keep your story moving with short and sharp sentences. Hold your reader’s interest with a variety of scene breaks with descriptive sentences, offering a break from intense action/anxiety/fear/pain/anguish described during action chapters.
This helps to calm your reader’s mind. Bullen emphasised the importance of including romance and sensitive sex scenes for adult readers. Finally, she suggested using a literary agent who is familiar with the publishing process, whether through a publisher or self-publishing.
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“Write your story in such a way that it opens up the opportunity for a sequel,” she said. Jann Weeratunga is a children’s author. Her talk was helpful since for this year’s Writers 2000 competition, the themes for the fiction and flash fiction categories are children’s stories.
Weeratunga emphasised the importance of believing in your story (that it must have a happy ending), along with its characters. She stressed that research, re-reading your story (aloud) and editing are essential.
Writing tips
• Children have a short concentration span. Your story needs to hook them from the first sentence and hold their imaginations and interest till the last full stop.
• The type of story and length depends on the child’s age, development and life experiences.
• Children love page-turning adventure stories. Write more action scenes rather than long descriptions.
• Children ‘learn to read’, then ‘read to learn. Reading improves their vocabulary, trains their memory and teaches them about life. Don’t be afraid to use long words and never use ‘baby’ language.
•. Use vivid descriptions to stimulate their senses of touch, taste, sound, sight and smell. Describe something that’s different about characters – are they wearing glasses or walking with a limp, for example.
• Children love pictures – be sure to use a good illustrator.
Both authors emphasised the importance of writing for the love of writing rather than focusing on boosting your bank balance. They also warned against expecting instant success with publishers clamouring for your book or paying in advance for its sequel.
They also warned that creative writing is difficult and often lonely. Inexperienced writers are often unsure where to begin and get discouraged with rejection slips.
“Joining a writing group is really helpful,” said Weeratunga. “These groups often offer resourceful writing courses, webinars and workshops.” If you would like to watch these presentations visit the Facebook page.
About the competition
• This year’s annual competition is also open to non-members.
• Deadline is on August 31.
Categories:
• Fiction: children’s story middle grade (age eight to12) and young adult (age 13 to19)
• Flash fiction: young children aged three to seven
• Life’s Like That: light humour
• Non-fiction: a significant event in your life
• Poetry: any theme
• Haiku: traditional of 5-7-5 syllables.
For more details contact Meggan Preuss at writers2000sa@gmail.com or for more details about Writers 2000 contact Antoinette Reis (membership coordinator) at mantoinette@discoverymail.co.za
