National Novel Writing Month – 50,000 words in 30 days
We are excited to announce that we’ll be hosting a selection of online workshops again this year. Click on the links below to participate at the specific time. These workshops are held in Second Life®. Join our Second Life® group Milk Wood Wrimos for event reminders and follow us on Twitter for daily tips – you’ll find lots of great links under the hashtag #virtualwrimos. NaNoWriMo at Milk Wood in Second Life® All scheduled events take place at the Milk Wood Writing Group area (unless otherwise stated) or in the writing room at Book Island Library (Sundays at 12 noon PT). Please be aware that the clocks go back in the US on the 4th November and on the 28th October in the UK, and we go by Pacific Time (PT), also known as SLT in Second Life®. Our main Second Life® meeting place is here: NaNoWriMo at Milk Wood Writing Workshops & Write-Ins Wednesday 31st October, 2018 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 9pm GMT Click here to teleport to the writing area NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Party Hosted by Harriet Gausman A chance for you to meet your fellow Wrimos, pick up the goodie bag and titler, and chat about your NaNoWriMo ideas. We’ll share some plot storyboard and character development resources in readiness for November, then we’ll all sit down together and begin to plot in a timed writing session. Fancy dress a must! This year the theme is ‘Cruel Intentions’, so be creative. We’ll be looking for originality and flair. Best outfit wins a prize of 2,000 Linden dollars, and a month’s free stall rental at Milk Wood. About Harri In 2007, Harri conceded her élan vital to pixels and created the atmospheric Milk Wood, inspired by the Dylan Thomas radio drama, Under Milk Wood. Over the years, the sim has become a literary home to many artists and continues to offer a range of writing and reading events, providing opportunities for writers to cultivate their craft, develop literary poise, and establish a strong artistic voice. Harri is experienced at planning and hosting online events, and applies a unique approach to promoting and supporting writers. The former teacher, turned children’s author, has published non-fiction articles, short stories, and poetry. She is currently completing an MA in creative writing, and writing an historical children’s novel set in Siberia during the Stalin era. She is a NaNoWriMo veteran. ————————— Wednesday 31st October, 2018 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 10pm GMT Click here to teleport to the event Huck’s Cube of NaNo Hosted by Huckleberry Hax It’s National Novel Writing Month again. Prepare yourself for pep talks! If there’s one thing aspiring novelists can rely on in the month of November (besides sleep deprivation and bleeding fingertips) it’s other writers delivering their ‘top tips’ for getting 50,000 words written in the space of 30 days. Huckleberry Hax has absolutely no intention of deviating from this formula (chiefly because it makes him feel for an hour like a real, grown-up writer), and...
Read MoreVirtual Writers’ Poem-A-Day (PAD) Competition Winners 2018
Winning Entries We received over 200 submissions. There were scores of poems that called to us for a re-read and to choose among them was a very difficult task. In the final cut, each of our winning poets had at least two poems in the running. What common element characterizes the winning poems? They each have a feeling of immediate relevance while connecting with something vaster. They bring something large into specific focus. But there’s something else. In going back and writing a note for each winner and honorable mention, it becomes clear that the selection came down to the visceral. Each winning poem not only engaged thought and emotion, but grabbed and tugged at something deeper, and harder to describe … which is, after all, why we have poetry. The winning poems continue to call for a re-read, and, with each reading, deliver something new. First Prize — ‘A poet, living in Rome’ by Fionn Bookmite Mine is one of the little hills. I look down a gentle slope and the words spill out of me and down the hill, running to get to the Sacred Way and parade themselves. Lines slink around my feet and trip me, vanishing when I look down. I follow them, chasing, calling, and pass the little house of Cinna. My neighbour is a lawyer, precise, and lives to make everything tidy. The doorway is clean, recently swept and washed, even sprinkled with dried rosemary. Cinna has prepared his house as neatly as he parses his rolling clausulae. The Temple of Tellus looms on the other side, and I dash through its shadow. “You can’t avoid me,” says the Temple, “for I am Mother Earth.” I whisper a prayer in iambic tetrameters and hurry on, trying to catch up with the paragraphs now happily gambolling at the foot of the hill. I round them up and speak firmly to them and they fall into dutiful crocodile lines. As I walk at their head, I sort them out, swapping places for some, making others stand up more smartly or walk a little slower. A turn around the Forum — and my lines are neat and pinned, each wriggling word brushed. My poem is done. I head for home. Fionn taught Latin and Greek and Ancient History for twenty-five years before moving to the Middle East where she now is a lady of leisure and is finally getting down to that novel she always knew she had in her. Poet’s Website | Amazon Author Page Judge’s Comments “What delight to see historic ruins spring to life. This poem paints in a palette from deepest ochres to brightest primaries. A dead language’s poetry, law, and religion are invoked here with such a refreshingly playful spirit, the ancients are humanized, accessible, relevant, and joyful.” ________ Second Prize — ‘Salmon’ by Blitz Silver clad companions of the creek, you wade in shallow pools regaining strength to go upstream, scraping bellies on mossy stones as the...
Read MoreNaNoWriMo 2017: Events and Support for Virtual Writers
With November here again, that crazy literary marathon known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is back! We’ll be offering an exciting calendar of writerly delights – word scrimmages, write-ins, as well as inspirational workshops, talks and articles from successful authors. Join our Second Life® group Milk Wood Wrimos for event reminders and follow us on Twitter for daily tips – you’ll find lots of great links under the hashtag #virtualwrimos. VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS We are excited to announce that we’ll be hosting a selection of online workshops again this year. Click on the link below to participate at the specific time. These workshops are held in Second Life®. For details on how you can participate check out the following article. All scheduled events take place at the Milk Wood Writing Group area or in the writing room at Book Island (Sundays at 12 noon PT). Please be aware that the clocks go back in the US on the 5th November and on the 29th October in the UK, and we go by Pacific Time (PT), also known as SLT in Second Life®. NaNoWriMo Prep Write-In Hosted by Harriet Gausman Click here to teleport to the writing area Wednesday 25th October, 2017 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT NaNoWriMo is a demanding challenge and preparedness is key. Join us for our NaNo prep write-in where we’ll share some storyboard and plot development resources in readiness for November. Then we’ll all sit down together and begin to plot in a timed writing session. Come prepared to work both during and after the meet. We may also take a field trip for added inspiration: so bring your hiking gear. _________________ NaNoWriMo Workshop with Huckleberry Hax Ten plus years of NaNoWriMo: what have I learned about writing stories? Click here to teleport to the event Friday 27th October, 2017 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm GMT 2017 will be Huck’s twelfth attempt at NaNoWriMo and – hopefully – his eleventh successful one. His first go in 2006 put an end to almost a decade of writer’s block and he’s still now processing why that was, over three quarters of a million words later. In this workshop Huck will share some of the insights he’s had as to why writing a novel in this way can unlock your identity as a writer, and how everything we get taught about writing stories in school might just be completely wrong. _________________ NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Party Click here to teleport to the event Tuesday 31st October, 2017 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 10pm GMT A chance for you to meet your fellow Wrimos, pick up the goodie bag and titler, and chat about your NaNoWriMo ideas. If you’ve worked on your plot, setting and characters during our prep session, bring along a brief summary to share with the other participants. You can read it out or share via a notecard. Fancy dress a must! This year the theme is ‘twisted fairy tales’, so be creative. We’ll be looking...
Read MoreThe Bristol Short Story Prize
The 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize is open for entries. The competition is open to all writers around the world whether published or unpublished, UK or non-UK based. The closing date for entries is midnight (BST) May 3rd 2017. The maximum word limit is 4,000, there is no minimum. Stories may be on any theme or subject and entry can be made online or by post. There is an £8.00 entry fee for all stories submitted and entries must be previously unpublished. 20 stories will be shortlisted and published in Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 10. The winner and 2 runners up will be selected from the shortlist and announced at an awards ceremony which will be held in Bristol Central Library on October 14th 2017. 1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £700, 3rd prize is £400. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers. All shortlisted writers will receive 2 free copies of the anthology. Prizes will be sent to any writer on the shortlist who is unable to attend the awards ceremony. The judging panel will be chaired by writer, Tania Hershman. Tania will be joined on the panel by the writer, Roshi Fernando; Simon Key, owner of the award-winning Big Green Bookshop, and Juliet Pickering, literary agent at Blake Friedmann. For full details and rules on the 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize please click...
Read MoreThe National Creative Writing Graduate Fair
The Manchester-based publisher Comma Press has asked us to share details of the second Creative Writing Graduate Fair at MMU (in partnership with The Writing School at MMU) that will take place on Friday 4th November 2016. If you’re looking for a unique introduction to the publishing industry and its professionals then be sure to mark your calendar. At the fair you can: – pitch your ideas to experienced literary agents, matched to suit your genre preferences – they have everything from screenwriting and science fiction, to poetry and novels covered (plus all that’s in between!) – hear panellists discuss topics such as disruptive and digital publishing, independent vs mainstream, and navigating the writing life – take part in workshops & drop-in sessions, for example putting together the perfect submissions package and performing your work – and watch a Keynote speech from acclaimed author Kit de Waal. This event is not only for current students or graduates of university, but for anyone with an interest in creative writing and who has ideas that they want to share and build upon. The web details are as follows: The ticket and info website is: http://www.ncwgradfair.weebly.com The facebook event wall: https://www.facebook.com/events/927217214090881/ The twitter hashtag is #NCWGradFair...
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