Wrtiing a story with a twist at Woman's Weekly

On Friday 8 July I went to London Bridge to a Woman's Weekly workshop on how to write a story with a twist ending. I went because I had no idea how to write one or where to get ideas for one.

The two presenters were Fiction Editor, Gaynor Davies, and author, Della Galton.

Della said that twist endings mustn't be predictable or contrived eg character winning the lottery, or having an aunt giving them an inheritance.

She gave us a list of dos and don'ts for these stories. One do is that the story has to build up to the twist.

We had an exercise in the morning, to write an outline for a story. I thought of a story I had in mind to write for another magazine. So I wrote a twist outline for that. I also got an idea for another twist story which I wrote down and will probably write another time. Once time was up, we were asked to read them out loud. My heart went fast at this and for one moment I thought I was going to faint, but I was OK in the end and read out my outline, which was said was good.

Della then read a story in the WW Summer Special (which I later bought and read), which gave me the idea for the twist ending of my story.

You can write an outline for a story which has lots of possible endings. The character and conflict of the story has to be at the start.

We were given a list of types of 'Twists'.

We were given another exercise to write the ending of our story then read it out. I offered to read mine first, to get it out of the way. Was told it was good. During the day, Gaynor told me I am learning. Praise indeed.

I really enjoyed this workshop. It gave me another idea for a twist story for a story that I have already written. I did ask if I could resubmit a story with another ending, and Gaynor said yes, as long as it's not too regonisable. So that is what I plan to do.

I am working on a story for WW now, not a twist one, a normal one, but I plan to rewrite this and send it to another magazine as a twist, which I have worked out.

Woman's Weekly Workshop

Yesterday I went to London Bridge, to the Woman's Weekly Workshop on writing a short story. I've been to a couple of them before, but now I am v serious about writing for womags, I wanted to go again and listen properly. As I had been before, I didn't know if Gaynor Davies the Fiction Editor of WW would recognise me. She did and said hello to me. I was chuffed. She co-presented the workshop with Della Galton. We had a theme to go on for the writing exercises, which as Freedom. I remembered something a friend told me in December about being free at last so used that as the main point for a story. We wrote the beginning,  then had to read our first sentence out. We filled in Della's character development sheet, which gave me an idea about the main character and how to end the story. We also wrote the last sentence of the story, which we were all congratulated on, esp me personally by Gaynor when I said goodbye. Before that, we were given handouts about the common ways that stories are rejected eg predictability and solutions to them. We also got the guidelines.
I really enjoyed the day despite being tired and my head doing a spin during the day from thinking.
I shall write the whole story when I have completed the ghost story for a competition. I already have an idea how it will pan out, I jotted notes down during the day.

I can't wait to go to the next one in April which will be on serial writing.

Writing diary - what's happening

So, I forgot to post about my writing diary on Monday. I had other things on my mind, mainly closing the sale of my car. I had to get the new owner who had paid me the week before to complete a form so I could send it off to the DVLA. He had been ill. I finally got it all sorted on Wednesday.

Anyway, to the writing. I have finished the pocket novel. I managed to reach 49,919 words, which is near enough to 50k for me. I have revised the synopsis and will type the rest of that up later today. I am going to read through it bit by bit to make sure it all makes sense still, and add more words if I think it needs it.

The quirky short story is finished. I revised it again following comments on the story blog and from Fran Tracey. It is currently with Fran to read through. Meanwhile, I am going to add a bit to the 'wand' story.

And, I have started writing the third and final mermaid ebook. This is Aliona's story and is called 'The Ring Quest'. I am adding more sea life to the story this time, with fish and other creatures. I might even have the hero at the end be attacked by something. We shall see. Nothing too scary, as it's for 9-12 year olds.

I haven't had much to do for my author client as he is working on the third story, which he started to rewrite himself. Will be emailing my editor with the second book, while waiting for illustrations for the first.

I have been emailing my lists with writing ideas and styles along with exercises to go with them. If you want inspiration for a story, either children's or adults, then why not sign up to my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bwuQav

Oh yes, had a letter in the Daily Mirror the other day. No reword except seeing my name in black and white.

I have decided to enter more writing competitions this year. We shall see how we go.

So, there you have what I have been working on the last 2 weeks. Happy writing.

Writing diary - Weeks 5-6

So, what have I been writing these last two weeks, and how far have I got.

The pocket novel - I have been adding scenes throughout the novel where the heroine chats to her work colleague about her romance. Also the hero thinking about his past. Word count is now 49,306, so not far now to reach the 50K that My Weekly want for a pocket novel. I still have to revise the synopsis, but now that I know what is added to the story, I know what to add in that.

Short stories - I finished the edits of the Xmas short story according to the first lots of comments I got on the story blog. Put it on the blog again. I got more positive feedback this time, saying it read better. I still have a few things to add, mainly putting more of the senses in for the ghost, which I will do once I've finished revising the story I'm now working on. I am now revising the quirky short story I wrote in November. I put it on the blog and got lots of comments to make me think. One womag writer, Fran Tracey (Hiya, Fran) messaged me her notes on the story inc bullet points ones for me to read and think about. I have been editing the story according to those, and feel more confident about this story now and where it goes.

I have also started writing fillers or letters to magazines again. I emailed a letter to Healthy yesterday, so shall see what happens about that. Have another one in mind to send to another health magazine, which I might jot down later today.

I have also been updating my writing website www.julieaday.co.uk, as I am rebranding myself as a children's author.

And lastly, I have been emailing my lists about plot and what it isn't, along with exercises. This goes with the writing exercise ebook I have been working on for the last few months.

Next post will be something else about writing. Don't know what yet. Need to think about that one. Maybe about writing short stories for the womag market.

Writing diary - Week 3

Here is how I am going.

Saturday - Author biz content day. I was going to go to the first RNA London meeting of the year, but had so much going on during the week I chose not to go. So I worked on content instead. I continued working on m client's picture book stories. I also wrote and typed up more exercises for the writing exercise ebook I am planning to publish, hopefully, later this year. I also had time later in the day to work on the pocket novel. Word count is now 45,219.

Sunday - Worked on the pocket novel and short story.

Monday - Was due to meet author client but he postponed the day before due to snow. So in the morning I had to take something to the hospital then went on to shopping. Had time to work on the pocket novel - word count is now 45,248. Finished editing the short story.

Tuesday - Had first blood test of the week this morning. Getting used to needles now. Typed up new Xmas story. Word count is 494 words.

Wednesday - Author biz day. Worked on finishing my client's picture ebooks, inc adding activities that children can do that are related to the stories. Wrote up in a pad the list of the ebooks that will be in the series. Also, emailed my lists with newsletter about tenses with an exercise. Later on I worked on the pocket novel as getting so near to the end of it. Word count is now 45,487.

Thursday - Had second blood test of the week. (This one for the hospital and my IBS). Worked on pocket novel, Wrote more of the Xmas story now called 'The Magic Wand'. I also emailed a letter to Writing Magazine about retreats.

Friday (today) - No blood tests! Hurrah. Finished a new chapter I started writing for the pocket novel. This concludes the sub plot in it. Wrote more of the Xmas story. Later I shall type up more of the PN.

Writing diary - Week 2

Starting Saturday

Saturday - This is a business day when I work on content. So I typed up and wrote more exercises for the writing exercise book I have been working on.

I blogged on my biz blog about view points.

I also worked on the pocket novel. Word count now 44,124

Sunday - Finished writing the Xmas story.

I typed up more of 'Checkmate' the pocket novel. Word count now 44,891.

Typed up rest of Xmas story. Word count is 2220.

Monday - Only worked in the morning because I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon.

Wrote more of the Pocket Novel.

Added scene to Xmas story. Also wrote out a character description sheet for it, which helped me realise something about the story.

Tuesday - Wrote some more of the pocket novel. Getting near the end.

Edited Xmas story. It's now 1982 words.

Wednesday - Not a lot of work done today as I had a dental appointment which took all morning. Had a large filling done. Tired me out. Only managed to analyse a story from Take a Break's Fiction Feast mag. Have been doing this all week to work out what they like publishing, the format, sentence length etc.

Thursday - Typed up more of Checkmate. Word count going down as I have been deleting scenes as well as adding. Today it finally reached over 45K; it's now 45,267.

Edited story. Now 1985 words. Now that I have worked out what makes a womag short story, I feel I am more confident in writing them. I write and type them up, then I write out a character description sheet and change and add things to make it good.

Friday (today) - Typed up another chapter of Checkmate. Word count gone down to 45,187.
Just edited and added lots to another womag story I wrote during November's NaNoWriMo. But also deleted the ending, so it's now fewer words than it started out as at 783. I wrote out a character description sheet first, which helped me find out what I needed to add, and still do.

That's my writing life for this week.

My NaNoWriMo plan

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? It stands for 'National Novel Write a Month'. You have to write/draft 50K of a novel or just 50K words without editing it. I did my own version last year, writing as many short stories as I could, which weren't many at all. I plan to do the same this year. The best way forward for this is to plan what you want to write. Here is my plan: I am going to write a short story for the 5 women's magazines markets I know about ie Woman's Weekly, Take a Break's Fiction Feast, The People's Friend and The Weekly News and Yours. I have jotted down which story I want to write for them except for WW, as I haven't worked that one out yet, but I will in time. It won't reach 50K as most of them will be under 2000 words. I might also plot out chapter summaries for my next adult romance ebook, and I will be working on my Pocket Novel. Lots to write, so thank goodness I have only one appointment in November, as yet.

So, are you doing NaNoWriMo? Let me know if you are and what you plan to write.

If you would like a preview of writing exercises I've been working on for a book, then why not sign up to my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bwuQav

Do you have a theme in all your books?

Sorry I've not been here a lot, but been helping my mum round the house and garden, and then went down with a cold. Still have the cold, but much better now.

Anyway, do you have a theme running through all your books? I do. Mine is hope and second chances. I shall explain more.

With my Guardian Angels series, there is hope for the teen angels, Lizzie and Danny, for redemption by helping other teens on Earth from risking their lives and death, like they did. They give hope to the teens they help by showing them what they can do with their lives if they just try and not give in to boredom. I'm currently writing the fifth and final of the series, where Lizzie and Danny have their last mission to pass and graduate from the school. It doesn't all go to plan like they hoped.

In Geraldine's Gems adult romance series, Geraldine has gone to Heaven after dying and given the chance to redeem herself (she was not nice when alive) by first getting her ex love to be nice again, then going down to Earth to help her relatives get their lives and love back on track. As she is told, One good turn deserves another. So her relatives are given hope and second chance at love.

Then in my dark magical romance series 'Secrets of Singleton' some of the residents whom are single, are given the hope of romance by certain objects who have magical powers given by their descendants.

So there you have my theme of Hope and Second Chances.

I plan to put this theme in non-fiction soon, too. I plan to write and publish a series of short ebooks to help new authors with their writing. The first one is going to be full of writing exercises for all genres, the second one will be more exercises, but will use words and verbs that often get mixed up and confused eg practice/se. (One which I used to get confused with).

You can buy any of the above ebooks at http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B0034P09WW

A question for authors

This is a slightly different blog post today. I want to ask you authors here a question. Think back to when you started writing. When you began, what words and verbs were there that you got mixed up eg practice/se, affect/effect (I've only just come to understand the difference between affect and effect).

The reason I ask is I am creating a freebie for my list of writing exercises to get their writing flowing if and when they get stuck. From that, I want to expand it into a short ebook with more exercises and quizzes about the most common words and verbs we get confused with.

So, if you could let me know by commenting here, or by messaging me on FB, or by emailing me at julied2511atyahoo.co.uk. I will be grateful.

If you think you'd like this freebie as well, let me know also on here with your email and I shall add you to my list.