A Few General Hints
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Could a producer make a film from your
story without talking to you or meeting you? Not every story
needs to answer these questions or employ all the senses but
these points are worth putting in your checklist: Who, what,
where, why, how and when? And the senses: sight, touch,
smell, taste, hearing and that author's favourite: the sixth
sense.
First person - "true" experiences are
seldom sufficient on their own although suitably
embellished, expanded or edited they can form the basis of a
good story.
Ghost stories, dream sequences, funeral
settings and tales from an animal's standpoint seldom hit
the right note. Although you will think of many exceptions
to this rule, please accept that your treatment will need to
be highly original.
Try leaving your manuscript unread for a
week before giving it the final polish, Try taking out all
the adverbs and adjectives, replacing only those which are
essential. Write 4,000 or 5,000 words and trim 10
percent.
Read successful authors - Edgar Allan
Poe, O'Henry, Maupassant, Chekhov, Hemingway, McDonald
Fraser, Irwin Shaw, Fay Weldon, Somerset Maugham, Graham
Green, and Edna O'Brien, Kathy Lette, Martin Amis, Jim
Crace, Louis de Bernieres, Raymond Carver, Cormac McCarthy,
John Mortimer, Alice Munro and William Trevor.
Rember Dr Johnson's words: What is
written without effort is read without
pleasure.
The most common errors: It's for its, who
for whom, alright, prevaricate for procrastinate,
prestigious in the wrong slot and split infinitives. Having
said that, TO BOLDLY GO is fine and no story is
disqualified for minor transgressions.
For beginners: Ideally your manuscripts
should be typed in double spacing or word processor printed.
A cover sheet giving the title, number of words and name and
address of the author should be attached. Length should be
between 2,500 words and 5,000 words for World Wide
Writers
Guide lines can be a great help
but your best aid is to read regularly
the stories in World Wide Writers.
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