I’d got the call at about six-thirty the previous evening; Sunday – during “Songs of Praise”. Not that I was watching it. “How quickly can you get down to London tonight?” “Tonight? I can’t get there tonight; the last train has gone.” “Ok, tomorrow, then?” “Err… maybe just after lunchtime?” “Ok, the job’s yours. Get there as soon as you can.” And that was it. My first job out of Uni. Mum ran around like a maniac that evening: washing, drying, ironing, packing. A blizzard of activity, looking after her chick. Early next morning, Dad took me to the train station and put me and my case onto the London train, and then I hustled him off, afraid he’d get… Continue >>
“My home,” she said, indicating the contents of the plywood shack with a delicate sweep of her hand. “It’s nice,” I lied, knowing she knew it wasn’t but not wanting to give offense. “Sit,” she said, pointing to an ancient sofa with springs poking through the dirty brown fabric. I sat avoiding the sharp metal springs and the worst of the dirt. I acted as if I were sitting in a mansion, my smile as ever disarming. “How long?”I asked. She flashed a smile and corrected an errant strand of dark brown hair. “Not long enough,” She answered, ” I’m sure you’ve heard that before.” “Many times,” I agreed. We sat for a moment in silence. Then she looked up.… Continue >>
Ever realized that the writing on the page is nowhere near as good as the idea in your head? You’re not alone…
pjmorledge.com is having a short story competition. Check it out.
Bob Jacobs has been the administrator and member of many successful online writing, creative writing and short story forums (fora??) and has written a great couple of articles about how you too can make it through the forest of critique and encouragement… Bob has previously had this short story featured on Backhand Stories.
I found a great little site that forces you to just… write. You are given a random word, and then sixty seconds to write whatever comes into your head. It’s a great little writing exercise. oneword.com Martin
I’ve had the pleasure of publishing a few pieces from members of Write Words, a great writing community based in the UK. They asked me to tell them a little more about Backhand Stories, so they’ve published a short interview with me about the site. You can read it here. Martin
I just stumbled upon this list of sites for writers to submit their work: http://socialmediatrader.com/resource-list-40-sites-for-writers/ Enjoy! Martin.