What a brilliant idea – our very own short story festival here in the North! And why not? So often short story festivals, celebrations or salons happen, 
further south, frequently in the capital. Yet we have great short story writers in the north – like winner of the Scott prize Carys Bray who will be reading from her work and answering your questions at the festival on Saturday June 4th at the Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds – not to be missed.
The programme is exciting and eclectic (see below) and places are filling up fast, so book now to avoid disappointment.
I’m proud to be a part of the festival. My session – Workshop Success in Short Story Competitions, is just an hour long. This won’t give us the luxury of getting to know each other well or workshopping individual stories. I’m thinking of it as more of an interactive talk. I talk and you interrupt and ask me all the questions you’ve always wanted to ask, whatever they are. Having only an hour in which to help you find success in competitions leaves me with the dilemma of what to put in and what to leave out. But that is, or should be, a familiar dilemma for the short story writer. Less is often more, as I explain in this previous post
So without giving too much away what will I be offering? I hope to give you the best possible advice about the competitions out there, where to find them, the process of entering etc but mostly I want to talk about the story that makes it through to the judges ‘likepile’ (I’ve been a judge too) and hopefully beyond. Why does this story shine through? What are the elements of a great short story? And how can you make your story the best it can be?
I will share with you everything I know and have learned along my way and because time is short I will definitely be around after to answer any further questions or just for a cuppa and a chat. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned campaigner you are welcome.
Really looking forward to meeting you on 4th. In the meantime keep writing and if you need weekly inpsiration and competition details then do sign for my free weekly newsletter, where I go on endlessly about writing and the writing life!
TAKE A LOOK AT THE FULL PROGRAMME AND BOOK HERE
