Christopher Fielden - How to Write a Short Story, Get Published & Make Money

How To Write A Short Story

Get Published & Make Money

by Christopher Fielden

Copyright 2015 Christopher Fielden. All rights reserved.

Cover copyright 2015 Lukas Miguel. All rights reserved.

First published July 2015.

The right of Christopher Fielden to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

www.christopherfielden.com

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

ISBN (for printed book): 1512321656

ISBN-13 (for printed book): 978-1512321654

DEDICATION

For Mark and Mary Fielden

AKA my Dad and Mum

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to my proofreaders, Christie Cluett, Georgie Fielden, Josephine Iles, Josh Keeling, Leah Eades, Mark Fielden, Mary Fielden, Mel Ciavucco, Nick Edwards, Sophie Bishop and Steph Minns.

Thank you to the writers, editors, competition judges and website administrators who have contributed to this book, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Anthony Howcroft, David Howarth, Jessica Grace-Coleman, John Yeoman, Johnathon Clifford, Lorraine Mace, Lynda Nash, Sara-Mae Tuson and Sue Moorcroft.

Thanks to Lukas Miguel for designing the books cover. You can learn more about Lukas and his amazing artwork on his website: www.lukasmiguel.org

Thanks to Dave Fielden for building and maintaining my website and making sure I dont destroy it with updates without his help, my website wouldnt have been a success and this book wouldnt exist. You can learn more about his website building prowess at: www.bluetree.co.uk

iNTRODUCTION

What to expect from this book

You can expect the answers to everything. Literally. And literary. Ill also share a secret recipe with you for an elixir which, when imbibed, will turn you into a writing genius. The ingredients are pretty hard to come by its helpful if you know a Kenyan gamekeeper but its worth risking your life amongst a herd of angry rhinos to

OK, enough.

The point Im trying to make here is that this isnt like other writing how to books.

It is filled with hints and tips that can help you develop your writing skills so youll be able to produce better short stories and give yourself a much greater chance of becoming a published fiction writer, but its written in a personal and humorous manner as I have trouble being serious. About anything. Yes, Im the kind of person who gets the giggles at highly inappropriate moments.

All the advice is based on my own hands-on, real-life experiences of writing and publishing fiction, including my dealings with writing competition administrators, magazine editors and publishers. Some of them have very kindly contributed some comments and advice to this book.

I cover all aspects of the process, including:

• Reading
• Writing practice
• Market research
• Developing a story
• Proofreading, editing and completing a story
• How to obtain and utilise constructive criticism in a positive manner
• Submitting stories to competitions, magazines and online publishers
• Getting your stories published
• Marketing a story
• How to make money from writing, including realistic expectations about how much you can earn

Some of the advice might seem like Im stating the obvious, but sometimes ones common sense needs to be kept abreast of whats common and sensible. Plus, it can be reassuring to know that other people have already found success by practicing tactics you intend to employ Ive certainly found this encouraging and helpful in the past.

But theres a lot of useful writing advice on the internet, I hear you cry, and gazillions of how to get published books, all claiming to provide fabled advice and tips that no other man, woman nor godlike Shakespearian genius could have conceived. Aside from the humour, what makes this book different from any other how to writing epic? And why have I invested my pennies wisely by purchasing it?

Fair questions, oh discerning reader; heres my answer:

Im using my experiences and short stories as case studies. The tales in this book will show you how I used the writing tips and advice directly, in real-life, to write a story and get it published. Ill talk candidly about the successes Ive had as well as the failures. I share every truth the good, the bad and the so damned ugly it will make you cry, What possessed you to do that, man, WHAT?

Hindsight, my friends, its a joy.

The aim is to inspire and help other writers become published authors. Anyone can achieve this. You just need a little talent, creativity and willpower. You can do it.

On a more personal level, there are three reasons that explain why I decided to write this book.

1. I really enjoy helping and encouraging other people to write and submit their work to publishers so they can experience the joy of seeing their stories in print
2. The book contains some of my short stories, so its a way of sharing them with a wider audience
3. If I sell a few copies of this book, I might make some money which would be a step towards achieving my dream: being able to write fiction full-time for a living

I hope this blunt honesty demonstrates what to expect from the rest of the book. I wont hold back on any of my experiences or advice in an effort to make myself seem cleverer or more successful than I really am.

I would add that, as a form of quality control, Im only including short stories in this book which have been published, won prizes or been shortlisted in writing competitions. This means that someone else (often a professional editor or writer) thinks theyre good enough to publish.

And thats not all, me lords, ladies and gents. I shall also attempt to explain

The detail of the HOW

When I started writing, I used to look for advice and answers to a myriad of writing questions. I often found my queries were only partially answered, especially when I wanted to know exactly how someone else achieved an end goal, like selling lots of books on Amazon, for example. Although good advice was offered, the information given was often missing the detail of the HOW.

By this, I mean:

• HOW market research was conducted and the information learned put into practice, allowing an author to write a story targeted at a certain magazine, using a real example
• HOW a short story competition judges criticism allowed an author to change a story for the better and achieve publication
• HOW dialogue can be used to develop characters and drive the story forward, showing the reader whats happening rather than telling them
• HOW a website can be built and used to gain good exposure for a writer and make money

Enough. You get the gist.

The Demon of Doubt

I refer to this delightful companion and advisory counsellor throughout the book. So youve been properly introduced, he (or she) is the voice of your own self-doubt. Hes the one who says, This story is crap, dont bother finishing it, no one will want to publish it, no one will read it, why not have a beer instead, you dopey loser.

My Demon of Doubt is probably ruder than most peoples, but now youll know what Im talking about.

My website

I run a website www.christopherfielden.com. Its a blog, all about writing. I refer to it frequently, as there is content on the site like lists of short story writing competitions, for example that its pointless putting in a book as the information becomes outdated so quickly.