Two weeks ago I got an email telling me my short story, 'The Girl Behind the Bar', was runner-up in the 2021 Radio New Zealand Nine to Noon Short Story Competition. The delay in letting me know was apparently due to COVID lockdowns and resultant recording studio delays, but now all systems were go, and…
Covet
I wrote this story ten years ago. It was runner-up in the Reader's Digest 100-word story competition 2013. It has exactly 100 words. Covet You stand in the corner, silent. Your legs, your arms, your back all curve luxuriously, stealing space. You are taunting me. Teasing me. Come. Closer. Caress. Covet. I circle you, regarding…
Quick Tips #10: What writing advice should I listen to?
I was given an invaluable piece of writing advice some time ago that was infinitely more helpful than any “how-to” article or writing course. Back then, I was at a point where writing was becoming more of a pressure than a pleasure; something to work at rather than simply...enjoy. I believed I had to write every day…
Women’s writing: how the world dismisses it
I published my debut novel in March, and was lucky enough to receive positive reviews, wonderful reader feedback, and a stint on three bestseller lists. I'm now working on my second novel, and as I write (and procrastinate), I've been thinking about stories and how we tell them and how they are received. I've been…
Quick Tips #8: Voice
"What is voice?" "How do I find it?" These are questions I hear often from clients, and there's no clear-cut answer. There's no "formula". Your voice simply means your particular way of placing thoughts on the page; your style of writing. What makes you distinctively "you" as a writer. And the way to discover it…
Scar
I never thought I was very good at writing poetry. I still don't. But Anna Jackson has convinced me I should do it anyway. The NZ poet and academic has recently published a wonderful book called Actions and Travels, about the joys of poetry. And the greatest joy, perhaps, is that anyone can write it:…
Quick Tips #7: How to write better sentences
Consider the following sentence: The green grass was full of doctors, all dressed in their dazzlingly white surgical coats. Now consider Sylvia Plath's version: The lawn was white with doctors. (from The Bell Jar) I don't think you'll even have to think about it when I ask: Which is the better sentence? But what about…
Quick Tips #6: Theme
I find that many writers I work with (for those of you new to my site, I'm an editor as well as an author) are a bit fuzzy about theme. Some writing courses and literary "experts" can be pretentious about it, making beginner writers feel they'll never be able to understand the concept fully, let…
Why I Write
I received these emails a few days after my debut novel, The Library of Unfinished Business, launched last week. "Hi Patricia, I loved your book! I couldn't put it down once I got into it, and finished it last night. I think it’s brilliant the way you handle the plot with all its twists and…
Quick Tips #5: How to publish a novel
Write a bad one.Fix it. (This step will take many months, and sometimes years.)Cry. (This will happen during points 1. and 2.)Finish it, to the best of your ability. Wallow in existential angst wondering if the best of your ability is enough.See point 3.Bravely send it to beta readers, then fix it some more.Get thoroughly…
Patricia Bell, Author 