OTHER WAYS TO WRITE - AND EVEN GET PAID FOR IT!

FICTION IS NOT THE ONLY PATH

Do you have an unfulfilled urge to write, but creating a short story or a novel is daunting?

Fear not. There are so many ways to get your words in print, from a paragraph to a page to a multi-page feature. The only criterion (apart from spelling, grammar and the ability to construct a sentence) is that it should interest/inform/intrigue/educate/amuse or even shock its readers.

If you’ve ever written a letter to a newspaper or magazine and had it printed, you’ve taken the first step. Now it’s time to consider what else you can do.

Take a trip to your local newsagent’s and check out the shelves of special interest and hobby magazines. If you have expertise in any of the activities or crafts or you’ve devised a new way to approach one of them, write about it.

If you’ve had an unusual, rewarding or frightening experience, write it down, polish it up and send it off to the editor of a newspaper or magazine.

If your pet has an extraordinary personality, send a short piece to one of the popular magazines for pet owners. Or perhaps you have an unusual pet? I saw something on YouTube recently about a woman whose pet was a bee that had no wings.

Having edited magazines myself, I know how useful it can be to have a stockpile of news items and articles for the months when nothing much is happening. You may be lucky. Who knows, you may even get paid!

NOTE: If you're writing something for a magazine, check the required page length and the number of words per quarter, half or full page. My story for WRITING MAGAZINE had to be between 1500 and 1700 words. This will fill a double page spread, with a heading, a fairly large picture or design at the top (supplied by the magazine) and a small photo and personal details (supplied by myself).

WRITING - IT'S ALL IN THE MIND!

If you're feeling bored and frustrated, with nothing to do except go to work, clean house, cook dinner, feed the offspring, feed the cat, walk the dog, weed the garden, mow the lawn, check the bank statement, watch Match of the Day or The Great British Bake Off, perhaps you need a new interest.

So, assuming you enjoy reading and managed to stay awake through at least a few English language classes at school, why not become an author? Writing fiction - creating fictional people, putting them into scary or crazy situations - is FUN, and a long long way from writing an essay on 'What I did during the summer holidays'.

Perhaps there's no risk of your becoming the new Stephen King, Katie Fforde or J K Rowling, but hey, who needs money? And no one's saying it's not hard work, but the enormous, amazing, fantastic pleasure is in creating a world from inside your brain that's totally different from anyone else's.

So, why not have a go? It's easier - and harder - than you think!