askaboutwriting.net

Sally meets Phyllis the parrot

2011-05-16T14:57:00.005+01:00

Programme 85 of our radio show Telling Tales features a chat with writer Debbie Thomas author of the hilarious novel Dead Hairy.
Hear the interview and order the book.

Have you ever won something unusual in a raffle?
Have you ever wondered what to do with it?
Well here’s what happened when Sally won Phyllis in a draw in the bookies.
The original story of Sally's parrot Phyllis (15'20") is recalled by Brendan Nolan.

Listen here

Goodbye to the Hill and all that

2011-02-20T14:13:00.003Z

Writer Lee Dunne can be heard in conversation about his work including his novel and play Goodbye to the Hill on Telling Tales 77 the radio programme for writers and storytellers. here

Have you ever bought a bottle of holy water?
Have you ever wondered if it did any good?
Well here’s what happened when a simple soul poured the wrong water into the right bottle.

The original radio story of St Brigid's Water is told by Brendan Nolan. here

Love Stories

2011-02-12T10:02:00.001Z

Author Neville Sexton talks about his memoir of his son Craig the Boy that Lives on Telling Tales 76 the radio programme for writers and storytellers.

The original love story of The Wrong Engagement is told by Brendan Nolan.

Have you ever thought you might get married?
Have you ever proposed to someone you fancied?
Well here’s what happened when a suitor bought ear rings online and went acalling on St Valentine's Day.
Listen here

Dublin Storytelling gets mapped

2011-02-06T11:25:00.004Z

Storytellers Tom Rowley and Andrew Flaherty are interviewed on the launch of their Dublin storytelling website StoryMap on Telling Tales 75 the radio programme for writers and storytellers.
here
Brendan Nolan tells the original story of Running Dogs on the archived programme.
here

Have you ever sold a family dog?
Have you ever wondered why it came back?
Well here’s what happened when a dog decided one owner was better than another.
Listen to online storytelling here

Irish Republican Women

2010-12-15T14:04:00.001Z

Writer and historian Ann Matthews author of Renegades: Irish Republican Women 1900-1922 is interviewed on publication of her non-fiction title on Telling Tales 57 the radio programme for writers and storytellers.
here

Brendan Nolan tells the original story of Two Mammies and a Pope on the archived programme.
here

Did you ever lose your mother?
Were you upset by the experience?
Well here’s what happened when two mammies left their families.
Listen to online storytelling here

Building Ships in Dublin

2010-12-01T09:50:00.004Z

Writer and historian Pat Sweeney author of Liffey Ships and Shipbuilding is interviewed on publication of his non-fiction title on Telling Tales 56 the radio programme for writers and storytellers.
here

Brendan Nolan tells the story of Dan and the Desk on the archived programme.
here

Did you ever ask someone else for a helping hand?
Did you ever wonder if they were insane?
Well here’s what happened when two men tried to deliver a desk in a lift.
Listen to online storytelling here

Death on the Hill

2010-11-23T12:53:00.003Z

Writer and journalist Abigail Rieley author of the true-story Death on the Hill is interviewed on publication of her latest non-fiction title on Telling Tales 55 the radio programme for writers and storytellers.
here

Brendan Nolan tells the story of The Undead on the archived programme.
here

Did you ever attend a wrong funeral?
Did you ever sympathise with someone before they died?
Well here’s what happened when two women bore the same name.

Listen to online storytelling here

You

2010-09-20T09:09:00.001+01:00

Novelist and short story writer Nuala Ní Chonchuir author of You is interviewed on publication of her first novel on Telling Tales the radio programme for writers and storytellers. here

Brendan Nolan tells the story of longe-range Weather Forecasting on the archived programme. here

Did you ever wonder if it would rain?
Were you ever involved in backing horses?
Well here’s what happened when a racing expert forecast floods.

Listen to online storytelling here

The Message

2010-08-25T16:59:00.003+01:00

Mystic seer Joe Coleman is interviewed on publication of his memoir The Message on Telling Tales the radio programme for writers and storytellers. here

Brendan Nolan tells the story of the Sinking Feeling on the archived programme. here

Did you ever have a new second hand car?
Have you ever found a rug in a skip?
Well here’s what happened when a rug in a skip became a carpet in a car.

Listen to online storytelling here

No place like it

2010-07-27T09:13:00.003+01:00

Poet Hugh O'Donnell is interviewed on publication of his poetry collection No place like it in programme 50 of Telling Tales the radio programme for writers and storytellers. here

Brendan Nolan tells the story of the Blood Field on the archived programme here

Did you ever think you heard noises in the night?
Have you ever seen someone pass by from a time long gone?
Well here’s what happened when two children felt the hand of history touch their being.

Listen to online storytelling here
Woman tells story to get work here

The Last Cowboy

2010-07-19T09:36:00.005+01:00

Writer James Lawless is interviewed on publication of his novel The Avenue on programme forty-nine of Telling Tales the online radio programme for writers and storytellers. here

The story of The Last Cowboy is told by Brendan Nolan. here

Did you ever wonder what happens to cowboys when they become men?

Have you ever wondered if a cowboy ever forgets?

Well here’s what happened when an ageing cowboy happened on a lone kid on the prairie.

Listen to online storytelling here

Man tells story to get work

Beware of the ducks

2010-07-13T09:54:00.003+01:00

Writer Peter Cunningham is interviewed on publication of his novel Capital Sins on programme forty-eight of Telling Tales the online radio programme for writers and storytellers. here

The story of The Racing Ducks is told by Brendan Nolan. here

Have you ever backed a lame duck in a race?

Have you ever wondered what lies beneath a duck's belly?
Well here's what happened when 500 ducks came downstream at the same time

Listen to online storytelling here

Woman tells story to get work

How to write a great press release and use it many times in many ways

2010-07-12T08:41:00.002+01:00

Writing a bad press release is not an easy thing to do.
It takes just as much effort to write a really bad release as it does to write a really good release that people will read with interest and act upon.
It's mainly a matter of knowing how to compose a basic release while ensuring the content is tight enough and inventive enough to double up as something else, a blog entry certainly, an article on your own website perhaps, and maybe even a tweet on Twitter.
more

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Ten Commandments for the Lazy Reader

2010-05-27T17:10:00.000+01:00

You too can be a better speaker; you can take any audience anywhere you want with a fine script delivered well.
You can make willing listeners do, feel or believe most things that make sense, are moral and legal, most of the time.
You just need not to be lazy. follow the ten commandments.
read more

Man tells story to get work
For news of the world of writing and opportunity see here

Let me tell you a story about me

2010-04-28T15:58:00.003+01:00

Your story is unique. You are unique, so tell your story with confidence and talk your way to work, whether with a new client or a new employer, or an internal promotion in an organisation.

Using personal story in seeking work makes you stand out as an expert in your field. Your part in the story tells your listener that you have been there and can tell the tale.

You will be listened to with closer interest for you are an experiential expert simply because you are the person that was at the centre of the story. Who better to tell the story than you?

Speak out your story. You will be heard. Everyone loves to hear a story.

Everyone remembers the storyteller.
read more

Man tells story to get work
For news of the world of writing and opportunity see here

The Past is Now in Writing or Remembering How Horse Dung Smelt

2010-04-02T08:55:00.004+01:00

Writing about the past is an activity for the present.
The writer must balance today’s values against the values of a time that has passed into history.
It would seem it would be easy to write on an incident from a different era; but it is almost more difficult than writing about the present. more

For news of the world of writing and opportunity see here

Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

Good characters give good pause

2010-03-23T10:06:00.002Z

What do you remember about someone you met for the first time?
Is it the way they dressed?
Was it perhaps the timbre of their voice?
What lingers in your mind?
If people make a value judgement on you from the first encounter, think how they see your written characters.
more

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todo A New You

2010-02-08T16:29:00.001Z

Create a pen-name for yourself.
Write what you will with new freedom.
Immerse yourself in your new persona.
You need never tell anyone who you are.
You do not need to stay in the new persona to write.
But you could always dip in and out as a relief from your other writing.

For news of the world of writing and opportunity see here

Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer.

todo Open the Drawer

2010-01-14T15:47:00.004Z

Open a random drawer in your home or some other interesting place.

Lift out everything you see.
Make a list of the items you find.
Write a story in which all these items appear.
But make it make sense.
Make it inevitable.
See here for news of the world of writing and opportunity.
Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

todo Be an Animal

2009-12-29T10:16:00.008Z

Which animal inspires you to write?

Does it inspire you to achieve better things?

Could you be a better you, as a result?

Are you that animal?
Dream and write.

See here for news of the world of writing and opportunities for you.

Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read.

Was Aunt Sally right about Uncle Bobby?

2009-12-21T14:36:00.004Z

Families are a deadly web of relationships.
Some are benign, others not.
Add in sibling rivalry, inattention, or indifference and the results can be confusing, chaotic or deadly, depending on whoever has taken umbrage, or suddenly awoken from a long slumber of self-denial and fantasy.
And that's before you even start assembling a family history.
more

See here for news of the world of writing and opportunities for you.

Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info
Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read.

todo Write yourself into a pantomime.

2009-12-18T10:36:00.006Z

You awake to find you are a pantomime character.
Who are you?
What do you do?
Why do you do what you do?
Is this a real world?

Or are you an actor playing a part?
Write.
See here for news of the world of writing and opportunities.
Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info
Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read

todo. Invent a new country

2009-12-10T15:58:00.003Z

You are invited to invent a new country.
Write the rules.
Make them fair to all.
Forbid that which you do not like.
Decide on a name.
A national colour

A national animal.
A language.

See here for news of the world of writing and opportunities for you.

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Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read

Record your loved ones' stories in their own words

2009-12-08T11:16:00.001Z

History is the story of the evolution of a species, a race, a family unit.
History is the conjoined tales of the people who lived it.

Within every family are human triumphs, failures and adversities, unique and common to all.
It is your task to record the voices of the people who have lived it. more

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See here for news of the world of writing and opportunity.

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Write what you hear

2009-12-03T15:23:00.001Z

Sit in a public place.

Write what you hear.

Do not write what you see.

If it helps, close your eyes and dictate into a mobile phone.
When you open your eyes try to identify the source of the sound you noted.

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Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read

Score your own goals in writing

2009-11-30T13:24:00.003Z

Climbing a mountain begins with a single step.
In fact, achieving anything requires some action on your part.
The more you attempt, the more you will achieve; but especially in writing.
For to be a writer, is to write.
If a tree in a deep forest does not fall if nobody hears the sound; then writing is not complete until it appears on the page and is read by a reader. read more

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You have sinned in the past.

2009-11-26T11:16:00.001Z

Open a journal for the wronged one to read when you are gone.
You will confess to all that happened.
You will try to explain why it happened.
Then you will try to justify your actions.

Write as in short journal entries.
Be fulsome and precise.

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As I was and am

2009-11-20T07:25:00.005Z

Write about how life was like for you two centuries ago.

It is not your grandparent's story.

You must tell it as if you are living it.

Not everyone participates in the turning of history.
Place yourself in context then as you are now.

What was life like for you?

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No advance for writers

2009-11-17T08:48:00.001Z

A digital-only subsidiary of Harlequin Enterprises Ltd intends to publish with no advance payable to the authors.
Instead, authors will receive higher royalty rates, according to the new imprint Carina Press.
On offer will be 30 per cent of the original cover price on direct sales, 15 per cent on third party distribution.
Full story here

Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read

No rest for a writer

2009-11-16T19:23:00.003Z

Write about a disruption to your most relaxing day.

You have a day off, perhaps.

It could be that you have planned this day for a long time.
You have been busy and this is your day.
But something happens.
Write about it, and what happens next.

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Leave a comment if you so wish for all to read

Is it love?

2009-11-13T10:04:00.001Z

Create a lover for yourself.

Is it someone who showers you with attention and gifts?

Or, someone who will always be there for you, say they. Sadly, you do not love in return.

Is it you?

Is it them?

Or circumstance?
Write why.
Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

Dear Lover

2009-11-11T14:37:00.003Z

You receive a private twitter message in error begging you to continue an affair.
What do you do?
Write back and say it isn't you?
Offer advice?
Offer commiseration?
Pretend you are the proper recipient and manipulate the sender?

Try to get more contact details to exploit the situation?

Ignore it?
Write what happens next.
Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

Cold Case

2009-11-10T17:24:00.006Z

Write about two people affected by the opening of an old crime case.

One approves of the case being re-investigated.

The other person does not want the past to be re-visited.
What was the case?

Why are people divided on the issue?

How long ago was it and are all the people then involved still around?

Who stands to benefit from a new investigation?

Who might lose?
Your story; you write.

link for more on writing

Britain will appoint story laureate in new year

2009-11-09T19:20:00.001Z

Britain will appoint its first laureate for storytelling in London in January as part of National Storytelling Week.

Mr Taffy Thomas, who is to be the first story laureate, has a repertoire of 300 stories gathered over the past 30 years.

Thomas (60) is a literature and drama teacher in another life.
He was awarded an MBE for services to storytelling and charity in 2001.
During his two-year term the storyteller will wander the land telling stories to all that will listen.
link

So you want to be remembered

2009-11-03T12:55:00.003Z

Every person on the planet is important. But you knew that already. As a species we live and prosper by the accumulated knowledge of our times and of those that have gone before.

We know what happened to earlier people for they wrote it down, or someone else did, on their behalf, or over their objections.

Writing a family history can be a pleasant experience full of hidden treasures and revealed astonishment as we discover a more human side to our forebears. more

Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

Sending Motoring Tips to a Gardening Magazine is Silly

2009-10-28T11:21:00.004Z

WRITING articles for nothing is good writing practice; but it will not keep the wolf from the door for very long unless the wolf likes a good laugh. A working writer needs to target a market where she will see a return for her effort. For return read money.

Novelists notoriously fail to sustain their own real-life by their writing efforts alone. A few are wonderful and make a living from writing books solely. Others even make lots of lolly. People who have not yet made lots of lolly interview them in turn and write up the result for cash or wages.
Such interviews and article writing are good potboilers for the writer working towards seeing her name in lights, or at least on a webscreen near you.
more.
Start writing your own book today with the online assistance of a professional writer. info

WritingClub open Short Story Competition

2009-10-20T09:46:00.002+01:00

The theme for this Writing Club open competition is passion.

So, write what you will with passion as your guide. The picture is offered as stimulus should you need it.

The prize is three-fold
(i) €100 in cash for an entry fee of only €5.

(ii) Publication on both http://www.askaboutwriting.net/ and http://www.writingclub.org/ websites read by thousands of people each week with an interest in writing.

(iii) A year's membership of Writing Club which will give you free access to four more writing competitions.
Maximum word count is 1,800 words.
The closing date is midnight December 16, 2009.
details

News is not hearsay

2009-10-14T14:54:00.003+01:00

The first man to run a 26-mile marathon was a messenger sent to report the news of the battle. Exhausted, he dropped dead after he reported the news.

Not all reporting is quite that injurious to your health.

Such good news/bad news is the stuff of creative writing.

A story begins with the calm of a summer’s day while in the distance a low thunder rolls. The thunder may be simply a summer phenomenon or it could be the drumming of the hooves of many horsemen come to start a war.

How the happy people face this dilemma is story. more

Write your own book with an Askaboutwriting Academy writing course. detail

Public money spent on better sex guide

2009-10-06T16:40:00.002+01:00

03Oct09 333
===============
Welcome to this week's news of the world of writing.
============
CONTENTS
A Word.
Great Irish Book Week.
Public money spent on better sex guide.
Borrow where you will.
The Westminster Prize.
London Evening Standard goes free.
Frances Browne multilingual poetry competition.
Writing Time.
Ask Eddie about:
Marketing:
Writing Club newz.
Take a link.
Name that book.

19sept09 News Askaboutwriting

2009-09-19T16:15:00.001+01:00

Sunday Times launches big money short story competition.
Dan does it again
Sell your story for £700
New Scientist stories
Reading poetry aloud
New budget Erotica series from Xcite Books
Sligo Writer in Residence

http://www.askaboutwriting.net

Write your own book with an Askaboutwriting Academy writing course. detail

Askaboutwriting news 12Sept09

2009-09-12T13:27:00.002+01:00

A Word.
Register in the UK for Irish PLR payment.
Writing about beer.
Publishing Scams exposed
Europe to turn over a new e-leaf on digital books and copyright.
Grace Dieu Writers' Circle Writing Competition
Send a haiku to Shamrock
Exciting for playwrights awriting/22oct05 12sep
Writing Time.
Ask Eddie about Falling pips.
Marketing pitching profitably.
Writing Club newz.
Take a link.
Name that book.
http://www.askaboutwriting.net
Write your own book with an Askaboutwriting Academy writing course. detail

Welcome to the September 5 2009 news of the world of writing

2009-09-05T13:35:00.004+01:00

05sept09 issue 329

A Word.
Fresh Blood wanted
Wild Orchid playwriting competition.
Penguin Big Break competition
Two writers may be published
Money off for Christmas in September
David Burland Poetry Prize
Galway Bursary to attend Dingle Writing Course
Writing Time.
Ask Eddie
Marketing:
Writing Club newz.
Take a link.
Name that book.

Write your own book with an Askaboutwriting Academy writing course. detail

Payback time for writers. How and when not to write for nothing

2009-09-01T10:00:00.004+01:00

Beginner writers have as much chance of having work published as an established writer.

It’s a matter of the right words at the right time for the right editor in the right frame of mind for your submission.

Easy, peasy.

In fact, it’s so easy anyone can do it, almost.

http://www.askaboutwriting.net/feat5pt.htm

Write your own book with an Askaboutwriting Academy writing course.
detail

2009-08-31T10:33:00.003+01:00

29aug09 328
===============
This week's news of the world of writing is online now. http://www.askaboutwriting.net/
============
A Word.
Academi Writers' Bursaries 2010.
Scripts sought for rehearsed readings at Galway Theatre Festival.
Penguin Prize for African Writing.
Telling Tales.
Basil Bunting Poetry Award.
All-Ireland Poetry Day.
Tell-a-Story Day in Scotland.
Writing Time.
Ask Eddie about Falling Pips.
Marketing:
Writing Club newz.
Take a link.
Name that book.

Take an online writing course today with us http://www.askaboutwriting.net/academy.htm

Service restored

2009-08-31T10:31:00.001+01:00

Our main site which attracts more than 3,000 visits a week is back online following a full weekend of outage as a result of server problems at our ISP. Apologies. www.askaboutwriting.net

lack of service

2009-08-30T11:00:00.003+01:00

Apology.

askaboutwriting.net our main website is offline since Saturday, August 29, 2009 with server problems @ u.tv the ISP.

Preposterously, they say it will be Monday, August 31, 2009, before they can restore service.

Since we must await restoration by them we would ask you to email urgent askaboutwriting business to us at news@neteireann.com or leave a message on this blog.

Thank you.

Make Money Writing

2009-08-24T12:50:00.008+01:00

You can make money as a writer.

To do so, you need to have a writing plan that concentrates on finding a market for your work.
Just don't try to sell Christmas trees in July.

And make sure you are paid for your work.
here

Write your own book with an Askaboutwriting Academy writing course. detail

Happy bookday to you

2009-08-23T13:32:00.002+01:00

Happy writers have happy bookdays.
When you become a published writer, there is no doubt about it.
You have the the published proof.
When your name appears on a book, it is yours.
here

So you want to be a writer

2009-08-17T14:45:00.002+01:00

It’s easy to be a writer.
You sit down and add one word to another until you have a sentence.
Then you add another sentence and another until you have a paragraph.
Then lots and lots and lots of paragraphs and you have a chapter.
A given number of chapters will result in a book.
here

Writing is your business

2009-08-15T17:52:00.002+01:00

A writer running a writing business is paid for what she produces.
You need to remember the biggest single asset your writing business has is you.
Ask yourself what is not being published.
Could you write it?
here

Moving Eddie

2008-10-11T14:15:00.002+01:00

Hello all.

Eddie has moved home to the main askaboutwriting website where he has his own dedicated page.

See here: http://www.askaboutwriting.net/eddie.htm

Writing Club is launched

2007-03-16T12:34:00.000Z

Lads

Writing club was launched on March 10, 2007 as a stand-alone offshoot of http://www.askaboutwriting.net/.

Within a day we had our first spam message, so it's nice to be recognised at last.

Spammers make you feel wanted, somehow. It's not all ether.

The club is set up to include a forum where members can meet and chat or post work. We hope it will lessen the aloneness many writers work in when writing.

Writing circles can have their own private area for their members only.

Registration includes a number of options to state who you are, what you do, and offer a live link back to your own website.

Founding members are already signing up and publicity will start soon, once any technical teething problems are sorted.

See here; www.writingclub.org and use this blog for free feedback.

Thanks.

We are chosen for the 101 best websites list

2006-04-21T16:27:00.000+01:00

Our site has been has been listed on the hugely prestigious "Writer's Digest 101 best websites for writers for 2006" in the United States.

We were selected from more than 1,400 entries and those selected were described by the judges as being the most valuable websites for writers.

This year's list was simplified into six categories: creativity, general resources, genre/niche, just for fun, publishing resources and writing sites.

Our category, where we are one of only 11 sites listed is: Publishing Resources.

For the full list go here .

Writer’s Digest is the world's leading magazine for writers, founded in 1920. Writer's Market, the US bible for writers seeking to publish their work, was first published in 1921. Together, they form the foundation of a wide range of informational, instructional and inspirational offerings for writers.

You can comment on any entry by clicking on comment below.

Weekly updates

2006-02-09T20:32:00.000Z

Weekly updates

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It's the easiest way to stay informed of developments on our site.