My niece turned twenty-six at the end of March this year (2020). And I gave her a copy of Both Sides of the Story, an ebook collection of short stories I’d recently reworked and published. The gift was special because I wrote them for a writing competition a month before my niece was born in 1994.
Read More
In a recent blog post, I discussed how I’d repurposed a short story written for a writer’s circle in the early-1990s. The tutor panned it at the time as “too vague”, but I still liked aspects of the writing. So I cut out the “vague” bits and changed the tense from past to present for more immediacy.
Read More
In a purple patch of writing in my early thirties, I churned out ideas and outlines for short stories and longer-form fiction almost daily. I was childless back then and had little to distract me from my notebook and keyboard. Some of my “churn” developed beyond half-baked plots — none was published.
Read More
Wannabe writers and aspiring authors are always looking for writing tips. I’ve bought books, attended classes, read blogs, listened to podcasts, and printed pointers from the web. But as with the forest for the trees idiom, it can be hard to find useful tips among a wealth of well-meaning advice.
Read More
With the spread of the Internet, PCs and digital devices, and DIY websites, blogs and ebooks, the barriers to publishing are lower than ever before. However, the barrier between writing and good writing remains high. With the Mini Style Guide on your desk, you can be a good writer and a good editor!
Read More
There were many grammatical errors, typos and howlers over the ten years I published my dog club newsletter. In my defence, I caught most of them during the final read — after I’d photocopied it! Oh, how I wish I’d had my editor and proofreader friend, Grammarly, back then.
Read More
To help overcome writer’s block and start writing the first sentences of A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway is said to have reminded himself: “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”
Read More
By definition, brevity is the key to good microfiction. There is no time for plot and character development, so every word must count. ~ Robert Fairhead
I hope readers enjoy the short story journeys in Twelve More Furious Months and make it home in time for dinner. ~ Robert Fairhead
I look forward to the Writer's Centre's monthly Furious Fiction competitions because I've become addicted to the escapism of writing short stories! ~ Robert Fairhead
This slim book is hard to put down. And the only regret we may feel after reading it is that we reached the end too quickly! ~ Denise O'Hagan
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou
Share your untold story — fiction, nonfiction and reviews — on Tall And True, an online showcase and forum for writers, readers and publishers.
