In compiling these blog posts, I’m very aware that many writing opportunities are not possible for writers on a tight budget. Attending festivals, taking part in workshops, entering competitions – the business of making progress as a writer can be very pricey, at times unattainable. So I try to root out as many free and low-cost opportunities as possible.
Flash of inspiration
One such opp is this FREE workshop being offered by the lovely people at The Propelling Pencil flash fiction journal. On April 21, writer, coach and editor Audrey Niven will be hosting an online flash fiction workshop where, over the course of an hour (3pm-4pm), she will be offering writing tips, inspiration and a chance to get words on the page. You can find out more and sign up here. And if you come up with something terrific, you might consider entering it into one of their regular flash fiction competitions, where they donate part of the proceeds to charity.
Short, sweet and many points
OK, I really want to do this one myself. Dun Laoghaire County Council Emerging Writer-in-Residence Sonya Gildea together with The Stinging Fly magazine have devised a brilliant-sounding collaboration. The Great Big Giant Short Story Experiment invites participants to write a short story in 48 hours, using specific prompts that will be given on a particular day. Then they will spend a day dissecting the experience together with short story aces Danielle McLaughlin, Wendy Erskine, Sheila Armstrong and Stephen Sexton, who will themselves have undertaken the same experiment. This second part takes place at the fabulous DLR Lexicon library in Dun Laoghaire on June 22, 10.30am-5.30pm. Tickets are €45/€35 concessions (early-bird tickets are available until May 13, €35/€25). All the details are here. [Edited to add: unsurprisingly, this booked out within hours so you’re sadly too late. But hopefully they will run it again as the interest has been tremendous]
Development workshops
Having had some success with your work, it can be hard to know how to establish yourself in the writing world. The ever-informative Writers & Artists (they of Yearbook fame) are offering an online workshop called Building Your Profile as a Writer, which aims to help writers navigate the world of self-promotion, including using social media and newsletters platforms such as Substack to build a community of readers. It’s hosted by crime writer SJ Watson, and takes place on April 24, 7pm-8:30pm, at a cost of £30. You can find all the booking details here.
Writer & Artists are also offering an online conference in partnership with the Open University entitled How to Get Published. This one will be useful to anyone looking to send their book out into the world. Over two evenings, there will be sessions with writers Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Katy Massey providing guidance on writing craft across both fiction and creative non-fiction, as well as insight into the world of publishing. A panel of literary agents and publishers will discuss the process of getting your work published and will answer participants’ questions. It takes place on Tuesday, June 4 and Thursday, June 6, 6pm-8:30pm and costs £45. You can find more information here.
Agility Award time
Just on the offchance there’s anyone who doesn’t yet know about this, applications are currently open for the Irish Arts Council Agility Award 2024 (nothing to do with being agile, otherwise those dancers would beat us writers hands down). Artists in any discipline can apply for a development grant of between €1,500-€5,000, and can be at any stage of their career. It’s a reasonably simple form (compared to the literary bursary form, or astro-physics), and there are helpful video explainers if you find form filling daunting. However, where in previous years there have been two rounds, this year there’s only one – so if you want to apply, this is your only shot. The deadline is April 25 at 5.30pm, but honestly, don’t leave it till the last minute as their system does get overwhelmed. They also have a weird system that doesn’t like many computers. Or forms. Or people. You can download the guidelines and application form here.
Competitions closing in the coming week
- April 23 (10pm): Free Flash Fiction Competition Twenty-One
PS. What’s that you say? You wish you could buy me a coffee in return for all this invaluable information? Funnily enough, there’s a way to do that on my immensely popular Ko-fi page – link here
Photos: Jeshoots/Pixabay; Jestemrobert/Pixabay
Word herding 