Writing News, Opportunities and Competitions April 2021

To help with inspiring you to write and earn more money this month, I've gathered a list of writing news,  plus a couple of free writing competitions and freelance opportunities.

Enjoy. :)

Bookselling Ireland calls for Taoiseach to make bookshops 'essential'

Bookselling Ireland has asked that bookshops be classed as "essential" retail and allowed to open, or be granted special dispensation to offer click and collect services.

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bookselling-ireland-calls-taoiseach-make-bookshops-essential-1252180

Books Most Wanted Banned in 2020

The American Library Association reported more than 270 challenges to books in 2020, from Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” to Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” compared to 377 the year before.

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/04/05/books-kendi-reynolds-steinbeck-among-most-objected-2020-according-american-library-association/7088680002/

Free Short Story Competition

Your Story #111

Write a short story of 650 words or fewer based on the photo prompt provided. You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc. Whatever you want.

The winner receives publication Writers Digest Magazine. No monetary payment, but a great addition to a resume to be published in such a prestigious magazine.

Deadline: 26th April 2021

https://www.writersdigest.com/wd-competitions/your-story-111

Coping with the Monkey Mind

Having a monkey mind is a meditation term indicating an “unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable” mind — is one of the biggest obstacles to meditation and mindfulness practice in Buddhism - and writing.

https://buddhaweekly.com/meditation-techniques-for-people-with-unsettled-monkey-minds

It’s Not About Routine, But About Practice

If you find yourself unable to stick to a writing routine, remember it's more important to keep up the practice of writing daily, rather than trying to stick to the exact time you do it.

https://ryanholiday.net/practice/

Free Writing Competition

Imagine 2200—Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors (worldwide)

Imagine 2200 calls for short stories (3,000–5,000 words) that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress. What will our planet look like in the year 2200 — or anywhere between then and now? How will we move around the cities of the future? What will we eat, drink, wear, use, and live in? 

$3,000 first prize, $2,000 second, $1,000 third, plus 9 x $300 prizes

Deadline: April 12  2021- be quick

https://grist.org/fix/climate-fiction-writing-contest-imagine-2200-prizes/

Bedtime Stories Wanted For Mslexia

A submission slot for short stories written to be read aloud to a child at bedtime. They can be on any subject, but no more than 250 words long, please.

Deadline for online submissions: April 12 2021 - be quick

https://mslexia.co.uk/fiction/

Children's Books Are Dominating The Market

The Corona Virus panic has caused a surge in the sale of children's books as parents look for ways to keep their kids educated and entertained at home. See what's selling.

https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/childrens-books-trends-during-coronavirus-lockdown/

JK Rowling’s Writing Process

Have you ever wondered how JK Rowling does it? Ever wondered what her writing process is that helps her to pump out so many successful books? Here are 9 principles that may help and inspire you.

https://thewritepractice.com/jk-rowling-writing-process

What Is Developmental Editing?

What makes it different from other kinds of editing, like line editing, copy editing, or proofreading?

https://thewritepractice.com/developmental-editing

Freelance Ghostwriter Needed for a Dog Website

"We’re looking for a skilled writer who can help us expand our site. We have hundreds of topic ideas that we’re ready to start producing. For this, we need a writer with some experience with dogs."

Payment is 4 cents/word for articles ranging from 1,250 to 3,750 words, writing 3 to 4 articles/month.

https://problogger.com/jobs/job/freelance-ghostwriter-needed-for-a-dog-website/

Now it's time to write, submit, earn money, and enjoy.

https://ruthiswriting.com

How To Tell If You’ve Lost Faith In Your Writing

People sometimes lose faith in God and feel like they’ve lost everything, as though God doesn’t care about them any more.

But what they’ve actually lost is faith in themselves which makes them feel as though God is far away from them.

And the loss of faith happens all the time in many different situations, like loss of self-worth, with a current job, in the ability to do things, and even loss of luck.

And this is the same with writers who stop writing because they have no faith in their own ability or they fear editors, fear criticism, or fear people’s online opinions, especially on anti-social media.

Years ago I stopped writing after I uploaded a story I’d written to a writer's forum and asked for feedback. Unfortunately, someone told me that my writing was so bad that I shouldn’t call myself a writer. They upset me at the time until I realised that they were nobody special. And now here I am earning my living from my writing while they are nowhere. And I’ve never bothered with writer’s forums ever since. Yeesh!

But now I don’t let other people’s unsolicited opinions stop me from writing. Not at all. I love to write and I’m never going to stop.

Not everything I write gets published. I often write in my journals, which are for my eyes only. And what I find is that it’s a real confidence boost being free to write like that.

So if you’re struggling with fear of criticism, my advice is to accept the fear then keep on writing.

Haters are going to hate no matter what you do or don’t do.

So if you’re not writing, it could be because you’ve lost faith in your ability. And the only way to overcome it is to pick up your pen and get back on the proverbial horse and don’t stop riding/writing. 

Keep going and live your own writer’s life.

Living The Laptop Lifestyle

How to Start & Grow a Profitable Online Business So You Can Quit Your Job.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/LLS.html

Affirmations About Writing

 We’ve all heard about affirmations and how they're used to improve your life.

But what exactly are they and how can they help you to write more and earn more?

Well, an affirmation is something (a goal) that you repeat to yourself daily. And the way it’s supposed to help is by keeping your goal at the front of your mind so that you’ll notice if you start to stray off your intended path to your goal.

But for me, affirmations don’t work unless I know what it is that I have to do to achieve my goals.

For instance, if I want to write more, then I need to make my affirmation about avoiding distractions, or stop time-wasting, or having more bum-in-chair time. In other words, I need to know HOW I’m going to achieve what I want, which also means knowing what I DON’T want (like distractions and time-wasting activities) so that I can eliminate them.

Do I do daily affirmations?

Yeah… Nah.

I do write down what I want to do and how I’m going to achieve it because explaining things in writing makes it much more logical to me so I can spot flaws in my planning.

I also look at my notes often and think about them daily.

And then I get down to doing it.

Remember that writing daily is more important than thinking about it every day.

Goodbye Writer's Block

How to Be a Creative Genius and Have an Abundance of Ideas Plus the Inspiration and Motivation to Write.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/WB.html

The 3-Act Structure of Stories and Articles

If you want to do a lot of writing then it’s important to make it as easy as possible.

Don’t get me wrong though, writing is work. But it doesn’t have to be hard work.

One of the ways to make it easier is to write in a 3-Act structure. And it doesn’t matter if you’re writing a story or an article (or a non-fiction book or a novel) because they both need to span 3 Acts.

In a story, Act 1 takes up 1/4 of the story, Act 2 is ½, and Act 3 is the final 1/4.

These 3 Acts are - Introduction - Crisis - Solution.

And it’s the same for writing an article in 3 Acts.

Act 1 is 1/4 of the article, Act 2 is ½, and Act 3 is the final 1/4.

These 3 Acts are - Say what you’re going to say - Say it - Say what you’ve said.

In other words, it’s an introduction, then the information, and then a conclusion which rounds it all up and satisfies the reader’s curiosity of “what’s in it for me?”

In the end, both Act 3s in fiction and non-fiction must satisfy the reader.

In fiction, the characters have learned something and in non-fiction, the reader has learned something.

And that’s all there is to it. Introduce your story or what you’re going to say, tell the story or say what you have to say, and then bring it to a satisfying conclusion.

It’s the same 3 Act Structure that I talk about in my popular book, How to Write an Article in 15 Minutes or Less.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/15.html