Writing Magazine March 2020

4 MARCH 2020 http://www.writers-online.co.uk

IN THIS ISSUE

FESTIVALS AND COURSES GUIDE

58 Festival guide
Plan your writing year with our month-by-month guide to literary and
writing festivals in 2020

70 Courses, workshops and retreats
Find the perfect writing course, retreat or learning experience in our
2020 guide to what’s on for writers

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

16 Star interview: Fantasy fulfilled
Eoin Colfer talks about how his first novel for adults has just the same
enthusiasm and passion as his children’s books

24 How I got published: Fiona Veitch Smith
The author of historical whodunnits talks about her path to publication

26 Beat the bestsellers
The style and technique of Kazuo Ishiguro

40 Shelf life: Jean Fullerton
The saga author shares her top five reads

45 Circles’ roundup
Writing groups share their interests and activities

46 Subscriber spotlight
WM subscribers share their publishing success stories

86 Author profile: Kitty Wilson

The rom-com novelist talks about the joy and hard work that goes into

creating her Cornish village community

108 My writing day: Mark Ellis

The author of WWII thrillers is a stickler for routine

CREATIVE WRITING

12 Creative writing: Cliché: A common criminal

Using clichés is a shortcut to bad writing – avoid them by arming

yourself with advice from Michael Clough

30 Beginners: Crowding in

Crowd control is essential when it comes to populating your novel

with characters

34 Writing for children: Choice spreads

The Picture Book Prize 2019 showed WM writing for children talent

in full force

38 Under the microscope

The beginning of a reader’s comic novel goes under our editorial eye

42 Fiction focus: Love is in the air

Romance writing is a genre that prides itself on inclusivity

56 Masterclass: Travel tales

Explore a short story by Alice Munro to look at the possibilities of

taking your character on a journey

58

16

Clichés