The Book Stewards Blog

I'm over on The Book Stewards blog today, talking to Teika Bellamy about writing and submitting short stories. Here's an excerpt:-

Q&A with short story writer Amanda Huggins

Posted on March 13, 2019

By Teika

As I was recently emailed a request for advice about the short story submission process and how to decide which path to take to publication, I thought it would be great to hear from some of the most talented short story writers I know. The multiple prize-winning writer Amanda Huggins was kind enough to take part in this Q&A and I am very grateful to her for sharing her knowledge. (You can read her powerful story ‘Red’ – which was a runner-up in the 2018 Costa Short Story Award here.)

1. What kind of short stories do you write and how long have you been writing in that genre and form?

I started writing short stories around 2011, mainly contemporary literary fiction, dealing with relationships and the human condition. Each story is as long as it needs to be, which means that most end up being between 1500-2500 words. However, I also write a lot of flash fiction under 500 words.

2. What’s your writing process (from idea to polished and ready-to-submit piece)? How long does this take on average?

Some stories tumble out of my head fully-formed, and some have to be dragged out! I’m not much of a planner, so as soon as an idea appears then I tend to throw it straight down. Having said that, I am a very slow writer. I’m never happy with what I’ve written, even after it’s been published, and despite editing as I go, I still revise and revise and revise. I can tweak for England, and I work on most of my longer stories for weeks. My collection, Separated From the Sea, was really the result of five years’ work. In my defence, I did have a lot of family commitments in that period, and I do have a full-time day job in engineering!

3. How do you go about finding the right publishing home for a story?

I’m glad you posed the question that way round, and didn’t ask how I go about writing a story to suit a publisher/competition. Because the truth is, I never do. I always write what I want to write and then look for the right competition or publication for the story. I’ve been entering competitions since I started writing, and I always read previous winning stories and check out the judges. However, as we all know, it’s a very subjective thing, and sometimes you just have to wing it. With literary journals you should always read a copy first to see if your work would be a good fit. Publishers advise this all the time, yet writers still don’t realise how important it is.

 If you'd lke to read the rest of the interview, you can find it HERE