Writing Magazine

The saying goes that “everyone has a story in them” and it’s the mission of Writing Magazine to help you get yours out. Brought to you by real experts who know what it takes to improve your writing or get published, this monthly magazine is a must-have for all writers. Whether you write fiction, poetry, drama, children’s books, non-fiction or anything else, each issue features tips, practical exercises and real-life advice, that will not only help you get all that creativity onto the paper but also, get your name and profile out into the industry. With writing masterclasses from professionals, industry news, events listings, competitions where you can submit your work for fantastic prizes and real paid writing opportunities, Writing Magazine has everything you need to hone and improve your talents.

DEAR READER

Make like a RHINOCEROS • Writing involves hard knocks, rejections and setbacks. Author and TV scriptwriter Ivor Baddiel knows all about it, and shares his top tips for developing the hide of a rhino that a writer needs to succeed

REAL LIFE, great stories SHORT AND SWEET • This month, Jenny Alexander looks at writing flash memoir and prose poetry

Preparing for publication • Lou Gilmond is an author, editor and publisher, so she knows every aspect of what it takes to get to book ready to meet its first readers. Here, Lou shares her tips on getting a completed manuscript ready for market

The long and winding road (TO PUBLICATION) • Novelist Phaedra Patrick sets out the habits writers can develop to keep them going on the long route from idea to holding a book in your hand

Place markers • Novelist Carolyn Kirby explains how long-ago lives in a familiar landscape can provide the historical fiction writer with a portal into the past

KNOW YOUR PLACE • Author Aisha Hassan describes how using a specific location in a novel influences every aspect of a story

When JOY chooses you • Donna Ashworth, the hugely popular poet, tells Tina Jackson about finding joy through writing, channelling visionary messages and letting the words find you

Subscribe and receive Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2026

Your writing critiqued • James McCreet applies a forensic micro-critique to the beginning of a reader’s manuscript

Dialogue PART TWO • Want to bring your dialogue to life on the page? Writer and tutor Ian Ayris explains how to do it

WORDS & PICTURES • Every writer’s journey is different, and it’s fascinating to discover the varying ways people go from unpublished writer learning their craft to published writer with a book on the shelf. Amy Sparkes talks to two debut picture book authors about their experiences

Novel Ideas List to live by • Lynne Hackles is setting herself writing tasks to complete by the end of the year

SHELF LIFE JULIE MAE COHEN • The author of revenge thrillers and (as Julie Cohen) book club novels picks five books that wowed her with their layered, captivating storytelling

The world of writing • What goes through a writer’s brain? Readers’ letters and dispatches from the wide world of writing

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: INVISIBLE

Subscribers’ news

Learning to read the world • Author Ann Morgan set herself the goal of reading a book from every country. Here, she looks at how expanding our reading habits as writers can make us part of a necessary force for change

Waiting for war • Historical nove list Anita Frank describes how the beginning of her new WW1 story evolved

Collateral damage • Alison Chisholm is moved by a poem that’s a voice for the casualties of war

Finding the extraordinary • Helen Walters looks at how you can transform the mundane and everyday to reveal something remarkable in your fiction, with an example short...