On The Crafty Writer we like to feature as wide a range of writing styles as possible. However, we’ve never featured writing for comics. That perhaps is because I’ve never met a niche comic writer only cartoonists and artists who dabbled in a bit of writing. Then along came Daniel Clifford and everything changed … Continue reading ‘How to write for comics’
Archive for the 'niche markets' Category
If you want to write for men’s magazines you need to appreciate how they are understood and consumed by their target readership. I asked Gareth Longstaff, media lecturer at Newcastle University, to give us the low-down on men’s mags. Gareth is currently completing his PhD in the representation of male sexuality in the media and visual culture. He is a feature writer and columnist for several commercial magazines including The Crack, Gay Times, OUT and iD. Continue reading ‘Understanding men’s magazines’
One of the most time-consuming task of any freelance writer is looking for and following up leads on new markets. I’ve just come across a website that helps you find paying outlets in fiction, poetry and non-fiction writing. You can also sign up (free) for a weekly newsletter that provides you with a round-up of market opportunities. Visit Worldwide Freelance Writer for more information. There is also a dedicated European sub-division called EU Writer.
What is Christian Speculative Fiction? Rather than speculating ourselves, we decided to ask Christian publisher Jeff Gerke for his views. Jeff has served as an editor for Multnomah Publishers, Strang Communications, and NavPress. While at Strang, Jeff launched Realms, an imprint of Christian speculative fiction. In October 2008 Jeff launched Marcher Lord Press, an indie publishing company specialising in Christian speculative fiction. Under the pen name Jefferson Scott he has authored six Christian novels (Operation Firebrand: Deliverance is one of the best-known) and co-authored two non-fiction books. His new non-fiction title, The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction, is available now.
TCW: What exactly is Christian speculative fiction?
JG: Christian speculative fiction is a fancy way of saying “science fiction and fantasy written from a Christian worldview.” There are many popular genres in Christian fiction, just as there are in the wider publishing arena. But unlike in secular publishing, where fantasy and science fiction are extremely popular, Christian publishing has not always appreciated the kind of fiction I affectionately call the weird stuff.
Continue reading ‘Christian Speculative Fiction – a ‘lost’ genre?’
In this second session on writing history for the commercial market, we will look at how to write narrative history by using creative writing techniques to write the ‘story’ of your history.
Whose story is it?
The most marketable and interesting form of written history, is history about people. Your research will have unearthed many potential ‘characters’. Which ones are you going to feature in your story? Articles are best written when focusing on a single ‘protagonist’ or a small group. In a book you can deal with more characters, but they need to be linked. There are a number of questions that you can ask that are used by fiction writers to develop a character. By adopting this approach you will help to bring your personalities to life and to present them in a lively, readable historical narrative.
Continue reading ‘Writing history for the commercial market – 2: narrative history writing techniques’
Non-fiction history writing is a burgeoning market. If you’re an amateur historian or genealogist you may find a paying outlet for your masses of research. In this series we will look at how to turn history into commercial articles or books. Continue reading ‘Writing history for the commercial market – 1: finding the social context’
In the latest in our series on so-called niche markets, we speak to Christian ‘chick lit’ author Penny Culliford. Penny first came to fame with the Theodora’s Diary series, which were described by one critic as ‘Bridget Jones Goes to Church’. After concluding the third in the series, Penny turned her hand to a reporter sleuth mystery, The Art of Standing Still, (Zondervan, 2007) about a community that revives a series of mediaeval mystery plays. She also writes poetry, plays and articles for magazines. Continue reading ‘Niche markets: Christian ‘chick lit’’
