Our latest stats tell us that a lot of Australian writers read this blog and we regularly receive entries to the Global Short Story Competition so it’s worth a few words on writing Down Under.
The overall quality of our Australian entries is testament, I think, to the emphasis placed on creative writing in that country.
During our work promoting this competition, we have come across a number of excellent writing centres in Australia, which clearly help local writers in every way they can. I guess that includes telling them about competitions from the number of entries we receive! We thank all those centres that have helped us, makes the world feel a smaller place somehow.
What is notable about Australian entries is the writers’ strong sense of place and how to use it to create atmosphere, allied to strong characterisation.
Many of our Australian entries have also exhibited a very clear understanding of how a short story works: how to write in mini episodes, how a short story can sometimes cover but a fleeting moment in time, how it needs to have pace and balance so that it gives you enough information but not too much.
Short story writing is an art form in itself and Australian writers, through their success in our competition (winners, commendeds and shortlistings) have shown that they know how to get it right.
* Incidentally, we celebrate Australian writing in three of our ebooks:
Global Shorts - an anthology of short stories taken from the early years of the Global Short Competition, including Australian writers
Vegemite Whiskers - a selection of some of the finest writing from Australian authors who have entered the Global Short Story Competition
Cyber Rules by Myra King. The novel by Australian writer Myra tells the story of a farmer’s wife in isolated rural Australia. Caught up on the addictive side of the Internet, she holds a secret which may prove to be deadly.
More details on our home page at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean
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