In a preface to one of his books -- I can't, at this moment, put my finger on which one -- the great Charles Dickens once said, "I have so far verified what is done and suffered in these pages as though I have certainly done and suffered it myself."
Recently, I have been wrestling with some particularly demanding emotional scenes in the novel that I am writing at the moment. My first solution (see my post Missing) was not to write the scenes at all, but that won't do. Having got a grip on myself (or lost my grip altogether) I am immersed in the raw feelings of my characters as they make difficult journeys towards some kind of resolution and I find myself humbly in step with Mr Dickens. If you are going to write plausibly then it you need to suffer as your characters suffer, or to be more exact, you need to have suffered. The most basic advice dished out to authors is to write about what you know. This doesn't necessarily mean write about psychedelia in San Francisco during the 1960s, or Welsh folklore, or Roman London. It means draw on your emotional experience, even if that means touching raised, red scar tissue, because that will enable you to write authentically, and if you're writing isn't authentic, if it tries to express a universal truth without going into the particular -- the painful and personal -- then nobody will bother to read it.
SMALL PRESSES
As promised, here are a few more small presses you might like to consider when it comes to submitting your work...
Acumen Magazine
General Editor patricia@acumen-poetry.co.uk
Long established poetry magazine with an online presence, sponsored by Arts Council England and responsible for organising the Torbay Literary Festival.
Agenda Editions
Agenda has put many now famous poets on the map, and regularly publishes new work by the likes of Seamus Heaney and Brendan Kennelly, consistently discovering fresh, talented voices from every English-speaking continent.
Aireings Press
Formerly a twice-yearly print magazine which now operates online only.
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