Fiction Ed Shirley has more photographic story starter for you, plus some useful information about current requirements.
Another photo taken beyond our shores. Where do you think it is? The palm trees are an indicator of somewhere warm and exotic — as is that blue sky and the ocean beyond.
I know where it was taken, obviously . . . but even so, I think it speaks of somewhere Spanish. The architecture, the colours, the little bell tower. Does it inspire a story in you?
The photo was taken in the Canaries. Spanish territory, but I imagine you’d find similar little chapels in South America. And I don’t recall ever receiving a story set there . . .
A very nebulous story presents itself to me: a period story, set in a fishing village. A simple love story . . . But the bell would have to play a part.
Anyway, I’ll leave the image with you; hopefully it’ll inspire a story. And if it does, the team here will be delighted to see it in due course.
Current requirements
A quick run-down again on what we’re looking for just now might be helpful.
We’re receiving about ten 2000-word stories for every one 3000-worder at the moment, and yet our usage is far more equal than that.
Across the weekly “Friend” and our specials, we publish 300 2000-word stories per year, and 200 3000-word stories. It’s a nice easy equation to remember.
Now, we can only buy stock that we can publish, which means that we’re going to have to turn down a fair proportion of those 2000-word stories no matter how good they are — and that’s tough on everyone. So now might be the time to turn your attentions to that longer 3000-word length?
We’re still happy to see 1200-word stories, but remember that we publish only one per week. 4000 words? Only one per special, 17 per year in total.
Stories of 1000 words: two per special. All this information, plus the genres we look for, can be found in our fiction guidelines.
Looking for more inspiration? Take a look for another story starter here.
Shirley Blair Fiction Ed Shirley’s been with the “Friend” since 2007 and calls it her dream job because she gets to read fiction all day every day. Hobbies? Well, that would be reading! She also enjoys writing fiction when she has time, long walks, travel, and watching Scandi thrillers on TV.
