Writing

Tindal Street Press has achieved renown for encouraging and developing new writers. While we can’t guarantee feedback on submissions, we hope aspiring writers will enjoy and learn from our series of creative writing masterclasses written by our published authors.

Our Submission guidelines are to the right. There is also a ‘Dos and Don’ts Guide’ to submitting writing to agents and publishers.

Tindal Street Press Writing Masterclasses

What’s the best advice for a writer of stories? Learn from the acknowledged masters of the form – look closely at their technique and improve your own craft. The modern short story tradition must start with Chekhov and pass through Katherine Mansfield, DH Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway before it gets to Raymond Carver or William Trevor and comes bang up to date with Emily Perkins and Alice Munro.

Publishing Director, Alan Mahar, asked a handful of Tindal Street Press authors to choose their favourite master of the short story form and offer specific practical writing advice for writers of short fiction. The resultant Master Classes are available as downloads on the right hand side of this page. They comprise:

1. Alan Mahar – Eudora Welty – Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open
2. Alan Beard – William Trevor – Be Indirect
3. Jackie Gay – E. Annie Proulx ­ – Be Inspired
4. Joel Lane – J. G. Ballard – Use Your Characters
5. Helen Cross – Emily Perkins – Be Fearless
6. Julia Bell – Raymond Carver – Showing, Not Telling
7. Alan Mahar – John Cheever – Build Tension
8. David Gaffney – Etgar Keret – Be Short
9. Paul McDonald – James Thurber – Be Funny
10. Gaynor Arnold – Alice Munro – Observe Closely

(These articles were first published in the Birmingham Post in 2001 (nos 1-6) and in 2008 (nos 7-10))

We hope to extend this series in future. Drop us a line at editorial [at] tindalstreet.co.uk if there are other masters of the short story you’d like to see included!