Twisted THREE Cheers!

Well stone the crows Chris Jones is encouraging us all to be ‘Twisted’ again!

Following on from the shrieking success of previous anthologies, writers new and old are being asked to step up and submit a scarily suspenseful horror story of up to two thousand words, the more twisted the better.

The great thing about submission is, fellow writers read what you write and feedback constructive criticism.  So, you gauge your strengths and weaknesses as a writer.  You also learn what you agree with and what you can take with a pinch of salt, as well as opening a door to a thriving writing community.

Normally, I write comedy but swing to the dark side when life is maudlin.    In 2021 a novel I wrote placed top five in competition and I got super eager, created an author page and waited for an agent to scoop it up, only it did not happen.  It knocked my confidence like a burst balloon and put a kibosh on my writing.  Getting back on the horse after ‘we liked it but not enough to publish’ notes is hard, which is why ‘Twisted’ is such a super project.  Short stories are less wordy so easier to pen and through camaraderie with other writers you redraft and improve what you have already written. 

It’s always scary putting your self out there.  There’s something remarkably honest about creating a piece of fiction that has a piece of you in it.  Horror can be a great release too as there are myriad routes you can take to literally twist familiar tropes and be original.

You may make it into the final fifty and you may not but what you will learn along the way about both your writing and yourself is often invaluable.

So, when Chris says ‘Twisted 3’ I say three?   Cheers!