I was brought up in Cumbria where I saw all these fierce agricultural women.
From Sarah Hall
I've always been interested in the history of radical feminism - what happened to those women of the 1960s and '70s.
I think you can tell any human story in a particular place.
I don't think practitioners should necessarily be advertising their work.
Quite a lot is required of writers these days in terms of, if not promoting the work, then being a representative of the work. It's a difficult thing, really.
It's a lovely feeling, just working away at the desk, putting words down, building words up... I think you have to be aware that what you're doing is not just a private act, it's a societal thing.
It's taken me 15 years to feel I might be able to write and publish short stories, and for the assiduous checks of the industry to allow some through.
Having judged a few competitions, it's clear that novelists are often the laziest short story writers.
Writers cannot simply have a go, imagining it's easier to produce a story than a novel because fewer words are required. Have a go by all means; be intrepid, but be equipped.
Short stories are often strong meat. Reading them, even listening to them, can be challenging, by which I do not mean hard work, simply that a certain amount of nerve and maturity is required.
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