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YOUR MSLEXIA

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THE GREAT DIVIDE There is a great divide in the world of writers. On one side are all the successful writers; on the other side are the rest of us: the struggling aspiring bunch. I’m not saying that your articles aren’t interesting, but they rarely touch on my struggle. I have just heard from a publisher who finds my work competent but not good enough. Competent! Do they have any idea what that word does to a person? Then this morning I thought I would like to read advice from writers who have not had success (yet). How do they stay motivated? How do they keep up the juggling act of being a woman and a (constantly rejected) writer without simply giving up? Colette Victor, Belgium Your wish is my command, Colette! See p 45 for our new short, ‘How I keep going’. DT

DIY Why not ask readers of Mslexia to choose the winners of the poetry competition next time? Publish all the shortlisted poems anonymously and send round a questionnaire asking subscribers to list the three winners. Elaine Payne, Southampton Ah, but then they wouldn’t have the thrill of being selected by the wonderful Gillian Clarke. What do the rest of you think? DT

Loved Amanda Craig’s piece on writers’ salons. We have a local writers’ collective; now I’m thinking a salon could be the way to go. Isabel Ashdown via Twitter

VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE I’m surprised that Sally Gardner makes no distinction between girls and boys in ‘Writing for Teens’. Teenage girls read more, about a greater variety of things. I have been writing stories for teenagers since 2006, and I am sure that books on one gender’s feelings for the other would find 10 times as many 13-16 year-old girls as boys avidly reading them! Jo Rolliver, London

KEEP IT REAL Schiele is a wonderful choice to illustrate erotica. However, right underneath Nikki Gemmell’s words about kissing the silky soft tip of a large penis, you printed an image which is actually entitled ‘Mother and Daughter’. It certainly reinforced some the article’s advice: ‘Unsettle your reader’ and ‘Challenge the stereotypes’ – but perhaps didn’t quite follow the advice ‘Keep it real’. Janet Sharp, Brixham

In Monique Roffey’s piece on writing a sex scene she advises on sex for whole bodies, but not for whole people. In heterosexual sex, are the couple trying for a baby? Have they been together ages, or is this the first time? Are they greedily passionate or shy and considerate? A legitimate sex scene should surely be there to forward the plot and/or develop the characters. It can’t be an add-on, a

▶Womencartooniststhroughtheages 1943ALICE HARVEY ‘the first to draw regularly about life with children’

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Rant I hate the digital revolution, the global sharing of ignorance that it has brought on all of us. I hate how dull it has made us; how it has taken away the magic of waiting for a letter or photos to develop; I hate social networks even more, for making us believe that every silly nonsense we might say and think should be put in writing for the whole world to see. DEBORA QUATTROCCHI, London

Rave I adore reading books from charity shops. I love the idea that other people have read that very same novel before me; the horizontal scores on its spine showing it has been enjoyed from start to finish. I don’t mind crumbs or coffee stains, or even turned-down page corners. In fact I often imagine why people put the book down at a certain point – did their phone ring? And my own short story can develop from there. CAITLIN KEETON, Derbyshire

◀ Send your Rants or Raves to submissions@ mslexia.co.uk

‘I get twice as tired shopping for things I need as I used to get shopping for things I really wanted’

NEW YORKER, 1 MAY 1943, CARTOONBANK.COM

dollop of erotica slipped between the pages like a yummy little chocolate. Clare Weiner, Oxford smiles and tears I’ve recently joined classes at the Write Place (www.thewriteplace.org. uk), just in time to become involved in a ghost story anthology, Things That Go Bump in The Night, produced by its students. Though many of the group are previously published, some of us are now published for the first time. This has prompted me to urge anyone who hasn’t yet done so to join a class or creative writing group and take their work forward to a new level. The thrill of being in print is right up there with some of my best moments. Natalie Kleinman, London SE3

Reading motherhood stories on the train. Ann Alexander’s poem and Kate Figes’ response reduced me to tears. Julie Mayhew via Twitter

Producing my 2012 Mslexia Diary in public is helping me ‘out’ myself as a ‘proper writer’ Helen V Anderson via Twitter

Apart from loving the rest of it :) slightly disappointed with my diary this year. Last year’s had useful corners on the inside front cover to keep bits of paper safe. Helen Phifer, Barrow-in-Furness Oh dear. We are sorry. If you’re missing them terribly, you can buy packs from Amazon (search ‘Durable Cornerf ix Corner Filing Pockets’) – but they cost £9.80, or thereabouts, for a pack of 100 DT

4 Mar/Apr/May 2012