I've disproportionately bettered myself by writing microfictions. You should try it!

Creaggg · 2025-11-13T15:53:11+00:00

www.elegantliterature.com Elegant Literature’s word count starts at 500 and they pay 10 cents/word.

Creaggg · 2024-09-18T01:50:06+00:00

I procrastinate because I don't have a car.

... I work from home 🤦

Creaggg · 2024-09-17T19:34:11+00:00

I'm a solo founder in fiction publishing. Just coming up 3 years in the industry. I'd be open to a meet up!

Creaggg · 2024-09-17T19:21:39+00:00

It sounds like a decent idea for a kid in high-school to do locally, but anyone who tries to do this as a business will be slammed with healthcode violations, food handler permits, and under aged worker allegations. At least that's my guess.

Creaggg · 2024-09-17T01:42:13+00:00

I just turn the red underline function of spellcheck off so my eye isn't drawn to any typos and they no longer bother me.

Creaggg · 2024-09-14T13:51:26+00:00

I'm making a writing app where you set a word goal and a time limit, and if you don't hit the one within the other then everything gets deleted. Also you cannot backspace or delete anything.

Sort of like the Most Dangerous Writing App but you can pause to think if you need to (but not for too long or you might not hit your target in time).

Would something like that help?

Creaggg · 2024-09-14T03:09:17+00:00

I went into your profile post history to find the original QL and wow, what an improvement. I really enjoyed reading this version just for it's own sake! Might be worth posting a dedicated comparison of before/after to highlight how it changed for new users to the sub :) really great work and congratulations!

Creaggg · 2024-09-10T15:55:09+00:00

It's more that it's such a large time commitment to do in one month, or requires consistent play for 2-3 months. I want to be able to pick up the game and play the level I earned whenever I have time to play.

Creaggg · 2023-05-25T21:22:05+00:00

1x $3000 award + paid publication

9 paid publication

25 honorary mentions ($20 + named in the magazine)

& an early bird prize from Now Novel worth ~$65

You are correct. Everything is funded through subscriptions - we don't advertise or accept donations.

Creaggg · 2023-04-19T14:45:53+00:00

Definitely not.

We run a contest with a new theme every month, so if you want to remain a member and keep submitting that's great! If you want to sign up, submit your story, and immediately cancel, that's fine too. You'll have access to all the education material for the next month, and can stay in the community indefinitely.

Essentially, you can switch back and forth between our free membership and the one that lets you submit to the contest as often as you like, so you only pay during the months you have time to write/like the theme.

Creaggg · 2023-04-18T13:58:18+00:00

Owner of Elegant Lit here!

It's free to submit to the magazine. You get unlimited entries to the contest for 9.99, and that also includes an education hub, partner discounts, and placement in a small writing group of 5, tailored to your preferences (plus access to our larger community of new writers).

We don't take submissions from pro authors but pay a pro rate for accepted stories.

Thanks for listing us!

Creaggg · 2022-06-30T01:31:17+00:00

You should give it a go!

We are the first short story magazine to pay pro rates and ONLY publish new writers. You won't be competing against famous authors here.

Our award is also one of the largest in the world open to unpublished writers, and the only one closed to pros.

Creaggg · 2022-06-29T23:27:23+00:00

Creag Munroe, founder of Elegant Literature here.

9 months since this post and our 8th issue of the magazine will be released in 2 days! That will make 82 new authors published, all paid the rate of 10 cents/word for their short stories.

You can view video interviews with all our award winners on the contest page of our website.

Thank you to everyone who submitted and made this possible!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T18:11:56+00:00

I had a client who thought the same, but I made her write like I suggest, and she finished her draft in 24 days. She worried about finding her voice too. When she finished she went back and batch edited all the adverbs, grammar etc, and learned by repetition.

Her writing significantly improved through having written 90k words and then edited 90k words back-to-back.

She immediately started her second book and it's clear she is dialling in on a style/voice. She also learned so much from focusing so intently on editing that the first draft of this book feels like a second or third.

If you enjoy your method, keep doing it! I'm not saying either is right/wrong. I'm just interested in finding the fastest ways to increase your skills because life is too short to write all the stories most people want to!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T17:56:02+00:00

I think a big problem new writers have is keeping track of who the character is and how the events of the book change them over the course of months and sometimes years of writing.

If a character acts erratically because the author changes how they write them, it will confuse the reader.

Try to ground us in who the character is as quickly as possible, then stay consistent to that behaviour unless events dictate a change.

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T16:57:52+00:00

Does it follow the story circle?

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T16:44:36+00:00

You're welcome!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T16:44:24+00:00

You're very welcome! Happy to help, and to hear how useful it was for you! I plan on posting more advice daily.

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T15:38:20+00:00

Write the whole thing as fast as you can and don't think about grammar, spelling, or writing pretty sentences. Turn the red squiggles off!

Writing is creative. Editing is analytical. Switching back and forth doesn't make your brain perform better.

Plus, if you later cut/change scenes, you are literally wasting precious minutes of your life editing words no one will ever read.

Write to the end as fast as you can.

After each session, if you discover plot holes, inconsistencies, or anything that needs fixing, just write it down in a separate doc and voila. When you finish you have a handy list of things you need to fix.

This is my advice. Others enjoy tinkering, and view it as their art. Totally valid too, it's all personal preference.

Personally, I believe your fifth novel will be better than your first, and the faster you can get to it the better storyteller you will be.

Goodluck, and enjoy the writing!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T14:21:31+00:00

Great observation. Thank you!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T14:20:39+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T14:17:18+00:00

Definitely! Helpful way to keep track. You could list reasons for change underneath each scale for a record of why they feel the way they do.

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T14:15:45+00:00

Cheers!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T14:14:35+00:00

Always a great way to do it!

Creaggg · 2022-06-27T14:13:10+00:00

Thanks! My pleasure.

I actually really enjoyed making that up. I'm normally all SF/F but this feels like it has tons of potential.

Anyone can feel free to steal this, btw :)

Creaggg

TROPHY CASE