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Word Count Wednesday: 5 Aug 2026
Hello and welcome to Word Count Wednesday. How have you been getting on?
I can’t believe it’s been another week. It feels like I wrote the last one of these a couple of days ago. Hey ho. I read/heard somewhere that the older you get the quicker time seems to go… how cheerful. It always done when you’re so busy.
No writing as such but I’ve come up with some new ideas so have made some notes and written the first couple of sentences for one. I’m teaching in Swanwick, Derbyshire next week so am preparing for that, including hosting the Sunday night quiz!
I’ll be back for a day then off to a family wedding so have taken the rest of August off (from almost everything) to catch up with my own stuff.
I may not do a WCW next Wednesday so if not, ‘see you’ in a fortnight.
Do leave a comment below to share your progress, successes and otherwise, and of course anything else that’s happened to you, writing related, over the past seven days.
Results of the second Self-Pub Fest 300-word Competition – June/July 2026
Hello everyone. I’m delighted to say that the latest competition results are over on my Self-Pub Fest website at https://self-pub-fest.co.uk/2026/08/04/results-of-the-second-self-pub-fest-300-word-competition-june-july-2026. Do take a look (and, if you write flash fiction, do enter!).
Results of Morgen’s 50-word Story Competition – July 2026
Hello everyone. I’m delighted to announce the results of the twenty-seventh 50-word competition on the theme of ‘stopping something important’.
There were 22 entries from 14 writers this month, including 3 new to the competition, which is always lovely. Quite a few were wedding related so that was interesting. Judges will often pick one if there are the same topic so do think of a few topics and pick the least likely. It will often make yours stand out.
Unfortunately two stories were disqualified for being 51 words, as two words had a dash between them, e.g. …the car – not the only one – to… (where ‘car’ and ‘not’ are two words, regardless of whether there’s a space either side of the dash or not). Another for only being 47 words (sadly from a new entrant so hopefully that won’t put them off!). Another for the wrong use of a word (‘sometime’ when it should have been ‘some time’ – see tips below. The same would apply for ‘any more’ (quantity) and ‘anymore’ (time).
It’s always worth counting the words individually as they’re so short. And another was disqualified for a noun’s compound modifier wasn’t hyphenated (e.g. a ‘cleaning up operation’ instead of ‘a cleaning-up operation’). This may sound harsh, especially for non-English writers, but I have to be fair to everyone by treating all stories equally.
I can take at least a week to check the entries – some competitions don’t until after the closing date – so please send your entries early, and send two or three in case there’s an issue with one of them.
With such a low word count it’s tricky to fit a whole story (start, middle and end) so they’re going to be snapshots. You may be planning on writing as a career, if you’re not there already, so each month I will be sharing the top three stories in full as well as a list of ‘honourable mentions’ so if you’re on the list, you can add this to your CV. If you’re not mentioned, don’t lose heart. In another batch you could have been.
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WINNER (receives a 1500-word editing credit or 30 minutes mentoring as well as free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
Jane Ricot with ‘Notes to Self’
Christopher too critical. David seemed dangerous. Giles excessively gentlemanly, whereas Nigel was plain nasty. Steven sarcastic, Henry too hurrah. Felix far too flippant. And Andy detested animals.
So when perfect Paul came along, I had to pass. I’d promised myself to quit the whole damn business of falling in love.
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SECOND (receives a 1000-word editing credit or 20 minutes mentoring as well as free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
Tim Dadswell with ‘The Celebrity’s Sideline’
The relentless sun climbs higher.
Mr Umpteen trumpets his self-penned novel on every media channel. With brazen bonhomie, he admits his debt to a bestselling giant. Milk that fanbase!
Yet one experienced influencer, tired of reheated bubble and squeak, recommends switching to original works.
Sunflowers take root in overgrown gardens.
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THIRD (receives a 500-word editing credit or 10 minutes mentoring as well as free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
EW Farnsworth with ‘Dea ex Machina’
Human judges had absolved Agrippina of her heinous crimes.
Haughty and proud she held forth against her former accusers.
The statue of Minerva took umbrage and stopped the cruel woman’s heart.
This unmistakable sign induced the fickle multitudes to incite general carnage.
Agrippina’s followers were slain to her last supporter.
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HONOURABLE MENTIONS – in alphabetical order (winning free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
- Darren York with ‘Crown Pleaser’
- Emily Mays with ‘Reflections at the Bus Stop’
- Karen Silverthorne with ‘Prepare for Take-off’
- Val Fish with ‘The Truth, But Not Quite The Whole Truth…’
Congratulations everyone. And now for tips inspired by the entries:
- In British English, the smaller ‘en’ dash (–) is usually used for interruptions in dialogue with no space before the closing speech mark or quote mark, in asides with a space either side of the dash (so the following word drops onto the next line when separated rather than both words) etc. whereas the longer ‘em’ dash (—) is usually only reserved for US English. https://getitwriteonline.com/articles/en-dashes-em-dashes explains the differences there. If a character is pausing/hesitating, or there’s a break in proceedings by narration, then you’d use the … ellipses (one ‘character’, not three individual full stops).
- I strongly recommend you don’t invert dialogue tags as it’s not how we would naturally speak if talking aloud, e.g. changing ‘said Tony’ to ‘Tony said’. We wouldn’t say ‘said I’ so the same applies when there’s a name rather than ‘I’. ‘said’s do tend to blur into the background so don’t try too hard to choose something else, e.g. ‘Tony postulated’, even ‘Tony exclaimed’ could be too much if we already have the likes of ‘Get out!’. If a character isn’t named (e.g. ‘a/the wo/man’ then reversing is okay the first time.
- https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sometime is at a vague point in the future (or past), e.g. ‘let’s do that sometime’ whereas ‘some time’ is used as a time period, e.g. ‘please give me some time to think about it’.
Word Count Wednesday: 29 July 2026
Hello and welcome to Word Count Wednesday. How have you been getting on?
It’s been a busy week, but when aren’t they? I’ve finished client editing until September (yay) to concentrate on my own writing and have published, albeit belatedly, some 2026 themed diaries and two 2027 Writer’s Diaries (2 and 4 pages per week). See https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Morgen-Bailey/author/B007SNIBF8 then change the ‘Popularity’ drop-down on the right to ‘Publication Date’ and you’ll see them.
Another focus is Swanwick Writers’ Summer School where I’m teaching a ‘Plan & Write Your Novel’ course on the Sunday and Monday. It’s a wonderful almost-week (with loads of food) so when I’m not teaching I get to sit in on the other sessions, and network. It’s full on so I have a whole day to relax before we’re off to a family wedding!
If you’re a regular to this blog you’ll know that I set up Self-Pub Fest earlier this year and that too is full on with live sessions most Monday (noon UK time) and Tuesday/Thursday evenings (6.30pm). We have over 100 authors involved now so do check that out.
Do leave a comment below to share your progress, successes and otherwise, and of course anything else that’s happened to you, writing related, over the past seven days.
Word Count Wednesday: 22 July 2026
Hello and welcome to Word Count Wednesday. How have you been getting on?
Another packed work week for me but I’ve finished… until September. Yay! It means I have a month and a bit to catch up on all my projects including preparing for Swanwick Writers Summer School (where I’m teaching ‘Plan and Write a Novel’), publishing 2027 (and 2028) diaries, generic (dog, cat, transport, entertainment, garden etc.) and with prompts for writers. I’ve been doing them since 2024 and they sell better than my fiction. Not difficult!
I’ve bought some social media scheduling software so will learn that then you’ll see me everywhere… without being put into Facebook’s sin bin.
Do leave a comment below to share your progress, successes and otherwise, and of course anything else that’s happened to you, writing related, over the past seven days.
Results of Morgen’s 50-word Story Competition – June 2026
Hello everyone. I’m delighted to announce the results of the twenty-sixth 50-word competition on the theme of ‘too popular’. There were 22 entries from 12 writers this month, all regulars, which doesn’t happen often, still lovely.
With such a low word count it’s tricky to fit a whole story (start, middle and end) so they’re going to be snapshots. One disqualification as ‘ice cream’ (as a noun) is two words.
You may be planning on writing as a career, if you’re not there already, so each month I will be sharing the top three stories in full as well as a list of ‘honourable mentions’ so if you’re on the list, you can add this to your CV. If you’re not mentioned, don’t lose heart. In another batch you could have been.
I am very aware that I owe some of you feedback as critique prizes. I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I do hope to get it back to you by the end of this month.
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WINNER (receives a 1500-word editing credit or 30 minutes mentoring as well as free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
Julian Cadman with ‘Not So Hot Chocolate’
“There goes Rum Truffle,” says Lemon Cheesecake. “No surprise it’s first out.”
“Perfect Praline’s probably next,” suggests Orange Surprise.
And it continues like that all evening until…
“Lid’s closing” says Lemon Cheesecake. “We’ll probably still be here next Christmas.”
Orange Surprise laughs. “Actually, maybe not being too popular is better.”
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SECOND (receives a 1000-word editing credit or 20 minutes mentoring as well as free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
Tim Dadswell with ‘The Trajectory’
Alert antennae, twitching with excitement, detect a unique scent.
Word spreads. Buyers circle.
On wide welcoming tarmac, the wheels of a bandwagon inch forward.
The fragrant sensation basks in glory.
Industrial chemicals doctor the aroma. A mere trace survives.
Sales peak.
It fades out of fashion, waiting to be rediscovered.
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THIRD (receives a 500-word editing credit or 10 minutes mentoring as well as free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
Karen Silverthorne with ‘Lothario Love’
Sam told me he loved me.
He told Lucy, Rachel, Temi and John he loved them too.
When the truth broke free, I gathered the broken hearts. We concocted a plan.
It wasn’t easy, but now we can each spend time with him. We all have new patios as well.
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HONOURABLE MENTIONS – in alphabetical order (winning free access to one of my creative writing academy’s paid courses)
- Darren York with ‘Money for old rope’
- EW Farnsworth with ‘Buried in the Sticky Tongues of Fame’
- Joel Caldicott with ‘Not an Opportunity’
- Paul Mastaglio with ‘When The Sand Runs Out’
- Ruth Steinberg with ‘The Death of a Boutique’
Congratulations everyone. And now for tips inspired by the entries:
- I come across a lot of dialogue narration where it implies a character is speaking and smiling, grinning etc. at the same time, which is tricky if not impossible. Although ‘said’ blends better than more unusual verbs, there can still be too many. Where you have something like: “I like it,” Laura said, smiling. “I like it.” Laura smiled. Or better still: Laura smiled. “I like it.” So we know it’s Laura speaking before she speaks. As
says less (‘ing’s) is definitely more. 🙂
- I see ‘bolt upright’ a lot so is a bit of a cliché. Although you can get away with them (to a point) in dialogue, I’d recommend avoiding them (like the plague). 🙂
- The stronger the final word the better as the nearer a word is to the end of a sentence, paragraph or chapter, the more memorable it is / impact it has. Where there’s dialogue and narration, I usually recommend the narration (even if it’s he/she said) going first so what’s said has more impact.
- Watch out for repetition. If you read aloud, it’s easier to spot when you’ve used a word (or part of a word, e.g. broke then broken) more than once which, unless intentional for emphasis, is best avoided. It won’t necessarily lose you a place but perhaps a brownie point.
- When characters are nodding or shrugging we don’t need the part of the body mentioned because they’re always heads or shoulders. Certainly mention the body part (or other) if it’s done a different way.
Word Count Wednesday: 15th July 2026
Hello and welcome to Word Count Wednesday. How have you been getting on?
Inspired by last Saturday’s BeaconLit book festival (the big small literary festival), I’ve been writing some small pieces in the evenings. No details as they’re still works-in-progress and something very different to the norm so I’ll publish that under a different name. 🙂
During the day it’s still the (day) job of client editing. I have a final read of one novel this week then another next week then I’m having a break (I’m so behind with a lot of things) until the end of August. That’s the plan…
Do leave a comment below to share your progress, successes and otherwise, and of course anything else that’s happened to you, writing related, over the past seven days.
Word Count Wednesday: 8th July 2026
Hello and welcome to Word Count Wednesday. How have you been getting on?
Another busy week with client editing, beta reading for Self-Pub Fest stalwart and New Street Authors‘ Chair David Wake and the latest all-day online festival, which was fantastic. Take a look at https://self-pub-fest.co.uk/online/5-july-2026-festival for the five panel recordings.
The first of the Wednesday WIPs critique sessions started today and was fun. If you’d like to join me (only three guests per 90-minute session) another week, do take a look at that WIPs page and let me know which dates/times (12pm or 1.30pm) suit you.
Do leave a comment below to share your progress, successes and otherwise, and of course anything else that’s happened to you, writing related, over the past seven days.
FREE 50-word competition: June closed… July open
Yes, the competition has closed for June and has opened for July. The theme is ‘Stopping something important‘.
The forthcoming (up to December 2027!) themes are available on the https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/50-word-comppage.
Word Count Wednesday: 1st July 2026
Hello and welcome to Word Count Wednesday. How have you been getting on?
No writing as such this week, which is fine. I’ve been through a WIP I started while commuting to/from Capital Crime and have done some tweaking but nothing much.
I’ve been concentrating on client editing so I can have (some of) July and August off. Of course things are cropping up take chunks out of July but I’m hopeful for August. I may then extend my break, but we’ll see.
The next 50-word story competition theme of ‘Stopping something important’ opened today so I’ll be judging that next week. In the meantime, there’s the next all-day online festival takes place this Sunday, 5th July 2026 Festival where we look at the key aspects of publishing. At the time of writing this, there are still panel spaces so email me: morgen@morgenbailey.com for the information pack.
Do leave a comment below to share your progress, successes and otherwise, and of course anything else that’s happened to you, writing related, over the past seven days.
Morgen 'with an E' Bailey