StoryGodmother Newsletter #33 - Creative Confidence
Hello! Hope you have had a lovely summer and that your writing is going well. Welcome to the September issue of the Story Godmother newsletter. There’s lots going on this month, so it’s a bit of a long one! Make yourself a cuppa first.
Just a quick reminder that if you’d like to keep up to date with my writing work and adventures, please do sign up to my other newsletter "Amy Sparkes Readers" which gives you sneak-peeks, bonus material, giveaways and news.
RESOURCES
Creative Confidence
The submission window for the Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize is open at last! As you know, I’m passionate about helping writers bring their stories into the world, so this book prize is one of the highlights of my year, and I know my fellow judges feel the same. There are three key areas which can hold us back as writers: resources (time, money, energy, mental and physical health); knowledge/ability (story craft) and our attitude/mindset (over-confident, under-confident, willingness to grow, etc.)
I could talk for hours on everything mentioned above but this time, I’d like to focus on under-confidence, because it is such a key issue for writers, and I know it can be a barrier for people entering competitions, which is why I thought I’d mention it now. So, here are some thoughts, which I hope you find helpful.
Firstly, I think many writers struggle with confidence, including professional ones – so if this is how you feel, please know that you’re not alone. It’s a pain in the backside, and a lack of confidence doesn’t always go away necessarily (or may come and go), but I think it’s possible to manage. You just need to understand your reasons for it and find a way to work with yourself through it.
A little bit of under-confidence can be quite good for us as it can cause us to ask the right questions of ourselves as writers, or of our projects – but once we’re able to answer these questions satisfactorily, we need to be able to move on.
‘Asking questions’ of ourselves can be more productive rather than making ‘blanket statements’ to ourselves. For example, instead of stating to yourself, “I’m a rubbish writer”, you can ask yourself (and answer honestly), “what are my weaknesses as a writer?” – and then you can do something about it. (I’d also suggest following this with, “what are my strengths as a writer?”). Instead of thinking, “no-one is going to read my book”, you can ask, “who do I think is the target readership for my book, and how am I clearly meeting that readership’s wants?” If you find that an honest answer to a question identifies a problem, then you are armed with information and knowledge and you can do something about it. This should hopefully make you more confident next time you are asking those questions.
That brings me to my next point: know your stuff. If you struggle with confidence personally, try to be confident in your writing craft creatively. It’s a lot easier to have confidence when you know what you’re talking about. Learn as much as you can and apply it to your writing. It can take a long time – it’s very common for people to be actively pursuing writing for a decade or more before they start making headway – and remember that you never stop learning about writing. It’s a lifelong journey. I’m still learning, which is fantastic, and my first book was published in 2009 and I’ve had about 30 books published since then. Still learning. If you think of writing as a continuing journey instead of focusing on a specific outcome as a destination, then it can make the whole thing far more satisfying, to my mind.
Submitting too early can affect confidence as stories are unlikely to be picked up – and it’s so difficult to know when premature submitting is happening. Again, I think this is another post in itself, but if this has happened, don’t panic. If you’re having repeated turn-downs, don’t worry. It could be coincidental because similar things are in the pipeline, it could be people aren’t looking for that certain thing, or it’s just a subjective matter of personal taste, or it could be that your writing craft needs more development. That’s something you can do something about. The more times the passes happen, the more it’s likely to be something not quite working in the writing/story itself. Think of these repeated passes as feedback: people are trying to tell you something isn’t working. That’s helpful (although, admittedly, it would be more helpful if people could be more specific!)
Try and identify what it isn’t working through feedback – through peers, professional critiques, however you can. Feedback is always subjective to an extent, and opinions will differ. Try to look for common ground where the same thing is mentioned by different people. It may be difficult to ask for and receive feedback, but ultimately if you want to improve your writing, you need to be brave, because feedback will help you get where you want to be.
Confidence and self-esteem will go up and down like a rolling wave. This is absolutely normal. There will be times when you feel like giving up (also normal) so find your own personal ways to manage this – whatever works for you. Perhaps embracing the challenge, treating yourself, focusing on the connection with others… And remember to love what you’re doing. Have fun. Don’t be afraid to write for yourself sometimes. Purely for you, to relish and enjoy the sheer creating of it all. Because that is what brought you here in the first place. Remember why you want to do this and why you feel passionate about the stories you’re writing. Don’t let fear or a lack of confidence hold you back from opportunities. Your voice is important and unique. Your stories have something to say.
So keep learning, keep being kind to yourself, and keep trying. It will all pay off.
CHARACTER CORNER
This time, I’d like to look at how your characters speak to each other. There is no standard way that characters communicate with each other. It will vary hugely, depending on many factors. Here are some things to consider:
Character relationships
Which characters are talking to each other and what is their relationship? Is it formal or informal? Is it new or established? Is it easy or difficult? Is one character more powerful than the other or are they equals? Do they have in-jokes or a ‘shorthand’ way of speaking? Could you guess the relationship between two characters purely by the way they are speaking to each other? Test this by pulling out some of your lines of dialogue between two characters (ignore any lines of description or action). What can you tell about their relationship by dialogue alone?
Character voice
Your character’s voice will be unique to them, however, it will likely vary in tone throughout a book depending on things like:
• Setting - how comfortable are they in their surroundings? How would this affect how they speak to other characters?
• Ambient mood and tone – how sensitive are they to these changes and how does that affect how they communicate?
• Emotional state – how is your character feeling? How does that emotional state affect their communication with different characters? For example, if Character A is feeling upset, they may feel able to voice that with Character B but not Character C.
Character growth
Although your character may well change throughout the course of a story (or a series), their voice is likely to still be recognisable as theirs. But how does character growth affect the way characters talk to each other?
• Shift in relationships – the initial balance in relationships at the start of the book may be different by the end. How does this affect how your characters communicate with each other? Has the story shed new light on their relationships? Or on the other character’s true personality?
• Shift in self-awareness/confidence – this may affect the way your character communicates with others. This may or may not be with every character, depending on the revelation your character has had. Think about what your character has learned and how that will naturally and authentically affect the way they speak with all the other characters going forward.
RADIO INTERVIEW
Thank you to Sue and Colin Smith at UpClose Radio in Bideford, North Devon for inviting me in to talk about my writing journey and books on the Book Talk show. Their studio is in a fascinating 17th century town house, and I’d have loved to have a poke into forgotten corners, but we had a job to do!
It was lovely to talk about everything from my writing career, to inspiring children to read, to a bit about my process and if you can, do listen to their show each week.
The radio station don't normally provide a "Listen Again" facility, but I've had permission to make the interview available online. It’s available in full (minus the music) or as a three episode podcast. The full 50-minute show is available on my website here:
The podcast should be findable on any service that makes use of Apple podcasts or Podcast Index by searching for "Amy Sparkes Interview" but these are the links:
WRITING COURSES
I’m very excited to make my early autumn programme of teaching available. This year has been so flat out creating my own books and films that I haven’t had the chance to run many sessions. I hope to make up for that a bit more now and there are exciting things coming up. I keep prices at rock bottom to help make high quality teaching accessible to everyone
So, why not kick-start your September and join in? Here’s what’s on:
MASTERING TENSION (1 session)
September 16th, 19:30 BST
Creating tension is crucial for engaging storytelling. In this session we’ll be looking at how to create and use different types of tension in your writing, including external, internal, macro, micro, comedic and dramatic. Suitable for writers of picture books to YA and translatable to writing for screen and adults.
Writing for Children: Mastering Tension Tickets, Tue, Sep 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
£12 plus Eventbrite admin fee.
Session is recorded and available for a limited time.
WRITE BOLD (2 sessions)
September 18th & 25th, 19:00 BST
Those of you who have known me for a while or read my work will probably know I take a bold approach to my writing. This has yielded some fantastic, career-changing results for me which have allowed me to earn a living and work full-time as a writer. I really enjoy running this course and sharing some ways you can be bolder as a writer and in your writing itself.
Week 1 - Thurs 18th Sept: Being Bold in Your Writing (creatively)
Week 2 - Thurs 25th Sept: Being Bold as a Writer (personally)
Write Bold! (2wks - 18th & 25th Sept) Tickets, Thu 18 Sep 2025 at 19:00
£27 plus Eventbrite admin fee.
Both sessions are recorded and sent out to participants, and will be available for a limited amount of time.
HOOKED (1 session)
September 23rd, 19:30 BST
In this session, we’ll be exploring different ways of 'hooking' your readers from the very beginning and keeping them hooked right until the very end. Suitable for writers of both children and adult’s fiction.
Hooked: How to captivate your readers Tickets, Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
£12 plus Eventbrite admin fee.
Session is recorded and available for a limited time.
MIDDLE GRADE WEEKEND (2 full days)
11th and 12th October.
This is the equivalent of a comprehensive six-week course, but with many bonus bits thrown in.
Includes:
Introduction to middle-grade books
Developing your ideas & creating a series
Breaking into the market
Character building
Creating structure
Opening lines
Antagonism: beyond the villain
Q & A
Breakout rooms
1:1s with Amy (optional - £15 each for 15mins, available to book separately)
There are only 25 spaces available, so please don’t hang around if you’re interested.
Writing Middle Grade Weekend (Saturday & Sunday) Tickets, Sat 11 & Sun 12 Oct 2025 at 09:30
£95 plus Eventbrite admin fee
Main sessions will be recorded and sent out to participants so please don't worry if you need to miss some of the weekend. 1:1 sessions will be offered via email contact with participants nearer to the event.
COMPETITIONS
WRITING MAGAZINE CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE
I’m really excited to say the submission window for the prize opens tomorrow for picture book and chapter book submissions. The prize is for unagented writers currently unpublished in the world of children’s fiction. I set this competition up way back in 2017 in conjunction with Writing Magazine and my agent Julia Churchill, when there was only one other picture book competition available for unpublished writers and texts.
The chapter book category followed in 2020 as I’d identified a need for writers to be supported in this area of writing, and it was the first chapter book competition for unpublished writers at the time. I’m so happy to see the effects of this competition over these years, with many longlisted and shortlisted going on to sign with top agents (including Julia Churchill) and having their books published, and dozens of writers receiving top quality, substantial feedback on their work to take their writing to the next level.
More info here: Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize 2025 – The Story Godmother
And you'll be able to submit here once the magazine staff open the service: Writing Competitions | Writers Online
COACHING COMPETITION
Another FREE 30-minute coaching competition is available this month as a thank you for subscribing to the newsletter and to help coaching become accessible to all regardless of means. The session is worth £30 (absolutely no strings attached) via a lucky draw every newsletter, for anyone who would like to enter.
If you would like to enter, please email comps@storygodmother.co.uk with COACHING 1.9.25 in the subject and you will be entered into the draw. All entries must be received by Wednesday 10th September 23:59GMT. I will contact the lucky winner directly, so if you haven’t heard anything, please assume you’ve not won on this occasion, but please do try again next time!
The session is guided by you, and we can talk about anything that you feel will help you move forward in your writing. It’s free and friendly, so give it a go!
STORY GODMOTHER WRITING COMMUNITY
Do you use Facebook? Great – join the Story Godmother Writing Community on Facebook. It’s a free, private and friendly group, where writers can share encouragement, thoughts or interesting finds. I also share weekly writing tips, and I’m there to answer any questions you have. Come and join us! Story Godmother Writing Community
It’s a private group and a friendly bunch – a safe space for you to grow as a writer. And it’s absolutely free.
If you request to join, please do make sure you answer the membership questions and agree to the group rules otherwise you cannot be admitted.
END NOTES
Thanks for reading! Good luck if you’re entering the Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize. Go for it! We can’t wait to read your fantastic entries.
With writerly love,
Story Godmother
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