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Dale Smith Online

Writing and me

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Why?

I’ve been writing for literally longer than I can remember. I haven’t kept any examples of my work prior to 1994, but since then I have an almost complete record. The short story I wrote on a writing course at the Leicester Haymarket? The plays and monologues that were part of my Drama Degree at Manchester University? Yes, you can read those here if you really want to see my early progression.

Back when I was writing those things, I used to think that there was some secret to getting work produced or published that no-one had told me. I used to think that there must be some trick I was missing, some arcane tactic that would suddenly grant me a writing career. As I write this, I’ve got twenty years of writing behind me that you can see below. It took me that long to realise that I have - albeit small and unimposing - a writing career. That the way I got it was probably the same way everybody else got theirs: by persistence, by luck, and with the sneaking suspicion that everybody else was doing it better than me.

Which was why I decided to create this site.

I decided that I would document the process I went through to get where I am today, on the bottom rung of a career in writing. I wanted to answer the questions that I had when I first started out. I wanted to hopefully give the answers that would have made me realise the truth a lot earlier: there is no magic secret to becoming a writer. All you can do is write, and keep sending it out. Don’t wait to be asked: no-one will ever give you permission. Just get out there and do it.

So I made this website - using some of the things I’d picked up during my day job (if you are going to be a writer, you will need another source of income: in twenty years, I’ve earned £12,000 from writing. If I was a full time writer, I’d be earning 31p an hour.)

If you’d like to contact me to discuss any of this, you can use the contact form here.

My CV
Cover of Tales of the City

Short Story

Tales of the City

Publication Dates
30 June 2012
Obverse Books logo
What would Kurt Cobain do with eternal life if he couldn't be famous?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Wildthyme in Purple

Short Story

Wildthyme in Purple

Publication Dates
20 November 2011
Obverse Books logo
Iris Wildthyme and Panda want to know who killed the chauffeur in The Big Sleep. Who do you think they would ask?
  • blog
  • writing
  • iris wildthyme
Cover of the collection In Uniform

Short Story

In Uniform

Publication Dates
4 October 2010
Slash Books logo
If you were gay in the 50s, what hope could the world give you?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of The Panda Book of Horror

Short Story

The Panda Book of Horror

Publication Dates
12 December 2009
Obverse Books logo
When you meet someone so amazing that you abandon your whole life just to be with them, what does that look like to those that get left behind?
  • blog
  • writing
  • iris wildthyme
Cover of Short Trips: Transmissions

Short Story

Short Trips: Transmissions

Publication Dates
1 July 2008
Big Finish logo
If an animal has killed, then you have it put down … but if it's intelligent enough to communicate, couldn't it be intelligent enough to have a motive?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of The Many Hands

Book

The Many Hands

Publication Dates
10 April 2008
BBC Books Logo
An Edinburgh physician who won't let his father rest in peace can't resist an alien who will sacrifice anything to stay alive.
  • blog
  • writing
A Page of the web Comic Cut! with Art by Jim Mortimore

Comic

Cut

Publication Dates
1 December 2007
Factor Fiction logo
A woman driven to the brink by the words and thoughts trapped inside her struggles to find release any way that she can.
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Time and Relative Dissertations in Space

Article

Time and Relative Dissertations in Space

Publication Dates
13 November 2007
Logo of Manchester University Press
Everyone thinks that the Virgin New Adventures were a continuation of the TV series Doctor Who, but what if they were actually a continuation of the Virgin novelisations of the TV series Doctor Who?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works

Short Story

Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works

Publication Dates
1 October 2006
Big Finish logo
She is the ultimate bad mother, drinking too much and abandoning her son whenever adventure calls. But even she wouldn't convince her son to kill himself to save her. Would she?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Time Hunter: The Albino's Dancer

Book

The Albino's Dancer

Publication Dates
1 June 2006
Telos Publishing logo
What if you said goodbye to your best friend at breakfast, and found out they died six months ago? What if you had a time machine?
  • blog
  • writing

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