December 25, 2012

Dear friends and writers, for whom I am so thankful:

Merry Christmas! I hope you are decorating gingerbread houses or opening gifts or sleeping late instead of reading this newsletter first thing in the morning. (I’m not up writing it – I found an email program that I could set up to send it today…) Next Tuesday I’ll introduce the shared weekly writing project for the new year. A hint: it’s focused on the idea of inspiration.

Happy year to you and thanks for reading,

Elisabeth

PROCESS: THE RELUCTANT BODY

What if the reluctant body refuses to get into the chair, or if in the chair, refuses to write? This happens to everyone at some point. What I do first is read. Often I opt for books about the writing process, but most recently it has been an odd pair of books: one by Collette, the French writer whose sentences are as beautiful as anyone’s I’ve ever read (possibly excepting F. Scott Fitzgerald); and then a manual on how to organize a home. For some reason these two get me excited again. Maybe it’s because they touch the two parts of writing: the simple beauty and lushness of each word, and then the masterminding organization that is required to pull a work together into a coherent, internal order. But if the books don’t work, I step away and go do something else. The body who wants to write will always find its way back to the desk, when it feels ready.

Try this: Be kind to yourself if you don’t feel like writing. When you are ready, you will write.

FEATURED VENUE: SOMEBODY IN YOUR LIFE

One of the primary reasons we write is to connect with others. It is not accidental that most books are dedicated to a “you” (the May 22 Tuesday Writer spoke to this). Using print-on-demand technology, or a pen on a piece of origami paper, put something you have written into tangible form and give it to somebody else. 

Print-on-demand websites: lulu.com OR a thousand other ones.

PROMPT: CREATE YOUR OWN

This idea was a gift to me from Kelly Lynae Robinson, Boise songwriter, who in turn learned it from Michael J. Bugeja’s book, The Art and Craft of Poetry: make a three-columned list of the highlights, lowlights, and turning points in your life. Each one is a prompt, tailored to you and you alone. Give yourself one of these prompts every Tuesday, or any time you have a spare 8 minutes and feel like writing.   

December 18, 2012

Hi writers,

Oh what a beautiful essay I read last week about the art of stillness in a writer’s life! It was by Silas House and it reminded me how even in the thick of a busy season (i.e. the winter holidays) a writer can always create his or her own quiet sense of peace.

Have writerly & peaceful days,

Elisabeth

PROCESS: REVISITING GOALS

As we are nearing the year’s end, consider taking a moment to look back on your writing goals for the year (remember those? It was the first Tuesday Writer post of this year). If you don’t have them, sketch out a quick draft of what you think they should’ve been. Take a moment to see how you’ve done. (Please do not let this make you feel guilty – remember last week’s post!) But let it be information: have you written more? Have you sent anything out? Joined a workshop? Felt more creative in other areas of life? Anything else? Nothing else?

Try this: Reflect on this year’s goals, applying the three rules of constructive criticism to them: what is, what works, what needs improvement? Start thinking about writing goals you might set for 2013.

FEATURED VENUE: LIMN

Limn Literary & Arts Journal was created to give exposure to emerging artists and also to bridge the gap between art and assistance. Founded on the belief that the creative process helps people resolve conflicts and grow more empathetic, Limn funds grants for persons with disabilities who are pursuing art therapy or art education.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.limnartsjournal.org/sub_main.html

PROMPT

“The best $5 I’ve spent on myself…” (5min)

December 11, 2012

Hi writers,

Thank you so much for emailing with feedback for the 2013 incarnation of this writing newsletter/workshop/project! Please keep ideas coming. Also, the Monday morning drop-in workshops are happening for three more weeks, 8-9am, in my backyard studio.

Have festive weeks!

Elisabeth

PROCESS: BUILDING A CRATE FOR GUILT

What can we, as writers, do with guilt? I think it plagues us all to some degree. Samuel Johnson – who wrote the Dictionary of the English Language in nine years, in addition to dozens of other lasting works – often complained about his own laziness, expressing guilt that he slept too late. Several writers have expressed to me a slight bit of guilt over The Tuesday Writer, saying “I need to catch up!” That is not the point. You do not need to catch up. Even if you write to one prompt all year, that is better than nothing.

As I see it, there are two useful things to do with guilt. The first: harness it and use it to get you into the chair and writing. The second: imagine it as a cockroach that you squish.

Try this: Either sit in the chair or start squishing!

FEATURED VENUE: IDAHO MAGAZINE FICTION CONTEST

Open to residents, non-residents, and visitors of the Gem State, with a deadline of January 31, an entry fee of $10, and prize of $100. Contests are fun places to send fiction because somebody has to win, and the judges’ tastes are always a wild card.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.idahomagazine.com/news_fiction.asp

PROMPT

“What, if anything, could get her to relax?” (8min)

December 4, 2012

Hello writers!

A question: what would you like The Tuesday Writer to be for 2013? I like projects to evolve, and in order for this workshop-in-email-form to keep being useful, I want to enlist your ideas. Would you like to send in writing questions to have answered? Or have more focus on a particular element of the writing process? A place for your own writing to be shared?

I have a few ideas for new directions, but most of all I’d love to hear yours: What would help you MOST in crafting a meaningful writing life?

PROCESS: NAMING THE CHARACTERS

If you are writing nonfiction, this may not apply – but even when writing the truth, we at times must change names. Take a lesson from one of the masters at this, Charles Dickens or J.K. Rowling. The names they create are caricatures of the character’s values (think Gradgrind, Snape). Coming up with names that distinguish each character is a great art form and can also be great fun.

Try this: Go to the Latin! Look up a trait or value in Latin and see what wordplay you can make with the sounds and letters. Also try dictionaries in any language. 

FEATURED VENUE: BOUND OFF

A monthly audio literary magazine, Bound Off evaluates short pieces of writing (between 250-2500 words long) in written form, then records the accepted stories being read aloud.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.boundoff.com/submit.html

PROMPT

“I wasn’t sure what kind of beast I was dealing with, but…” (9min)

November 27, 2012

Hi writers:

I’m out of town this week, on a quiet tour-de-California with my family. Part of my job this week, in addition to enjoying my people and relaxing, is to find a new title for a project that is nearing completion. I love the titling process. I always begin a project with a “working title,” which usually gives way to the “actual title” once it becomes clearer what lies at the project’s heart.

Have a wonderful week, and more in December –

e

PROCESS: FINDING THE TITLE

Notice I say finding, not choosing – this is deliberate, for I believe that the title of a work of art is often INSIDE the work already, a heartbreakingly beautiful phrase or a symbolic word that simply needs to be lifted out and set at the top of the document.

Try this: Reread a finished piece with a pen and mark phrases that pop. On a separate page, play with these phrases, tinkering and trying out different ones as a possible title. Also useful can be to ask friends to read for the “pop-phrases.”

FEATURED VENUE: ONE STORY

One Story believes that stories are best read alone, and so every three weeks they publish a pocket-sized issue containing a single short story by a single author. It is an elegant, simple concept, and their stories never disappoint. They are looking for stories between 3000-8000 words. (In addition to being a terrific venue for sending new work, a One Story subscription is a great holiday gift for a reader.)

Submission guidelines here: http://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=guidelines

PROMPT

What do you have the keys to? (6min)

November 20, 2012

Dear writers:

Happy Thanksgiving this week! I am thankful for so many things, including living in a community that values creative work of every sort.

First order of business: December writing workshops are up on my website today. Come one, come all, and let’s write together in person!

And also, great news that I’m really proud to share: I signed to publish my first book with a Colorado press called Monkey Puzzle – it is a short collection of 23 poems, a chapbook, called The Fairy Tales Mammals Tell. It is due out before Christmas. I’ll send out more information as I have it about where to find the book.

Finally, for the medically-curious among you, here is a blog I co-wrote with a St. Louis neurologist about alien hand syndrome and a story we co-authored on it.

Have a wonderful holiday. May you eat well, be well, love well.

e

PROCESS: WHALE TALE

This is the idea that a satisfying story ends at the opposite point of where it began. Aristotle called this the “reversal of fortune,” describing how a tragic hero’s fortune shifts from good to bad. But this idea is useful in comedy too. I think of it as a whale tail, a perfect 180º when you find one “value” that ends a work of art (independence, care, fullness) and then place the characters at the beginning of the story in the value’s opposite camp (dependence, neglect, hunger). Sometimes in a story nothing changes – that is significant, too.

Try this: File this idea into your creative unconscious by being conscious of it as a reader: peek at the first and last page of a book, or the first and last line of a poem, and see what those two parts say to each other, how the second answers the first.

FEATURED VENUE: DUOTROPE

I have found Duotrope to be such a valuable resource for finding literary venues that it would be a shame not to share it. It is free (for now) and provides a fairly complete search engine for “homes” for written work.

Website here: https://duotrope.com/search.aspx

PROMPT

It ended just like it began. (12min)

November 13, 2012

Dear writers,

Before I share a story, I want to ask if there are any takers for a December writing workshop? I have two ideas brimming: one is for a drop-in morning write (4 prompts + coffee between 8-9am); the second is for a workshop on “Finishing” (focus on pieces that need an extra boost to be complete). I want to offer room to Tuesday Writers before sending out to everyone.

And onward …

My almost two-year-old daughter told me a story for the first time this week. She pointed to the front of her stroller and said, “I sit here,” then pointed to the seat: “Calvin sit here.” Then she walked me to a specific spot in the sidewalk: “Fall off right here, bump head.” 

I knew what she was talking about – a month ago she was riding on the front of her stroller with her friend Calvin behind her, fell off, and scraped her nose. By telling me now, because the stroller reminded her, my daughter was placing her memories in narrative form and sharing it with somebody who wasn’t there. It was a lovely moment for me both as a writer and as a mother – reminding me that we are all born into narrative, and that my job is to listen as her story unfolds.

PROCESS: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

This is simple advice that is so easy to forget to take. When stuck in a piece of writing of any sort, simply asking “What happened next?” can take you out of the rut.

Try this: Try using this as a way to begin a writing day; it forms a natural thread to whatever narrative tapestry has come before.

FEATURED VENUES: CALYX AND BULL

I don’t usually traffic in his/hers sets, but these two looked intriguing. Calyx, a Corvallis-based journal of art and literature by women, welcomes work through Dec 31 (but charges a small reading fee to stay afloat). Bull, a journal devoted to men’s fiction, says BULL to the idea that men don’t read. They accept fiction, essays, interviews and – this is exciting – column submissions!

Submission guidelines here: http://www.calyxpress.org/submission.html

And here: http://bullmensfiction.com/submit/

PROMPT

What happened right here? (7min)

November 6, 2012

Hi writers:

At times I’ve attempted to make homemade holiday gifts – some have been successes (a deck of cards with my family’s faces replacing each card face), and others have been failures (inspiring quotes in tacky frames, or the one year I tried painting images of New York). This year I’ve asked every family member for a word – just one word. And I can’t say more because several of those family members subscribe to The Tuesday Writer (Hi, Mom!) But I will say that building a writing project out of 16 people’s different words is providing a fun, inspiring, and unusual challenge.

Do any of you opt for creative, homemade, or word-based gifts? If so, let’s swap ideas!

PROCESS: LOVE FOR THE WORDS

For writers, words matter. And for most of us, learning new words, or even being reminded of old words, can be a great way to jazz up sentences. After all, we get stuck in word ruts. Several years ago I learned the word “benthic,” found it thrilling, used it in a poem to great effect, and by now have used it in writing so many times that I know it’s time for a new favorite word.

Try this: Choose an area of study that you find intriguing but know very little about. Geology? Botany? Coffee making? Paper making? Spend a few minutes researching the key concepts and – most importantly – the vocabulary. Fold one or two words into a piece of writing, stretching them out for all their metaphoric qualities.

FEATURED VENUE: ALIMENTUM

Oh, the excitement I felt when I found this call for poems! Starting Nov. 15, Alimentum: The Literature of Food is looking for recipe poems (poems you can cook to), as well as other literature about food.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.alimentumjournal.com/submissions/

PROMPT

Open a book and write about the very first word that catches your eye. (6min)

October 30, 2012

Hi writers:

A confession: I am a wretched flyer. I let all of the “shoes off, shampoo bottles visible, throw away your yogurt” rules bother me and make me feel small. And I opt out of walking through the x-ray scanner because it is creepy, not necessary, and because research suggests that the radiation reaches our organs.

This weekend during travel in New York, after I opted for a pat-down, an airline employee tried to persuade me into the machine by saying, “There is a good chance your personal belongings might get stolen while you wait.” I boiled in silent helplessness for a few minutes, got the pat-down, retrieved my (unstolen) belongings, and then decided to write the airline an irritated citizen letter. In that act of articulating my complaint, I thought of one more reason why writing can be a thing of such value.

PROCESS: WRITING FOR CHANGE

This weekend reminded me that writing, or speaking or even language at all, is first about change. If we have everything we need and the world is just as we want it, there is nothing to say except for an occasional “isn’t this nice?” It helps, in the writing process, to remember this. Words are intended to change things.

Try this: In writing dialogue, try only including words in which one character is asking for something – be it respect or a piece of pizza or a kinder world. Think about the hidden “wishes” of words.

FEATURED VENUE: MILK SUGAR

Milk Sugar publishes writing with all sorts of unexpected takes on the universe. The editors say “there are no delusions of grandeur here, just good, solid and creative writing.” They are accepting new work through March.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.milksugarliterature.com/submissions.html

PROMPT

Write a short piece objecting to something. (10min)

October 23, 2012

Hi writers:

I’ve been thinking about writers and waste. A friend of mine who is a great and many-times-published writer throws away half of what she writes. An even-more-published friend throws away two-thirds. Good writers write more than they use. When facing this severe fact, it helps me to remember why we write. We write to remember. To explain. To memorialize somebody. To understand how we feel. To capture beauty. To preserve a memory. To connect with others. We write in order to figure out what we really want to say.

PROCESS: FRESH SLATE

The idea of writing pages and pages before figuring out what we want to say is often referred to by the ugly word “prewriting,” and it is a branch of the even uglier phrase, “killing your darlings.” I prefer to think of these hidden pages as compost: life-matter or mind-matter that recycles itself into new material, new energy, new sentences. For this reason, I always have a “Compost” file for any given project, as well as files titled “Draft 1, 2 etc.” I always begin a new draft as a blank Word document, instead of simply renaming the old document. That way, I can bring in only what is truly necessary and fill the blankness with new writing that is sharper and lovelier than the old.

Try this: If you are stuck on a project in which you already have FAR too much material, try letting go. Think of that material as compost. Start over fresh. Trust that the writing you’ve done will make the new writing better and truer to the ideal (and final) version.

FEATURED VENUE: THE SNOWY EGRET

The Snowy Egret is the oldest independent U.S. journal of nature writing. Their editors look for essays, articles, or stories that focus on “human interaction with the natural world as it is or was rather than as we might imagine or wish it to be.”

Submission guidelines here: http://www.snowyegret.net/primary_pages/submit.html

PROMPT

“_____ , now and then.” [Fill in the blank with any word]. (10min)

October 16, 2012

Hi writers:

I finished reading a powerful book called The Buddha in the Attic that is written in third person plural: we … we … The story follows the emigration of Japanese “picture brides” to the U.S. in the early 1900s, and I was struck by how the book’s voice pulled all of the women together, giving them both individual quirks as well as a shared struggle. I am thinking now about the many dimensions a writing voice can take, outside “I,” “he/she,” and even the less common “you.”

PROCESS: A GROUP PORTRAIT

Good advice to all writers who are creating a world for readers to live in: consider the environment. How do politics work? What is the population? What would a map of this place look like? Is it warm, cool, rainy? What do the trees look like? Do people live in houses or some other form of dwelling? What foods are likely to be found on people’s plates? Questions such as these give a group portrait of a given world. The main character (if there is one – in the book I just finished there is not) can be at once representative of these group ways of being, as well as his/her own person who questions some of these world’s ways.

Try this: Create a (unpublished) Wikipedia page for the world you are writing, as a way to brainstorm all of the fast-facts that influence the people living and playing out stories there.

FEATURED VENUE: THE GROVE REVIEW

The Grove Review does two things differently than most other literary reviews out there today: it accepts only snail-mail submissions, and it pays a small ($50) honorarium to the writers and artists it publishes. It is based in Portland and publishes work from everywhere.

Submission guidelines here: http://thegrovereview.org/?page_id=11

PROMPT

Find an earlier piece of writing in first person (I) and rewrite it to make it plural (we). (11min)

October 9, 2012

Hi writers,

I’ve been thinking about vulnerability in writing, one of those hard-to-define qualities that is invisible but can make or break a story. In my earliest writing, readers complained that there was not enough vulnerability, I think because I as the writer wasn’t comfortable yet with the idea. But guarded and jaded characters, like guarded and jaded people, are really hard to get to know. And in life, we may take the time and be rewarded … but in reading, if we cannot love or at least understand a character, we are ultimately not going to care. An argument for going a bit soft, maybe?

Elisabeth

PROCESS: CREATING SOFT SPOTS

When describing a character, either real or fictional, it is necessary to reveal what they do not like, do not know, cannot forgive, or cannot reveal in themselves. Good writing places scenes that reveal these vices alongside scenes that reveal virtues.

Try this: Consider making a pros and cons list of your character’s qualities, trying to make them of equal length, and focusing especially on qualities that, depending on the light, are both pros and cons. Jot down notes about ways you might reveal these qualities in action.

FEATURED VENUE: CAMAS

“Deeply inspiring” is what Terry Tempest Williams has called Camas, a literary journal based in the Environmental Studies Graduate Program at the University of Montana. Until October 15, Camas is seeking writing and photography that explores the idea of “work.”

Submission guidelines here: http://umt.edu/camas/Submit.aspx

PROMPT

“They became friends after…” (8min)

October 2, 2012

Hi writers,

A strange story is playing out in my house this week: my beloved, badly behaved corgi, who has lived with me since she was eight weeks old, just moved to a new home on the outskirts of Boise with a corgi breeder and her family of corgis. I had feared a great number of things for the end of my dog’s life. She is not a “good dog” and never really has been. People say that stories are either comedies or tragedies. For me this feels like neither, but it does feel like the right ending – after ten years of living among (and antagonizing) the people who love her, she will return to her roots, a life surrounded by her own breed. So her ending, although I won’t get to witness it, I suspect will be good.

Elisabeth

PROCESS: RIVER TIMELINE

This wonderful technique, which I’ve adapted from Lisa Dale Norton’s book on memoir, has been one of my most helpful writing tools. The how-to is easy: draw a river (or a bendy line) that represents a certain period in your life, labeling each river-bend as a turning point: one of those moments after which things were different. The river-bends (aim for 8-12) become your writing prompts. Written and reshuffled, they form a short memoir.

Try this: Before starting your river timeline, set a beginning point (“this story started when…”) and an ending point (“the questions posed by the beginning were answered when …”)

FEATURED VENUE: 100 WORD STORY

100 Word Story accepts stories that are exactly one hundred words long, a length that requires the writer to question every word. The result is a glittering mosaic of stories.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.100wordstory.org/submit/

PROMPT

“It took years for this habit to start causing trouble.” (10min)

September 25, 2012

Hi writers,

This summer I wrote a writer’s “credo,” a statement that focused on my relationship with making art. If you’ve never done such a thing, I highly recommend it.

Mine happened on accident: I had ducked into a grocery store to wait out a flash rainstorm, and while sitting at the counter I gave myself the prompt: “How to be a writer.” I loved what came out and have since printed it to keep on my desk. (It’s also on my website under “Writing” if you are interested in reading it.) Compressing those ideas onto a single page felt like making pure maple syrup out of a huge, unwieldy tree.

I encourage you to write and share credos of your own. I’d love to read them and, with your permission, share them with other Tuesday Writers via this newsletter.

Cheerio!    

Elisabeth

PROCESS: CREDO

What does creativity mean in your life? What has it meant, and what do you want it to mean? Capturing these thoughts in the concrete form of a credo can serve as a guide for future writing, a reminder of what matters most to you in life and art, a beacon for what you want your art to do.

Try this: When writing a credo, consider both the internals (what you care deeply about) and externals (what frames, routines, and nourishment you need to do the work).

FEATURED VENUE: CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Oh yes. Believe it or not (but believe it!), after 100,000 stories in countless anthologies, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series is still seeking new stories and poems that show how ordinary people overcome life’s challenges. Aim for a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.chickensoup.com/form.asp?cid=submit_story

PROMPT

“How to be a writer” (12min)

September 18, 2012

Hi writers!

I want to let you all know that I’m offering three new writing services beginning this fall:

First, college essay writing consultations for college-applying high school seniors. This is something I’ve done unofficially for many years and am finally starting to include as part of my business. College essays are bite-sized memoirs and I love working with them.

Second, a full-day Saturday writing workshop on the theme of “Hero’s Journey Narratives.” It will take place on October 6, run from 10am-5pm, cap at 8 writers, and include a healthy lunch, snacks and tea. The workshop’s goal is to generate the same amount of quality writing as in a usual 5-week workshop, with the marathon intensity of a single day. Cost is $120.

Third, weekend writing retreats at the beautiful Writing Shed at Floral Lane – a tiny zen-house that has bed, kitchen, bathroom, desk, and is an inspiring place to make art. These retreats last two nights and include three delicious meals each day & one hour-long writing consultation: a perfect writer’s vacation!

Please email me if you are interested in learning more about any of these. I’ll make the information public on my website this week.

Have wonderful days and weeks –

Elisabeth

PROCESS: PERIPHERAL FOCUS = BRILLIANT IDEAS

Where do you get your best ideas? Is it, by any chance, while driving, doing reps at the gym, cleaning, or taking a shower? Many writers find that performing mundane repetitive tasks frees the creative mind. Similar to how certain stars are visible only if looked at peripherally, some great ideas only come when the thinker is focusing on some rote other task.

Try this: Create a net for catching those brilliant ideas as they come: whether a scuba slate in the shower or a voice recorder in the car.

FEATURED VENUE: 32 POEMS

You’ll find such lovely and unusual poems in this independent journal. 32 Poems publishes poems that fit onto a single page, under 32 lines.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.32poems.com/submission-guidelines

PROMPT

“We were moving at the speed of…” (5min)

September 11, 2012

Good morning,

It’s difficult to write an introduction to a newsletter on September 11 – one feels tempted to try to say something grand or conciliatory, for writing is (isn’t it?) a political act. But suffice to say that by expressing anything honestly at all we are doing something better for ourselves, our people, our world.

Elisabeth

PROCESS: ACTIVE VOICE

Forgive me while I turn English teacher for a moment. According to Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, one of the best-known writing guides, “The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive.” Passive verbs (defined as any form of the verb “to be” and including: is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being) are perfect when the subject is a passive subject, such as “We were patient prisoners.” But when the subject is doing something (anything at all!) active verbs help that “doing” along. Compare:

“The dog bit me.” (active – the subject, dog, is doing something)

“I was bitten by the dog.” (passive – the subject, I, is doing nothing, while the object, dog, gets to bite)

Try this: Choose an older piece of writing and scan it for passive verbs. Change five of these “to be” verbs into more interesting active verbs.

FEATURED VENUE: AGNI

AGNI, an established literary journal with an exciting history, publishes work in several genres (fiction, essays, reviews, poetry) in addition to work in many languages. Offering both a print and an online component, AGNI has a reputation for publishing important writers (writers we’ve all heard of) early in their careers (before we’ve heard of them).

Submission guidelines here: http://www.bu.edu/agni/submit.html

PROMPT

“It was the strangest story I’d ever heard.” (10min)

September 4, 2012

Good morning,

This issue of The Tuesday Writer addresses a strange motivational paradox, features a journal of both handwritten and typed poems, and offers a prompt inspired by Seamus Heaney.

Read on! And enjoy the first days of fall.

Elisabeth

PROCESS: NON-WRITING HOURS

This is reverse psychology at its best, and any new parent of child or dog can tell you how well it works. By having severe limitations set on your time, you see how fiercely the pent-up writing energy comes out when it is, finally, writing time.

This was one of the great revelations for me about being somebody’s mom. Instead of spending hours … days … wondering: “Should I write now? Or later? Or maybe tonight?” I now know exactly when my non-writing hours are. Whatever is left, I use.

Try this: For a week set non-writing hours, meaning “Hours during which you will not think about or try to do anything involved with writing.” See how delicious it feels to write, after or before that forbidden block.

FEATURED VENUE: LITTLE RED LEAVES

The editors of Little Red Leaves tell us that they are currently intrigued by totems, talismans, sincerity, slowness, unbecoming, and other intriguing things. This online poetry journal is collectively edited so that each issue shows the taste of a different editor. Send 4 poems max.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.littleredleaves.com/contact.html

PROMPT

“I drink to you, bitter and dependable…” (8min)

August 28, 2012

Hi friends & writers!

Having been in and around school for so long, I always feel that September 1 is the REAL new year – the time to gather supplies for the thinking/reading/writing year ahead, and to find ways to feel refreshed and ready for the year to turn over.

How are you gearing up for autumn?

Elisabeth

PROCESS: FRAMING THE SPACE

If you don’t already have an office or writing space, this is a wonderful time to set one up. It need not be elaborate: some books and a flower in a vase on a cleared-off card table can be all you need.

Try this: If you are office-less, ask yourself: where is your favorite space in your home? Move around furniture to find a spot for a small desk. If you already have an office, give it a fall clean so it feels like a welcoming place to work. If you are a person on the run who needs only a notebook, consider ways to frame your office anywhere – under a tree, at a café, in a (parked) car.

FEATURED VENUE: CIRQUE

Cirque, published in Anchorage, Alaska, showcases stories, poems, plays, translations, and artwork from the Pacific North Rim (including, of course, Idaho). Their mission is to share the region’s best writing with the rest of the world, and their deadline for the next issue is September 21.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.cirquejournal.com/submittocirque.shtml

PROMPT

“It happened in the autumn, this thing I will always remember …” (8min)

August 21, 2012

Hi friends & writers!

I write this on the bed, with my sleeping dog next to me. Is there anything better? I’ll keep this short so that I can go back to enjoying her.

Wishing you wonderful weeks and happy writing!

Elisabeth

PROCESS: STITCHING

Stitching is what I call the simple threadwork that connects two blocks of writing. Because I write in blocks, as opposed to chronologically, I inevitably find myself in the middle of a project with dozens (or hundreds) of bits of writing that are all part of the same story, but unconnected. These bits of writing range in length from a single sentence to several pages.

This is where stitching comes in. The trick, for me, is to think of it as a jigsaw puzzle: do the edges first, the beginning and end, looking for pieces that could belong there. Then I place the pieces in an order that makes sense, and finally stitch them together using transition sentences that link idea to idea, making them stack up and “fit.”

Try this: Read several earlier pieces you’ve written and place them together, looking for common threads.

FEATURED VENUE: THE NOVELLA PROJECT

Four times a year The Novella Project publishes a novella (the middle sister between a short story and a novel) in e-book form. Their preferred length for novellas is between 80-140 pages. This is an exciting variation on the literary magazine theme and a great opportunity for writers of longer work.

Submission guidelines here: http://thenovellaproject.com/submission-guidelines/

PROMPT

Write a few sentences of “stitching” between several related blocks of writing, trying to make them part of a coherent longer work. (10 min)

August 14, 2012

Hi friends & writers!

I once heard a yoga teacher say: “We come this earth empty-handed, and we will leave this earth empty-handed, so there is nothing to lose, nothing to worry about, nothing to fear.”

Beautiful words – and words I find difficult to follow when it comes to my written work. My jewelry lays out in the open, my car mostly remains unlocked (please do not forward this to any potential thieves!) Those things are replaceable, my logic goes. But I fear my inability to rewrite something I have lost.

This week my computer has been flashing and freezing strangely, enough to make me feel the mortality of my writing if my computer were to crash. Even the language of computer crashes is akin to the euphemisms of life and death: what if “something happens” or everything “goes dark”? And so this Tuesday Writer deals with the seams of backing up work.

PROCESS: BACKING UP FILES, THREE WAYS:

1) A USB flash drive (also called thumb drive) is easy, as you can carry it around and it will hold quite a bit. 2) Another idea is a service such as Dropbox that stores files in the endless ether of the web. 3) A variation of that theme is to send a file (or folder, compressed) via email to yourself – or better still, to a friend/reader, or to a venue. That way, if “something happens,” you will at least have the file in your sent mail.

Try this: Set a back-up schedule and remind yourself to do it. It could be each time you complete something new, or at the end of every month, week, or day. 

FEATURED VENUE: DROPBOX

Dropbox is not a venue per se, but a useful and free place to keep work until it can be sent out. Make an account here: www.dropbox.com

PROMPT

Think of something that you have written before – but please do not look at it! Now write about it again, trying to replicate what you’ve written already, but also allowing yourself to add in new ideas. (10 min)

August 7, 2012

Hi again friends & writers!

This is the summer of the backhoe: my toddler daughter, never having seen street construction close-up, has made friends with every backhoe driver within several miles of our apartment. She knows all the construction vehicles – crane, big truck, bulldozer – but the elbowed orange backhoe, prehistoric-looking with its eerie mechanical arm, is her favorite.

Chasing backhoes fills my days. Late afternoons I read college student essays, and then evenings I meet with these students, discussing their writing and their concerns about the world …

And these two months have reminded me how much writing is a process that grows from an interrupted life. That I want the interruptions, even though at times I forget. This summer my creative writing has taken place in the short hours between sunrise and my daughter’s waking and calling from her bed, “Back-HOE! Beep-beep-beep.” It has also taken place in quick notes to myself thumbed onto my phone, during class breaks or waiting for the subway. I will gather these notes up and transfer them onto my computer soon, when I have time. But now, they belong in fragments. They have been written in spite of, and because of, the fullness of the days.

PROCESS: NOTE-TAKING

Taking thirty seconds to write a note about something I have seen or thought keeps me in touch with longer writing projects during days and weeks when my time is dedicated elsewhere. A combination system works best: a place to take the spontaneous notes (my phone), and a place to transfer them so they don’t get lost (a file on my computer called “Compost” for my current writing projects).

Try this: Using a phone’s note-taking software or a small paper notepad, make yourself permeable throughout the day to things worth writing about. That strange bird’s song? Great! The sound of a toddler saying, “beep-beep-beep?” Write it down – you can add it into a project later, or use it to start a new one.

FEATURED VENUE: THE ADIRONDACK REVIEW

The Adirondack Review, called a “great online literary magazine” by Esquire, is an independent quarterly open to a wide range of work by both new and established writers.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.theadirondackreview.com/submissions.html

PROMPT

“It was the summer of….” (6min)

July 31, 2012 - Guest Blogger Kristiana Gregory

Hello Writers and Friends,

After 30 children’s books with traditional publishers (Harcourt, Holiday House and Scholastic), I’ve jumped off an emotional cliff and have self-published a YA thriller. The free-fall is exhilarating & swift, also terrifying. I miss the friendships with my editors, their reassurances, and the teamwork. Now out on my own there are no fact-checkers, copy editors, publicists or sales reps, and no monetary advance. I spent two years writing and editing STALKED, with my artist son doing the cover and interior drawings. The upside here is that instead of waiting & waiting for a contract then waiting & waiting to finally see the novel in print--a process that often takes another two years--it took two days. With a click from my laptop the manuscript was uploaded, sent to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) then made available to e-readers via Amazon. Here is the book itself, and here is a review of the book written by Elisabeth McKetta. STALKED is also now in paperback! 

-- Kristiana Gregory

PROCESS: USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PUBLICIZE YOUR WRITING

I’m still trying to figure this out. My daily anxiety is whether to isolate myself and write or to blog about writing.

Try this: For one week keep track of how much time you spend on the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, reading blogs or whatever, versus actually creating something original.

FEATURED VENUE: KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING

Amazon makes it super easy to self-publish your writing and sell through the Kindle store. The process is free and fast, and authors can opt for the 70% royalty program. It’s an exciting alternative to getting your stories in print, with some pros and cons mentioned above.

Submission guidelines here: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

PROMPT

“I have been following _________’s posts on Facebook/Twitter/whatever and found out that s/he is actually my _____________.” (5min)