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)