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)