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)