April 24, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

Is there is a writing or creativity workshop you wish to see offered? Do you have several creative friends with whom you’d like to write? Let me know if so! I would love to create a writing course for you, either at my studio or online. Please always let me know: Any other ways I can help address your writing needs?

e

PROCESS: REWARD SYSTEM

Boy, we all know this one. Research shows that children who are told to make art and rewarded with recess enjoy the art-making less than the students for whom art is its own reward. Still … sometimes a reward is in order to entice the muse to join us at the table. 

Try this: What is on your “pleasure” list? Mine includes discount massages from the Milan Institute, anything from the Chocolat Bar, and having a cup of tea at a café alone. Set one of your pleasures as a reward for an achievable creative goal, such as revising a poem, sending something out, or writing for several days in a row.

FEATURED VENUE: BELLEVUE REVUE

Bellevue Revue, named for the oldest public hospital in the United States, seeks writing that is creatively related to the themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body.

Submission Guidelines here: http://blr.med.nyu.edu/submissions/guidelines

PROMPT

Reread two older pieces of writing. Write the bridge between them. (11min)

April 17, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

Some writers have requested a place to share their Tuesday prompt writes with others. Feel free to post them as comments on the Tuesday Writer blog, thetuesdaywriter.blogspot.com. Also, Critique Circle (http://www.critiquecircle.com) has been well-reviewed as a great place to swap manuscripts.

Have fun!

e

PROCESS: EDUCATING YOUR EDITORS

If you have a piece of writing that feels mostly finished but needs a second pair of eyes, it is time to find a good reader. But wait! Even the most trusted friends cannot always be counted upon to offer the best kind of feedback. Look for someone who is well-read in the field in which you are writing, and someone whose judgment you respect, but at the same time someone who does not have the power to break your interest in your story if their response is lukewarm. Most importantly, teach your editors what you need in a critique.

The goal is to decide what the piece of writing, in its ideal incarnation, is trying to accomplish. Try asking your reader these three questions: “What do you see this piece as being about? What works in helping it succeed in this mission (i.e. what can stay)? What are the challenges it still faces (i.e. what must change)?” By avoiding open-ended questions such as “What do you think?” or “Is it any good?” a writer and an editor can have a useful conversation about improving a work of art. You as the writer should always “host” the conversation so you don’t end up feeling assaulted by well-meant but irrelevant advice.

Try this: Use this model – 1) What is there? 2) What works? 3) What challenges remain? – to address specific parts of the manuscript: structure, scene, character, dialogue, language.

FEATURED VENUE: GENERATIONS

Generations seeks literature and art on the topic “coming of age.” Be sure to read instructions carefully before sending work, as they have strict rules for keeping personal information off the manuscripts. Accepting work until May 15.

Submission Guidelines here: http://generationslitmag.org/Submissions.html

PROMPT

“Thirteen ways of a looking at a ____.” (13min)

April 10, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

I’ve been moving this week, and I suspect that editing a work of art is not terribly different from revising a life from one house into another: you must decide which version of your life/story to import into this new container. In both writing and moving, people have different strategies for facing the chaos: some people edit as they go, making one corner of one room just so before tackling the rest. Others pile boxes everywhere and dive recklessly in. Still others outline systems before taking action, mapping out room by room by room.

I am of the editing as I go variety: before I put my bed together, I had lined up all my teapots and coffeemakers, just so. I suppose there is lunacy in every system, even the ones that work.

e

PROCESS: READING ALOUD

You’ve heard it before, likely from English teachers everlasting, and it is true that reading a piece of writing aloud is the best revision trick in the book. Why? Because it forces you to slo-o-o-o-w down and hear the sound of every word – and undoubtedly the words that ring false aloud will also ring false on the page. Your voice will tell you what is good and what is boring; once you have read a piece aloud several times, you will know the difference.

Try this: Every time you think a piece of writing is finished, read it aloud – once, twice, three times.

FEATURED VENUE: DISTRICT

District is a brand spankin’ new online literary magazine, and if you send work soon you just might make it into their first issue. The editors write: “if we see something genuine in your work, we’ll like it – whether it’s a double-sestina or microfiction.”

Submission Guidelines here: http://districtlit.com/

PROMPT

Things men don’t know about love (5min) / Things women don’t know about love (5min)

April 3, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

I have been rereading poets I love, something I often do in the spring. And today Wallace Stevens has ransacked my soul! I had never noticed how wintry his poems are – lines like “One must have a mind of winter…” and “It was snowing. And it was going to snow.”

Or perhaps I’m just reading him that way today. I love rereadings (often more than I love the first reading) for that reason: they change as we change.

I wish you a great week of readings, rereadings, and – of course – writings!

e

PROCESS: GREAT POETS STEAL

T.S. Eliot wrote that “Good poets borrow, great poets steal.” Inspiration can found by looking to the writers and artists we admire most, and “stealing” their words or images for seed material in our own writing.

Try this: Locate a piece of writing by a writer you really like. Find one line, in particular, that evokes something in you – and then steal it for use as a prompt in your own work. (pssst … today’s prompt is stolen from a Wallace Stevens poem!)

FEATURED VENUE: INFECTIVE INK

InfectiveINk.com is a prompt-driven fiction magazine… the idea being that each month’s offerings read like an anthology of different voices speaking about the same universal theme. From now until April 27, InfectiveINk.com is seeking fiction on the theme of “Dear John” letters.

Submission Guidelines here: http://infectiveink.com/guidelines.html

PROMPT

“It was evening all afternoon.” (9min)

March 27, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

It was such fun to hear from many of you about your writing routines and rhythms! I felt inspired again and again at hearing how different people find time & energy for creative work.

Happy long spring days to you all –

e

PROCESS: KNOWING YOUR RHYTHM

Circadian rhythms dictate when we wish to do all sorts of things (be at rest … be in motion … be social … be creative). Many writers swear by a certain time of day, and others are charged by writing anytime, or changing it up. Either way, it’s good to experiment.

Try this: Think backwards: when do you most not want to write? By process of elimination, you may discover when you naturally are more inclined toward writing. First thing in the morning (when The Tuesday Writer arrives) or in the evening, when “the list” has been put to rest? At lunch, or during stolen afternoon moments when the baby is asleep or the boss is not looking? Decide on a time that works for now, then set aside half an hour a few days this week – just to see what happens.

FEATURED VENUE: FRINGE MAGAZINE

Fringe Magazine, who believes that “literature is a place to safely explore controversial and unpleasant topics and unfamiliar points of view,” is seeking nonfiction, both long and short. Consider sending experimental, political, “taboo” or risky work.

Submission Guidelines here: http://www.fringemagazine.org/submit/guidelines-for-nonfiction/

PROMPT

“All we can do is promise ourselves tomorrow …” (8min)

March 20, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

How is your writing going? I’d love to hear. If you have time this week, send me an email sharing some of the highlights and lowlights of fitting writing in.

e

PROCESS: CHARACTERS & EMPATHY

In life and in writing, we tend to empathize with people who can communicate their own truth and experience, and who hold themselves accountable for their life’s shape. These people seem honest with themselves, diplomatic with others.

Try this: When revising a piece of writing, ask these questions of your main character: 1) Does she express her version of events honestly instead of just trying to make it socially acceptable? 2) Does he take responsibility for his role in events, rather than just blaming others? Working toward yeses for these questions creates characters with whom readers are likely to empathize.

FEATURED VENUE: FUGUE

Fugue, edited by graduate students at the University of Idaho, is accepting poetry, nonfiction, and “experiment” submissions online through May 1. Contributors receive payment (!) and two copies of the journal.

Submission Guidelines here: http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/fugue/submit.html

PROMPT

“After coming into contact with ________ I always feel I must wash my hands.” (10min)

March 13, 2012

Hi friends & writers,

Something heartening to consider when writing: nobody else can write your stories. These details are your details. In this way it is just like being a person – nobody else can be the person for your people that you are. Know what I mean?

PROCESS: ICEBERG THEORY

Hemingway said that writers should know more about their story than they let the reader see. In other words, the full story is an iceberg, and the part we actually get to read is just the very top that pokes out of the water. Whether we include lots of information or very little, it is a good idea to know too much about your characters and your world, so you can choose which details to disclose.

Try this: Brainstorm background information for a given project. What is the political climate? What are these characters’ jobs? How do their jobs affect their world view? What did their parents raise them to believe? Any food allergies? Knowing this sort of “extra” information adds great richness to any piece of writing.

FEATURED VENUE: BOSQUE FICTION PRIZE

bosque, the literary magazine of the ABQ Writers Coop, is offering a prize of $1000 plus publication for a winning short story by a writer of age 45 and over. Entry fee is $20, and all entries are considered for publication. Contest runs Mar 1^st-31^st.

Submission Guidelines here: http://www.abqwriterscoop.com/writingcontest.html

PROMPT

“Pillow Talk” – write a dialogue. (8min)