Talking Writing: Why writing matters in the digital age.

  • Talking Writing: Why writing matters in the digital age.

    Talking Writing features stories, poetry and first-person journalism.

    Talking Writing is a nonprofit literary site that features essays, first-person journalism, and poetry. New material is published weekly, focusing on provocative themes.

    ” Great writing makes us want to sing or shout or argue, and TW’s innovative format opens virtual doors to readers and writers everywhere. As the publishing industry continues to transform itself online, Talking Writing exemplifies why luminous stories and well-executed journalism matter more than ever.”

    Talking Writing magazine publishes four issues a year—Fall, Holiday, Winter, and Spring.

    Submission deadlines for upcoming themes can be found in TW’s Editorial Calendar.

    Holiday 2015 – Writing and Faith     Submission Deadline: September 14, 2015

    How do you tackle life’s Big Questions? During the holiday season, our annual faith issue will examine why writing is such a powerful tool for soul searching, creating meaning, and defining one’s spiritual beliefs.

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    Marlene C

  • Sensory Detail – Sound

    GramophoneI cranked up the music to prepare this post and was reminded of the sixties and seventies when I worked downtown San Francisco Monday through Friday. Saturdays were house cleaning days. I centered my Swan Lake record on the turntable and turned up the volume. By the time I was dusting and cleaning downstairs, I was rocking to West Side Story. To finish, I blasted Hair. Odd combinations, I know. But they worked for me . . . a satisfying way to completely clean the house and do laundry.

    Sound. . . how do we incorporate sound in our writing?

    But first, why do we want to use sensory detail in our writing? Sound can evoke strong memories: screeching tires, whining four-year-old, grinding gears when learning to drive a stick shift, songs from our teenage years, wedding songs, hymns, sing-song rhymes. When we employ sound in our writing, we transform language into sensory stimulation that the reader hears in his/her mind and transports the reader to the world we have created in our writing.

    Poet Major Jackson says it this way, in the September 2015 issue of The Writer magazine:

    I aim to write poems in which language changes into feeling. With hip-hop and rap music, the expressive medium of my generation, I learned to stylize language and to make language an experience for the reader — whether through an idiosyncratic simile or through an insistent use of repetition or some heretofore encountered combination of rhymes.

    Right on . . . and sensory stimulation in writing offers readers a way to vicariously experience other worlds viscerally.  It’s that visceral reaction writers seek . . . the strong emotional reaction when reading.

    Notice all the sensory detail in the following excerpt from In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez:

    Usually, at night, I hear them just as I’m falling asleep.

    Sometimes, I lie at the very brink of forgetfulness, waiting, as if their arrival is my signal that I can fall asleep.

    The settling of the wood floors, the wind astir in the jasmine, the deep released fragrance of the earth, the crow of an insomniac rooster.Their soft spirit footsteps, so vague I could mistake them for my own breathing.

    Their different treads, as if even as spirits they retained their personalities. Patria’s sure and measured step. Minerva’s quicksilver impatience. Mate’s playful little skip. They linger and loiter over things. Tonight, no doubt, Minerva will sit a long while by her Minou and absorb the music of her breathing.

    Some nights I’ll be worrying about something, and I’ll stay up past their approaching, and I’ll hear something else. An eerie, hair-raising creaking of riding boots, a crop striking leather, a peremptory footstep that makes me shake myself awake and turn on lights all over the house. The only sure way to send the evil thing packing.

    But tonight, it is quieter than I can remember.

    Notice:  Specific words that evoke sound: hear, crow of a rooster, soft footsteps, breathing, creaking

    Phrases that evoke sensory detail: the settling of the wood floor, the wind astir, a crop striking leather,

    And of course, the sense of smell: wood floor, jasmine, fragrance of the earth.

    Your turn: What sounds evoke powerful memories for you? House cleaning sounds (vacuum cleaner)? How about: nursery rhymes, rock ‘n roll, thunder, gum snapping, crunchy foods, sirens, bells, whistling, animal noises, engine revving.

    What about water: Running water, gurgling stream water, waves as they lap to shore and recede to the ocean. Or maybe it’s more of a stormy day and the water rushes toward the sand dunes, crashes into rocks and hurries back to the sea.

    How about: Squawking sea gulls, the calliope of a merry-go-round, music boxes?

    Remember songs from movies, television theme songs, commercial jingles?

    What sounds bring up strong memories?

    Choose a prompt and write for 12-15 minutes. Put sound sensory detail in your writing. Just Write!

    Marlene C

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  • Foliate Oak Literary Magazine wants quirky writing . . .

    Foliate Oak Literary Magazine wants quirky writing . . .

    We love previously unpublished quirky writing that makes sense, preferably flash fiction (less than 1000 words). We are eager to read short creative nonfiction also. We rarely accept submissions that have over 2700 words. We enjoy poems that we understand, preferably not rhyming poems, unless you make the rhyme so fascinating we’ll wonder why we ever said anything about avoiding rhymes. Give us something fresh, unexpected, and will make us say, “Wow!”

    We are always interested in publishing intriguing photography, artwork, and graphic (you know, comics) literature.   Send all artwork as jpg or gif.

    Always include a short (less than 50 words) third person bio.

    Submission Period: August 1 – April 24

    We are unable to pay for work. If the work we have posted is later used in another magazine, we ask that you credit Foliate Oak for first publishing it. Authors retain their own rights and copyright to their works. Foliate Oak only requests one-time, nonexclusive rights. Work will remain archived indefinitely, unless author/artist ask that it be removed from our website.

    Complete submission guidelines on Foliate Oak’s website.

    Foliate Oak Literary Magazine

    Marlene C

  • Sensory Detail

    Readers want to see the action and feel emotions. Readers want to be transported into other worlds. In a way, we want magical things to happen when we read: to be carried away, transformed. Writers can achieve these seemingly wondrous events by using sensory detail in writing.

    When including sensory detail, think of body parts: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and some add a sixth sense: mind.

    Verbs that describe the senses: see/sight, hear/sound/auditory, smell, taste, feel/touch, intuit.

    The sixth sense can be described as telepathy, intuition, perception, imagination. . . those traits that use the mind to create and understand. Some people believe the sixth sense is the ability to problem solve; using our minds to read and interpret signals, to pick up or sense energy.

    You can access any of these sensory details in your writers tool kit to create vivid and memorable writing.

    For the next few weeks, we will explore sensory detail on The Write Spot Blog.

    Sight. . . Seeing . . . is perhaps the most common sensory detail to write about. It’s easy to describe physical details: blue eyes, brown hair. So, how about going a little deeper? Perhaps more specific, or unusual. . . something the reader isn’t expecting, but believable. Something to make the reader sit up and take notice:

    She had bright auburn hair, pink cheeks, and wore crimson fingernail polish. She also wore high-heeled pumps and a red-and-white-striped dress. She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop. —To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

    You can use simile to create memorable details, like Sandra Cisneros does in Caramelo:

    Doubt begins like a thin crack in a porcelain plate. Very fine, like a strand of hair, almost not there. Wedged in between the pages of the sports section, in the satin puckered side-pocket of his valise, next to a crumpled bag of pumpkin seeds, a sepia-colored photo pasted on thick cardboard crudely cut down the center.

     Do you see the crack in the plate?

    There is also texture in this excerpt: porcelain, the fine strand of hair.

    With the mention of “sports section”. . . can you see the newsprint and feel the weight of the newspaper?

    The puckered side-pocket invites a visual image as well as texture. Can you “see” (imagine) the color of the satin side-pocket even though it’s not mentioned?

    Being specific with details adds to the ability of the reader to see the activity/action (scene).

    Cisneros could have written “a crumpled bag of chips,” but that’s vague. I bet you can feel that crumpled bag and maybe you can hear it. You can probably see the pumpkin seeds. Perhaps you salivate at the thought of what the pumpkin seeds taste like.

    Even if you have never seen a sepia-colored photo pasted on thick cardboard, you can imagine it. You can see this specific color (sepia) and feel the texture of the cardboard. In your mind’s eye, you might even imagine who is in the photo.

    Cisneros covered all the senses: sight, sound, taste, feel, and if you are extraordinarily sensitive, you might smell the salt in the seeds, or you might smell the musty valise, you might even imagine/smell the paste that was used to stick the photo onto the cardboard. I think she includes the intuitive sense with the word “doubt” and “wedged” (what does this hint or say to you?) and the cut cardboard (perhaps cutting someone out of the photo?).

    Simile — A simile is a figure of speech that compares unlike things by using the words like or as:

    Doubt begins like a thin crack in a porcelain plate. Very fine, like a strand of hair . . .

    Your turn: Notice sensory detail in what you are reading. Post your findings here, on The Write Spot Blog.  And try using sensory detail in your writing.  Just Write!

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    Marlene C

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  • Hoot . . . a literary magazine . . . on a postcard!

    Hoot publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and book reviews.

    “Our issues are small and cool looking, so you can also stick ’em on your fridge, or in your husband/wife’s briefcase, or leave one on a restaurant table for some random person to enjoy. Imagine, literature that you can pass around!”

    Hoot accepts submissions year-round.

    PROSE: 150 words or less

    POETRY: 10 lines or less. It has to fit on a postcard.

    BOOK REVIEWS: These will be published online, or on the back of a postcard when possible. Still 150 words or less. Must be of a recently published book (within the last year). The book must be published by an independent or small press.

    You may submit as many works as you like, but only two per submission. All work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are allowed–but please let Hoot know if your work is placed elsewhere.

    “Depending on how generous we’re feeling, we also often give feedback with our rejections.”

    Submit: To use online submission manager: $2 to submit up to two pieces of work. Hoot also accepts submissions by regular mail, for no fee. All pieces are considered for both print (postcard) and online issues, unless you specify otherwise.

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    Marlene C

  • Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.

    “Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.”  Hemingway wrote this six-word tale that has become the ultimate short, short-story.  The reader can fill in the blanks. I wonder how many variations of a theme these few words have inspired.

    Grant FaulknerGrant Faulkner honed his skills to write short, 100-word essays and writes in the August 2015 issue of The Writer magazine:

    “A flash writer has to paint characters in deft brushstrokes, with the keenest of images in such limited space. Shorts require immediacy; they’re a flicker of light in the darkness, a prick, a thunderclap . . . Paring down my writing and focusing on what goes unsaid and unexplained help me build suspense.”

    Faulkner says, about Hemingway’s six-word story, “The story moves by implication– the empty space around those few words invite the reader to fill them, transforming the reader into a co-author.”

    If this type of writing appeals to you, start writing now. Faulkner’s 100 word story will accept submissions after September 15. Hone your short story skills now and be ready to submit.

    Just Write!

    Marlene C

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  • Fiddleblack Journal might be right for you.

    Fiddleblack journal might just be your cup of tea.

    “Fiddleblack’s mission is a basic path toward the discovery (and sometimes rediscovery) of literary and speculative works that eloquently capture what it means to know the finite bounds of self and place. A long road of inspiration led to Fiddleblack’s founding, trailed through many unconnected sources, from Cormac McCarthy to Michel Houellebecq.”

    Our role as a curator encourages us to accept diverse work, and to publish what sings, speaks, or stares as well as it possibly should. But we see our place in the world of small presses clearly: slipped off and secluded somewhere in the metaphorical sand. Fiddleblack is interested in works of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction that make purposeful commitments to figuring out whom one is meant to be, and how it is that one should exist in the space enclosed around him.

    We have a thin tie in each of us to physical boundaries. That is, to this room or this yard or this town or this region. These ties can be severed at anytime—at which point, we’re floating. What comes next? Is one shuffled loose, left to connect again to another space? Is one somehow halved and made again?

    With limitless potential, we believe it’s the duty of all our writers to explore their work with a strong sense of existence within these spatial bounds. We’re interested in this actual process, and less so where one eventually arrives. Attempts to answer these questions, whether focused on the human condition or a relatively speculative world, are all the better and likely to encapsulate an existential infinity.”

    Fiddleblack accepts unsolicited submissions of fiction and creative nonfiction. The submissions we receive without solicitation are considered for our digital journal only.”

     

    Marlene C

  • Writing has been a freeing force

    Do you want to write true stories, but worry about hurting people’s feelings?

    Megan Kaplon, in an interview with Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk:

    “When working on academic projects, she (Helen Macdonald) experiences anxiety about being correct, about saying the right thing, but writing memoir has been a freeing force.”

    “When it’s yourself, you feel the truth inside yourself. . . It becomes something utterly manifest when you know you’re writing something from the heart.” – Helen Macdonald

    Quotes from “Giving sorrow words,”  The Writer, July 2015

    Heart.black outlineMarlene’s Musings: In my opinion, you cannot go wrong when writing from the heart. Sometimes, when writing memoir, it’s wrong to write for an audience. Write for yourself. And if you find an audience, then hooray! But first, write from your heart. You can use these guidelines when writing about difficult subjects.

    Some of my favorite memoirs, where, I think, the authors wrote from a sacred heart place.

    What Have We Here, Susan Bono
    You Can’t Catch Death, Ianthe Brautigan
    Imperfect endings, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter
    Captive Silence, Alla Crone
    I Give You My Word, Janice Crow
    Ellevie, Marcelle Evie Guy
    A Life in Stitches, Rachael Herron
    Grief Denied, Pauline Laurent
    To Have Not, Frances Lefkowitz

    Your Turn: Who are your favorite memoirists, or authors who write true stories?

     

    Marlene C

  • The Big Brick Review is ready for your submission.

    The Big Brick ReviewThe Big Brick Review wants original, non-fiction pieces up to 555 words by July 31, 2015.

    Submission must be in the form of a personal essay, prose, excerpt, or ramble that builds on the narrative of our lives, finding new insight to old struggles…old insight to new struggles…and all shades-of-gray in between. Pieces that include the concept of ‘building’ (which authors can interpret as creatively as they choose (it’s a noun! it’s a verb!)) are especially favored. For more info, visit Submissions Guidelines.

    Marlene’s Musings: Go for it! What do you have to lose?

    Marlene C

  • When you set the mask aside . . . Prompt #171

    From Write From the Heart by Hal Zina Bennett, one of my all-time favorite books.

    During a trip to Disneyland, a priest became fascinated with the costumed figure of Mickey Mouse. Every time Father Sean turned around, there was Mickey Mouse shaking hands with people, talking with kids, keeping everyone’s spirits up. And Father Sean began asking himself, “I wonder who that person is under that costume? What are they like at the end of the day, when they take off their Mickey Mouse suit?”

    Instead of being who we really can be, we take on masks like the Good Little Girl, or we become the Black Sheep of the Family or the Rebel. Early on, we learn that if we are to be loved and cared for we’d better buckle under and be what is safe for us to be.

     maskPrompt: Who or what is the character deep inside you? When you set the mask aside, who are you?

    Marlene C