3Elements Review was founded to spark imagination, to provide a unique creative challenge, and to allow writers and artists a bit of fun with our three element prompts. We aim to distinguish ourselves from the typical literary journal through our unique approach to the creative process. Each issue begins with the posting of three elements and ends with a journal filled with the imaginative ways in which each writer and artist transformed those elements. We provide both emerging and established writers and artists a platform to share their unique voices and visions with the world. CURRENT THREE ELEMENTS: Carnival, Residue, Maudlin Submissions due by June 1, 2014, September 1, December 1 and March 1 Click here for 3Elements Review submission guidelines. Brief Submission Guidelines for 3Elements Review: We appreciate good writing in any genre. We especially like edgy writing that offers insight into darkness. We prefer character-driven stories as opposed to…
Month: April 2014
Guest blogger Nina Amir brainstorms how to go from idea to book.
The following is from Nina Amir’s Blog, Write Nonfiction Now. Nina posts writing prompts on Fridays. I really enjoyed Nina’s Prompt #10 and thought you might like it, too. These ideas can also work for fiction writing. Create Book Ideas to Support Your Goals: Nonfiction Writing Prompt #10 by Nina Amir. Nina writes: If you want to write and publish books, the first step involves developing ideas. You may be a nonfiction writer with just one book idea or with many. However, if you have nonfiction writing goals, your book ideas should support your goals. I have many book ideas. Despite the fact that some of them really excite me, I have put quite a few on hold. I have them queued up in a logical order, one following the other so they help move me toward my goals. Sometimes those goals could be simple, such as get a traditional…
Discover, flaunt, and celebrate your authentic assets. — Dame Edith Sitwell
Discover, flaunt, and celebrate your authentic assets. — Dame Edith Sitwell “Her early work was often experimental, creating melody, using striking conceits, new rhythms, and confusing private allusions. Her efforts at change were resisted, but, as the New Statesman observed, ‘losing every battle, she won the campaign,’ and emerged the high priestess of twentieth-century poetry.” Poetry Foundation Dame Edith Sitwell
Standing in a doorway . . .Prompt #63
Today’s prompt: Standing in a doorway . . . Photo by Jim C. March
Write short? Write long? Write strong!
The following is an excerpt from “When every letter counts,” by Kevin Cullen (no relation to me that I know of). — March 2014 issue of The Writer Magazine. Kevin writes: I have been in the newspaper game for more than 30 years, which qualifies me as a card-carrying old fart. I have tried to embrace new technologies and platforms pushed upon us by enthusiastic, young tech geeks who talk about Facebook and Twitter with the zeal of evangelicals. Online is where it’s at, even though we still make most of our money from the dead tree version. But what has all this meant for writing? Because, let’s face it, the biggest advantage all forms of written journalism have over the immediacy of TV and radio is the ability to deliver depth and strong, evocative writing. Writing short and writing long require different disciplines. It’s the differences between writing a…
A room from your childhood. Prompt # 62
Sit back, relax. Take a few deep breaths. Relax into your breathing. Think about rooms from your childhood. Let your mind wander around various rooms: Your bedroom Your parents’ bedroom Your grandparents’ bedroom The room where you ate your meals . . . kitchen or dining room Your grandparents’ dining room. Here’s an excerpt from Lynn Henriksen‘s book, Give The Gift of Story, TellTale Souls’ Essential Guide*, page 58, excerpt written by Robin. Jamie and I would crawl into our cozy little bed between the softest apple-green sheets that matched the apple-green carpet and the apple-green walls. We took turns as to who had to be squished against the wall and who was to be on the outside nearest Grandma. We always took turns with everything at Grandma’s house, I figure that’s how she kept the peace. Now, settle into a room from your childhood. Look around. Really look around. …
Two places to submit your poetry
Sonoma County poet Nancy Dougherty has recently joined the editorial staff of California Quarterly, a journal devoted to poetry. Since this journal is small and currently off-line, the likelihood of getting published is pretty good. Nancy says, “The California Quarterly truly has a lot to offer in contests and as a link to other state poetry societies, which have similar journals and contests.” The California Quarterly is published four times a year. Submissions are accepted year around. Guidelines: Submit up to 6 poems at one time, include name and address on all pages, self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for response. Submit unpublished poems only. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Send submissions to: CQ Editors, PO Box 7126, Orange, CA, 92863 The California Quarterly is sponsored by the California State Poetry Society, a non-profit organization founded over thirty years ago. It is dedicated to the adventure of poetry and its dissemination. Although located in…
Guest Blogger Lynn Henriksen asks, “Who is this woman you call Mother?”
Guest Blogger Lynn Henriksen invites you on a journey. Who is she, really—this woman you call Mother? What could be more important than looking at your mother as an individual unto herself? Come along with me on a journey into the heart of the Mother Memoir to write a true and telling tale by answering this question: “If you could tell just one small story that would capture your mother’s character and keep her spirit alive for years to come, what would it be?” Moving your ego aside and searching purposefully for your mother’s intrinsic character can take some time to put into practice, but it is so worth your energy to discover valuable insights. Do you know what makes (made) her tick? What buoyed or drowned her hopes and dreams? What inspired her joy, tugged at her heartstrings, or thrilled her to the depths of her soul? What enlivened…
You just have to fight your way through. — Ira Glass
Ira Glass is host and producer of This American Life. David Shiyang Liu recorded Ira talking about storytelling. In Part One of the interview, you can watch Ira in the recording studio. You can also read about parts two, three and four in the caption. In Part Three Ira talks about the creative process. Watch Ira’s words unfold in a whimsical way. Ira Glass, the art of storytelling (typed with minor modifications): Nobody tells people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me, is that all of us who do creative work . . . we get into it, and we get into it because we have good taste, but it’s like there’s a gap. For the first couple of years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good; it’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be…
How are you? No, really . . . Prompt #61
How are you? No, really . . . How. Are. You. Not the usual, “I’m fine. Thank you.” That just won’t do right now. Take a deep breath . . . in through your nose. Exhale through your mouth. A couple more deep breaths. Now, how are you? Scan your body. . . start with your head. How is your hair? How are your eyes? How is your throat? Your stomach? Anything talking to you? Any body part want attention? Write how you are. How you really are. Go deep. Take a big breath. Go deeper. Excavate. Dig in and grab those shadowy feelings. Give them words. Give them names. Translate the murky feelings into words. Let your inner self guide you through new doorways. Now, really. How are you? Photo by Breana Marie