McSweeny’s Internet Tendency is in the market for short, conceptual humor. “We strongly recommend reading through our archives to get a sense of the style of writing we’re after.” Editor Christopher Monks says, “We want to draw you [the reader] in quickly with a funny title and an easy-to-latch-onto concept.” Monks “looks for a mixture of lowbrow and highbrow humor, with reference to pop culture and current events.” — The Writer magazine, June 2015 Length: 1,00 words is ideal Send: In the body of the email Payment: “There will likely be none. If there is any, it may come very late or in unusual currency.” Why you should submit to Tendency: “Writers don’t get rich writing for Tendency; however they often find their work reprinted on other literary websites.” Click here for submission guidelines.
Month: June 2015
Unforgettable, or Strange But True . . . Prompt #159
Another prompt inspired by Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest. Deadline: July 25, 2015 Writing Prompt: Unforgettable . . . or . . . Strange But True Laffing Sal is “one of several automated characters that were built primarily to attract carnival and amusement park patrons to funhouses and dark rides throughout the United States. Its movements were accompanied by a raucous laugh that sometimes frightened small children and annoyed adults.” Wikipedia One version of Laffing Sal currently resides at Playland-Not-At-The-Beach, which I had the “pleasure” of seeing and hearing recently at a friend’s birthday party. She definitely scared me as a child. I tried to avoid her when my family went to Playland-at-the-Beach in San Francisco, California.
How does someone become frightening to one’s self?
Guest Blogger Ted A. Moreno: How You Became What You’ve Become I’m learning a new song on my guitar: “Africa” by the band Toto. One line of the lyrics intrigued me: “I seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened of this thing that I’ve become.” It’s never really explained in the song what that means. How does someone become something that is frightening to one’s self? Seems to me that it doesn’t happen all at once, of course. It’s more like the frog peacefully floating in increasingly hotter water until he is boiled, never aware of what’s happening so he never jumps out. Kind of like death by a thousand cuts. Perhaps a good word would be entropy: the gradual decline into disorder. How does someone become someone that they are not happy with? It happens one extra cookie, or additional scoop of ice cream or portion of food at…
If pets could talk . . . Prompt #158
Today’s prompt is inspired by Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest. Deadline: July 25, 2015 Prompt: If pets could talk . . . Photo by Breana Marie
Trust Your Instincts
Gabriel Packard asked Bo Kaprall: What is the most important thing you’ve learned about writing? — The Writer magazine, June 2015 Kaprall answered, “Probably the most important single thing I’ve learned about writing is to trust your instincts, because, especially with comedy, it’s so subjective. One person will love it; another person will hate it. Everyone seeks comments and reinforcement or criticism, but really you need to trust your instincts, and that’s harder for someone who’s new at it than someone who’s a little more seasoned.” Marlene’s Musings: I agree. When in doubt, listen to your “gut feeling.” Your instincts are right on . . . you just have to trust yourself. With that in mind, when working with an editor . . . listen to what the editor has to say . . . you don’t always have to agree, nor make the suggested changes. Just listen carefully, then…
Le rire mécanique
If you want to write comedies, or include humor in your writing, you might want to know about “Le rire mécanique.” The phrase translates as “mechanical laughter.” I first came across this phrase in the June 2015 issue of The Writer magazine, in an article by Alicia Anistead. Anistead wrote about the French philosopher Henri Bergson and his theory that “whenever real life is suddenly interrupted by a mechanistic imposition, like the banana peel, it is disruptive and triggers laughter.” Bergson called this “le rire mécanique.” Bergson developed a theory of how laughter is provoked and described the process of laughter (in particular portrayals by comics and clowns) as “the caricature of the mechanism nature of humans (habits, automatic acts, etc.).” Wikipedia Anistead ends her article with a quote by Harvard professor Bob Scanlan, “It [le rire mécanique] pounces on you and catches you unexpectedly. That’s why the pratfall is…