Prompts

Write A New Story . . . Prompt #356

Ready to explore? Today’s writing prompt invites you to look at your old stories in new ways. Perhaps you can rewrite your story. Excerpt from October 2016 Reader’s Digest, “Down Off The Cross,” by Debra Jarvis, a chaplain and cancer survivor. “Let’s say I meet you on a bus. We really hit it off, but I’ve got to exit soon, so you’re going to tell me three things about yourself that help me understand who you are, that get at your essence.” Note from Marlene: Prompt:  List three things that define you. Back to the article: “Of those three things, is one of them surviving some kind of trauma, like being a cancer survivor, a war survivor, or an abuse survivor?” Note from Marlene: Or perhaps you are currently experiencing a difficulty or a trauma. Back to the article:    “Many of us tend to identify ourselves by our wounds. Claim…

Places to submit

The Common Literary Journal

The Common is an award-winning print and digital literary journal published biannually, in the fall and spring. The Common includes short stories, essays, poems, and images that embody a strong sense of place. The Common Online publishes original content four times per week, including book reviews, interviews, personal essays, short dispatches, poetry, contributor podcasts and recordings, and multimedia features. MISSION To deepen our individual and collective sense of place through bold, engaging literature and art. VISION To serve as a vibrant common space for the global exchange of ideas and experiences. To be an essential destination for creative work that embodies particular times and places, both real and imagined. To mentor and promote the next generation of writers, editors, and publishers. Finding the extraordinary in the common has long been the mission of literature. Inspired by this mission and the role of the town common, a public gathering place for the display and exchange of…

Guest Bloggers

Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray

We are lucky to have Suzanne Murray as today’s guest blogger, encouraging our writing. Excerpt from Suzanne Murray’s Post, 2/14/2018 Are you feeling uninspired? Has your got-up-and-go got-up-and-went?  Say that three times! Then read Suzanne’s inspiring message:   FALL IN LOVE WITH CREATIVE PROCESS by Suzanne Murray. A lot of people think that when it comes to creativity, inspiration is the key. Yet those moments of insight or revelation never occur without the willingness to commit to the work and continue to show up. This perseverance is just as important. You get a creative flash. You show up to the work and what wants to be born becomes more clear. Nobel prize winning Canadian short story writer Alice Munro once said, “I threw away all my early writings and it wasn’t because I was the mother of three small children. It was because I was learning my craft and it took…