Guest Blogger Roger Lubeck: The importance of details in memoir to enhance your story. There are people and events in our life that shape who we are. What we value and the lives we lead. The events and people can be big and small. Stopping for cigarettes and the car accident that followed. Taking the last United flight out of New York on September 10, 2001. Growing up in Michigan, water was a part of my life. Swimming and boating, lake cottages, and fish frys; frog legs, whitefish (pike) and perch were staples in that culture and still are. The same was true in Minnesota, except the preferred fish was Walleye caught while ice fishing. Sometimes in telling a personal story we get lost in the wrong details and back stories. In telling a personal story we forget about plot and pace. Often, I have found myself saying, “I guess you…
Author: mcullen
Marlene Cullen is enthusiastic about encouraging people to write, even those who think they can’t write. Her series of books, The Write Spot anthologies, features writing that entertains as well as inspires writing. Every story, vignette, and poem in The Write Spot books include writing prompts motivating readers to become writers.
Marlene hosts The Write Spot Blog, a treasure chest of inspirational gems for writers.
Fulfilling her passion for writing and sharing with others, Marlene has created unique writing environments such as Jumpstart Writing Workshops, where participants often experience transformational changes. Her workshops provide essential elements for successful writing.
Marlene is the founder of Writers Forum of Petaluma, a monthly literary event featuring presenters talking about the craft and business of writing.
Marlene's awarding winning short stories and essays have been published in literary journals, anthologies, and newspapers, including Tiny Lights, Building Bridges, More Bridges, Redwood Writers anthologies, and The Write Spot anthologies.
She is a member of the California Writer's Club.
Just another day, or something special? Prompt #374
Prompt #1: Does Father’s Day have a special meaning for you? Or is it just another day? Prompt #2: What about Mother’s Day? Special or just another day? Write whatever comes up for you. Prompt #3: Write about Memorial Day or Fourth of July. Anything special about them for you? Any traditions you follow now, or as a child?
Reaching for the stars. Prompt #373
Write about reaching for the stars.
What money can’t buy . . . Prompt #372
Write about what money can’t buy.
The Verge for freelance tech-heads
“The Verge covers the way technology and science are changing the way we live.” — Writer’s Digest. “Positioned at the ultra-relevant intersection of technology and culture, The Verge affords writers an opportunity to explore unique stories in longform that fit its editorial interests, such as an unexpected side effect of an app, a surveillance program people aren’t aware of, the inside story of a product’s development, a cutting-edge research programmer, an online community or trend that’s escaped notice. With numerous Webby Awards to its name, reach to an expansive audience, and respectable pay, this market holds solid potential for freelance tech-heads.” —Tyler Moss, interim editor, Writer’s Digest How to submit: Email a clear, concise pitch detailing your story idea and why it’s a good fit for The Verge, as well as a short bio and links to previous work, to the appropriate section editor.
Guest Blogger Alison Luterman . . . Go deep into your writing.
Guest Blogger Alison Luterman writes about going deep with your writing. Originally posted in her May 1 newsletter. Many years ago, in Hawaii, I got a chance to go “scuba diving.” I’m putting the words in quotes because it was really pretend scuba diving for tourists. There was no training involved other than the most basic instructions on how to breathe through a tube connected to the oxygen tank that was strapped to each person’s back. I think we had to sign a waiver saying we would not sue the company if we drowned. Then a group of us waded out, submerged, and voila! We were “scuba diving.” Well, not quite. My man-friend, S., had heavy bones and big muscles and he descended like a stone to the ocean floor. I could see him fifteen feet below me picking up beautiful shells while I floated directly above him. I couldn’t…
I like the sound of . . . Prompt #371
I like the sound of . . . Write about the sounds you like. Or, write about sounds you don’t like.
If that one thing didn’t happen . . . Prompt #370
Write about how different your life . . . or your fictional character’s life would be . . . if that one thing didn’t happen.
Smell of childhood . . . Prompt #369
The smell of childhood. Write about smells from your childhood, or smells from your alter ego’s childhood. I immediately think of food: Fresh peaches, just picked strawberries with that earthy smell, piping hot chicken potpie fresh from the oven, just-baked chocolate chip cookies, hot buttery popcorn, s’mores = toasted marshmallows, melted chocolate, crisp graham crackers. Yum! Outdoor smells: Freshly mown grass, river, diesel, ocean, fog, smog, campfire, burning leaves, snow.
Atlas Obscura
“A publisher of ‘best-in-class journalism about hidden places, incredible history, scientific marvels and gastronomical wonders,’ Atlas Obscura spotlights the weird and wonderful from around the globe.” July/August 2018, Writer’s Digest. How to Pitch Atlas Obscura There are two main sections on Atlas Obscura: the Places database (a.k.a. “The Atlas”) and Stories, which is the home for reported articles. If you are pitching us a write-up of a place that you have visited or heard about, it is probably most suited to be an entry in the Places database. These are crowd-sourced submissions that go through an editorial process before being published. You can read more on how to submit a Place entry here. We generally do not pay for place submissions. For the Stories section, we are seeking original journalism. Stories that will surprise us and article ideas that would never have occurred to us but that we won’t be…