In April 1887, two newspaper men designed an 18 page pamphlet they called The Writer. It was designed to be “a monthly magazine to interest and help all literary workers.” Today, The Writer magazine “is dedicated to expanding and supporting the work of professional and aspiring writers with a straightforward presentation of industry information, writing instruction and professional and personal motivation.” The Writer is looking for your story ideas: “Our editors are interested in query letters on concrete topics written by emerging and experienced writers in all genres. We are looking for clear takeaway for our readers: What can they learn to improve their writing or advance their careers? What how-to tips and strategies will accomplish this? Queries should briefly describe your background and provide details for your story idea. We are interested in how-to stories, reported pieces, narrative essays and profiles of writers and others in the field. ….
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.
Let Go And Create
Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes about how surrender can help creativity: We can’t force creativity. We know this intuitively. If we told a painter that we wanted a masterpiece by five o’clock tomorrow, he or she would look at us like we were crazy, that we clearly didn’t understand what being creative was all about. An important part of being creative is learning to surrender to the flow of the universe, allowing something greater than our everyday self to move through us. It’s not something we can figure out with our linear mind. Of course, if we want to paint we need to learn how to work with our chosen medium and studying the work of the masters can help. If we want to write it’s really valuable to read widely and deeply, to show up daily to put pen to paper and perhaps take a workshop on form we…
What is it you really want? Prompt #312
What is it that you really want? Write whatever comes up for you. Could be serious, playful, wishful, fun. Just write!
Feeling broken? Trying unplugging.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. —Anne Lamott, Salon, April 10, 2015
Sixteen Rivers call for poems for anthology
Sixteen Rivers Press is seeking unpublished poems that respond to the cultural, moral, and political rifts that divide our country: poems of resistance and resilience, witness and vision that embody what it means to be a citizen in a time when our democracy is threatened. Sixteen Rivers editors welcome voices raised in passion and in praise, whether lyrical, philosophical, visionary, or personal. Submit 1 to 3 unpublished poems, totaling no more than 3 pages. Deadline: May 15, 2017
House Image… Prompt #311
Think of a house or an apartment you lived in – either where you grew up or one that comes to you most strongly: a place that seems most pertinent or the place you want to discover more about. Use a pen or pencil and draw a blueprint of the house or apartment. Sketch the floor plan, include doors (front, back, side), stairs, and each room within the house. Let your hand and mind be the guides. Don’t worry about getting it exactly correct. Use color to explore When you feel done with the blueprint, use color to explore the house/apartment and your feelings. Color the rooms, or outline the rooms, using the actual or basic color of the walls, the rugs and furniture. When you feel done with coloring, write whatever comes up. Examples The house was yellow I hated that color. It made me think of . ….
Story is our most effective teaching tool.
“All humans understand and use story on an intuitive level. It’s our most effective teaching tool.” — Deb Norton, “Story Structure, Simplified,” WritersDigest, February 2017
What makes a happy reader?
What makes a happy reader? Robert Keiner answers, “It’s all about being invited in by the writer. If a writer begins showing off with obscure or precious writing, that gets in the readers’ way. . . The job of the writer is to ignite a fictional daydream in the brain of the reader and then step away and become invisible so the story becomes the readers’ own.” — WritersDigest, February 2017
Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction, a Canadian magazine, features a variety of genres: science fiction, mystery, fantasy, history, suspense, and thriller. “We realized we knew a lot of writers who had pieces sitting in shoe boxes under their bed[s] . . . We also knew writers looking to break out.” — The Writer magazine, October 2016 The “pulp” in the title refers to “cheap pulp paper used in the dime-novels of last century. “We love literary fiction. Beautiful prose, soul-searching themes, and powerful and complex character development are all part of the stories we like.” From their website: Format In these days of massive hardcover tomes and heavyweight trade paperbacks, do you miss the small, inexpensive paperbacks you could stuff in your purse or coat pocket? We do, which is why our print format is a digest-sized magazine, lovingly modeled after fabulous magazines which have stood the test of time. Pulp Fiction…
What, why, how . . . freewrites
What is a freewrite? Why should you do it? How is it done? A “freewrite” is “free association” for a quick style of writing. It’s a way of writing freely with no worries about the end product. It’s meant to be spontaneous, with no “real” thinking involved. Just write thoughts as quickly as they form. No editing is involved while writing because editing means “thinking” and thinking means censoring. Censoring and editing while writing can inhibit the freedom experienced while writing without worries about the outcome. A freewrite is getting your thoughts written, accept whatever they are, and however they manifest. This writing can be a catalyst for further writing and can later be revised, edited, and polished. Choose an idea, set a timer, write for that amount of time. Topics can be whatever is on your mind or select a writing prompt on The Write Spot Blog. How to…