The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Category: Just Write

  • Transport readers

    “Your main job as a writer is to transport the reader to a fictional world, as in a dream. ” — “The Geyser Approach to Revision,” James Scott Bell, July/August 2011 Writer’s Digest Magazine

    You probably know this, but perhaps you’re stuck with knowing how to achieve that. A big part is the revision process.

    The following steps for revision are based on the Writer’s Digest article.

    Write Hot. Revise cool.

    Wait two weeks after writing to begin the revision process. Then, read fast as if you were a first-time reader. Take notes about what needs fixing.

    Capture original emotions you felt when writing.

    Listen to music that evokes the mood of your story.

    “Music reaches a part of your mind that you usually have inactive when analyzing. Wake it up and put it to work with tunes.”

    Create a collage to capture a visual representation of your work to keep you inspired and focused.

    Scenes

    Analyze every scene.

    Make sure every scene is strong with:

    ~ A single point of view

    ~ A clear objective for the character

    ~ Tension

    ~ Conflict

    ~ An emotional struggle

    ~ A compelling reason for the reader to keep reading

    Revision Process

    A crucial part of the revision process involves making sure all your details are as strong as they possibly can be, that no word is underutilized or wasted.

    Sensory Detail

    As you revise, determine where you can add sensory detail: visual, sound, taste, smell, touch, and extrasensory perception.

    Specific Details

    Give your characters distinguishing characteristics.

    Gestures, repetitive actions, hobbies, food likes, facial expressions, musical preferences, jobs.

    Posts about sensory detail on The Write Spot Blog

    The neurological impact of sensory detail.   

    Imagery and sensory detail ala Adair Lara Prompt #277    

    Sensory Detail: Taste

    Sensory Detail: Smell

    Sensory Detail: Kinesthetic, motion in writing

  • Blue Lake Review

    Sonoma County poet Dave Seter has a poem “Relative Strangers” in the Blue Lake Review (online journal), November 2020 issue.

    Blue Lake Review

    Our goal is to bring compelling, meaningful, insightful fiction and poetry to you every month. Something you can ponder and gnaw on. Something to bring light, or at least, growth and understanding to our readers on a regular basis. No frivolous pieces here. Your time is too valuable. We’re serious about our words, and are selective in what we present to you, sifting through the mountains of words to pull out the diamonds. 

    Submission Guidelines

    You, too, can see your writing in Blue Lake Review. Write. Revise. Polish. Submit!

  • Telling Your Truth

    “Telling your truths—the difficult ones and the joyful ones and all the ones between—is a big part of what makes for good writing. It is also what brings you pleasure in the process of writing. Most people who create and tend a garden don’t spend time on their knees pulling weeds just for the perfect end result—the gorgeous display of flowers that others will exclaim over. They pore over gardening books, order bulbs, water a sickly shrub, arrange the flagstones to make a pleasing path, all because they enjoy the doing of it. So, too, it should be with your writing. You want to see your writing grow, to find your daily work absorbing, to discover you can do better on the page than you could three years ago. None of this will happen if you shy away from the truth. The rewards that you seek are the rewards that go with courage: you take the risk and you feel the satisfaction of becoming a better writer.” —Writing the Memoir, by Judith Barrington

    Using the freewrite method of writing, you are free to write whatever you want with no worries about the outcome.

    Click on the links below to learn more about freewrites.

    Freewrites

    What, why, how . . . freewrites

    Freewrites: Opening Doors to Discoveries

    Just Write!

  • Looking For A Silver Lining

    Reader’s Digest is looking for stories with a silver lining:

    If you wished 2020 had a fast-forward button, you’re not alone.

    In spite of the challenges, many of us discovered unexpected reasons to be grateful this year.

    Perhaps you discovered a new skill—or a new friend?

    Did you learn something wonderful about yourself—or about a neighbor or even a stranger?

    Write about the best thing to come out of your year and Reader’s Digest might publish your story.

    Write and submit!

  • Under the Gum Tree

    Sonoma County author Nicole Zimmerman’s “The Nature of Beginnings” was recently published in Under the Gum Tree.

    This Sacramento-based, reader supported, quarterly literary arts magazine publishes creative nonfiction and visual art in the form of a micro-magazine.

    Under the Gum Tree

    What does it mean to “tell stories without shame”?

    “Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” —Brené Brown

    Under the Gum Tree has been championing the mantra of telling stories without shame since 2011. We see our mission as sharing stories that remind readers of our shared humanity. Too much of the human experience gets hidden behind constructed facades based on what we perceive the world expects from us. Stop hiding. Live a story. Tell it without shame.

    If you write true stories, also called creative nonfiction, (and literary nonfiction, by some) and you’re taking storytelling to a level beyond “I was twelve years old when my mother died,” then you might be ready to submit to us.

    We publish personal essays, memoir, and creative nonfiction stories that:

    reveal authentic vulnerability. These are stories that you’re embarrassed or afraid to share because you’re more worried about how people you know will react than what you learned and how it changed you. Those are the most powerful stories because you’re risking something for the sake of helping someone else.

    provoke conversation. The stories that are the hardest to tell inevitably make at least one person say, “Wow. Me too. And I thought I was the only one.” The stories that are the hardest to tell give others permission to tell their hard stories, and it perpetuates a cycle of storytelling.

    examine a universal truth. Most people keep the hard stories to themselves out of fear—fear of how others will react or judge them—but once a story gets shared, we finally realize how common the human experience really is. Sure, everyone’s individual experience is unique. (Isn’t that what makes a good story?)  But we can always relate to things like love, forgiveness, perseverance—you know, the stuff that everyone encounters no matter their circumstances.

    We consider submissions (2,000 words or more) for the following departments:

    Features: Longer features may explore a department topic or any other unspecified topic.

    Stomping Ground: This department is for stories about family—and we use that term liberally, because isn’t the friend you’ve had since you were eight, almost nine, years old, more like a sister?

    Sound Track: This department is for stories on interacting with music and how it interacts with us. Is there a specific song, group or artist that has had a significant impact on your life? Have you had a meaningful live-music experience? Are you a musician who also writes about how music affects the human experience?

    Fork and Spoon: This department is for stories, and even recipes, on how food, cooking, eating and drinking affect life. The dinner table means different things to each of us—it can be a comfortable place that facilitates intimate communion, but to someone else it might be an awkward place of forced conversation. These food interactions shape us more than we know.

    24 Frames A Second: This department is for stories on film, perhaps one of the more powerful storytelling mediums. Is there a specific film that has changed you in some way—caused you to think differently or see the world from a new perspective? Are you consistently moved by the work of one particular actor or director?

    Those Who Wander: Tolkien wrote, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Travels are from one neighborhood to another, one state to another, one country to another; on vacation or a pilgrimage, for family or for work, so many of these changes in our physical locations trigger meaningful reactions in us and the way we view the world around us. This department is for stories about travel and the individual ways moving around this globe affects us.

    Flash: Every issue includes a flash feature, which is a short-short piece of creative nonfiction, under 1,000 words.

    Visual Art: We consider submissions of visual art and photography. Every issue features two artists: a photographer and a visual artist. Art should be recent, no more than 2 years old, and should be previously unpublished in literary magazines or journals.

    Submission Guidelines

    Under the Gum Tree accepts submissions on an ongoing basis, and all submissions will be considered for one of our quarterly issues. To submit writing, photography or art to be considered for publication, please read and follow the guidelines.

    Please don’t email with questions until you have familiarized yourself with these guidelines and the details on this page.

    Submit

    With the submission fee, you receive the current issue (digital—a $7.99 value!) FREE. 

  • Strategies For Stress Reduction

    By now, many of us know the drill to stay safe during the 2020 pandemic: Wash hands, wear a mask, and social distancing. But what about our mind, body, and spirit?

    “My lab’s study found the best recipe for dealing with everyday stressors is to try to simultaneously plan ahead about what you can control and stay in the moment mindfully.” —Shevan D. Neupert, Ph.D, “How to Soothe Your Soul,” August 2020 Consumer Reports

    The activities listed to soothe your soul in this article are the same as the restorative activities in the resource section of The Write Spot: Writing as a Path to Healing.

    ~ Prepare and plan. “Tasks that distract you now but also benefit you in the future are wonderful.” — Joyce A. Corsica, Ph.D, “How to Soothe Your Soul,” August 2020 Consumer Reports

    If you are working on a writing project, plan for the result. If you are submitting your writing to a publication, start with a projected date, then work backward to establish goal dates.

    Use the same strategy if you are publishing a book. Target a date for completion to send to an agent, or to self-publish. Work backward to set need-to-finish-by dates.

    First draft completed, revision completed, beta readers, proofread, ms to editor, etc.

    If you want to write, but haven’t started a project, start with a freewrite. Choose one of the prompts on The Write Spot Blog and just write.

    ~Just write freely with no worries about the outcome.

    ~ Nurture in nature. Walk outside. Open your door and breathe in fresh air, if you can. Look at nature out a window . . . a tree, a lawn, a garden. Go on a virtual tour of national parks.

    ~ Listen to music to soothe your soul or put on lively music.

    ~ Dance or move with the groove. Check out The World Groove Movement.

    ~Stretch.

    ~ Yoga. There are many free yoga youtube instructions.

    ~ Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

    ~ Hypnotherapy for relaxation and stress reduction.

    ~Searching for “help with stress” online resulted in 899,000,000 results. Overwhelming, yes. But you might find something to help with stress that you hadn’t thought of.

    Good luck with managing your stress during these turbulent times.

    I’m hanging in there with you.

  • Writing Advice

    I’m going through old writing magazines and finding gems, like this one, “Top Five Fiction Mistakes.” — by Moira Allen, The Writer, September 2002.

    “Ask most fiction editors how to avoid rejection, and you’ll hear the same thing: Read the guidelines. Review the publication. Don’t send a science fiction story to a literary magazine. Don’t send a 10,000-word manuscript to a magazine that never publishes anything longer than 5,000 words. Spell-check. Proofread. Check your grammar.”

    “The one piece of advice nearly every editor had to offer was: Read, read, read. Read widely. Read the authors who have won awards in your genre to find out what has already been done, so that you don’t end up offering old, trite plots without even realizing it.

    Then, ‘Write!’ says Max Keele of Fiction Inferno. And keep writing. And write some more.

    When you’re finished, ‘’Let the story sit for a few days or a week, ‘says Richard Freeborn of Oceans of the Mind. ‘Come back to it and read it aloud to yourself. I am still surprised at all the inconsistencies and bad transitions I catch when I do that.’

    ‘Once your story has aged a bit, seek someone else’s opinion. Find an educated reader who can provide valuable feedback . . .’ suggests Twilight Times’ Lida Quillen. ‘Find readers who can mention segments that were unbelievable, let you know where the story left them cold, and sections where they were pulled into the story.’

    Finally, make sure you don’t make the ultimate fatal mistake, cited by Tony Venables of Ad Hoc, thinking that people should read what you write simply because you write it. Writers need to understand that they have to earn their audience, to make their audience feel it’s worthwhile to read their work. This does not mean pandering to populist ideas or sugar-coating what you have to say—it means choosing not to be boring.”

    Want to know what the “Top Five Fiction Mistakes” are, according to this article? Paraphrased from the article:

    • Bad beginnings. A story needs a beginning that grabs the reader. Be sure that your story begins where it should . . . not too much backstory, but enough so readers know who characters are.
    • Wordiness. Avoid too many adjectives and adverbs. Don’t use big words when simple ones would do just as well.
    • Poor plots. Focus on characters with interesting goals and motivations.
    • Undeveloped characters. Create believable characters that readers care about. Avoid characters who do not grow, avoid stereotypes.
    • No point. Be certain what your story is about. Be sure you have answered the “why” of the story.

  • Next Avenue Online Journal

    Next Avenue is a nonprofit journalism website.

    Next Avenue is extending an invitation to share your story (for those over the age of 50).

    We are seeking original essays with an insightful perspective on aging.

    Every day on Next Avenue, we tell the stories of what makes us different and where we share commonalities. It is our hope that readers will glimpse themselves in someone else’s story; find a nugget of information they need; or discover a fresh perspective on an issue relative to aging.

    We’re looking for insightful essays that illuminate a truth or teach us something new.

    As the pandemic persists, and life continues to swirl around all of us in unexpected ways, perspective has taken center stage. You may have discovered there has been more space for quiet, like the calm in the center of the storm. Perhaps the quiet is not always welcome, but it is there. In the quiet, opportunities for reflection, for finding perspective, can emerge.

    Stories are waiting to be told.

    From July 24 through August 31, 2020, readers age 50+ may submit a 500-word original essay focused on a topic or experience of your choosing. 

    Beginning on July 24, you may submit your work here. One submission per person, please.

    We’re looking for insightful essays that illuminate a truth or teach us something new.

    Share a personal perspective with fellow readers about what it means to “act your age.” Tell us how you have found resilience in difficult times. How has growing older surprised you?

    What is the story you want to tell?

    The Next Avenue editorial team will select 12 essays, representing a diverse collective of voices, for publication on the site this fall.

    The 500-word format should be strictly followed; longer essays will not be considered.

    Be sure to check spelling, grammar and punctuation before submitting your essay.

    Please give your piece a title.

    We are looking for engaging and well-crafted personal narratives.

    Next Avenue Editor’s note: The Joy of Writing by Elizabeth Berg, a New York Times bestselling author, is the first in a series of essays in conjunction with Next Avenue’s Telling Our Stories initiative, inviting readers to submit their own personal essays.

    Elizabeth wrote on Facebook:

    “Okay, all you would-be writers! This is your chance! Take a look at this invitation to submit essays. I would like to point out that this is exactly how I got my start as a published writer, by entering an essay contest. Good luck to all of you!”

    Note from Marlene: You can’t win if you don’t enter.

    Berg’s essay begins with:

    “There I was, a nine-year-old girl with a bad pixie cut, sitting at my card table desk, drinking pickle juice and writing a poem meant to inspire rapture and envy in every reader’s heart. It wasn’t much of a poem, though I thought it was terrific. I mailed it to American Girl magazine and waited for my acceptance check (of about a million dollars, I figured) to arrive. Then I was going to buy my father a Cadillac.

    The poem was swiftly (and rightly) rejected, and so wounded was I that it took another 25 years before I submitted anything. By then, I was a registered nurse wanting to find a job that would let me stay home with my daughters. So I entered an essay contest in Parents magazine, won it and went on to write essays for many magazines. I moved on to short stories, then books. I’ve now published over thirty books, I’m long past the usual retirement age, and still I keep on. Why?”  continue reading.

    Note from Marlene: Even if you don’t submit your writing, there are a lot of ideas for writing prompts at Next Avenue.

  • Chicken Soup for the Soul

    About Chicken Soup for the Soul, from their website:

    Chicken Soup for the Soul, the world’s favorite and most recognized storyteller, publishes the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. With well over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada alone, more than 250 titles, and translations into more than 40 languages, “chicken soup for the soul” is one of the world’s best-known phrases and is regularly referenced in pop culture. Today, over 25 years after it first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through its books, this socially conscious company continues to publish a new title a month

    Please visit Story Guidelines page, which will answer many of your questions about subject matter, length, and style. Following the guidelines will give you the best possible chance of being accepted.

    For a list of new topics, complete with descriptions and deadlines, please visit  Possible Book Topics page.

    There are many Chicken Soup for the Soul books in development. If you have a great story or poem you want to submit but it doesn’t fit with any of the topics below, please save it and check again to see if a topic has been added that’s a better match.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul is always looking for new talent. So whether you are a regular contributor or new to their family, please share your story or poem with them.

    Some of the current topics for Chicken Soup for the Soul:

    Age Is Just a Number
    So, you’re a certain age now, and you’re ready for what’s next. You might be enjoying an empty nest, or starting a second career, or winding down a first one. You might be downsizing, or traveling, or caring for elderly parents.

    You might be going on the adventure of a lifetime or taking long walks in the woods. The one thing you know for sure is that you’re not ready to stop living! You feel energetic and young and there is still so much more to see and do and give and enjoy.

    We are looking for stories about the humorous or serious sides of life after 60.
    Deadline: June 15, 2020.

    Cats
    Our cat titles are so very popular, and you have so many great stories to share with us, that we do a new cat title every eighteen months or so.

    We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1,200 words. Tell us about your cat. Tell us how he made you smile. How she “rescued” you after you “rescued” her. How she brought your family closer together, helped you find love, inspired you to change something in your human life. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. We can’t wait to read all the heartwarming, inspirational, and hysterical stories you have about your cats!
    Deadline: November 30, 2020.

    Making “Me Time”
    Do you ever say that you’ll take care of yourself AFTER you finish your to-do list? That’s what we did until we started putting ourselves ON our to-do list, right there with the other people we care for.

    Self-care is what we all neglect most. And we’re waking up to its importance. We care for children and partners and parents and friends. We care for pets and homes and volunteer organizations. But, in order to take care of others you must first take care of yourself. And that is not being selfish.

    Taking care of yourself is not just about your physical health but includes your emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing too. Self-care includes that all-important “me time” whether that means exercising or reading or meditating or having lunch with friends. Whatever your psyche needs is your “me time.”

    We are looking for your stories about how you neglected your self-care and then how you realized its importance and so you now engage in it.
    Deadline: September 30, 2020.

    Miracles & Divine Intervention
    101 Awesome Stories about Hope, Miracles, Angels, Amazing Coincidences, Unexplained Happenings, Answered Prayers, Miraculous Healing, and Messages from Heaven

    Miracles are all around us if we’re open to them. Sometimes we just can’t explain how good things came about. Are they celestial, otherworldly, heavenly? However they happened, these events give us peace and comfort, guidance, hope and faith.

    These true stories can be religious or non-religious. We just want them to make people say “wow”—stories that will give our readers chills, in a good way!
    Deadline: August 31, 2020


  • River Teeth

    River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative was co-founded in 1999 by Joe Mackall and Dan Lehman, professors at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. The journal is recognized as a national leader in publishing quality essays, memoir, and literary journalism. 

    River Teeth has grown from a biennial journal edited by two professors with stacks of envelopes in their offices to a burgeoning organization that continues to publish, without bias, the best of today’s nonfiction. 

    From the very beginning, River Teeth has been dedicated to the simple premise that good writing counts and that facts matter.

    River Teeth invites submissions of creative nonfiction, including narrative reportage, essays, and memoirs, as well as critical essays that examine the emerging genre and that explore the impact of nonfiction narrative on the lives of its writers, subjects, and readers.