If you have written your memoir, or are in the process, and it’s not shaping into what you envisioned, you could transform it into a personal essay. It might be easier, at some point, to concentrate on writing a personal essay, rather than a book-length manuscript. There are many posts on The Write Spot Blog about how to write personal essays. (Please scroll down for the how-to posts). You may be writing vignettes to satisfy your desire to write family stories. You can publish these with the help of many do-it-yourself publishing companies. If you want your personal essays to be published for public consumption, there are many opportunities for submission: Big Brick Review, Chicken Soup for The Soul, The Christian Science Monitor, Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction and so many more places. Check the back pages of Writer’s Digest magazine. You can submit your writing to be included in…
Category: Just Write
Colorado Review
THE COLORADO REVIEW accepts short fiction, personal essay, poetry, and book reviews. FICTION & NONFICTION Colorado Review considers short fiction and personal essays with contemporary themes (no genre fiction or literary criticism). POETRY Poetry of any style is accepted. Please limit poetry submissions to no more than five poems at a time. PRIZE FOR POETRY NELLIGAN PRIZE BOOK REVIEWS If you would like to submit a book review, please send query to respective editors. SUBMISSION DATES AND FORMAT (Scroll down) Nonfiction manuscripts are read year-round. Fiction & poetry manuscripts are read from August 1 to April 30. Simultaneous submissions are accepted; writers must notify CR immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. CR considers only previously unpublished work. Colorado Review purchases First North American Serial Rights; all rights revert to the author upon publication in CR. We pay $10 per page ($30 minimum) for poetry and $200 for short stories and essays. Authors…
How to turn memoir into fiction
What if you have written your memoir, or are in the process, and it just isn’t working? What to do? You might decide to publish your work as fiction based on fact, rather than memoir. Adair Lara’s article might be helpful: “10 Ways to Tell if Your Story Should be a Memoir or a Novel” in the January 23, 2012 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. You can use prompts on The Write Spot Blog for inspiration, especially, “Make a list of pivotal events, Prompt #40” and “How to write fiction based on fact,” Prompt #41.” If you don’t want to write about what happened exactly as it happened, you can use the emotions you felt during the event. Tap into those emotions to write strong scenes. Sometimes it’s helpful to see examples of ideas you want to pursue. The following novels are based on fact. Half-Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls,…
AGNI accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interviews.
AGNI Magazine accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and interviews for their print and online literary magazines. “We see literature and the arts as part of a broad, ongoing cultural conversation that every society needs to remain vibrant and alive. Our writers and artists hold a mirror up to nature, mankind, the world; they courageously reflect their age, for better or worse; and their work provokes perceptions and thoughts that help us understand and respond to our age. Literature for literature’s sake is not what AGNI is about.” Submission period: Between September 1st and May 31st. Payment: $10 per printed (or printed-out) page for all accepted prose, $20 per page for poetry, $150 maximum, along with a year’s subscription, and, for the print magazine, two contributor’s copies and four gift copies of the issue. Be sure to read all details regarding submissions. It would be a shame to miss out on being published due to a…
How to Write A Memoir— Part Two
How To Write A Memoir, Part 1 lists a variety of methods for writing personal stories. Part 2 continues with revision and the business of writing. Take care of yourself Writing one’s life story can be difficult. While writing, take good care of yourself. Anytime you are feeling overwhelmed by this writing process, set your work aside. Take a break, get some fresh air, visit with a friend. Read helpful, supportive material such as Toxic Mom’s Toolkit. Organize When editing, save your “cuts” in separate files (either paper file folders or on computer files). You might be able to use these darlings in another personal essay. Use manila file folders to store print material: newspaper articles, photos, handwritten notes, letters, brochures, etc. Revising In the revising stage, delete what might cause embarrassment. Fine tune for accuracy. Shape like a gardener pruning a hydrangea. Take a few snips here, cut a…
How To Write A Memoir — Part One
Your Life. You lived it. Surely you can write about it. Right? In How To Write A Memoir, Part 1, we’ll discuss methods and ideas about writing personal stories, with links to published memoirs. How To Write A Memoir, Part 2, we’ll cover organizing, revising and more. You can write in chronological order, or build your story around pivotal events. In the beginning, it doesn’t matter what structure you use. Write in a style that is comfortable for you. Try one way and if isn’t working for you, try something else. Memoirs written in chronological order (with back story woven in): To Have Not by Frances Lefkowitz and Grief Denied by Pauline Laurent. Rachael Herron, A Life in Stitches, assembles her stories around her knitting experiences. For the first draft, it’s fine to jump around in time. Don’t worry too much about making sense in the early stage of writing….
Writer’s Digest Magazine Short-Short Story Contest
Have you been noodling around with a short short story idea? Maybe you have written a short short and would like to see it published. Your opportunity is here and now. Writer’s Digest 16th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition is waiting for your entry. Deadline: December 14, 2015 Word Count: 1,500 words or less You can do this! Strike while the iron is hot —but don’t use clichés in your writing, unless of course, your character talks in clichés. Hmmmm. . . there’s a story idea!
The 2River View
The 2River View is an online publication of poetry, published four times a year. 2RV also has a video project. Reading Period for seasonal issues: Sept. 1 – Nov. 30 Winter Issue December 1 – February 28 Spring Issue March 1 – May 31 Summer Issue June 1 – August 31 Fall issue 2River considers unpublished poems only; poems that have not appeared in any form of print or digital media, including personal or public blogs. Simultaneous submissions can cause problems. If you are uncomfortable with a wait of up to three months, rather than sending simultaneous submissions, consider submitting toward the end of the reading period. Before submitting, please read several issues of The 2River View. The poems there best indicate the 2River standard. Each issue of 2RV consists of 10 poets only, and usually there are more than three-hundred submissions for each issue. [Note from Marlene: You could be…
Take note.
It’s early Monday morning. The day is just getting started and it’s very quiet. The softly falling rain has hushed all ambient noises. No cars drive up our country lane. People are still sleeping on this soft-feeling day, not quite ready to begin the busyness of our lives. Even the birds are quiet this morning. And I’m wondering, do you want to write? Do you contemplate ideas to write about as you stay in bed just a little longer in the morning? Do you have brilliant, awesome thoughts for writing while you are driving? As you wait for sleep to settle in, do these brilliant ideas swirl in your head? And they are brilliant, I am sure. You tell yourself you will remember everything until you have time to write. Finally, you sit down to write and those creative ideas seem to have vanished. You stretch to grasp your dazzling…
Main Street Rag Publications
Main Street Rag Publications: Literary Magazines, Anthologies, Book Publishing, Contests. Main Street Rag Literary Magazine Fiction/Creative non-fiction: Please EMAIL THE IDEA FIRST. Main Street Rag will tell you whether the subject appeals to them and if there is space for it. Prefer social or political themes over How to, process pieces or literary pieces about the life of a literarian. Images: Need high resolution to print, but require low resolution to submit.” If you don’t know the difference, you’re not ready to have your work published.” We like it all—no subject taboo—but if you are targeting cover art, we like people doing what they do, street scenes, a world in motion. Send us a picture we can hear and smell. Interviews: Prefer interviews with those in the arts—mostly literary—but visual and performing arts will also be considered. Poetry: Up to 6 pages of poetry. That can mean one long poem…