From December 2013 issue of The Writer magazine. “In the Classroom” with Kelly Caldwell. 1. Don’t worry about What is My Larger Subject? in your first draft. Just get out of your own way, write the story and let the universal themes of the essay reveal themselves. 2. When you’ve got that first draft, ask yourself, “So what?” and write down the answer. 3. When you reach a point in the essay where you want to make things up because they would be more interesting or more satisfying or just prettier, don’t. This is creative NONfiction, after all, and yes, that matters. Also, those are usually places where you need to dig deeper, because that’s where the richer, more meaningful material usually lies.
Writers @ Work Annual Fellowship Competition
Writers @ Work Annual Fellowship Competition is pleased to announce its annual Fellowship Competition for emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry — a great opportunity for emerging writers to have their work vetted by a talented panel of judges, well-known in their respective fields. http://www.writersatwork.org/wp/?page_id=1171 First Prize: $1,000; Publication in Quarterly West; tuition for the 2014 conference; featured reading at the conference. Two Honorable Mentions: $250. Eligibility: Any writer who has not yet published a book-length volume of original work in the genre in which they submit a manuscript. Unpublished work only. Work appearing in online journals is considered published. Work on personal websites or blogs is considered unpublished.
The Truth About Fiction — Guest Blogger L. Avery Brown
Guest Blogger L. Avery Brown writes about The Truth About Fiction. “It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” – Mark Twain Smart fellow, that Mark Twain. He really understood the difference between storytelling via the written word as opposed to the tradition of oral storytelling. Case in point . . . my father was a master storyteller. And any little thing could trigger one of the stories in his ginormous mental Rolodex of memories. Every time he told a story it was slightly different and yet it was always the same. The people, the setting, the ending – they were always fairly consistent even if he left out little details. But that was fine, because his storytelling did what it was supposed to do . . . it planted the seeds of memories I didn’t realize had even taken root until years later when…
Photo prompt — Prompt #27
With a photo prompt, write whatever comes up for you. Photo prompt by Colby Drake. One of the things that Colby enjoys about photography is the adventure of going out to scenic areas and trying to capture those places to share with others. He believes that there is no better feeling than sharing his experiences with others when they weren’t able to be there in person. Now living in northwest Oregon, Colby has the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful places in the world (at least in his opinion). He hopes that he is able to share these places and experiences with many people that are not able to enjoy them for themselves. Enjoy!
Something you keep, but . . . Prompt #26
Today’s prompt: Something you keep but have no use for, why do you keep it?
Her Story Anthology: Write to Heal Abuse
Gabrielle Pullen, founder of Your L.I.F.E Matters, Inc, is seeking submissions for Her Story Anthology: Write to Heal Abuse. Writing is one way to make sense of our experience and turn pain into art. Your insight matters, to you and to other women who don’t yet believe they can get out. Pick one moment when you knew something had to give, and for once, it wouldn’t be you. This anthology will contain short stories, either non-fiction or creative fictionalized accounts, of your experience which demonstrate creativity and clarity. Your L.I.F.E. Matters, Inc. began as a desire to support women with codependency issues who tended to play the victim. Gabrielle hoped to speak indirectly to her grown daughter through her work. But two days before the launch, in September of 2011, her daughter was found dead in her room in Eugene, Oregon where she was about to finish her last semester…
Just because you ran into an obstacle . . . . — Ellen Britt
Just because you ran into an obstacle, a setback or a bump in the road, does NOT mean your dream is over. It’s a sign it’s WORTH pursuing! — Ellen Britt Dr. Ellen Britt is an award-winning online marketing strategist, Amazon best-selling author and founder of PinkCoatTails.com, featuring Fabulous Finds and Delicious Deals for women online entrepreneurs. Ellen specializes in teaching savvy women entrepreneurs how to take their knowledge and expertise and transform it into Genuine Influence. She has produced and hosted more than a dozen telesummits and has interviewed some of today’s most well-known and respected names in marketing and self-development. Connect with Ellen and her Pink Coattails community on Facebook by clicking here.
A place where you find satisfaction — Prompt #25
How to write riveting scenery description — shown below by Elizabeth Berg, in an excerpt from her book, Escaping into the Open. The summer when I was nine years old, we lived beside a huge gully. I used to go there nearly every day. Agates and wildflowers were plentiful and free for the taking — you were limited only by the size of your hands and pockets. Near the center of the gully was a secluded embankment covered by blades of grass the length and texture of girls’ hair. Willow trees surrounded it, and the sunlight coming through their leaves created a lacy pattern of shadow that I always wished I could pick up and lay over my head like a mantilla. Day after day, I lay on that small hill and watched the shifting patterns of clouds and listened to the birds. I could not identify the birds themselves,…
Writing about place
Kevin Nance’s interview of August Kleinzahler in the Nov/Dec 2013 issue of Poets & Writers shows how to describe character and setting. “One bright afternoon in San Francisco, Kleinzahler joins me for a spot of lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, once a hippie haven and now well into the process of gentrification, full of trendy shops and high-end hipsters. He cuts a fine figure in sunglasses, a banded hat, and a jaunty scarf tied haphazardly around his neck. He is, in some ways, a Californian now, a San Franciscan. ‘It agreed with me instantly,’ he says of the city he first encountered more than three decades ago. ‘The look of it, the feel of it, the bookstores, the bars, the Chinese food—all good for me.’ On the other hand, ‘It’s not home,’ he says, ‘The people don’t talk right here, they don’t walk right, their…
My mother always said . . . Prompt #24
My Mother always said . . . Set your timer for 12, 15 or 20 minutes and Just Write!