“If I had more time, I’d write a shorter story.”— Mark Twain Today’s Guest Blogger, Guy Biederman, talks about crafting short fiction. I’ve always been intrigued by the challenge of creating something small that has big power. Giacometti said he wanted to make a sculpture the size of a matchbox, but so dense no one could lift it. The first micro story I remember reading was “Coup de Grace” by Ambrose Bierce, with a gotcha ending. O. Henry’s “Gift of the Magi used” a similar technique. I was astonished by the wallop a short piece could pack. As a young writer, I cut my teeth on Raymond Carver’s work. Carver’s stories weren’t always short, but they were spare and vivid, conveyed feeling, empathy and understanding, and explained very little. I didn’t know what he was doing or how he did it. I only knew that reading his work was like…
Tag: Recovery Writing of Idaho
Pull
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Pull By Guy Biederman Writing backwards, I row toward home. Note from Marlene: Your turn. Write a story in six words. Guy Biederman teaches short fiction and is the author of five collections of short work, including Nova Nights (Nomadic Press,), Edible Grace (KYSO Flash Press), and Soundings and Fathoms, stories (Finishing Line Press). His work has appeared in many journals including Carve, Flashback Fiction, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Bull, great weather for Media, Riddled with Arrows, The Disappointed Housewife, and Exposition Review, where he was twice a Flash 405 winner. Guy’s stories, prose, and poems have also won a Publisher’s Choice Award, an Editor’s choice Award, and been nominated for the Best of the Net. Born in the Chihuahuan Desert near the Mexican border, Guy grew up on a Sting-Ray in Ventura, learned to write in the…
The Disappointed Housewife
Notes from The Disappointed Housewife editor Kevin Brennan: “The Disappointed Housewife is a literary journal for writers, and readers, who are seeking something different. We like the idiosyncratic, the iconoclastic, the offbeat, the hard-to-categorize. Out of the universe of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, we want to attract work that plays with form and presentation. Work that’s not just outside the box but turns the box inside out.” Excerpt from Mission Statement I took a long time debating whether to launch this literary journal. I wondered whether there’s really a need for another online gazette of literature and image, when readers hardly have time to read their friends’ Facebook pages much less an actual book now and then. But I got to thinking, there are an awful lot of writers out there, looking for places to share their work. And while blogs offer a kind of outlet for works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry,…
The Ekphrastic Review
The Ekphrastic Review “We only publish literature inspired by or responding to visual art in some way. Our definition is flexible, but we are a niche journal and an ekphrastic writing archive and do not consider or publish non-ekphrastic work. Submissions that are not connected in some way to visual art will be deleted without response.” Ekphrastic MissionThe Ekphrastic Review is committed to the growth, expansion, and practice of the art form of creative writing inspired or prompted by visual art. We define ekphrastic writing simply as “creative writing inspired by art.” The piece can be an in-depth experience of the art work, or it can use the art as a starting point for expression. The connection to the artwork or artist can be subtle, or it can be central to the work. Best Chances of Publication 1. Ekphrastic translations. We are hungry for ekphrastic work from all over the world,…
MacQueen’s Quinterly
MacQueen’s Quinterly : Knock-your-socks-off Art and Literature publishes writing of a thousand words or less. “Short forms are deceptively difficult to write well, and although they take only a few minutes to read, the best resonate far longer than that. Perhaps for a lifetime. We’re dedicated to publishing such gems—please dive in to see the latest we’ve found for you.” Submission Guidelines Bonus Info: Guy Biederman is a successful contributor to MacQueen’s Quinterly.