Friday, August 31, 2012

Writing Prompt: Friday August 31, 2012

(I'm on a blogging hiatus until September 10th. Enjoy the start of September!)

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. Sometimes when I'm having trouble getting started on a particular day, I'll look for a writing prompt to help get my imagination going. This has helped me keep up my routine of writing every day.

For the prompts on this site, I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Today's writing prompt is:
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
-Winston Churchill
I hope this prompt inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing a story, poem, or anything else based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Tuesday September 11th for another Writing Prompt.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Upcoming Deadlines: Malfeasance Occasional and Tomorrow

One of the tools I've used sometimes to help myself get started on writing is writing towards prompts or themes for upcoming publications, either anthologies or themed issues of periodicals. Below you will find information about two such calls for submissions.

The Criminal Element website has rebooted their short fiction efforts with a new periodical called Malfeasance Occasional. For their first issue, they are looking for crime and mystery stories with the theme "Girl Trouble." This submission call runs from September 26th to October 10th, 2012. They pay a flat rate of $350 for stories of 3,000-6,000 words.

Kayelle Press is putting together an anthology of post-apocalyptic stories titled "Tomorrow." The submission call for this anthology runs through September 30th, 2012 and they will be paying $20 (Australian) for stories of 3,000-6,000 words.

As always, please make sure to read the linked guidelines pages closely to ensure that you understand details of the submission guidelines, terms, payment information, etc.

Stop back next Thursday for more Upcoming Deadlines!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Three Ways I Keep Writing

For me, the next few days are sort of exciting, in terms of personal writing milestones. A year ago today, I wrote my blog post titled "The Seinfeld Chain" which was the origin of my Daily Writing Chain and, eventually, what brought me to write the book "Write Every Day."

I started formally writing every day on September 1st, 2011. With the leap day earlier this year, that means that tomorrow (August 30th, 2012) will be my 365th consecutive day of writing with August 31st then marking the end of one calendar year of writing every day and September 1st starting a new year.

In honor of all of this, I've marked down the price of Write Every Day to 99 cents (and its equivalent in other countries) for the next few days. The price will go back up to $3.99 on the 2nd of September. So, if you have been on the fence about purchasing Write Every Day, now is a great time to go for it!

This past year hasn't always been easy for me, either on the writing side (lots of rejections before starting to get some sales) or on the personal side (it started with major unplanned home repairs and saw multiple other issues including serious health issues to both one of my parents and one of my wife's parents). And yet, I've written every day during that time. Here are three things that helped me along the way:

Writing Prompt: "Tuesday August 28, 2012"

I apparently really need that blogging hiatus. Here it is almost an hour into Wednesday in my time zone and I haven't gotten Tuesday's writing prompt up yet!

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Here's today's writing prompt with apologies for its lateness:
"Think of me what you will. I did naught but that with your best interests at heart."
I hope that it inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing something based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on the second Tuesday in September for another Writing Prompt.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Monday Motivation: Using Deadlines

The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It's the lack of a deadline.
- Chris Baty

When I saw this quote, I had to stop and think for a moment. I knew the name Chris Baty was familiar. But why? After a quick Google search, I had my "A-ha" moment, seeing that he was the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). And the quote certainly fits in that context.

It's easy to set aside the things you want to do or to work on them at such a slow pace that little progress is possible. I'm not sure I'd be quite so dismissive or talent as Baty seems to be in this quote, but I agree with the general point that many people don't chase those dreams because there's nothing prodding them to do so. It certainly was true for me for the first 20 years of my adult life. I've learned to build my own goals and deadlines and it's allowed me to have a very productive year (plus!) of writing since I got back into it last summer.

If you're saying you want to write "someday" then start today. After all, today is indeed some day.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Upcoming Blog Hiatus (September 1-9)

As mentioned recently, I'm going to be taking a short hiatus from blogging. I've got some goals specific to my September writing which I want to focus on heavily during that time and I also expect I'll be busy helping wrap up the final considerations around the Table of Contents for Unidentified Funny Objects (submission guidelines | Kickstarter campaign).

My plan is to be on hiatus from the 1st through the 9th of September. So I'll have regular posts through this Friday, August 31st and then be back on Monday, September 10th. I am also considering making some revisions to my blogging schedule and I might (or might not) have news in that regard when I return on the 10th.

Also, look for an announcement about "Write Every Day" later this week. I started my daily writing chain on September 1st, 2011 so I'll hit my 365th day of daily writing on August 30th (due to the leap day) and start a whole new year of writing every day on September 1st, 2012 with my 367th day of daily writing.

I'm still looking to bring back guest posts and interviews. With the hiatus, that would now begin on Sunday, September 16th. So, if you're interested, please let me know. Thanks!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Link of the Week: The Pomodoro Technique

This week's link is for the Wikipedia page about the Pomodoro Technique. It sounds fancy, but "Pomodoro" is simply the Italian word for "tomato" and this technique takes its name for a tomato-shaped kitchen timer that the technique creator originally used.

The basic concept is simple. Commit to a task, set a timer for 25 minutes, and work on the task until the timer stops. If an interruption arises, either defer the interruption until the end of your 25 minute interval (itself called a "pomodoro") or abandon the pomodoro if the interruption can't wait. Once you've completed your pomodoro, if you intend to keep at your task, take a five minute break before diving in for another 25 minutes. If you complete four sets (two hours, in total, with the breaks) then take a longer break. The Wikipedia page provides some additional information and some of the rationale behind the approach.

I haven't personally used this technique but know multiple people who swear by it for both writing and software development. There's a company out there which sells official timers, a book, etc. but for experimenting with this technique, I would suspect that the bare bones as described on the Wikipedia page are sufficient.

Have you used Pomodoros in your work? If so, what's your experience been with them?

Friday, August 24, 2012

Writing Prompt: Friday August 24, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. Sometimes when I'm having trouble getting started on a particular day, I'll look for a writing prompt to help get my imagination going. This has helped me keep up my routine of writing every day.

For the prompts on this site, I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Today's writing prompt is this image:

Photo by Chris Potako
I hope this prompt inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing a story, poem, or anything else based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Tuesday for another Writing Prompt.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Upcoming Deadlines: Scheherezade’s Bequest & Stealing Time

One of the tools I've used sometimes to help myself get started on writing is writing towards prompts or themes for upcoming publications, either anthologies or themed issues of periodicals. Below you will find information about two such calls for submissions.

The magazine Scheherezade’s Bequest is moving toward print publication. For their first print issue, they are looking for issues featuring the archetypal figure of The Loathly Lady. The guidelines note that straightforward retellings of this character's story may be "a hard-sell." This submission call runs through November 30th, 2012. They pay a flat rate of $30 for stories over 1,000 words and a flat rate of $15 for poems and stories of 1,000 words of fewer.

Stealing Time is a publication aimed at parents, with the idea of producing a literary magazine of relevance particularly to topics of parenting. They have multiple themed calls up for consideration. The one ending soonest is on the topic of Celebration. This submission call runs through October 1st, 2012. They pay an indeterminate amount but state that most pieces will be paid in the range of $100-500 for stories of 500-3,000 words.

As always, please make sure to read the linked guidelines pages closely to ensure that you understand details of the submission guidelines, terms, payment information, etc.

Stop back next Thursday for more Upcoming Deadlines!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Three Books on Writing I Want To Read

In addition to the time I spent writing and the time I spend reading fiction, I also enjoy reading about the process of writing. Lately, a lot of that has taken the form of reading blog posts, etc. but there are three books I'm looking forward to reading on this topic.
  1. Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury - In honor of Bradbury's birthday today, this title gets top spot. I have a copy sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read. Now it's just a matter of making the time for it!
  2. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott - This book was recommended to me by a fellow writer. I had put it on hold at the library but then didn't get around to picking it up before the hold expired. So I won't be reading this one right away, but it is still on my mental "to read" list.
  3. On Writing by Stephen King - This one is a bit of a cheat, I guess, since I read it shortly after it came out. But I remember greatly enjoying it and I haven't read it since shortly after it came out. I think it's just about time to give this one another go.
What about you? Do you have writing-related books on your "to read" list?

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Writing Prompt: Tuesday August 21, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Here's today's writing prompt:
Photo by Elena Lagaria
I hope that it inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing something based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Friday for another Writing Prompt.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Monday Motivation: Take Your Shot!

You miss 100% of the shots you never take.
- Wayne Gretzky

Oh, come on. You knew I'd have to sneak some hockey in here sometime, right?

This is a great quote, though, to think of when you consider submitting stories/novels/poems/articles for publication. If you don't try, if you self-reject either by not sending your work out at all or skip sending your work to high-end markets because you feel like you're not at "their level", then you're "missing" those shots. Maybe you would get rejected. Heck, at least in the world of pro spec-fic short fiction markets, probably you're going to get rejected. Some of these places get a hundred or more submissions for every one slot available in their publication.

Yes, your chance may be small. But unless you go ahead and submit, you've got no chance of getting that publication credit. And (at least metaphorically, if not mathematically) even a small chance is infinitely greater than no chance.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Blog Update: Interviews/Guest Posts and an Early-September Hiatus

I'm still looking for future interviewees and guest posters. However, I'm planning on taking a short blogging hiatus around the beginning of September. So, I'm not planning to have any interviews or guest posts until Sunday September 16th which gives plenty of time for us to coordinate if you are interested. So, if this is something you would like to do, please contact me.

Thanks!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Link of the Week: Printable Calendars

This week's Link of the Week is for the site where I go to get my printable calendars. Yes, I probably could whip something up in Excel for this, but I like the ease of just going out to the My Boat Club site once a month and printing the current month's calendar.

I always print mine out landscape to have the biggest boxes available for use. Here's the link to the calendar for September, if you want to try printing one out for next month.

Once you've been using the calendars and checking off boxes for a while, you might end up having something that looks sort of like this:


The site is free, though they ask for a small donation via Paypal if you use the site regularly but it is -- as the site says -- strictly an on-your-honor thing. There's no registration, etc.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Writing Prompt: Friday August 17, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. Sometimes when I'm having trouble getting started on a particular day, I'll look for a writing prompt to help get my imagination going. This has helped me keep up my routine of writing every day.

For the prompts on this site, I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Today's writing prompt is this article about eBay banning the sale of all magic, including potions, curses, and hexes. How desperate must someone be to buy a mail-order curse? (Hat tip to L. Lambert Lawson who noted that this would make a cool writing prompt.)

I hope this prompt inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing a story, poem, or anything else based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Tuesday for another Writing Prompt.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Upcoming Deadlines: THEMA and Arcane II

One of the tools I've used sometimes to help myself get started on writing is writing towards prompts or themes for upcoming publications, either anthologies or themed issues of periodicals. Below you will find information about two such calls for submissions.

The journal THEMA (as the names suggests) specializes in themed issues. The theme which is coming up soonest for them is "Eyeglasses are needed." This submission call runs through November 1st, 2012. They pay a flat rate of $25 for stories over 1,000 words and a flat rate of $10 for poems and stories of 1,000 words of fewer.

The second submission call for this week is for the Arcane II anthology. This is an anthology of horror, dark fantasy, and weird fiction short stories. This submission call runs through September 30th, 2012. They pay 1 cent per word plus a copy of the anthology. There is a cap of $50 on the payment.

As always, please make sure to read the linked guidelines pages closely to ensure that you understand details of the submission guidelines, terms, payment information, etc.

Stop back next Thursday for more Upcoming Deadlines!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Three Benefits Of Using Duotrope

The Duotrope website went through a major overhaul earlier today, which seems to make this a prime opportunity to discuss the site. If you submit short fiction or poetry to periodicals/anthologies and you're not already using Duotrope, there's a very good chance that you could benefit from using the site.

Duotrope is a free site; they ask for donations to help keep it that way. I have happily donated in the past and plan to do so again in the future. You do have to register to access some of the features of the site, but since it's free to try, though, you can get a good feel for its value to you before making any financial committment.

And now, three benefits of using Duotrope:
  1. Market research and submission tracking. This is what I'd call the "core competency" of Duotrope. You can use Duotrope to research markets which might be interested in publishing things which you have written. You can also track your submissions on the site; this allows you to easily avoid submitting two stories at the same time to a market which doesn't allow for this, submitting the same poem a market has already rejected to them again, etc. Now, I do suggest that people have some kind of backup of this submission tracking data external to Duotrope, just in case something should happen and the service should be temporarily or permanently unavailable. But as a day-to-day resource, I find it very easy to use.
  2. Keeping track of upcoming deadlines. Duotrope has a Theme and Deadline Calendar feature which can help you keep track not just of themed deadlines like those I write about every Thursday but also when submission windows are closing for other publications.
  3. Spotting signs that a market might be having difficulty. Admittedly, this one involves making some educated guesses. But there's a lot of information around the response time statistics of markets which can be viewed on Duotrope. Often, before I submit to an unfamiliar market, I will look at the "Response Times" section of the market's Duotrope page and also click on the link on that market's page titled "View report of recent responses from this market." Between those two sets of data, I can see if it looks like the market has been doing a poor job of responding to recent submissions and that does sometimes influence my decision of which markets to prioritize.
If you already use Duotrope and have a favorite feature which I didn't call out, give it a mention in the comments below. I'd be happy to learn more about how to use the site.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Writing Prompt: August 14, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Here's today's writing prompt:
"The weather that day was quite unlike any other I had experienced before."
I hope that it inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing something based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Friday for another Writing Prompt.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Monday Motivation: Get Started!

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
- unknown (attributed often to both Mark Twain and Agatha Christie)

So we don't know who said this, but it's often attributed to one of two writers, so that will have to be good enough for this writing-related blog!

One of the things that paralyzes many people (not just writers) is fear, and one way that fear paralyzes people is by keeping you from getting started. After all, if you don't start -- if you don't try -- well, then, you can't fail! Of course, you also can't succeed. And there are many, many ways that writers can identify success, depending on their own personal goals. Even if it's not "getting ahead" in the way that people might traditionally think of that phrase, you can be a success, but only if you first get started.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Looking for Interviewees and Guest Posters

Right now my schedule is clear for future interviewees and guest posters. I'd like to start having some again starting on August 26th or September 2nd, so if you are interested in being a guest poster, please contact me.

Thanks!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Link of the Week: Five Golden Rules for Successful Goal Setting

Every Saturday I highlight a link that I think is worth checking out for writers, particularly those who are working on developing a daily writing routine. This week's link is "Five Golden Rules for Successful Goal Setting."

I set goals for myself every month and then go back at the end of the month and track how I did at accomplishing them. (I also typically do a "status check" on my goals at least once mid-month.) My goals are always around things that are, for all intents and purposes, completely within my control. So I wouldn't list "sell two stories" as a goal because I can't control whether editors buy my stories. All I can do is send them out and wait for the reply. But I could list "write two new stories and get them both submitted for the first time" as a goal because that's something which is on me to either do or do not. (There is, after all, no try.)

The post I'm linking to this week does a great job of talking about best practices for goal setting. I hope that it provides some useful insights to you!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Writing Prompt: Friday August 10th, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. Sometimes when I'm having trouble getting started on a particular day, I'll look for a writing prompt to help get my imagination going. This has helped me keep up my routine of writing every day.

For the prompts on this site, I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Today's writing prompt is:
"The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
Of Learning, late deceased in beggary."
(From Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream)
I hope this prompt inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing a story, poem, or anything else based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Tuesday for another Writing Prompt.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Upcoming Deadlines: Slice Magazine & Dreaming of Djinn

One of the tools I've used sometimes to help myself get started on writing is writing towards prompts or themes for upcoming publications, either anthologies or themed issues of periodicals. Below you will find information about two such calls for submissions.

Slice Magazine is currently reading stories and poems on the theme of "Obsession." This issue's submission call runs from August 31st, 2012 and Kazka will be paying a flat rate of $100 for stories of up to 5,000 words and $50 for poems.

The second submission call for this week is for the Dreaming of Djinn anthology. It's described by the publishers as follows:
[This anthology] will look at romantic Orientalism through a speculative fiction lens. You might find lost cities, magical lamps, mummies, thieves, intrepid explorers, slaves, robotic horsemen, noble queens, sorcerers, outcast princes, harems, dancers, djinn, assassins and even smart-talking camels and cats, set in exotic Persia, Egypt, Arabia, the Ottoman Empire, or a modern incarnation of these.
This submission call runs through October 15th, 2012. They pay 2 cents (Australian) per word plus two copies of the anthology for stories of 2,000-7,500 words.

Edited to add: I've had a conversation about the appropriateness of some of the language in the "Dreaming of Djinn" call. I had a brief concern, myself, last night and I suspect I should have heeded that and selected a different anthology to include in this post. I'm going to leave it here, with this comment, rather than erase my own decision. My hope is that the editors are looking for respectful/respectable stories with the themes of lost cities, etc. but it's fair to question that given some of the language they chose to use. A quick search led me to a blog post which explains the concerns well. Given that the blog post is from four months ago, it seems that either Ticonderoga is unaware of the concerns or chose not to react to them. Ultimately, what I want to say, is that I apologize to anyone who is offended by this anthology's inclusion in this week's "Upcoming Deadlines" post and I will give greater consideration to these issues when selecting publications for future posts. Thank you. -MH

As always, please make sure to read the linked guidelines pages closely to ensure that you understand details of the submission guidelines, terms, payment information, etc.

Stop back next Thursday for more Upcoming Deadlines!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Three Signs Your Process Might Not Be Working

Ultimately, the only person who can say whether your writing process is truly working is you. Because you're writing for your own goals. (I'm assuming here that you're not dealing with other parties who have a vested interest in the outcome of your writing.)

That said, here are three things which might be a warning sign that your process isn't taking you where you want it to.
  1. You're ending up with lots of unfinished work. I know some people who say that this is part of their process, and if they're still meeting their goals, I certainly can't say that they're "doing it wrong." But, to me, unfinished work represents time spent with only minimal return on the time. (I wouldn't say none, since you're getting more experience as a writer even then. Though, on the flip side, you could be reinforcing some bad habits.) If I put even a couple of hours into writing something, I'd like to think that it will be something that someone else will read eventually and (hopefully) that I'll get paid for. If I don't finish a first draft, or if I finish a first draft but don't revise, then I'm not going to meet those goals.
  2. You're spending a lot more hours working than seems appropriate for your output. Again, everyone's different, so this is something that really only you can decide if it applies to your situation. For me, if I found I was spending lots of hours at the computer and only getting a single short-short (flash) story out of it, I'd feel like there was something amiss. And to a certain extent, I think it's reasonable to include ancillary time (writing-related correspondence, chat rooms, message boards, etc.) as part of your "working" time. None of those things are bad things, but they aren't inherently "writing" and while some of them may be necessary (submitting stories, dealing with contracts, etc.) it's still good to keep an eye on your overall time "spend."
  3. You're not having fun. Writing, for many of us, is work. Writing, for many of us, is also play. It's an interesting dynamic. If it's starting to feel like drudgery, not just once in a while, but on a regular basis, then you might want to take a step back and evaluate what you're doing and why. It may be more than just a "process" issue, in this case, but a malfunctioning process could be one possible cause.
One of the things that helps me is to do a certain amount of self-evaluation of these things (and others). Am I getting stories finished and out the door? Am I spending a "normal" (for me) amount of time on writing? Am I having fun? When I can answer "Yes" to all three, I know I'm in a good place.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Writing Prompt: August 7th, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Here's today's writing prompt:
Image by Mark Rain used under Creative Commons license
I hope that it inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing something based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Friday for another Writing Prompt.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Monday Motivation: Making Things Happen

Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
- John F. Kennedy

This quote feels very timely coming on the day of the successful landing of Curiosity on Mars, both since that certainly is something that was made to happen and since the same speaker famously challenged the US space program to land a man on the moon in a decade.

It applies to our writing, of course, as well. Our stories can't write themselves. We have to be the ones to sit down and do the work. Make the time to make the things you want to see happen, happen.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Guest Post: Rebecca Roland on Maintaining a Writing Routine with Children

Today's guest post is by Rebecca Roland; she talks about learning to maintain a writing routine while adjusting to having a child. Rebecca has a blog titled "Spice of Life" and she is also on Twitter.

Thanks, Rebecca, for writing this post!



When I had my son, I took time off not only from my day job, but also from writing. It was hard enough to find time to shower, much less put words on paper. But after a few weeks, I had the itch to write, and I slowly got back to it.

Gone were the hours on weekends and days off when I could ease into my writing after goofing around on the Internet or doing the dishes or vacuuming the cat. I had a finite time to write, and I needed to make the most of it.

I tried to figure out how other people did it. I knew writers with twins, for crying out loud, and they still managed to fit in writing time. I even scoured the Internet for tips and tricks. How was I supposed to work and care for my son and fit in the writing?

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Link of the Week: L. Lambert Lawson on Writing Every Day "Our Honor Becomes Greater Than Our Moods"

Every Saturday I highlight a link that I think is worth checking out for writers, particularly those who are working on developing a daily writing routine. As soon as I read L. Lambert Lawson's great post "Writing Every Day: Our Honor Becomes Greater Than Our Moods" last night, I knew it had to be this week's featured link.

I'm featuring this not because he starts out by mentioning "Write Every Day." (Well, okay, that certainly didn't do anything to discourage me from liking the piece...) What I really loved about it, though, was how he synthesized multiple different pieces of advice and inspiration here. He draws from not just what I've written, but from behavioral psychologists and Stephen Covey, who is the source for the title of his post.

Historically, I've been quite good (or, rather, poor) at letting my moods and whims take hold of my direction in some aspects of life. I've written quite a few times about how I had written frequently as a child but then spent hardly any time as an adult writing up until this past year. But once I committed to writing every day and got a bit of momentum, having that commitment has gotten me through many, many days when I truly didn't feel like writing. Those might not always have been my best writing days though I think that in general once I get in a groove for a writing session, my original mood is largely irrelevant. So that quote from Covey really rings true for me and is a nice crystallization of how I feel about that very topic.

In fact, I'm finally making some progress with using the same core concepts behind the Daily Writing Chain in another area of my life. My wife and I have had a small side business for years which has started to languish in the past several years for a variety of reasons. I committed to putting a small amount of effort into it every day starting July 1st. So far, I've met that commitment every day and even met a small stretch goal which I had set for myself for the month of July as a whole.

We've talked some here recently about how writing every day doesn't work for everyone -- people for whom it doesn't work shouldn't feel any less good about their own routine. But for me, and for quite a few other writers, it's been a very fruitful technique.

Thanks to L. Lambert Lawson for his insightful post.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Writing Prompt: Friday August 3rd, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. Sometimes when I'm having trouble getting started on a particular day, I'll look for a writing prompt to help get my imagination going. This has helped me keep up my routine of writing every day.

For the prompts on this site, I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Today's writing prompt is:
A hot day at the State Fair.
I hope this prompt inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing a story, poem, or anything else based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Tuesday for another Writing Prompt.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Upcoming Deadlines: Kazka Press Flash Fiction & Dead North

One of the tools I've used sometimes to help myself get started on writing is writing towards prompts or themes for upcoming publications, either anthologies or themed issues of periodicals. Below you will find information about two such calls for submissions.

Kazka Press has made some changes to their monthly flash fiction contests and there's one in particular which I'd like to draw your attention to. The September contest has the theme of "Love Beyond Death" and will be guest-edited by me. This issue's submission call runs from September 1st through 20th, 2012 and Kazka will be paying a flat rate of $10 for stories of 713-1,000 words. They asked me to provide a few words about what I wanted to see in submissions and I said:
The best thing I can say is: surprise me! There are some obvious directions this theme could take: ghosts, other paranormal beasties, personality-on-a-microchip/uploaded-brain type stories, etc. I’m not saying I won’t take those if they’re great, because we want to provide great stories for the contest’s readers. But if I’ve got the choice between a great ghost story and a great story that took the theme in a direction I couldn’t have anticipated and that made me say ‘Wow!’ I know which one I’ll pick every time.
The second submission call for this week is for the Dead North anthology. This is an anthology of zombie stories set in Canada. This submission call runs through September 30th, 2012. They pay 2 cents (Canadian) per word plus two copies of the anthology for original stories of 2,000-10,000 words. Reprints will be considered at a flat rate of $40 Canadian. Authors do not have to be Canadian themselves to submit, though the editor has asked for authors with Canadian citizenship or permanent residency to state as such in their cover letter.

As always, please make sure to read the linked guidelines pages closely to ensure that you understand details of the submission guidelines, terms, payment information, etc.

Stop back next Thursday for more Upcoming Deadlines!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Three Things You Can Get From Writing Something Different

One of the things that I consider when I'm in a bit of a writing rut is trying to write something different from my usual fare. This could be something significantly different -- a poem when you usually write prose, a story in a genre you usually don't write in, etc. -- or it could be something like trying a stylistic approach you rarely use. Maybe you rarely write in 1st person, for example. You could try giving that a go. (Note that this works best, in my opinion, for shorter works where you're expending a relatively small amount of energy in the experiment.)

Here are three reasons to consider writing something different, whether you're in a rut or not.
  1. You might find out you like/are good at what you try. Just like with trying a new food or listening to a new type of music for the first time, you could very well find something that you enjoy doing quite a bit by trying writing something beyond your usual work. Depending on where you are in your writing career, it may or may not make sense to pursue that with vigor, but it can't hurt to know it either way.
  2. You might be able to take things you learned from the experiment and apply them to your more-typical work. One of the things that you would hopefully be doing from this type of experiment is growing as a writer, at least in breadth of experience. Having broader experience gives you more to draw from while writing in general.
  3. You have a bit of experience with something new if you want or need to work with it more in the future. Maybe your experiment was with writing a story in a setting different from your usual setting. If a themed anthology opens up, then, which depends on that setting you already have some background knowledge from which to start.
Something to bear in mind is that these three reasons can apply to not only writing, but to reading. I wrote a story recently which I personally was very happy with and which also got very good comments (along with suggestions for improvement, of course) from my beta readers. That story is one that I think shows some influence from the poetry reading I've been doing over the past couple of months.

That's a great thing about being a writer -- all this stuff funnels into our brains and it can come out later in pretty darn awesome ways!