Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i The Writer

MY FIRST ASSIGNMENT AS AN EDITOR for The Writer was writing a column called “Lasting Effect,” which involved mining the magazine’s archives to find nuggets of past wisdom from the greats – Stephen King, Lois Lowry, Barbara Neely, Ursula K. Le Guin – that might still be relevant today. As long as you didn’t mind legions of dust and the occasional papercut, it was a fantastic gig. I distinctly remember the first time I headed back to my desk with a stack of archival volumes from our library. It was winter in Boston, the sun slanting low through the windows, and I flipped through each year with heady reverence, never knowing which literary titan might appear on the next page. But it wasn’t any particularly well-known name who reached through…

THE EARLY DRAFTS Because early drafts are messy and experimental, they can be frustrating. There are moments, as I’m writing, where I wonder if it will ever come into focus. Keeping the faith, therefore, that it will eventually work out is essential. I have a voice in my head that I call my Negative Editor. It is a critical voice and one that I banish during the early drafts of a piece. It is easy to ruin a project in its early stages by being too judgmental. I let all ideas flow during these early drafts, knowing that I can be a more negative, critical editor later, but for this phase, an openness to new ideas is essential. Dissatisfaction is what drives revision, and there is a lot of dissatisfaction…

I met writer Cai Emmons over Twitter, via a mutual friend. She was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that attacks the nervous system and weakens muscle function, in February of 2021. Emmons’ eight books include novels, a book of short stories, and a craft book. Her two most recent novels, Livid and Unleashed, were both released in September 2022 by Red Hen Press and Dutton, respectively. You can read more about her and her work at her Medium account. [Ed. note: For this listing, Emmons recommended books by authors who self-identified as either chronically disabled or chronically ill. Some chronic illnesses lead to chronic disabilities.] The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Jean-Dominique Bauby had a stroke that led to a coma. “He emerged with a rare condition…

826NYC This organization offers a wealth of youth programming both in-person in Brooklyn or online via Zoom. Choose from five-week workshops, after-school sessions, interactive field trips, and more – including a semester-long “Dungeons & Dragons & Writers” quest for adventurers in grades 5 to 8. Cast of Wonders This YA speculative podcast welcomes submissions from writers under 18 with parental permission. Read the submission guidelines and check the schedule of submission windows at castofwonders.org/submissions. Stone Soup This print magazine promises to be “100% written and illustrated by kids,” accepting submissions from contributors aged 13 or younger. Learn more at stonesoup.com. Teen Author Boot Camp This one-day workshop for teens is available both online and in person at the Utah Valley Convention Center. The 2023 event will take place on March…

https://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-One-Line-Day-Five-Year/dp/1452174806/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=one+line+a+day+journal+five+year&qid=1667417918&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjkxIiwicXNhIjoiMy44MiIsInFzcCI6IjMuNTQifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=one+line+a+day+%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-9 1. One Line a Day Perfect for memoirists and available in a multitude of designs, this “memory book” allots space for just one written line each day and is designed to be used over a five-year period. $16.95, amazon.com https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/2023-wall-cal-bibliophile-diverse-spines 2. Bibliophile Diverse Spines Calendar This wall calendar, a collaboration by Diverse Spines founder Jamise Harper and Bibliophile author and illustrator Jane Mount, offers a beautifully drawn curated collection of books by BIPOC authors. $14.99, chroniclebooks.com https://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/collections/diaries-calendars/products/faber-poetry-diary-2023 3. Faber & Faber Poetry Diary This classic week-at-a-glance journal contains 43 poems to provide inspiration via verse all year long. $14.92, theliterarygiftcompany.com https://obviousstate.com/products/2023-literary-calendar 4. Obvious State’s 2023 Literary Calendar Each card on this postcard-style calendar features a stark graphic interpretation of a quote from a notable author, from Langston Hughes to…

Marissa Cummings is a research fellow at the University of Glasgow’s Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre. Although she and I were first introduced to each other through our mutual interest in our shared home country of Taiwan, I quickly realized that her work in accessibility and health care was also of deep interest to me: Her pinned tweet reads, “Why do we even need to say things like ‘inclusive design’ or ‘accessible design’? That should be the default. Force people to say the opposite and be honest about what they’re doing. Exclusive design. Inaccessible design.” Cummings is precise in her communication, and her current work centers around what she calls “health stories.” We met to talk about the importance of storytelling for folks who are chronically ill or disabled.…

According to legend, after the captain of a Viking ship died, his body would be placed in his longboat, which was then set afire and released onto the outgoing tide to carry him to Valhalla. My husband was born in Norway. Possibly he inherited his love of the sea from his Viking forebears. Certainly he was never happier than when on a boat. On summer visits to his childhood home on Norway’s east coast, he took me on wondrous rides in his father’s old shellacked lapstrake with the grudging pull-cord starter. We rode out in the sunlight among the skerries protecting the harbor, into deep-shaded fjords, past seaside villages so charming they were almost a cliché. Then, from the terrace of his parents’ home overlooking the town, we would sit…

What was your writing process like for this essay? This essay was born straight from the “moving on” part of the grief process. I’ve been writing and sharing “Geirr stories” for the four years since his death. “A Viking funeral” was a way of telling bits of several stories in one piece. It will become part of my memoir, Travels with Red. How about your revision process? Revisions are so much more fruitful when you allow fellow writers and trusted friends in on the process. I got priceless feedback, and I also trusted my own editing instincts. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about writing over the years? For most of my working life, I was a copywriter for large corporations. I told their stories. Now that I’m free…

(AND HEY - CONGRATS ON WRITING A SERIES!) Love from A to Z tells the story of Adam – he of the titular A – and Zayneb (she of the Z), teens who fall in love while pushing back against societal and familial expectations. As author S.K. Ali began crafting the book’s equally charming follow-up, Love from Mecca to Medina, she sometimes found herself unsure about minute details, like the ages of Adam and his sister when major events in their lives occurred. Luckily, she found a very easy way to check her facts. The Adam and Zayneb fandom had her back. “[When I] couldn’t readily find this information in the first novel, I’d just ask in my Instagram Stories and, within a minute or two, I’d get answers with…

Jan. 1 Write a short story set on a New Year’s Day where everything seems to go horribly, terribly wrong. Jan. 2 In honor of Isaac Asimov’s birthday, today is National Science Fiction Day. Read a new-to-you speculative fiction journal to celebrate. Jan. 4 Today, Earth is at perihelion, or the moment in orbit when it is closest to the sun. Write a story about a group of travelers headed to the sun: What prompts this mission, and do they succeed in their quest to reach it? Jan. 5 It’s National Screenwriters Day. If you’ve always wanted to write a film, why not take a screenwriting class this winter? Jan. 7 Author Zora Neale Hurston was born on this day 132 years ago. Jan. 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day…