Innehållsförteckning för May 2019 från The Writer

This month I’ve been thinking a lot about the way we consume stories. Spinning yarns is what brings us all to the table, right? Whether our bylines appear in scripts, newspapers, magazines, or books, we’re all driven by the desire to share a compelling story – and to reach people who will find it meaningful. So how disheartening it is to see some methods of content consumption branded as “better” than others. Once at a social gathering, I saw two acquaintances try to bond over a book they’d both enjoyed immensely. “I read it at the beach,” one said. “I listened to it on the drive up to Maine,” the other said. “Oh, then you didn’t really read it,” corrected the first, as the second ducked her head in embarrassment.…

Minimalism isn’t just effective for your career and your sanity; it can help your writing, too. Openyour latest draft and copy a portion – a paragraph, a page, or a chapter – into a new document. Noweliminate one word in each sentence of the pasted draft. (You may have to revise a few to preserve clarity, and that’s OK.) Next trim two syllables from each sentence. (Did you really need to say “raven tresses” when “dark hair” would convey the same meaning?) Interrogateyour modifiers: Does she “tend to sing in the mornings,” or can she just “sing in the morning?” Is saying that “he likes to call her late at night” worth the extra words compared to “he calls her late at night?” Scoutfor places where you filter action through…

In my volunteer work for a disaster relief agency, I go away for weeks at a time, and meet people who are experiencing the worst weeks of their lives. And when I get home, I am an essentially useless collection of self-regenerating cells. Ask my husband, who bears the brunt of this transformation from capable human to meat puppet. In the time it takes for me to get from airport to home, I become the neediest creature in his universe: I cannot fetch nourishment for myself. I can barely speak. Expecting me to be social or coherent is silliness. I get a similar sensation when it comes time to think up a title for anything I’ve written. After the hard sprint of writing the story or essay that the title’s…

Forget blogging: Ever think about starting your own podcast? Many writers’ worst nightmare is public speaking, so it’s understandable if it sounds like something to run from, not invest in. But producing a podcast isn’t really so different from maintaining a writing website. You still get to edit your imperfections, your tics, your lengthy run-on sentences. You’ll still need to write a script and think creatively about content – and your audience. Plus, your readers can listen to your stories wherever they are: in the kitchen, on the highway, or at the gym. In a world where time spent with the printed page is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity, there’s a clear benefit to writing for a medium that caters to an audience on the go (and with short attention…

What inspired you to write “Gazelle?” I find myself repeatedly drawn to the question of fate versus free will. How much influence does anyone really have on the circumstances of their lives? I am especially charged by characters who find themselves in precarious and dangerous positions through little fault of their own or as the result of a single reckless or uninformed decision. How did you find your protagonist’s unique voice on the page? When did you know when you had gotten it just right? Writing adolescent protagonists is especially appealing to me for the mix of bravado and innocence, and the potential to have it shattered. I never know if I have a protagonist’s voice just right! I try to get myself out of the way and let the…

Click any story in the 2-year-old online literary journal CRAFT, and you’ll get much more than short fiction. Each story is tagged with one or two particular elements of craft – interiority, character development, dialogue, setting, allusion, and the like – so that readers interested in studying a specific example skillfully rendered know exactly where to look. Each fiction writer who publishes on CRAFT’s website includes an author’s note offering biographical information as well as insights into what inspired the story and which elements of craft proved challenging and rewarding. The author’s note, editors explain, frequently moves readers to return to the story with a new understanding of how it came together before publication. Tone, editorial content “We look for pieces with attention to craft, with some sort of technical…

“EVERYTHING SHE WANTS” Alexis carries a bag that is too heavy for her to the car. She puts it down after the first set of stairs and drags sticky peanut-butter-and-jelly fingers over the sweat gathering on the back of her neck. She heaves it the rest of the way, setting the bulk of the bundle on her leg. No one else is ready to go to Ocean City, but she is. She can’t find the dark pink swimsuit that she and her father bought at Hecht’s, but she’ll wear her old one, the babyish one, with the rainbows. Alexis is eight and is ready for real life to begin. Inside the two-story colonial in Northeast, her mother is putting chicken salad sandwiches into plastic zip-top bags and burying two cream…

It’s hard enough to find time to write. Finding time to educate ourselves about our craft and industry seems even more daunting. But thanks to writing-themed podcasts, it’s easy to take your education on the go. Fire up one of these writerly shows the next time you’re cooking dinner, waiting in the school pick-up line, or doing reps at the gym. Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing You’re probably already familiar with Mignon Fogarty’s well-known Grammar Girl website. But did you know she hosts a grammar podcast with more than 600 episodes? Each one (some are only a few minutes long) answers reader questions about the English language, such as “irregardless vs. regardless,” whether “data” is singular or plural, and the plural of “Batman.” Soundcloud.com/grammar-girl The Creative…

With the prevalence of mobile devices like smartphones, MP3 players, and smart speakers, technology makes it easy to listen to an audiobook while driving, cooking, gardening, exercising, or relaxing at home. Although you receive the same story or information when you read, listening is a different experience than reading. A great narrator can bring a book to life, creating a personal experience for the listener. Audiobooks make up a small percentage of digital sales, but they are on the rise. According to the Audio Publishers Association (APA), audiobook sales in 2017 totaled more than $2.5 billion, up 22.7 percent over 2016, and unit sales were up 21.5 percent. Over 46,000 audiobooks were published in 2017. (Like in print fiction, the most popular genres continue to be mystery/thriller/suspense, sci-fi/fantasy, and romance.)…

Nearly two decades ago, I left for college to become A Great Fiction Writer. I would study under wise masters, osmose their brilliance, and in short order craft my own fictional wonders to bestow upon the world. One thing this plan explicitly did not include? Poetry. In any form. Meter terrified me, villanelles induced hives, and enjambment, well, it certainly doesn’t sound like a good thing, does it? Not to mention, I had zero interest in looking foolish before an audience of my peers and the abovementioned wise masters. As such, I spent four years diligently avoiding any course with the dreaded p-word in its description. (“P” could also stand for painting, which I likewise dodged.) I had my reasons. In high school, my English coursework had been top-notch, with…

Some rules are made to be broken, but in the world of writing contests, that’s not the case. Here are common elements to double check before you submit your work. You don’t want to be disqualified for a clerical error. The following contests are a sampling of what the industry has to offer. You’ll find even more listings at writermag.com, including our own short fiction contests. Information in this section is provided to The Writer by the individual markets and events; for more information, contact those entities directly. F = Fiction N = Nonfiction P = Poetry C = Children’s Y = Young adult O = Other F THE WRITER SHORT STORY CONTEST Regularly hosted by The Writer magazine. Max 2,000 words. Submit via online portal only. Deadline: Check website.…

Truth be told, I’ve always considered myself a “serious” writer. Under my twentysomething exterior is a stereotypically grumpy old man who shakes his cane at the digital age, scooting it off his lawn for mucking up the way we read and write: The digital age has made us lazier and less original. We’re all hacks. But I’m a hypocrite: I write “hack.” And a fair bit, at that. I daylight as a social media copywriter and supplement my income through ghostwritten blogs for small-medium enterprises and lifestyle articles for women’s magazines. That doesn’t mean I don’t write “real” stuff as well; rather, the writing I consider “real” isn’t profitable…and that’s OK. Writing hack lets me write for me, which is why I’m listing my rationale for hack writing. Here are…

I wait for him in the corner. Sitting on the floor, behind the bed, under the single bulb. I wait there because it will take him three seconds longer to get to me. Three seconds less with his hands on me. I know the light makes the hollows under my eyes look darker but I don’t care. He doesn’t expect much from me. He’s happy with the mounds and holes and angles of me. He comes regular and asks for me and it makes me look good to Ray so I don’t mind him so much. At least I know what to expect. Not like the ones who come in late on Saturdays. Straight from the airport or a strip club. Drunk and smelling like piss or cigarettes or worse…

She’s authored hit novels such as Phasma, Kill the Farm Boy, and the Blud series. She’s written comics for series like Rick and Morty, Star Wars, Adventure Time, and The X-Files. She’s a hilarious guest blogger at Chuck Wendig’s TERRIBLEMINDS website. And she’s got a social media presence that’s the envy of most writers. Perhaps more important for our purposes, Delilah S. Dawson is the sharer of useful writing advice, which I witnessed firsthand when she recently came to Ringling College of Art and Design to work with our creative writing students. Here are some of the best insights that she had to offer. I’m a huge Star Wars fan, so let’s start there. You’ve written “The Perfect Weapon” (a short story), various Star Wars comics, and the New York…

In her debut collection, Training School for Negro Girls, Camille Acker brings readers short stories that are powerful, intense, and moving. Organized into two sections, called “Lower School” and “Upper School,” her stories revolve around the lives of African-American girls and women. The setting is Acker’s hometown of Washington, D.C., and beautifully tackles both everyday struggles along with larger issues and themes, including race, gender, and gentrification in America. Training School for Negro Girls has received numerous rave reviews and brought recognition to Acker’s compelling work. “After years working at something so long trying to get your ideas out in the world, it does feel sort of strange when it happens,” says Acker. “I never imaged my short story collection would be in the New York Times.” Location setting I…