Month: April 2021

The blog posts I write with metaphors get a great deal of favorable feedback; everyone appears to embrace them. Metaphors are clearly helpful for attracting readers. A while back, I composed a piece that had nothing to do with food, but food became a running metaphor while I was revising. The food metaphor was so delicious (or possibly I was so starving) that I reworded the whole post with food on the brain. Using metaphors to improve your writing.photo credit: franzi ♥ IMAGES on Flickr. What makes metaphors work? What Are Metaphors? A metaphor is a literary device in which we say one thing is another thing. Metaphors arent indicated to be taken literally. Why Are Metaphors So Effective? Metaphors likewise simplify complicated ideas, making them much easier to absorb and comprehend....

I did have a set of truths about Lucy, plus situations I understood she had experienced, and even choices I understood she had actually made, but none of those things informed me why she did certain things and how she felt while going through them, which was the thing I eventually had to get onto the page. If I tell you individual X registered for a marathon on the very first day possible and dropped out halfway through the race, you could tell the story of someone with a lifelong dream who had a heartbreaking physical or emotional breakdown that day, or somebody who signed up on an impulse, forgot all about it, offered it a shot, and wandered off the course stating "oh well" midway through. My challenge was to develop a set of personality characteristics, feelings, worries, desires and in...

. José Angel Araguz is a CantoMundo fellow and the author of 7 chapbooks, in addition to the collections, Everything We Think We Hear, Small Fires, Until We Are Level Again, and, most recently, An Empty Pots Darkness. His poems, creative nonfiction, and evaluations have appeared in Crab Creek Review, Prairie Schooner, New South, Poetry International, and The Bind. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, he runs the poetry blog site The Friday Influence and composes erasure poems on the Instagram account @poetryamano. He is likewise a professor of the Solstice Low-Residency MFA program. With an MFA from New York University and a PhD from the University of Cincinnati, José is an Assistant Professor of English at Suffolk University in Boston where he also works as Editor-in-Chief of Salama...

Ive had my share of adventures in journal writing. As a teenager, I kept a diary. Later, I had a poetry journal. I tried dream journaling, art journaling, and in some cases I keep an appreciation journal. I think journal writing is a big benefit to writers, particularly when were not dealing with a specific task or when were searching for our next huge project. This post includes affiliate links that make commissions from certifying purchases. Today, I d like to share a few of my preferred journal writing tools and resources. Journal composing resources and tools. We typically understand a journal to be a location for discussing ourselves, but journals can be used for lots of other purposes, a number of which work to writers. A Place to Create What I enjoy finest about my journal is...

I like the puzzle, I tend to value the characters peculiarities, and I like the justice-- legal and emotional-- that comes at the end when the killer is exposed. When Im reading for satisfaction, my preferred category is secret.. For those who are planning or in the process of composing a mystery, these recommendations are invaluable. However, they actually apply to any sort of fiction. Stabenow states:. Lets welcome back regular monthly writer, editor, and author, Kay Keppler, as she shares with us "7 Hints to Excellent Fiction Writing." Delight in! *** Dana Stabenow is among my favorite secret authors, a best-selling author with a couple of long-running series and an Edgar to her name.. Of course, your mileage may vary. Everyone works in a different way and may even approach diffe...

There is no theme. Let your creativity cut loose. All categories accepted. Your story must be unpublished and initial. One submission per author, please. Dazzling Flash Fiction desires your best and most brilliant 300-word stories for a print anthology set to introduce fall 2021. Word Count: 300 words or less Due date: May 14, 2021 Author Payment: One complimentary copy of the print anthology. How to Submit For Brilliant Flash Fiction Related Accepted stories will receive an e-mail notice by June 15, 2021 If you do not receive an approval e-mail by this date, your story has not been accepted. There is no style. Let your creativity run wild. All categories accepted. Task print date: September 30, 2021. Please submit your story at bffnonprofit@gmail.com with "Anthology" in the sub...

My debut book, A Bend in destiny, is set in 1914 Russia. Early in my book launch, while providing in Boston, I talked about this struggle. I shared that my own household taught me to constantly have a valid passport and sufficient cash to pay for an escape of the country-- to be ready to run.. This years conference style is "Small Victories." We all understand what the "huge" triumphes are (landing a representative, snagging a book offer, or getting a flashy award), but this year we aim to commemorate the equally essential, small, and typically hidden success of our composing lives. In anticipation of the conference, weve asked Muse 2021 providing authors to explain one little success theyve had as an author that nobody learns about. Our next presenter in the series is Rachel Barenbaum, ...

. . The Muse and the Marketplace 2021 is finally here! This years conference is taking the form of a virtual enhanced composing residency (happening Wednesday, April 21st - Sunday, April 25th) with new Premium Workshops and the Manuscript Mart (taking place Wednesday, April 28th - Sunday, May 2nd) This years conference theme is "Small Victories." We all know what the "big" triumphes are (landing a representative, snagging a book offer, or getting a fancy award), however this year we intend to commemorate the similarly essential, tiny, and often unseen triumphes of our writing lives. In anticipation of the conference, weve asked Muse 2021 providing authors to explain one little victory theyve had as an author that no one knows about. Our next presenter in the series is David Mura, author...

This years conference theme is "Small Victories." All of us understand what the "big" success are (landing an agent, snagging a book offer, or getting a flashy award), however this year we intend to celebrate the equally essential, tiny, and frequently hidden victories of our composing lives. In anticipation of the conference, weve asked Muse 2021 providing authors to describe one little success theyve had as a writer that no one knows about. Our next speaker in the series is Joseph Moldover, author of Every Moment After I didnt think I was a bad writer, necessarily, but I understood that I was an unskilled one. An amateur who was just starting to figure out just how much he didnt understand. The very first tailored rejection came from a now-defunct journal with terrific Duotrope stats. ...

Fiction writing workout: Deathtrap and Deus Ex Machina Youve probably skilled deus ex machina if youve ever check out a story in which characters are saved from a dire situation in a method that is really incredible. Deus ex machina is a literary gadget that is best prevented, if possible. It happens when a tough or impossible situation is resolved through not likely or astounding methods, frequently through supernatural intervention.In numerous cases, deus ex machina happens when theres another literary device in play-- the deathtrap. A deathtrap is a storytelling gadget in which the antagonist has actually recorded the lead character (or other main characters), and there seems no other way out. Deus ex machina is in some cases used to resolve a deathtrap. However deus ex machina has ac...