[Link] Why You Should Write About Other People’s Writing

by Ratika Deshpande

Some of the best writing I’ve done has been about the work of other writers. I’ve read their stories and compiled them into themed recommendation lists; I’ve written personal essays and deep dives into books that I couldn’t stop thinking about. It’s work that I’ve both enjoyed and am very proud of, and I think more of us should be writing about other people’s writing. Here’s why:

Learn the craft

To write about a story, essay, poem, etc., the first thing you have to do is (re)read it closely. A single read may be enough to write a short description of the plot or the main theme. But if you’re going deeper, you’ll have to read it several times, taking notes, annotating the text as you go.

Such close reading requires asking questions: What’s so great (or not) about this piece–are the descriptions short but vivid? Is the dialogue hilarious? Perhaps it’s the way the author has weaved the past and the present together? Or how the narrator’s experiences provide a new lens from which to view your own past?

Examining these elements helps you see what craft advice—“show, don’t tell,” “there must be a change in the protagonist,” etc.—looks like in practice. Reading a lot and reading widely teaches your brain to absorb the rhythms of language (especially when it’s not your mother tongue), discover the various narrative structures that are possible, and locate common themes and tropes. You’ll be able to study the components that make a piece work—or leave something to be desired, which you’ll then know to avoid in your own writing. 

Identify what you love and hate–identify your inspirations

Relatedly, you’ll be able to identify what are the things that you enjoy reading in a story or poem, and what are the elements that make you put the book away. For example, I don’t really enjoy stories written in the second person (although there are rare exceptions) or excessive expletives in the dialogue or narration. I do enjoy descriptions of food and cities, and reading essays about the history of interesting people, especially writers.

Read the full article: https://authorspublish.com/why-you-should-write-about-other-peoples-writing/

[Link] 24 Approachable Literary Journals

by Emily Harstone

If you are just starting to submit your work to literary journals, or perhaps you just want to avoid rejection, this list is for you.

All of the literary journals in this list accept between 20 and 80% of what is submitted to them, and a few have a higher acceptance rate. So the odds of your work being accepted just went up.

These are not the most prestigious journals; publication in them, in all likelihood, will not change your writing life in any way, but they are not a bad place to start if you are new to submitting your writing.

Make sure to read the guidelines before submitting to know if your work fits. Just because they are approachable, doesn’t mean that they will accept angry poetry when they only publish nature poetry. They will not.

Not all literary journals in this list are currently open to submissions, but most are. It is also important to note that this information is subject to change. Sometimes a journal that was once easy to get into no longer is, so if you are seeing this list long after it was published, please keep that in mind. This list is in no particular order. 

All of the information used to ascertain if the market is approachable or not was found through research done at the websites Duotrope and The (Submission) Grinder.

Read the full article for the listing: https://authorspublish.com/24-approachable-literary-journals/ 

[Link] 45 Writers' "Rules for Writing"

by Emily Harstone

Most writers have their own special “rules for writing,” even if they don’t talk about them. I find other writers’ rules fascinating, even when I don’t agree with them. A lot can be learned by reading about other authors’ approaches to writing. The New York Times and The Guardian have published famous authors’ answers to this question on a number of occasions. The Guardian has a very long, disorganized article that collects many of the rules, which you can read here. The Marginalian has a collection of advice from writers, that is more in-depth and less focused on “rules”, that you can read here.

This article is an attempt to organize that collection and to link to other authors’ rules as well, including more recently published authors’ rules on writing.

Below are links to different writers’ rules on writing. The authors are in no particular order.

1. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules

His most famous piece of advice? “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it”.

2. George Orwell’s 6 Tips for Effective Writing

Orwell gives readers full permission to ignore his rules.

3. Nietzche’s 10 Rules for Writing

His rules were originally written down in a series of letters to a female psychoanalyst.

4. Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules for Writing

It would be hard to dispute his first rule.

Read the full article for active links and the rest of the story: https://authorspublish.com/45-writers-rules-for-writing/

[Link] An Argument for Writing Short Stories

by Emily Harstone

“Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.’ — Ray Bradbury

“A good [short story] would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit.”
— David Sedaris

Writers who are serious about improving and developing their craft should write short stories and get editorial feedback on them, even if they are never planning on publishing these short stories. Short stories are one of the best ways to hone your craft as a writer.

When I teach creative writing courses one of the assignments is always to write a short story. Over the years I have discovered that students are more and more reluctant to do this. Instead they submit novel excerpts disguised as short stories.These classes have a workshop component, which means that every student has a chance to receive feedback from all the other students in a discussion about their short story.

If the short story is actually a novel excerpt the feedback they receive will not be as insightful, because the story is not self contained. Writers get much better, more helpful feedback on short stories, because all of the information they contain is easier to read, understand, and dissect, even in short periods of time.  However when I point this out in the first class, a couple of them protest. They don’t know why anyone would write a short story, because no one reads them anymore. They are not publishable.

Read the full article: https://www.authorspublish.com/an-argument-for-writing-short-stories/