Writing Prompt: Character Sketch

Today our prompt is a little different. When writing one often gets stuck with figuring out what a character will do next. The better one knows a character, the easier it is to write what happens next. One of the ways I get a better handle on my characters is to create a cheat sheet….

3 Steps to Complete Your Manuscript (So It Can Finally Be Published)

When you write a book, it is officially called a manuscript until it is published. However one of the tricky things about writing is that it can be very hard to discern when a manuscript is actually finished and ready to be submitted to an agent, or self-published. Some authors constantly tweak their work and…

Writing Prompt: Circus Time

If you have been writing one book for a long time you can feel stuck in the characters, stifled by the setting, and bogged down by the plot. This is an easy exercise to clear your mind, but it is also a good exercise to try if you are just getting used to a new…

Inspirational Quote of the Week

Paper Nautilus and the 2013 Vella Chapbook Prize

Paper Nautilus is a  print literary journal that publishes poems, short stories, and flash fiction. They also have a yearly chapbook contest for writers of all genres. This review will cover the journal and then discuss the chapbook prize. It is free to submit to the journal, but a small fee is charged for the…

Lunch Ticket: Open For Submissions

Lunch Ticket is a journal that is produced by the MFA program at Antioch University. It is an established and respected biannual online journal. They publish short stories, flash fiction, essays, and poetry. Lunch Ticket has a well formatted website that makes the work accessible and appealing. It is easy to navigate the issues on…

Inspirational Quote of the Week

Fiddleback: Open for Submissions

Fiddleback is an established American literary journal that publishes short stories, essays, and flash fiction. They publish four issues a year online as well as one print journal per year. They only consider unsolicited submissions for their online edition, although if your work is accepted by their online publication they are much more likely to…

West Branch: Now Open for Submissions

West Branch is a famous, established, and respected print journal that publishes short stories, and poetry twice a year. West Branch is associated with Bucknell University and has been around since 1977. West Branch just re-opened to submissions on the first of August. They pay all the writers they publish. They pay $40 per accepted…

10 Ways to Promote Your Book with Facebook

When you’re promoting a book on any budget, Facebook can be a great utility. If you want great sales it is best to start early, six to nine months before your book is set to be published. When you are are ready, here are the tips to follow to help get the word out on…

Writing Prompt: Alternative Biography

When my father was young, long before I was born, he was accepted into Stanford for math. He planned to attend Stanford, but instead stopped at Washington State University and decided to stay after touring the art department. He met my mother in a watercolor class. They have now been married for over 35 years….

10 Things I Wish I Knew As A Beginning Writer

I’ve been writing for nearly twenty years. The writing bug bit me in tenth grade when I was given an assignment to write a short story. It was a comedy piece about taking my driver’s test. The teacher read it aloud, the class laughed and I was hooked. Since then I’ve held a succession of…

Cutthroat: Open To Submissions

Cutthroat is an established journal that has print and online editions. They are currently reading for the print only issue. They are very picky and accept very few submissions so an acceptance from them is a serious compliment. They accept short fiction and poetry. Submit no more than one story (less then 5,000 words in…

Writing Prompt: Multiple Angles

This exercise involves several steps. The only material you need is a pen (or pencil), a piece of paper, and a timer. Once you have all your materials set up, picture a character in your head. After you have thought about the character for a minute or two, set a timer for five minutes. Write…

Inspirational Quote of the Week