Friday Fridge Clean-out: Links for Writers, August 1, 2014 Edition

Image by Eric Crowley vie Flickr/Creative Commons

> At Writer Unboxed, Karen Gillespie, on what did and didn't happen when her essay got into the opinion pages at the New York Times.

> How could I not be impressed with a 14-year-old one-day novelist who writes a clever and helpful blog about writing titled Every Stinkin' Page?

> These 11 tips for writing a scene, from John August, originally intended for screenwriters, are helpful for all writers.

> LitReactor's primer on punctuation when writing dialogue, is a handy and comprehensive reference.

> Chuck Wendig with 25 pointers on word choice (warning: his own word choices are often--what's the right word? how about, naughty?)

> Sometimes, you get a rejection and feel sure no one even read your submission. Recently, one literary journal admitted as much (sorry, no time to read, but here's your rejection anyway!). Naturally, there was unhappy chatter,  there was a dust-up, a (sort of) defense, an analysis of the fallout. 

> Student brag box: Patrice Gopo has a lovely piece of segmented nonfiction prose in Rock and Sling. I hope you enjoy reading Marking the Color Trail (weddings, race, red dresses, crossing cultures, young love, Africa, India, and more!)

> Finally, wouldn't these make great (ahem) book titles?

Have a great weekend!

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers, October 19 2012 Edition

> At his excellent blog, Aaron Hamburger considers whether "Writing is...Depressing?"

> A mentor once told me my work wouldn't really sing until I was uncomfortable with what I was putting on the page. I thought this may only be so for nonfiction writers, but in this interview at Fiction Writers Review, Steve Almond notes: "Literary writers, no matter how refined, are always seeking to express unbearable feelings. At least the ones I’m interested in. And that means exposing those feelings to the world, whether in fictional disguise or not. My work only got interesting when I started exposing myself on the page, dealing in radical truths."

> When is a writer writing? Answer: Always. In this post at The Writers Circle, Jennifer Walkup explains how and why she is writing while not writing.

> So proud! A student in a recent Writing the Personal Essay class, Robin Sloane Seibert, worked on a piece about slowing down in her piano practicing, and it was later published on a lovely site about adult piano passions.

> Sean Bishop on the good, bad and meh about constant, high-volume poetry submissions: "Even a poverty-stricken twenty-something can submit to eighty journals at once when he or she doesn’t have to pay the printing and postage for that submission, or put in the envelope-licking time and endure the requisite oral papercuts. Submissions and rejections can now be almost instantaneous, and if it’s free to submit to eighty journals then why the hell not, right? Right." Read the whole article at the Virginia Quarterly Review blog. (via @ErikaDreifus)

> Friend, mentor, wonderful writer/poet/activist Leslea Newman, describes her 11 year effort to write her just-released book, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Sheppard. Be sure to read or scroll to the end to watch the book trailer too.

> Registration is still open for my next Online Creative Nonfiction 4x4, which starts Monday. 

> Finally, just for fun: "Is it Shakespeare or is it...Hip Hop?" Take the quiz at Sporcle. (hat tip: New Guard Review)

Have a great weekend!

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers, April 13, 2012 Edition

►Stuck in a "creative drought"?  Julia Cameron, beloved advisor to thousands of writers, has tips on "Soldiering Through". (hat tip Michelle O'Neill)

► Ben Yagoda is one of my favorite current-day craft and style gurus, and he has excellent commentary here on the comma.

► Standard submission advice -- to be familiar with (to read!) the publication first – is often frustrating:  how to afford subscriptions, or even single copies, of every journal that might be a good fit?  One literary journal editor discusses why the advice is still solid (and after all, today a writer can study a publication's tone and vibe from their website, online submission guidelines, and (often) posted sample pieces).

► Whoever says the publisher-sponsored book tour is dead (okay, it pretty much is, but still), needs to check out the Atria Great Mystery Bus Tour, now ongoing, with four mystery authors currently traversing some 2,375 miles, stopping at 12 book stores. Check out the video from opening night in Manhattan, and the schedule, at USA Today's Book Buzz blog.

►Shout-outs to two former writing students who work on short personal essays. Lisa Singer recently published one of hers, with a distinctly Baltimore bent, in Eight Stone Press. Alyssa C. Martino's piece, in Author magazine, combines thoughts on writing, inspiration and what she saw in a boy's face on a trip to Target.

► Finally, Hilma Wolitzer's lovely homage to her now-gone writing mentor, Harry Crews. May we all be lucky enough to have that in our literary lives. (via Christina Baker Kline)

Have a great weekend!