Writing Round Up, Cool Exercise and Submission Opportunity
Write Better Now
Every Monday, we’re sending out a quick round-up of what we talked about and some cool links to check out to help all of us become better writers.
As a reminder, on Wednesdays the WRITE BETTER NOW podcast comes out here (and everywhere).
Later in the week there is a bonus post for paid subscribers because, honestly, it’s super kind of you to support me that way, and I want to make sure to make it’s worth your while. Thank you for being here.
Here we go!
On the podcast, we talked about Dwight Swain’s four basic structure/steps to story starting with motivation reaction units.
And I continued with MRUs, part two. I know! I know! Structure isn’t really sexy talk, but it’s so important. And we’ll be continuing on with it this week.
Writing Exercise of Awesome
This one is from a lovely site that you should check out called Indigo Extra. It’s all about hinting at romance on the page, which is something I always have to work on.
Cool Links By Other People and a Place to Submit!
Dwight Swain has a book, The Techniques of a Selling Writer and it is helpful and what I’ve been referencing this week.
Scarf by Rita Dove.
A Times article about “What Really Happened When Agatha Christie Went Missing.”
A letter from 1300 YA and kids book authors about book banning and censorship. Yes, I signed.
The Sun Magazine Call for Submissions
In each issue of The Sun, you’ll find some of the most radically intimate and socially conscious writing being published today. In an age of media conglomerates, we’re something of an oddity: an ad-free, independent, reader-supported magazine.
Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize and been selected for the Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories anthologies. We publish personal essays, fiction, and poetry. Personal stories that touch on political and cultural issues are welcome. We encourage submissions from writers of color. Surprise us; we often don’t know what we’ll like until we read it. We rarely run anything longer than seven thousand words; there’s no minimum length. We discourage simultaneous submissions.
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION MOMENT
So, I’m teaching another cool six-month class at the Writing Barn in Austin. It’s a pretty fantastic place. And the class is super fun. I’ve had a ton of students get unblocked and get published. You should check it out or just come hang out with me as your writing coach. I offer a ton of different options.
Here’s a thing about a night (free obviously) where you can learn more about it.
And as always, I’m editing on Reedsy, and editing and coaching through my website (or contact me here).