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.
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Here we go!
On the podcast, we talked about backstory. Part three.
And we dug a little deeper about backstory and finished up that four-part series here.
The first part of that series is here. Part one.
And we dug a little deeper about the three uses of backstory and more in the follow-up post. Part two.
Writing Exercise of Awesome
This exercise comes from John Fox who has a ton of cool exercises on his website, which you should check out! This is a direct capture of five of them from his post.
Cool Links By Other People and a Place to Submit!
This TedTalk by Andy Puddicombe is all about the transformative power of taking ten mindful minutes.
Processing Emmett Till by Keith Wilson.
Reedsy’s latest blog post is all about making money from writing books.
SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITY
The Chad Walsh Chapbook Series/BELOIT POETRY JOURNAL
Katie Farris's chapbook
A Net to Catch My Body in its Weaving,
published in Spring 2021
Open to any poet writing in English, regardless of publication history
$2500 prize, 50 author copies (perfect bound, full-color cover), and an in-depth editorial consultation
Winning chapbook distributed to every BPJ subscriber and sold separately (print run of approximately 1,500)
BPJ editors will read all submissions and select a manuscript for publication
Submissions open October 1–November 30 -- opening and closing at midnight Eastern Time
Results announced in late winter/spring
Selected manuscript published in spring/early summer
Guidelines
Submit (via Submittable) a manuscript of 20-35 pages of poetry (including the table of contents and acknowledgments page); each poem should begin on its own page.
Reading fee of $20 per entry. You may submit additional manuscripts by paying an additional reading fee for each. A limited number of fee-free entries are available to poets for whom the reading fee presents a hardship. (Email us at bpj@bpj.org for details.)
Submitters paying the $20 fee may purchase a 1-year subscription to the BPJ for only $15, nearly half off the regular subscription price. (An additional shipping charge applies to international subscribers.). The subscription will begin with the winning chapbook, published in spring/summer.
While individual poems may have appeared in periodicals, online, etc., the manuscript as a whole must be previously unpublished.
Include a table of contents; if applicable, include an acknowledgements page that lists where poems appeared previously.
We welcome simultaneous submissions; you may simply withdraw your manuscript (via Submittable) if it is accepted for publication elsewhere.
At this time we aren’t considering translations or multi-author chapbooks.
During the contest period, we can’t consider changes to manuscripts, though there will be time for editing before the selected chapbook is published.
We follow CLMP Guidelines for contests and are committed, in all we do, to the highest ethical standards. If you are a close personal friend, family member, student (outside of brief, one-off workshops), or if you have engaged the editing/consultation services of any BPJ editor, or if you are a former or current intern or staff member of the BPJ, please refrain from submitting. Email us at bpj@bpj.org if you have questions about eligibility.
Happy writing everyone!