Pour, Pour Writers
Posted by David Duhr in 
Listen, I understand the frustrations of the submission process. I really, really do. I know it’s full of headaches, and that it’s time-consuming and spirit-sucking and can make you wish you’d chosen a career in the janitorial arts instead.
But like Laura wrote about last week, editors are not (always) the enemy. And the submission process isn’t all cake and ice cream for us, either.
Thankfully my benevolence knows no bounds.
Yes, I have decided to take time out of my busy schedule to work as peacemaker between these two groups of creatives. (Hold your applause until the end, please.) read more
My Love Affair With Books
Why do some of us love books, while others would rather read the ingredients in a block of cheese than anything longer than four pages?
I am a book-obsessed writer, and single-handedly support the Austin Public Library with my mass amounts of late fines. But my husband, God bless him, will only read books that have the words “Harry” and “Potter” in the title. This is no mark on his intelligence, as he is an actor and has completely memorized practically every play written by Shakespeare, and actually understands what they are all about. (Sparknotes got me through that section of high school English, I’m not ashamed to say). He can do something as miniscule as twitch an eyebrow onstage and cause the audience to feel an overwhelming wave of emotion. He knows more about Greek mythology than Zeus himself. But hand him a book without a picture of an awkwardly adolescent wizard bearing a hideous forehead scar, and he won’t open it.
I, on the other hand, currently have a stack of 13 books on my nightstand, and am actively reading two of them read more
Short Story Challenges
Last Saturday I attended a short story workshop. Reading aloud my responses to prompts and getting feedback from near-strangers affected how I feel about my writing. Ironically, I feel more confident in my abilities now, after I read my work aloud. Not out of narcissism, but because I heard what I wrote. I can better judge what my writing needs, particularly syntax- and diction-wise. We often forget that prose derives from oral storytelling and how most well-written prose (in my opinion, at least) sounds good when read aloud. You can gain a broader perspective of writing by regularly sharing it with a group. It’s like group therapy for manuscripts.
In addition to learning more about my writing style, I picked up a few thought-provoking pointers from the workshop: read more
Austin Writers Loft Party Recap
On September 14th the earth’s core shifted a little as Austin’s writing community came together for the networking event of the century—the Austin Writers Loft Party, here at WBN.
Okay, the structure of Earth did not really move, and there may have been one or two better parties over the past hundred years. Obviously I have a slight exaggeration problem. But one thing is for sure—it was one heck of a lovely evening.
Close to 100 of Austin’s best and brightest writers turned out for the event, which was a collaboration of the Professional Writers of Austin and your very own WriteByNight. read more
Thou Shalt Not Piss Off the Editor
This is the gist of an actual note I received from a would-be submitter to my literary magazine, Black Heart, last week:
Dear Editor,
I don’t like having to use submissions systems. Logging in and having to remember passwords is a waste of time. Why are you making me jump through all these hoops? You are a bad editor, and I hate you. Will you read my work and publish it?
Love,
Schizophrenic Writer
The actual note resembles the ramblings of a doddering old man, someone who has recently learned to work a computer after many years of typing things on a Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter, and who is crotchety about these “newfangled contraptions” we all use to communicate in the 21st century.
While I exaggerate for effect, I feel I must make an important point to would-be authors submitting manuscripts for editorial consideration:
PISSING OFF THE EDITOR WILL NEVER WORK IN YOUR FAVOR read more
Permanence, Changability and Online Publishing
I had an unusual experience recently in the middle of rolling out pieces for Anomalous #2, which we decided to parse out over the three months of the issue as I mentioned in the last post. Also in the middle of production for Anomalous #3, which of course takes a while (all the formats) and happens a month or more before the issue launch. I got an email from the founding editor of another journal (which we’ll call “Z” for ease of reference) asking me to make a change to an author’s bio in Anomalous #2. This author wrote that s/he was an editor at Z. Just before the Anomalous #2 launched, according to the founding editor, the author left Z. Apparently, from the way the founding editor wrote, under very unpleasant circumstances. So the founding editor of Z asked me to delete the reference to the author being an editor at Z. read more
Freelancing Woes: What to Do When a Magazine Just Won’t Pay Up
I recently had a rather frustrating experience freelancing for a magazine. The article I was assigned was large, while the pay, by professional standards, was small. But! I was enticed by the fact that it would be featured on the cover, give me a great clip for my website, and hopefully some great exposure. So for three weeks I researched and wrote, researched and wrote, researched and wrote. The result—a 6,000-word piece of article glory.
When I submitted the final product, I was promised payment within 30 days of publication. The magazine was set to hit the stands early May. May goes by, June goes by, no check. read more
Brian Allen Carr in Da (Open) House
We’re very pleased to announce that Brian Allen Carr will be our guest for open hours this coming Saturday (the 24th). As most of you know, Brian recently bagged top prize in the Texas Observer‘s first annual short story contest; his story “The First Henley” was chosen as the winning entry by the legendary Texas writer Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, The Last Picture Show).
Anywho, Brian will be at WriteByNight from 10-4 signing copies of his new story collection Short Bus (2011, Texas Review Press). He’s a really cool cat, and will basically be hanging around here chatting it up with any of you who want to come in and chat it up with an up-and-coming fiction writer. read more
You May Not Sympathize, But …
I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writes block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writes block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block I have writer’s block read more
RecRead: The Driver’s Seat
This book is truly audacious. It’s as if someone dared Muriel Spark to write a novella in which the woman is asking for it, and she took it and ran with it, without so much as a flinch. The flinching is left for the reader.
Lise is at the end of her rope. This is apparent right away. She’s the kind of person who makes you uncomfortable when you encounter her in public, the kind of person you smile and nod at while nervously trying to put as much distance between yourselves as discreetly as possible. read more
When Writing Isn’t All Rainbows and Poetry (Or a Treatise on the Art of Cover Letter Writing)
This woman is having way too much fun writing a cover letter
Sometimes when you’re so busy writing for the hell of it you forget that writing can be an earthy, practical skill. Unfortunately, I’m reminded of its “utility” every day. I’ve spent 75% of the past six months writing cover letters. (Oh, and here’s the rest of my non-pictorial pie-chart: 20% on blogging, 5% on magazine writing, and 1% on my seedling of a novel…very depressing.)
The worst part about writing cover letters is that one size doesn’t fit all. A job-garnering cover letter is anything but generic, so writing each cover letter usually takes considerable time and effort. (If they don’t for you, I’d love to know your secret.) read more
Developing a Writer Network
When I attended the Agents & Editors Conference in Austin, we were served lunch in a large ballroom with about 40 tables, 8 to 10 people at each. The room was filled with the noise of conversations. Our table was a buzz of chatter. I mentioned this to the person next to me who said, “We’re all writers, and we probably all write by ourselves at home. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.” We laughed, because we knew her comment was so true.
But if we’re all sitting at home writing, how do we find each other to connect, share insights, or just validate the writing experience?
My first experience with networking was in that conference in Austin. I thought initially I was going to learn more about the industry and have an opportunity to pitch my manuscript to a literary agent. read more
Keeping Interest, Rolling Releases
Anomalous Press was a kind of spur-of-the-moment endeavor. My first attempt at online (and multi-modal) publishing, and therefore something of a constant challenge. Or at least something that I think of as evolving issue to issue, changing as we learn how best to get our phenomenal authors out in the interwebs and world. So after we looked at the site traffic and downloads for #1 we realized that despite my best efforts at publicity, there was a drop in the interest we were able to generate after the initial excitement of the launch. And since we have three months between issues, it seemed like we could try something different. read more
Part 3/3 of Blogspiel
The cat is unrelated. It's here for cuteness.
When you blog, the most important thing to remember is that your audience has the attention span of toddlers. Even people who are focused in real life regress when they go online. Like toddlers, we (people who read blogs) like pretty, shiny stuff that’s simple yet entertaining. So before you worry about mastering content it’s important pay scrupulous attention to aesthetics. That entails thinking less like a writer and more like an advertiser. Landing on a blog that looks like a circa-1999 GeoCities website is an assault on the eyes. It’s hard to stay engaged reading a post written in neon green Comic Sans font on a black background. Clean, user-friendly layouts = doubleplusgood.
Once you’ve got your design squared away, the next most important thing to tweak is your title. Unless you’re a celebrity, naming your blog “(Insert your name here)’s Thoughts and Musings” won’t turn any heads. You want your blog to have a je ne sais quois that sets it apart from the Internet flux. Your title is like a slogan—it should encapsulate the “essence” of your posts and have meme-potential. One of the best blogs I’ve encountered drew me in with the title: read more
Video: More Writing in Less Time
We’ve got some cool new videos up on YouTube, if we do say so ourselves.
In this first one, Katie shares some tips and tricks for getting more writing done in less time. Procrastination and lack of motivation can sometimes bog us down; next time you’re in the throes of either, watch this video and learn how to break out of the slump: read more
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