Braggy Pants
in 
Closing in on halfway through 2013, we figure it’s a good time to check in with y’all on how your writing is going this year, and whether or not you’re hitting those New Years resolutions.
Have some news to share with us? Care to brag about your project(s)? Want to link to your website so other WBNers can check out your work? Are you on Twitter? Do you have a Facebook fan page?
Let us know in the comments below. Sound those barbaric yawps.
Texas Observer Short Story Contest, 2013
The 2013 Texas Observer Short Story Contest is open for submissions, gang. This year’s guest judge is Dagoberto Gilb, and the winning writer receives $1,000 and publication in the annual Books Issue.
Read about the two past contests here, and follow this link for details, guidelines, and to enter.
When asked what he looks for in good short fiction, Mr. Gilb says this:
“I want nothing but the wildest punk prose. Or the finest classical verse as prose. I like stories of those who never have stories written about them, or the under-the-rock scurrying of those who seem to have it all. I want the story to be treated as importantly as a novel or a poem, crafted as neurotically about details and punctuation as a jeweler with an eyepiece.”
Y’all write wild punk prose, yes? (And y’all are neurotic, yes?)
Stop Reading. Watch Some TV
In the spirit of the CW network’s slogan “TV now! TV now!” we’re offering up a few videos today. So put down those damn books, you nerds, and tune in.
WBN friend Jennifer Spiegel talks about her two books, Love Slave and The Freak Chronicles, on ASU’s Books & Co.
Aleksander Hemon & Colum McCann, two of our favorites, chat about writing. (Okay, this isn’t TV. This is active listening. Sorry.)
Our Chamber Four pals have some excellent new podcasts up. Find all episodes of “The Page Count” here.
Yes, both of those last two are audio. See how I lure you in with promises of visual entertainment and then pull the old switcheroo? (Is this the old switcheroo, or is this a newer version? I don’t have a handy definition of the original switcheroo.)
Fringe Magazine Closing Its Doors
In case you missed it elsewhere, yesterday Fringe Magazine announced that we’re going to cease publishing in the near future. I know that many of you are dedicated readers, and some of you are even past contributors. Many thanks to all of you, whatever role you played.
And please do continue to visit the magazine, as we plan to go out in style with some of our finest fiction, poetry, [de]classified, and the rest. And editors, current and past, will be posting reflections on the Fringe blog, so don’t miss that.
The website will remain online indefinitely.
Also, a few of our editors are still taking final submissions. Visit our Submit page for details.
MICRO FICTION CHALLENGE: Bilious
Our most recent Micro Fiction Challenge, using the word “catholic,” was lots of fun, and brought out the biting wit and cynicism in many of you. That’s what I like to see.
(The results are here in case you missed ‘em, but the winning writer has already claimed her prize. So if you didn’t claim a prize from us for the last Micro Fiction Challenge, well, then, you ain’t the winner, Mac.)
Since we’re all already cranky this week, let’s capitalize on that and look at a fun new word for this week’s challenge: bilious. read more
GREAT BEGINNINGS: Let the Great World Spin
It’s been awhile since we last did a Great Beginnings post, and hundreds of you have bombarded me with furious emails demanding I bring it back.
The WriteByNight blog is nothing if not a democracy.
But I’ll entertain your wishes anyway. read more
Required Reading Regarding ‘Riting ‘Rograms
We’ve been getting a whole lot of “Should I/Shouldn’t I” MFA questions of late. I don’t know how to explain that–it’s not even application season–but nonetheless, yesterday I did a bit of reading on the topic, and found two articles that are not helpful in any way.
This piece on The Awl, “What Writing Programs Ought to Teach You When They Teach You About Writing,” is brilliant, and tons o’ fun. In the first half, Jim Behrle takes a few amusing potshots at creative writing programs, and in the second half he discusses six topics that writing programs should cover instead of covering what they do *^*(*&^ cover.
Among these are: read more
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