Can a Hippo help your writing?

Thought for the Week: The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself. ~ Wang Yang-Ming, Chinese Philosopher

Have you discovered Word Hippo? It lets you look up synonyms, antonyms, word meanings, rhyming words, words that start with a certain letter, pronunciations, and translations.

BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS

The month of November is an open reading period for Black Lawrence Press, an imprint of Dzanc Books. They specialize in contemporary literature and creative non-fiction: novels, memoirs, short story collections, poetry, biographies, cultural studies, and translations from the German and French.

Compound words/Poetry market

Thought for the Week: Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. ~ Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

COMPOUND WORDS

Compound words can be confusing, especially since they appear inconsistent. Is it "everyday" or "every day"?

When you describe the “everyday” use of something, such as “that is my everyday watch,” “everyday” is an adjective modifying watch. If you wear that watch “every day” those words are not an adjective.

Both of the following sentences are correct:

The waterproof watch is my everyday watch.

I wear my waterproof watch every day.

It is incorrect to write:  I wear my waterproof watch everyday.

WORDTECH COMMUNICATIONS LLCis open to submissions of book-length (48 single-spaced pages minimum) poetry manuscripts from now until December 15, 2012 from residents of the United States. All chosen manuscripts are published under a royalty contract. Publication of selected manuscripts will occur in 2014. Their books are published through six imprints, each with a different focus. Details and samples are on the web site.

Writing advice/Short story contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: It's like building a stone wall without mortar. You place the words one at a time, fit them, take them apart and refit them until they're balanced and solid. ~ W.C. Heinz

Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of suspense, has some wonderful free resources on the Toolbox section of her web site. The articles are downloadable in PDF format – no videos to wade through. The first group deals with advice on craft, the second group with the submission process, and the third with romantic suspense. Well worth a read.

THE FLYING ELEPHANTS SHORT STORY PRIZE

Deadline: November 30, 2012

No entry fee; one entry per writer

Theme: “AndWeWereHungry...”

Theme for the top prize: “And We Were Hungry for Nature...”

This international prize is meant to showcase the work of short story writers published or emerging. The top prize is $2,000; three other writers will receive $1,000 each. Eight stories will be short-listed and published online in their winter 2013 issue along with the winners. The top prize is reserved for the story that connects the theme with nature or the natural world. “No length restrictions, but longer manuscripts (8,000—10,000 words) or shorter manuscripts (less than 2,000 words) will have to be truly exceptional to be shortlisted.”

Psychic Distance/Poetry & Prose Contest

Writer's Thought for the Week: Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.   ~  Georg C. Lichtenberg

At a book discussion I attended this week, we talked about psychic distance. The different levels are definitely something to consider whenever we begin a new manuscript. Just as we can and should vary the pace within a piece or novel, we can vary the psychic distance from our characters. Here's a great refresher from novelist Emma Darwin on the subject: http://tinyurl.com/3czjg2s

Carson Prize in Poetry or Prose

Deadline: November 15, 2012
Award: $100 and publication
Fee: optional

Publication will be in Mixed Fruit’s first print issue, to be published in early 2013. Open to all writers of any nationality in all genres. You may submit up to five poems of any length or up to two prose pieces (8,000 words or less per piece). If you feel that your submission blurs the line between prose and poetry, select one of the categories and it will be passed on to the appropriate editors. To enter, use the submissions manager and submit under the Carson Prize category. Donations do not influence the judges’ decisions.

National Book Festival/Tin House

Thought for the week: Serendipity is God's way of remaining anonymous. ~ unknown

NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

If you’ve never attended the Library of Congress National Book Festival, you can do so vicariously here. The site has videos of author presentations from the 2011 festival as well as audio podcasts from 2007 through 2012.

TIN HOUSE is now reading fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for their Spring and Summer 2013 issues. The Summer issue is open (non-themed.) The Spring issue’s theme is This Means War. “Conflict is at the heart of all stories, and these days it seems that the world's major conflicts are portrayed in black and white, good and evil. We're looking for the grey, the messy, the not-so-easily classified. We're not just looking for work about armed conflict, but domestic, political, ecological, religious, and moral battles. If there is heat, we want to see the fire. The Spring, 2013 deadline is October 31. The Summer, 2013 deadline is January 14.” 

Personal Narrative vs Memoir/Poetry and Prose

Thought for the Week: I still have a full deck; I just shuffle slower now.   ~ Unknown

Personal Narrative vs Memoir

This link describes the difference between personal narrative and memoir, and explains why memoir is more demanding for both writer and reader.

CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW

Submission deadline: November 3, 2012 (postmark)

Pays $50 minimum for poetry, $100 minimum for prose

For their Summer/Fall 2013 issue, Crab Orchard Review seeks work that focuses on the people, places, history, and changes shaping the states in the U.S. that make up the "Big Middle" of prairies, plains, mountains, and deserts that shape the middle and non-Pacific Coast West of the Lower 48 (Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada).

Help for Writers/Harper Collins Wants New Writers

Writer’s Thought for the Week: …the story doesn't  happen on the page.  It happens in the reader's imagination. ~ Philip Gerard    

WRITER’S KNOWLEDGE BASE

Writer’s Knowledge Base is a free searchable collection of articles relevant to writers. Search on whatever you need help with and the site bring up a list of titles and links to articles.

If writing realistic dialogue is a challenge for you, search on “realistic dialogue” for a list of articles on the subject. You’ll find articles with such titles as “The Rhythm of Dialogue, “ “6 Fillers to Avoid in Dialogue,” and “Balancing Dialogue and Narrative,” among others.

If your plot seems dull and you need to increase tension, a search on “increasing dramatic tension” brings you “The Four Types of Dramatic Tension.” 

 

Need a quick explanation of ballistics for the mystery novel you’re writing? It’s in here.

HARPER VOYAGER

HarperCollins’ science fiction and fantasy imprint is accepting complete and unagented manuscripts now until October 14.

Voyager seeks an array of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly novels written in the epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural genres. After reading the guidelines, authors from around the world can submit their English manuscripts here.