Sopphey Says

Notice of Abscense

2013-04-29T11:55:00.001-05:00

Destressors assemble.

I've been a little overwhelmed for the past few months. Instead of stopping and taking a breather, I plunged forward into a whirlwind of blogging, jewelry making, and the Read 1 Watch 1 challenge. I guess I could be a workaholic if I fill my free time with work or work related activities. But mostly, I'm just an anxious woman who can't take a break because the anxiety pushes me to work harder.

The explosion of overwhelmed stress lead to a gaping whole in my blog posts. It's the reason why this blog will remain silent for at least a couple of more weeks. You know, just enough to get things sorted and destressed.

Till then, if you're visiting from the A to Z challenge, please leave a comment with your blog URL for me to visit when I return. If you happen to visit from any other place, also do leave your blog URL for me to visit when I return.

Because I will return.

V-Vulgar

2013-04-25T20:22:00.003-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...

Often enough, I play the game "How many swear words can I fit in a sentence." I play this game when I'm obscenely angry and/or ridiculously hurting. The swearing game tends to slip into my writing leaving swear words in most places. This is frowned upon by a majority of readers.

This attitude against swear words encompasses most negative scenes and emotions both in life and fiction. Often times we ignore the so called "Debbie Downers," people who are so obscenely negative that it becomes ridiculous to interact with them. Other times, we refuse to take an action of danger because of "High-Risk" people who are volatile under specific circumstances.

But we can't help being vulgar in life, can we? If we can't help how many bad turns our lives take then why do we expect for our fiction to be snowflake-perfect?

I understand that a breath of fresh, non-negative, happily-ever-after story telling is needed. But, what I can't understand is why we demand that everything be beautiful. We demand for storybook romances and forget about tragedies. No, we bury tragedies alive.

And we shouldn't. We should embrace the vulgar side of life in our writing. Relish in the diversity of writing life and deepen our reading experiences.

...

See A to Z posts.

S-Stale Words

2013-04-22T15:52:00.000-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...

Stale words are similar to weak words such as Just, I, and Have. However they are mostly descriptive words that could have been great. They're like cereal, if you leave them on the counter overnight their flavor becomes stale and your writing fumbles.

Here are some examples of stale words in sentences.

Her dress was brown.
She danced.
She's quiet.
It hurts.
She was upset.

Now, to transform these sentences.

Her flowing dress was smooth and silky like Hershey's milk chocolate.
Her hips bumped and swayed.
I can't hear her, she must be still.
The pain stops my arm in mid movement.
She fumed and kicked the door.

It drives me crazy that stale words aren't even always stale. Sometimes they do well in specific situations, so don't start outlawing stale words from your manuscript just yet. Every word has a purpose regardless of how weak or stale. Our goal is to find that winning mix.

...

See A to Z posts.

Chicken Salad Tacos

2013-04-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

This isn't your regular chicken salad tacos. No, this is the finger food chef version of chicken salad tacos. Shredded chicken and mayonnaise make normal chicken salad. Big green lettuce makes a normal salad. Thus, chicken and lettuce are the main stars of my chicken salad. Oh, and a bit of cheese, lemon juice, and butter to add a secret salty flavor.

It really is a salad inside a tortilla.

Let's make three tacos.

...Ingredients

3 cooked chicken tenders Or preferred amount of chicken (tips on cooking chicken)
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tsp of butter
3 flour tortillas
1-3 cups of romaine or fresh spring lettuce
1/4 cup of shredded cheese

...Tools

1 oven-like appliance
1 frying pan
1 grill spatula
1 plate
measuring spoons and cups

...Directions

Place frying pan on stove. Take your tortillas and place them on pan to heat. Once they're warm, place on the side while you add your chicken, butter, and lemon juice to the pan. Cook until chicken is slightly flavored.

Now to assemble. Place your tortillas on your plate. You can add the cheese right now to help it melt or wait till after adding the chicken and lettuce. Regardless, spread the cheese evenly between the three tortillas.

All bow to the finger food chef!

You can be as involved or not involved with the chicken. Either shred one piece of chicken into a tortilla or place the entire chicken into the tortilla. Finally, spread 1 to 3 cups of lettuce in between the three tacos.

Not pictured: delicious chicken.

R-Resources

2013-04-20T18:16:00.002-05:00

R is for writing resources. Writing resources and writing prompts are my two favorite types of writing resources. Writing prompts are everywhere and most prompts can be used to create both poetry and short stories.

You can find writing and photography prompts at the Wordsmith Studio. Writer's Digest has two great locations for prompts. The first place is a generic creative prompt blog found here and the second is more of a poetry prompt blog found here. Sometimes, though, you want to try poetry prompts here too. Just to keep variety.

Writing aides help with writing. Some popular tools are word processors that keep tabs on your punctuation and word usage. I tend to gravitate toward minimal word tools and use Notepad. Sometimes I use Ommwriter, which takes over the entire screen and plays light music. Sometimes, though, a lot of writing gets done in my 70 pages 35-cent notebook I bought from the grocery store.

I've never used Write or Die to write anything, but they also made Edit Minion and it's great. Again, it feels like an underwhelming list of writing resources and aides, but that's normal. The majority of our time needs to be spent writing not trying out new word processors or writing aides. These are my favorite, what are yours?

...

See A to Z posts.

P-Platform

2013-04-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...

P is for platform, or in our case a writer platform. I didn't know what a platform was until last April when I participated in a platform building challenge. I had no ideas that writers were advised to have a platform before I jumped in either. But, now that I have a little knowledge I want to share important things that work across the board.

The first is branding. Branding in the sense of a platform is being yourself. Share your likes, dislikes, achievements, and maybe even the one or two set backs. Readers love authors who are like “real people” more than the “advertising robots” who only promote their books.

The second is outreach. Outreach in the sense of what social networks are you on and whether you have a blog or website. Places like Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads are key places to engage with readers. However, there's also LinkedIn to connect with other writers, editors, and publishing professionals. And Pinterest, a place where you can find ideas. Just remember, there is no magic formula to outreach. You can have a very successful platform by having a Twitter account and a blog, or by engaging in five social networks.

The third thing to remember is content. Content is what ties your branding and outreach. If you're nonfiction writer, than maybe you want to have nonfiction snippets on your blog. Or, if you're an editor maybe you want to post editing tips on your social networks. Any and most content will be fine as long as it's great content. Remember, readers love real people, not advertising bots.

The last thing is consistency. To actively engage and build your platform you need to have a schedule that works for you. It could be something as easy as tweeting every few hours or blogging once a week.

The more consistent you are at engaging readers, creating content, and being yourself the better your platform will be. Like I mentioned, some platforms are different than others. What does your platform consist of? Do you tweet? Blog? Or use Pinterest?

...

See A to Z posts.

O-OK

2013-04-17T14:42:00.001-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...

OK, let's talk about writer related abbreviations. I learned that abbreviations are a pain in the butt when you don't know what they stand for when I first started following writers on Twitter. The more I tweeted and the more I asked what the abbreviations meant, the more I began to use them.

Abbreviations I've encountered:

WIP. Work in progress, as in the current project you're working on.

MC. Main character in your project.

MS. Manuscript, you know what you submit to markets.

SASE. Self-addressed stamped envelope. This is primarily used when submitting paper copies to markets.

It appears to be the most underwhelming list ever. Maybe not enough people use abbreviations or I haven't encountered enough abbreviations. If you know any writer related abbreviations I would appreciate it if you left them in the comment below (both the abbreviation AND the meaning).

...

See A to Z posts.

M-Markets

2013-04-15T09:10:00.001-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...

M is for Markets.

I talked about submitting to magazines in previous posts, but I never actually discussed other markets. Or even how to find markets. Finding a market is as simple as a search on a search engine. But it's also as difficult as pouring over a book, market database, and even finding guidelines on a market's page.

I'm most familiar with finding small literary and art magazines at Duotrope, Every Writers Resource, or Poets & Writers. But I've also heard great stories from writers who use the Writers Market books. Alternatively, looking on Twitter is another option. Just search for "Call for Submissions."

Thousands of markets exist, it's just a matter of finding them. These are just some ways I find markets, but I'm more interested in learning from you. How do you find markets?

...

See A to Z posts.

MM 18 April 2013

2013-04-15T08:52:00.003-05:00

Some music playlists aren't supposed to make sense at all. It's a blend of sentiments like "I don't know but it feels good," and "I'm listening to this and that's it." Oh, and the "Yeah, yeah I think this song goes well." This playlist won't make much sense in those ways, but it's nice.

Track List:

Maria (I Like It Loud) by Scooter
Block Rockin' Beats by The Chemical Brothers
Je Ne Pourrais Pas by Vive La Fête
Mermaid by Kit
Turn The Night On by Tiga
Luna Y Sol by Federico Aubele

How to Eat More Fruits

2013-04-14T09:55:00.001-05:00

I'll be the last to say "yes, please add more fruits to this meal," but it becomes easier to incorporate fruits if you puree, slice, chop, or liquify them tasty green things.

For example, breakfast today I stood ravenous in front of the Neapolitan ice cream sandwich in the refrigerator and really wanted to melt it over my waffles. Instead of doing so I took out some fresh strawberries and threw them in the food processor.

Food processors are like hurricanes. Blenders are like tornadoes. Keep that in mind.

Pureeing, slicing, chopping, and liquifying fruits adds that extra dimension to our meals. Yes, it might not be strawberry syrup with extra added sugar or buttery, molasses syrup with extra added sugar. But, it's just as tasty in its own regard.

Of course, after the photo shoot I added 3 slices of bacon and a fried egg to the plate.

Had I not been starving this morning, I would have added some mushrooms, spinach, or carrots to my egg. But, I was starving. Damn starving. I used four strawberries for two waffles and it was the perfect amount of strawberry to waffle deliciousness.

Give it a shot! If you don't have a food processor simply take a bowl of chopped strawberries and mash them up. Or don't mash them up, sliced strawberries would be delicious too.

J-Just

2013-04-11T21:09:00.003-05:00

It's my understanding that a lot of A-Z folks used Just as their J word. Well... yeah... I'm going too keep Just for my post.

Don't use just where it's not supposed to go, OK?

Do however use just in the phrase "just keep swimming" as detailed by Tina's blog post on the A to Z blog today. Also, do "just keep commenting" on your favorite blog posts. The second do is a reminder for myself as I'm still learning the delicate are of blog comments.

I asked in the Wordsmith Studio for blog commenting advice and received these answers:

Show an emotional tie to something they said. make reference to something unique they said that you like so they know you read it. If it reminds you of something, tell them that. As long as you are positive, people just like to hear that you read it. Music to any writer's ears! (advice by Bolton Carley)

I try to find something I have in common with the post or if they have said something that intrigues me I'll point it out. Or when my brain just can't squeeze out another word Awesome fits most sizes. (advice by J.lynn Sheridan)

I followed up with a plea for tips on commenting to comments and received this:

I think what Bolton and Janice said applies here, too. Sometimes a simple thanks is enough, but if you can personalize it--refer to something your reader said--that's even better. It's best to keep it short unless the comment really strikes you and seems to call for some dialogue. Does that help? (advice by Gerry Wilson)

I really love the advice Bolton, J.lynn, and Gerry gave me. However, I'm still having trouble coming up with really great comments. Do you have any advice?

...

See A to Z posts.

Friends With Benefits

2013-04-10T16:37:00.000-05:00

I want to talk about something that can be applied to romantic and professional relationships. It's definitely nothing new, and there might be other ways to present this information but I think using the film Friends With Benefits as an example works. To help me in this post we have Justin Timberlake's Sexy Back and special guest content by Karen Woods titled A Communication Guide for Friends with Benefits.

Promotion poster for the film.

Plot of Friends With Benefits

This film begins like most romance comedies, there's the inevitable catalyst that brings our lead characters into each other's lives. Jamie meets Dylan and after working together to move Dylan to New York for a job with GQ Magazine they form a bond. The bond leads to beers and parties which then leads to an intimate relationship where Jamie and Dylan negotiate terms of their intimacy.

I think it's the best part and probably the only reason why I enjoyed this film. Jamie and Dylan discuss both emotional aspects of what they are looking for in a partner as well as more physical and sexual requests. Jamie and Dylan turn their friendship into what we now call "friends with benefits." Now even though, in the film these two friends transformed into a couple, it doesn't always work out that way. And that is why, *drum roll* the following guide is really nice to have around.

A Communication Guide for Friends with Benefits

In the past few years, a different kind of relationship has come to light. We've put a name to it, made movies around it and probably even at one point or another been involved in one ourselves. I'm talking about none other than the Friends with Benefits relationship. You can call it "No strings attached, "F buddies," or FWB," but they all boil down to the same thing—a sexual relationship without a romantic counterpart.

This type of relationship is tricky. A recent study found that 63% have been involved in one, but only 26% of people actually believe they can work. You see, it's easy for feelings, emotions and confusion to trickle in when there's less clothes than conversation.

With that said, friends with benefits can be a fun way to pass the time, get over an ex, experiment sexually or avoid anything serious, but it's important to know that it won't end in a relationship, no matter how much you may want it to. As always, you are the rule, not the exception.

There are a lot of unspoken rules when it comes to slipping the sausage without commitment. Friends with benefits may seem like a carefree, effortless option for a relationship, but it's actually very calculated. These relationships usually happen by accident. You got drunk one night and hooked up. Then you realized, bam, that was great, now what? It's time to talk, that's what.

In order to be successful, you will need to stop and talk about these issues with your pal. Do not proceed if you aren't able to agree on them.

Discuss goals
Where do you both want this to go? If it's anywhere but the bed, it's not a FWB relationship.
Make sure you both have a clear understanding of what it is and isn't. Talk about what you want out of it sexually and what you don't want: i.e. a relationship.

Discuss promiscuity
FWB are likely to continue to sleep with others outside of the relationship, maybe even date. Figure out whether you want to be open about that or not. Do you need to mention when you've started sleeping with someone new?

Discuss safety
Practicing safe sex is very important in a FWB relationship. You don't want to get pregnant and you definitely don't want to pass along or contract any STD's. Discuss how you want to protect yourself. Will there be birth control in conjunction with condoms? Will there just be condoms?

Discuss limits
FWB is frequently made up of sexual experimentation. Make sure you know what each other are and aren't willing to do, so that no one gets pushed too far. Do you want try anal? Are you willing to use sex toys from places like Adam & Eve. Better yet, are you willing to involve a third person? Know what's off limits and what's not.

Discuss expectations
This is different than goals. When you're a FWB, you can either be friends or not. FWB typically works best when you aren't friends outside of the bedroom. That means you don't call to get coffee. You don't go to the pool and kick it. You call and see each other after 2AM. However, there's nothing out there that says you can't be friends. You're just more likely to develop feelings. This is why it's important to figure out what kind of friend you want to be.

Discuss contact
This goes hand in hand with expectations. If you're not going to be friends, it's important to know what kind of contact is appropriate. Can you email, Facebook, Tweet or just call? Should calling be limited to weekends after a certain time? Is texting preferred?

Discuss termination
Finally, you need to talk about what/how/why will require termination. Do you cut it off when you start dating someone else? When feelings develop? Once you've paid your taxes? Whatever. FWB ultimately have expiration dates. Sometimes the fizzle on their own sometimes they need to be ended. Make sure you both know what actions justify an ending.

After this, communication will be limited since emotions and feelings aren't involved. However, you should check in every once and awhile and make sure that opinions haven't shifted and that goals/expectations are still the same.

Ah relationships. Having read this, what do you think about this type of relationship? Can you see how this communication guide can help in other areas of life?

...

Karen enjoys blogging about relationships and going to the movies in her spare time.

I-Idiot I

2013-04-10T14:27:00.005-05:00

I is for the the idiot I we litter our pages with. Now, this post isn't much in terms of advice. Nor is it a rant, it's mostly a post for awareness of our usage of the word I. As I (there it is again!) write more and more nonfiction posts with my thoughts and ideas about writing, I (*points*) am wary of how much the word appears in my writing.

It's one of my goals to present information in the most crisp and concise manner. The question, “What am I really trying to say with these sentences,” comes back with a greater force. What are we really trying to do by littering our pages with I. Are we using the term to wedge in person experience or to claim boldly state that we're using a first person narrative?

The Writing Center in the University of North Carolina has a great handout titled “Should I use 'I',” that helped me understand the term more. But it doesn't really help me cut down on the word usage.

I'm on the fence about this term, let me know what you think. How do you feel about the word I? Do you use it? Do you dislike using it?

...

See A to Z posts.

H-Have

2013-04-09T16:53:00.004-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...
H is for the trouble have and its relatives has and had. Ever use the words? I use them too much. The biggest issue with these words is sloppy usage.

Examples:

I have been dancing.
I have had the pleasure of dancing.
She has had three ice cream cones.
She had never felt that way before.

Now, the examples presented aren't wrong. They're OK usages of the words. However, as writers we want to present our stories/content in the most crisp and concise manner. What are we really trying to say with these sentences? How can we go above and beyond to present our writing even better?

I don't have much of a back story to the examples, but I'll try to flesh them out.

I danced until the shadows became stars and the wind grew silent in awe of the moon.
It was such joy to dance over the soft sand and gentle wind.
She devoured three ice cream cones before he ate one
Everything became clear for the first time.

Does that make sense? I'm not just being nit picky about words, or am I?
...

See A to Z posts.

Finding Balance

2013-04-09T15:55:00.001-05:00

Some philosophies divide us into mind, body, and spirit that can be incorporated into some fitness beliefs and practices. For example, Qi Gong's roots like in Chinese beliefs and practices. Meanwhile, most yoga is derived from Hindu law. Both Qi Gong and Yoga are great for general wellness, but I prefer Qi Gong more. I understand Qi Gong the way I understand life. I believe that everything is connected and see the connection in Qi Gong stretches that guide our bodies through nature entities. Stretches such as the sun, separating two mountains, the water, the rock, pushing the clouds, the pine tree, the turtle, the mushroom, the crane, the deer, and standing like a tree.

I don't seriously practice Qi Gong, but if I did I would follow this video.

Reader's Workouts Time

Food

I have nothing pleasant to say about food. I tried using plain Greek yogurt to raise the power of my green smoothies to dissatisfying results. I'm now using Splenda to mask the yogurt/whey taste until I can figure out a better alternative. Maybe I'll try adding peanut butter. I'm not fond of peanut butter. I am the world's pickiest eater. *cue violin*

Fitness

I fell down on Sunday. It's generally a big set back because of my weight, previous broken bones, and other injuries. To compensate I'm doing light exercise this week. Monday & Thursday I'm aiming for snail pace walk in place without Zumba weights for 10 minutes. Tuesday & Friday I'm aiming for friendly paced regular wall pushups, flat knee raises, vertical pull ups, and three lousy attempts at half squats in comparison to the six I managed to build up to. Oh, and mobility exercises for general health.

I mentioned in my first fitness post that I have been on this self-journey forever and it's weeks like these that really drag. Drag and set me back, and mostly just jump off the self ship and into unhealthy habits. But not this time, I can't let that happen this time.

Anyway, how are you doing today?

G-Gross Word Count

2013-04-08T08:35:00.001-05:00

Ever hear about Gross National Product or net calories or Gross Income? Typically, gross is used to define the useful amount of certain things. In writing, gross word count is the total number of strong words.

OK. So let's start by defining strong words versus weak words.

Some socially condemned weak words: stuff, things, got, was, went, very, important, and just.

Socially acceptable strong words are most words that aren't weak words. (How's that for a definition).

As writers, we must pay close attention to weak words because weak words create weak sentences. Weak sentences create a gap in our writing, and that is not fun. I'm going to try my darnest de-condemn each of these weak words throughout the next few posts.

Hopefully, I'll provide enough reasoning and examples to change the usage of these words and to help us all get a higher gross word count.

...

See A to Z posts.

MM 8 April 2013

2013-04-08T08:16:00.000-05:00

Some mornings I wake up and listen to Beethoven. It's something I can't comprehend, but that's ok because I think Beethoven is kind of cool. These are some of my favorite symphonies and compositions.

Track List:

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
Symphony No 7 in A Major, Op 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No 8 in G Major, Op 88 by Antonín Dvořák
L'Isle Joyeuse by Claude Debussy

Banana Milk Experiment

2013-04-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

Now I'm not bananas about bananas. They're just pretty cool, OK? I did a lot of research on nut milk recipes and came to the conclusion that I am too chicken to make homemade almond milk. See, some nuts can turn rancid in the soaking process and that means I'll probably poison myself. To avoid giving myself food poisoning I tried making banana milk for some cereal.

A ripe banana makes a tummy happy.

...Ingredients

1/2 of a banana
1/2 cup of water

...Tools

measuring cup
blending device
spoon

...Directions

Take 1/2 of a banana and the 1/2 cup of water and blend. Not much to this recipe. It makes a nice banana colored milk:

And works great for a serving of cereal:

I ate it all.

Learn how to freeze and defrost bananas.

F-Fumble

2013-04-06T13:31:00.001-05:00

F is for fumble because sometimes our hands aren't as fast as our thoughts and we clumsily type ~~alot~~ a lot of errors. I am the most guilty of fumbling when typing. Most of my tweets, cue violin, have the one error whilst my emails have two of them. Other times I don't get enough typing before my hands cramp up and then...

It's important to be kind to ourselves when we fumble. Then we need to correct our errors. My first line of defense against fumbling is typing things into a word processor. Usually it'll brighten up with squiggly lines. Then, I spell check. We all love spell check right?

After I spellcheck I go to the font tab and change the font. I can't quote science on how that helps, but it helps. And lastly, I read for erros aloud. I read with my normal voice then I read through a faster pace. I tend to find those last kinks after the faster pace and all is happy throughout the land.

How about you? What do you do to find your errors?

...

See A to Z posts.

Living On My Own

2013-04-06T10:22:00.002-05:00

I actually never lived on my own for too long, sure I had several months where my roommates disappeared for a few. But, I'm more than qualified to say that no matter how many people I lived with or surrounded myself with I was always alone. At a very young age my introverted self I locked away several paths and channels to the outside world. And for that, I feel like I could be Nabokov and refuse to join any organization with the whole of my heart.

Now doesn't that sound selfish? A little bit. In a way, I convinced myself it was to protect others from my irrational behavior, but really it was to protect myself from myself. If I never got too close to anything then I wouldn't have to think too much about my role or purpose. And ultimately, I would remain free of worry.

Last April, and the whole year too, was exceptionally difficult for me. I actively designed a magazine from cover to cover while maintaining and managing its online presence while running the On Impression Network. I did all that for 12-16 hours a day breaking for regular things like nutrition and other things. Things concerning PCOS symptoms that included a lot of vomiting, dizzy spells, crying, and everything unpleasant.

It was bad.

But it was April. April was my month where I gave myself permission to write a poem everyday. It was when I was most active on my blog and most active reading other blogs. It was my time to let my little poet wings experience flight! My poetic heart must have been stronger than PCOS and design last year because I not only created 30 poems for Poetic Asides BUT I participated in NaPoWriMo, the A to Z Challenge, and the April Platform Challenge.

I went full crazy that month. I worked and wrote and designed and worked and released a beautiful magazine and did some more work. And I found the April Platform Challenge members very cozy to be with. I followed everyone on Twitter, read everyone's blogs, and joined all the groups. I found similar writing crazy people and absolutely loved it!

I particularly clung to every blog post Monique Liddle wrote because I admired her openness and bravery. I carefully plowed through Amanda M Socci's posts as we were at odds at first. I followed the beautiful enchanting words of Misky, Michelle M Pond, Ms PSC, Dana Dampier, and a few other poets. I had found my special place in the writing world, and only had to do everything Robert Lee Brewer suggested in the platform challenge to make long lasting writer strides.

Time abandoned me though. Life took me away from the platform groups. From the sidelines, I saw the Wordsmith Studio form. I still read and shared what everyone posted, but not as much. I had closed myself again, my poetry waned, and I my only concern was to not pass out while walking across the street.

It wasn't till much later that I returned to Wordsmith Studio. I brushed my hair and sat down for almost every #WSChat and read all the Group posts. I was no longer like Nabokov when I submitted my bio to the site. I was no longer living on my own when I submitted my first post on the design portion of the Wordsmith Studio blog. For the first time I gave myself permission to be a part of something.

I literarily hung up my coat and dressed in pajamas with this group because it's truly a warm and welcoming environment. We're all writers. We share our writing, our successes, our fears, our moments of silence. We hang out once a week to chat about given topics and the occasional stripper. Sometimes we trend on Twitter. Other times we disappear for weeks on end because we're chasing a muse.

We're a home and I give all Wordsmiths permission to hang out. I give you permission to post your blog on our FB page. I give you permission to tweet and include the #WSChat tag. I give you permission to come in and share your troubles. To ask for a writing buddy and advice. And I give you permission to come in, hang your coat, and get some bunny slippers. Not all writers need to live on their own.

Welcome home.

...

Visit other MNINB April 2012 Platform Challenge Class Reunion by Wordsmith Studio members.

My, How Things Have Changed in a Year! by Kiril Kundurazieff
Belong, Belonging, Beloved. A little love letter to us, my Wordsmith Studio friends, on our first anniversary. by Veronica Roth
Platform Diving by J.lynn Sheridan
Authorpreneur: The Lure of the Pro-Blogosphere by Elizabeth (Beth) Saunders
A year (and a bit) in the life of Writerly Goodness by Melanie Marttila
Confessions of An April Platform Challenge Participant by Heather Button
How I Got in the Game -- The April Platform Challenge Anniversary Post by Kasie Whitener
The April Platform Challenge Anniversary: Who Knew? by Gerry Wilson

E-Entertain

2013-04-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ...
E is for Entertain, as in you want your work to be unique and entertaining regardless of genre. Now, I'm not going to say that I'm perfect and that Entertain is the best E word to use. But, it's the most entertaining.

Entertain is a verb and is defined as to Provide (someone) with amusement or enjoyment. In the case of submitting, you want to think of Editors as readers you want to entertain. Readers who read a lot of submissions and emails on a daily basis. Also, as readers who read with a critical eye. Because we read with such critical eyes, we're always on the prowl for that one piece that is unique.

It could be a piece about the road where wars are fought on. Or a piece about the future where recycling is taken too seriously and monitored like crazy. Or more relaxing tales about two women feeling at home with their weathered bodies. Or you can go the route of having a story feature a hormonal college chlamydia incident, you know whatever fits your genre. Sometimes I think that telling writers to be unique causes some mind-blocking. Believe me, I sometimes throw out my writing because I feel they're not unique enough. It's important to note that unique doesn't mean never before seen or one of a kind. Unique means entertaining or interesting and all three things are subjective to you the writer, the editor, and the reader. What about you? Do you ever throw out writing because it's not unique enough? Or do you go to strange lengths to make a piece more one of a kind? ...

See A to Z posts.

Words

2013-04-05T20:04:00.002-05:00

Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word. The word does not have to appear in the five sentences, just use it for direction. Today's word is words.

...

Strewn across the floor in dismay, they lay quiet while jewelry sparkles with the setting sun. The words are forced to be quiet while the poet threads wire through beads with pliers. They ache for the freedom to captivate the poet's full attention. But they know better, they know they'll never be a top priority to her. They know their place well.

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More stories

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D-Do Not Do This Please

2013-04-04T15:59:00.002-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ... D is for do not do this, please. I'm declaring this post to be a bit whiny if not childish, but it's something that needs to be said. There are many times when I receive a submission that just rubs me the wrong way before I can even read the submission. Yes, perhaps I'm the only person who gets irked by this and I could solve this problem by using Submittable or like method. But. I value all of my submitters as people and want them to feel like they're emailing somebody as opposed to just filling out a form.
In that way, I like to be treated as a person. Because you want to be accepted (yay for publication) and you believe in the market (yay research and exploration) you should write sweet correspondence to that market.
Leave in another market's name in the template email. We understand that you're submitting to more than one market, but please double check to have the right name in the email.

BCC multiple magazines. Hey, it's OK if you think it'll be quicker. But we almost always know when it's a BCC because of the stiffness of your message. Also, most email clients let you know when you've been BBC'd. Skimp out on the submission guidelines. This goes in hand with the other points. Please, please do your research. Please take note of the number of pieces a market is looking for. Please do not submit something outside of the submission guidelines. Do not submit a collection of poems in hopes that the market will choose the best three and possible publish one or more poems. Likewise, do not submit a novel or collection of stories and hope the market chooses the best piece. OK that's enough ranting, hopefully you won't do any of these things next time you submit to a magazine. Next up is E for Entertain, as in you want your work to be unique and entertaining regardless of genre. ...

See A to Z posts.

C-Correspondence

2013-04-03T19:54:00.001-05:00

Where will you be during the April A to Z challenge? Hopefully you'll be reading amazing blogs. Check out this year's participants on the A to Z blog or find them by searching for the hash tag #atozchallenge on Twitter or Google Plus. ... C is for correspondence because it's very important when submitting. As writers, we are encouraged to be prepared to send submissions and queries often. We're also told hundreds of things from various magazines, blogs, and other writers about queries. Now, there's a lot of great information about queries out there and there's a lot of dedicated sites that help you query better.

However, I have not seen too many sites that help you write emails for submitting to small magazines. (And if there are such sites, please let me know so I can visit them!) Writing an email submission shouldn't be too hard. As an editor, I prefer emails that have my name (or other editor's name) because it shows that the submitter has read and explored our magazine.

I also like letters that are straight to the point. Something like the following will always win my heart:

Dear [Editor's Name],

I've read through your latest issue and loved [Poem X—but any praise/general good comment is lovely too]. I've read your submission guidelines and want to submit [Name of Work 1], [Name of Work 2], and [Name of Work 3], for possible publication in your magazine.

I am [illustrious bio that is 50-90 words long].

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely [Or other closing],
[Name of Writer]

The best part about this type of email is that it's a little bit personalized (ie Editor's Name and lovely comment) and it's direct. One of my most favorite emails included a mention about a particular issue and how that issue motivated the writer to submit.

I have some pet peeves about email submissions and will talk about them tomorrow, so stay tuned for D-Do Not Do This Please.

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See A to Z posts.

Writing Long

2013-04-03T19:39:00.000-05:00

The Insecure Writer's Support Group. Where writers join each other in support ever first Wednesday of the month.

I've been writing stories and poetry on and off since 1988. I started my first "long" piece in the early 2004 that included a multi-character fantasy story with various spin offs and magical beings. I actually never finished that story, and shied away from writing anything longer than 1,000 words for a really long time. I always felt taxed when a story carried into the 2,000 word range and broke a sweat when a story hit three or more scenes.

I think I couldn't bring back the luster and excitement of that first story. Or I just couldn't think beyond a linear conflict-resolution story. Whatever the reason, It's always a bit unnerving to write long but I'm getting used to it. I wrote my first 5,000 short story earlier this year and am embarking on a collection of similar length stories this month. I'm really excited for it and can smugly pronounce that I have a short book in the works. Even if I have less than 1,000 words written.

It's OK. I'm going to write long and will conquer the rest of those 40,000 words this month because I can. What about you? What kind of writer are you? Do you like to write short (poetry/flash fiction) or write long (short stories/novels)?