Look for magazines that publish the types of story you are submitting.  If you can afford it, but a copy or two of magazines or journals that you would like to submit to.

When you submit a short story, the cover letter should not tell what the story is about.

To find magazines and journals that publish the type of story you are writing,  check the annual Best American Short Stories collections to see where the stories were originally published.

Source or inspiration:  Michelle Wildgen’s class in Advanced Novel at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 2009

Writing a book is the hard part, except when compared to getting published!  Here’s some tips for finding an agent:

To find potential agents to query, look at similar books that you love.  Check the acknowledgements, which quite often mention the author’s agent by name.

Publishersmarketplace.com, a paid subscription site, shows what agent sold which books.

Your novel synopsis should be  a single page that gives a feeling for both the tone and content of your book.

A reputable agent will never ask you for money up front.

Source or inspiration:  Michelle Wildgen’s class in Advanced Novel at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 2009

Take your writing tips on using humor from Shakespeare: whenever things got really gloomy in Shakespeare’s plays, he sent in the clowns.  There were always clowns, even in the blackest tragedies.

Avoid the ISW “I am a Serious Writer” syndrome.  Too much self esteem annoys your readers.

If you can write, think and smile at the same time, you will instantly stand out.

It takes some effort, but don’t just write what you know.  Write in order to know more.

Dorothy Parker – The difference between wit and wisecracking:  “Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.”

Source or Inspiration:  lecture given by humorous essayist David Bouchier at the University of Iowa, July 2009

Writing Tips:  Personal Essay and Memoir

When writing personal essay or memoir, and you can’t remember certain events or why something happened, write from “perhaps” to loosen your memory, or even to make things up.  Whatever follows “perhaps” does not have to be the literal truth.

A personal essay utilizes a more idiosyncratic voice than  journalistic writing.  Be as much of yourself as you can bear to reveal.

Source or Inspiration:  Cecile Goding’s weekend workshop in personal essay at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 2008

Writing Tips for fiction and creative nonfiction writers:

Writers often find similar images coming up in their writing repeatedly. Of course you will edit them out to avoid redundancy, but if you find yourself using the same constellation of images over and over – what is your self-conscious trying to tell you?

Try using uncommon vocabulary to talk about a subject.  For example, instead of battling a disease, and eventually conquering it, try a different family of words.  You could go more military –and wage a campaign or crusade, with skirmishes and frays.  Or how about gardening terms – weeding and hoeing, fertilizing and watering.

Readers want to be able to do more than just see what you are describing.  They want to hear, smell, taste and feel it. When you have completed your first draft, make a chart of which senses appear in a piece.  You may discover one or more senses that are missing.

Source or inspiration: Cecile Goding’s class in personal essay at University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 2008