Another Student Publication

Another student publication: John Bateman's story, "The Lonely One in Town," in the new Glitterwolf Magazine. This grew from a piece we worked on last summer at the Yale Writers' Conference. Congratulations, John! So excited about this!

Glitterwolf Magazine, Issue 9: Gender

Beautiful new piece by Molly Gaudry online at Origins:

"Because Mary Ruefle says she's convinced the first lyric poem was witness to the moon and that the moon was witness to the event"

Paul Klee: Fire, Full Moon, 1933

 

Two Stories from the Tarot Card Exercise

I created the Tarot Card Exercise last summer for my Yale Writers' Conference elective class Cross-Genre Fiction.

The idea was to mix elements from different genres into one short piece of writing, inviting the writer's intuition to figure out how to interpret and combine them. So, for example, a card that says "the wrong body" could turn into part of a mystery story, or horror, or science fiction, or a love story. "A woman's arm" could appear in a bed, or among leaves in the woods; it could be seen through a car window, or lying on a shelf along with other robot parts. "Sparks" might herald love, spaceship engine trouble, a house fire.

Really when I talk about crossing genres in writing, what I'm always talking about is granting yourself the freedom to follow your own voice, to allow your story to treat literary boundaries the way a wild animal treats the boundaries of state and country.

Since last summer, that exercise has been a favorite with many students. At the Yale Conference this year, two of them turned their 15-minute exercises into published pieces!

Interestingly, both concern altered bodies, trauma, and healing. And both are beautiful. Check them out.

The Glass Eye by Suzanne Samuels

Cross-Genre Body by Tara Armstrong

Mikalojus Ciurlionis, Eternity, 1906

Yale

Teaching fiction at the Yale Writers' Conference. It's always wonderful to be here.

Lux et Veritas

View from my classroom window

Lighting in Linsly-Chittenden Hall

Rob Spillman Interview at Origins Online

I'm one of the editors at Origins Journal, which has just posted this interview with Tin House editor and 2015 PEN/Nora Magid Award for Editing winner Rob Spillman:

winnneolkjwlekjflskdjf laskdjf lkasdjf 2015 PEN/Nora Magid Award for Editinwinner, Rob Spillman:  

On Keeping Diverse Voices in the Light

So excited to have him in the magazine!

Microfiction Assignment: Day Seven

Previous exercises here:

Day One: Intro and Drafts

Day Two: Get Concrete

Day Three: The A-to-B Journey

Day Four: A New Draft

Day Five: Tighten Your Sentences

Day Six: Two New Drafts and a Revision

Look at all you've written this week. Choose your favorite piece. Rewrite it, doing whatever you think will improve it. Spend twenty minutes on it. Or more. As much time as it takes to make it as good as you can.

Now consider submitting it to one of these publications: 

Microfiction Monday Magazine —up to 100 words
100 Word Story —up to 100 words
The Offing — Microfiction category: up to 560 characters (not words!)
Nanofiction — up to 300 words
Flash Magazine — up to 360 words

If you're one of my Yale students, please bring your drafts to New Haven. I'll let you know which day to bring them to class. I can't wait to see them!

Microfiction Assignment: Day Six

 Previous exercises here:

Day One: Intro and Drafts

Day Two: Get Concrete

Day Three: The A-to-B Journey

Day Four: A New Draft

Day Five: Tighten Your Sentences 

Today you'll write two new drafts and do one revision.

Set your timer for five minutes. Write the strangest, most offputting, most uncomfortable first draft possible. Look at the the picture below if you want.

Set your timer for for five minutes. Write the strangest, most fun, most daring fist draft possible. Center it on something you secretly love. Maybe something you've never admitted to loving. If you want a picture, find your own. Here's a good place to look.

Choose your favorite of these two drafts. Set your timer for ten minutes. Revise it, using all you've learned so far.

Next: Final Revisions and Where to Publish

Edvard Munch, Self-Portrait in Hell, 1903