Weird Circular #13 October

The September Weird Circular

October 01, 2017

This is Halloween This is Halloween Halloween Halloween

Welcome to the Haunted House

Dear Fellow Writers of the Weird:

It's my favorite month of the year, when all my regular writing gets to be submitted to all the Halloween calls for submissions. This month I'm serving up some spooky prompts to get you in the spirit... or out of it. Faint of heart beware! There be demons and ghouls and all manner of spooky fun ahead. 

- Your friendly ghostly host šŸ’€šŸ’€šŸ’€

P.S. I promise there will not be a holiday theme in December ;) In November we'll visit the magical realm of #NaNoWriMo, so keep an eye on your inboxes!

Submission Calls

Riddled with Arrows, Deadline October 21: Theme: "Meta" Horror - Fiction and nonfiction up to 1500 words, up to 4 poems (2-page limit)

Other Upcoming Submission Windows: 

Need more submission ideas? Check the

newest markets,

, Duotrope's

,

, or Literary Mama's

.

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING

Prompt #1: Pick a beast from the online medieval bestiary. Write a story or poem about the beast without using its proper name. Consider how you might describe the beast. What size is it? What color? What does it smell or taste like? Does it speak? What does it say? Consider thinking outside the standard paradigm for the beast you've chosen. Perhaps your ant is mighty or your bear is easily frightened. Bonus points for picking a mystical beast.Bonus Round: Introduce a human to your piece (If you're writing a poem, you can make a "Part II") Put the human in conversation with the beast, even if your beast can't speak. See where the conversation goes. 

Prompt #2: When I was a child, I loved the legend of Sleepy Hollow. Think about your favorite children's tale about Halloween. Write a poem, story, or essay in which your favorite creepy story is referenced. This prompt also works well with urban legends. Bonus Round: Rewrite your story/poem using a narrator's voice. Make this narrator omnipresent until the very end, when their identity is revealed.

Prompt #3: For the month of October, ask different people around you to tell you a scary story. Listen to the elements of the story and try to pinpoint any similarities between different people in your life and their interpretations of what a "scary" story means. Take notes and pay attention to their voice and inflection as they tell the story. This is fun to try with a group of friends or family members around the fire. Write a story, poem, or essay about the experience.Bonus Round: Using your notes from the above exercise, try to write a story, poem, or essay that draws heavily on the vocal and visual cues we use in storytelling. Does the narrator's voice drop low in scary parts? Do we lean in closer, or reflect during different parts of a story? Tie those cues into your story in some way. It helps to read your piece out loud and try to "hear" the elements of a scary story.  

Editing tip of the month: Chuck Wendig talks about Story-Shaped Heart-Holes (because that's not at all disturbing) over in his blog on the movie IT (which I highly recommend). Think about your story/poem/essay. What's the hole in the reader's heart that you're filling with your writing? Do they need a friend? A shoulder to cry on? A good scare so they can escape their humdrum life? Or maybe there's some deeper need you're fulfilling...one that only your work can fix. Find it, write it. Sometimes the hole we're filling when we write is... our own. That's okay too.

Inspiration from the Ether

ā™› Weird Story of the Month: Love, Blue Glass, the Sky, Mine ā™›

āž³ Craft Article of the Month:A NaNoWriMo Prep list āž³

ā˜¢ Weird Inspiration from the Real World  A City Built By Octopuses ā˜¢

News From Your Corporeal Host

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