Weird Circular #27 December (copy 01)

The January Weird Circular

This month's Weird Circular is live with submission ideas, prompts, and more!

Welcome to the Weird Circular

Dear Fellow Weird Writers,

Happy 2019! At the end of the year, there's always a lot of commotion in the writing world. We put a lot of emphasis on "what you achieved for the year." But I'm here to tell you, those achievements aren't always what the world tells you they should be. Writing is about reaching goals, but it's also about balance. Sometimes that means putting family above writing for a year, or your health, or your day job. 

The lovely thing about calendars is they reset. It's officially a new year and you've got a new chance. So what are you going to do with it? 

Your corporeal host,

Holly 

Submission Calls

Happy New Year from the upside down!

Upcoming Submission Windows: 

  • Rabbit, deadline Jan. 4: Theme: TENSE. Nonfiction poetry short or long (up to 3 poems). Pays Australian contributors.

  • Cahoodaloodaling, deadline Jan 12: Theme: Witness. Prose & Poetry (Up to 3 pieces, no set word count.) Collaborations (2+ creators), Nonfiction.

  • Wizards in Space, deadline Jan. 15: Theme: Space and Place. Poetry (up to 4 poems), Fiction (Up to 5,000 words), Nonfiction (up to 5,000 words). Pays $30.

  • Prairie Fire, deadline Jan. 18: Theme: Work Matters. Fiction, creative non-fiction (Up to 5,000 words), poetry (up to 3 poems). Pays .1/word for prose and $40 for poetry.

  • Zoetic Press/Nonbinary Review, deadline Jan 23: Theme: Books of Blood by Clive Barker. Poetry (5 poems up to 3 pages). Pays $10/poem.

  • Fiyah, deadline Jan. 31: Theme: Hair. Open to stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. Fiction (2,000-7,000 words), Poetry. Pays $50-300. 

Need more submission ideas? Check the

newest markets,

, Duotrope's

,

, or Literary Mama's

.

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING

Prompt #1: Write a story, poem, or essay featuring fireworks in some way.

Bonus Round: Bonus points if you can work in a firework metaphor, or structure the piece like a firework. Think big!

Prompt #2: Let's do a bit of New Year's meta-writing. In your journal or calendar, lay out any important upcoming dates for 2019. Submission calls, residency deadlines, writers retreats, or current project goals. Now, prioritize them. What's the one goal you want to achieve this year?

Bonus Round: List one micro goal for each month that will help you achieve your bigger goal. If you want to finish your book, this might be word count, for example.

Prompt #3: Writers have to be readers too. In this meta-writing exercise, create a list of new books you'd like to read. They might be books already on your TBR pile. Think about your reading goals for the year. How many books would you like to read? If you're on Goodreads, you can create a reading

. 

Bonus Round: Look at your list. What is it teaching you? I encourage you to add more diverse titles to your list, including books by

, books in

, books by

, and books by

. 

Editing tip of the month: If you're starting a new novel in 2019, try plotting it out in a new way: by emotions. What emotion should each scene convey?

Inspiration from the Ether

♛ Weird Story of the Month: Playing Nice with God's Bowling Ball by N.K. Jemisin ♛

➳ Craft Article of the Month: A Changeling in My Own Skin ➳

♫ This month's writing music is from The Future Astronauts Podcast ♫

News From Your Corporeal Host

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