The October Weird Circular

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

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Welcome to the Weird Circular

Dearest Haunted Weirdos,

I have been sending this newsletter out on an every-other-month basis, but I wanted to give you an extra special October edition, since spooky season is my absolute favorite time of year. This is a one-time newsletter with just prompts! For submissions, check out the last email I sent. Here are a couple of fun things for you: 

• Download a FREE copy of my book map! What is a book map? It's a free template you can use to outline your next book. This works really well for those of you doing Preptober for NaNoWriMo. Also available in Scrivener format! 

• Read my NaNoWriMo guides: NaNoWriMo for Rebels, How to Prep for NaNoWriMo in 7 Days, and The Ultimate Preptober Checklist.

• My flash fiction workshop got extended to November 7th, so there's still time to participate! Come write Flash with me in November!

Your corporeal host,

Holly 

News From Your Corporeal Host

• My self-paced workshops are on sale at the Poetry Barn: 

  • Writing Resistance Through Erasure, Found Text & Visual Poetry

  • Journaling for Poets

• I'm teaching two workshops this fall: 

  • Micro and Flash Fiction - Starts November 7th

  • Journaling for Writers - Starts in December

Need more submission ideas? Check the

Grinder's

newest markets, Duotrope's

calendar

,

Entropy Magazine

, SFPA's

Markets

, Moksha's

Open Publications,

or Literary Mama's

Blog

.

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING

Exercise

: Your character is a ghost. Who can see them and why?

Bonus Round

: What would help your character move on?

Exercise: Make a list of 10 Halloween tropes (haunted houses, clowns, bobbing for apples). Write a story, poem, or essay on one thing from your list. 

Bonus Round: Instead of making your piece scary, make it emotionally uplifting. This can be a challenge if you're writing horror. 

Exercise: In honor of my current foster kitten, Flounder the black cat, write a piece with a black cat in it. 

Bonus Round:

 Break the rule against talking animals and make the black cat talk. 

Editing tip of the month: Writing horror is about evoking fear in the reader. But making your character feel fear doesn't mean the reader will. Watch your favorite horror movie this month and think about why it thrills you. Then try to recreate that feeling in your writing. Is it suspense? Atmosphere? Gore? 

Inspiration from the Ether

♛ Weird Book of the Month: Sundial by Catriona Ward ♛

➳ Craft article of the month: How to Hook a Reader on the First Page ➳

This newsletter is fueled by voidling cuddles.