Weird Circular #8 May

The May Weird Circular

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

Welcome to the Weird Circular

Dear Fellow Writers of the Weird:

How often do you make yourself your own worst enemy? So many writers I know struggle with this. It's very hard to just sit down and do the work. For some writers, that's revision (my own personal bug-a-boo). We waffle, we moan, we complain, we ignore our friends advice and our own advice, and we put off what needs doing. We are rigid, afraid to break out of the writing box and try something new.

For other writers, it's the fear that our work won't be accepted or acknowledged. We're writing WEIRD things that are pushing the boundaries of genre, of content, of race, of gender, of what's acceptable. And that can be scary. Even our friends may not understand our work. 

For some, it's time, that never-ending sucker of souls. We just can't get the time to write. Something more important always gets in the way, like our health or families or money. These are important, important things that also need our attention and time. If only we had a few more hours, a few less deadlines. 

This month I want to encourage you to think about how you can climb these mountains and still love yourself as a writer. Maybe it means making some goals, or setting aside morning writing time, or making a new routine, hiring an editor, or just taking a break. Writing is hard, but I believe in you. 

- Holly 

May Submission Calls

Spider Road Press Flash Fiction Prize. Deadline May 15. Flash Fiction featuring a complex, female-identifying protagonist. Writers of any gender. First Prize: $250, print publication, and free copies of books by the contest judges. Prize will be paid in US dollars.

Cast of Wonders, Deadline May 15. September 24 to September 30 is Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information. To celebrate, Cast of Wonders is continuing its tradition of holding a specific submission call for new YA fiction to air that week. 2017’s theme is Text Against Tyranny: the stories some would silence, and the power of literature, in all its forms, to enlighten humanity’s darkest hours.

Other Upcoming Submission Windows: 

Need more submission ideas? Check the

newest markets,

, Duotrope's

, or Literary Mama's

.

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING

Prompt #1: This works particularly well for poets but can be applied to basically anything. Pick up one of your favorite books, poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, the topic doesn't matter. Find a line that seems shiny to you - one that you love or would quote a thousand times if you could. Make that the title of your piece and start writing as if it were the first sentence. Need inspiration? Check out these spring poems. Bonus Round: You can also try this with the line you chose as the LAST sentence. Try to write toward that sentence and see where it takes you. 

Prompt #2: Inspired by The Handmaid's Tale, out on Hulu this week. Write your own dystopian story, poem, or essay. What does dystopia mean to you? Consider the worst in humanity and don't shy away. This can be a kind of catharsis, too. For inspiration, check out this art exhibit in NY. Bonus Round: Write a utopia. Consider all the good in the world and think how it might be brought to bear upon our future. Imagine a future where the ills of reality are fixed in some way. How? Why? (If you really want to get creative, COMBINE your dystopia with your utopia. Where does the line fall between the two?) 

Prompt #3:

 I've been playing around with writing under a pen name recently and it's very liberating. For this prompt, I want you to push yourself and write the thing that you would never tell anyone else. Maybe it's a secret you've been afraid to discuss, or a traumatic event. Let yourself write about it, even if you know you won't publish it. Write as if no one else will read it. 

Bonus Round:

 Consider writing as a different person. If you normally write work that is inspired by your own life, write from the perspective of someone completely different from you. Try to inhabit that person's life and problems, worries and woes. 

Editing tip of the month: Have you ever had your work critiqued and just hated the response from one person? Maybe they said something that hurt, because you thought you got it right, or maybe they just didn't understand your story. Try re-writing your work with that criticism in mind, but don't let yourself be angry or frustrated. Even if this exercise doesn't work, it's a test of the Devil's Advocate. In fact, it probably won't work, but the exercise of writing is what matters. Trying it out might help you work past the critique and learn to trust your own writing.

Inspiration from the Ether

♛ Weird Story of the Month:Needle Mouth by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam ♛

➳ Craft Article of the Month:Against World Building by Lincoln Michel ➳

☢ Weird Inspiration from the Real World This real life spider man is creepy and awesome ☢

News From Your Corporeal Host

  • My poem, "My City of Ruin" in The Santa Monica Prophecies: A Collaborative Triptych (a collaboration with Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam and Layla Al-Bedawi), appeared in Mithila Review and was reviewed at Quick Sip Reviews.

  • My two visual poems, "Lunar Girl Drinks Poetry from the Stars," and "Reflection," appeared in Mithila Review (These and above are available to listen as recordings!) 

  • My short story, "The Joy of Baking," about two bakers who help souls through the afterlife, will appear in Luna Station Quarterly in June. 

  • You can read my #NaPoWriMo poems from the month of April, 30 excerpts available on my blog.

  • I'm appearing on several Comicpalooza panels and I will be teaching a world building workshop for attendees! Sign up here. Read my full schedule here.

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