creative writing

Thank you to all who entered and all who voted. :) So many brilliant interpretations of "Marching". Here are the Results! Equal First Place with 6 points: “Let me clue you in: it comes between February and April, and you’re gonna do it up and down this damn yard until I tell you to stop...

“When you want to move readers excitedly along, keep your sentences short and crisp. If you’re describing a languid trip down a lazy river, however, allow your sentence lengths to match that slower pace.” David A. Fryxell

Yesterday I dug up the first short story I ever wrote, back in 2011. I loved it at the time. It is a hybrid between real experiences from my life, and some necessary fiction to move the scenes along. I'm not sure if it constitutes creative non-fiction, but something of that nature. I wrote it in...

How do you feel about grammar? A conversation over in The Laboratory got me thinking: why is it that some writers love grammar while some break out in a cold sweat at its merest mention? @RK Capps, in that Lab thread, quotes writing guru Dwight V Swain talking about when things go wrong: And...

“Any creative writing teacher worth their salt will tell you that a great story never starts at the beginning, it starts when something changes.” Juno Dawson

So, I was getting spots in my ears and this puzzled me because I wash my ears thoroughly in the shower each morning; inside and out. But still, I had these little sore spots: like the kind of things that teenagers get on their face except that they were not on my face. And I'm no teen. I...

Litopians! Arise and submit! May is a great month for submitting your poetry, creative nonfiction, short stories, random musings, shopping lists, and yes! even whole manuscripts. There are over four dozen calls for submissions this month. All of these are paying markets! There are no submission...

Litopians! Arise and submit! There are nearly three dozen calls for submissions in April. Every genre and every form is welcome! All are paying markets. (There are no fees to submit.) Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 33 Calls for Submissions in April 2017

Litopians! Arise and compete! There are more than three dozen free contests in April, covering the full range of topics, styles and genres, from essays, to poetry, to full-length works. Some of the monetary prizes are substantial. Be sure to check the submission requirements carefully, as some...

Litopians! Submit! There are over two dozen open calls for submissions in November. All genres and styles are welcome, including poetry. fiction, nonfiction, and personal essays. All are paying markets. Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 27 Calls for Submissions in November 2016 -...

November may be a cold and dreary month, but it has a bright spot - lots of free writing contests! This month there are contests for stories, poems, unpublished and published books, translations, essays, plays - you name it, there's a contest for it. None of these contests charge entry fees, so...

There are two dozen free writing contests coming up in August. Some, like the Governor General's Award, are quite prestigious. Every genre and style is represented in these contests, from flash creative nonfiction, to poetry, to humor. Some of these contests have age and regional restrictions...

Hello all! I've culled the internet and found two dozen calls for submissions in July. All of these are paying markets. (There is a range of payment from "token" to $1000.) All genres are represented and all forms - poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. If you want to get a jump on calls...