Women on Writing - WOW and WOW!
Women On Writing is an online magazine and community for women writers. Among major topics are novel writing, indie publishing, author platform, blogging, screenwriting, and more. Lots of contests and general jocularity sans frittering on the part of Earth's most powerful humans.
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by Bethany Jarmul If you’ve ever sought out counsel on how to create a consistent writing habit, you’ve probably heard these bits of advice: 1. Schedule uninterrupted time, at the same time everyday. 2. Find a quiet place, free of distractions—a place set aside only for writing. 3. Set a daily word count goal and don’t stop writing until you reach your goal. I recognize the wisdom of this advice. But for me—a work-from-home mom with a three-month-old and a two-year-old—it sounds like a fantasy. I imagine a spacious library brimming with antique books, an ornate writing desk, Mozart playing in the background. I sit down with my quill and parchment to pen an elegant sonne…
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The low road or the high road? Which leads to writing?emondlafoto on Pixaby Just over a month ago, a fellow writer tweeted a question. “Writers: Do you have a degree in writing? Does it help?” My first smart aleck thought was, “I don’t know. Is there a hole in your wall that you need to cover?” Sorry. It’s an old family joke that gets trotted out whenever someone is showing off a diploma of some kind. “You could cover a fair-sized hole in the wall with that!” Back to the original tweet. I’ve never really felt the need to go for an MFA but there was a group of people who told her that a writing degree was essential. These people, not surprisingly, generally had MF…
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I do love a good secret, don’t you? And when I hear that something is a best kept secret—like a new hometown restaurant off the beaten track or a mysterious walking trail—I can’t wait to give the secret a try. But here’s the thing about best kept secrets: they don’t stay secret very long. You just can’t keep people from extolling the virtues of something wonderful. And before long, it’s not secret anymore; everyone’s in on it. That’s what’s happened over at Nonfiction Fest, a writing challenge that on February 1st will be starting their third year. I expect Nonfiction Fest to draw even bigger numbers this year so yes, it may not have that cozy, isn’t-this-great-just-the…
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Leontine Hartzell is a writer and shamanic energy healing teacher. She has been a psychic life coach and energy healer for over 30 years. A mystic and visionary, she listens to her helping spirits to bring forth inspiring wisdom through her writing, teaching, music, healing and coaching individuals and Fortune 500 executives. She is also an award winning recording artist, singing healing melodies channeled from the helping spirits. (www.OmajaMusic.com) Leontine finds inspiration from the ancestors, the spirits of the earth, wind and the stars. She was short-listed in the Fish Publishing flash fiction contest in 2019 and published in the Vassar Literary magazine. Her WOW!…
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The Proclaimer's song, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), gets me bouncing in the car seat every time I hear it on the car radio. I sing aloud loudly (and off-key). If you're unfortunate enough to never have heard it, I've included it at the end. The number 500 hit me hard as I floundered for a way to get out of my rut. A friend asked me the other night, "What's going on with your new book?" I was lucky enough to get Greenwood Gone: Henry's Story published last spring, and am halfway through writing the first draft of a screenplay version, but before that--about five years ago--I started another manuscript. It began as a story about a young man (a student of mine) who was a guit…
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I recently wrote the newsletter intro for the WOW! January markets e-newsletter, and I came up with the theme that small steps plus small goals can equal big success. Then, in my friend group, we've been texting a lot (on a group chat!) about feeling stagnant in careers and in life. Those conversations, along with my article for the newsletter and my own recent life changes, made me think of this: Empower yourself with small steps. Forward progress of any kind will make you feel better. Stagnation is the enemy of joy and creativity! This past year, I had a job that was not going anywhere--I felt stuck. I knew I needed change, but it's hard being a single mom and living …
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by Caitlin Hamilton Summie Having spent nearly half of my life writing about the same set of characters, I have finally come to the end—the short stories about them are all written, a novel about them is soon to be published (GEOGRAPHIES OF THE HEART, Fomite Press, January 18, 2022). There isn’t another prose piece bubbling about the Macmillan family. My characters have “moved out,” so to speak. It’s weird not to be writing about Sarah, Glennie, and Al, but there is really nothing more to say, and in my mind, I see them walking down a path I cannot follow, out and away, their backs to me as they leave. I imagine them going. They don’t look back. I watch them go, t…
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A peek at one of my fiction shelves. I’ve always been an avid reader, and I know I’m in good company on this blog. Ask for a book recommendation and you’ll get it in spades! But for some reason, while a lot of people found themselves with more time to read during the pandemic, I took that extra time to read and research true crime, mostly in the form of archived newspaper articles, as I worked to launch that passion project. Once it got off the ground, I found that after my work editing and writing for magazines and producing the podcast, there was little time left to read. Or maybe my brain was tired, along with my eyes. Instead, in the evenings I would spend any spare …
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Kelli Short Borges is a writer of essays, short stories, and flash fiction. A former reading specialist in the Arizona public school system, Kelli is a life-long reading enthusiast. Although many who know her claim she’s a beaming ray of sunshine, many of Kelli’s stories tend toward the dark and disturbing. In addition to writing, Kelli enjoys hiking the Arizona foothills, photography, and traveling the world in search of adventure. Her work has been published or is forthcoming at Across the Margin, Bright Flash Literary Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, Pure Slush, Drunk Monkeys, and Versification, amongst other publications. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter @…
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In my personal and even professional life, I tend to be a little conflict-averse. You won't exactly find me running into the open arms of conflict with my heart wide open. I don't seek it, look for it, and find ways to generate it. However, when it comes to my own writing, I look for it constantly. As I have shared recently, I recently found a new way to revise my stories and I found a hitch in the giddy-up of the story I'm working on as a result. You see, there's not enough conflict. The problem I haven't figured out what my character really wants quite yet. I've explored areas that could reveal what her wants might possibly be, but none so far have felt right. This has…
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My last post was about Setting Goals in 2022, and one of the things that I wrote about was the Storystorm idea generation challenge. I have since had a question about how Storystorm works. Are the ideas fairly complete? Or are they something I will have to flesh out later? In all reality, I try not to set too many rules. I look for challenges like Storystorm that are fairly open to interpretation. Some of my ideas are outlines with a character, setting, story problem, and multiple attempts to solve that problem. The science fiction novel for which I am currently writing Act 3 came to me that way. I knew how the story opened. I had my setting and my story problem. …
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by Lisa Mae DeMasi “Do what you love” may be the most overused advice in the career-improvement world. Countless superstar entrepreneurs’ TEDx talks and thought leaders’ bestselling books have quoted Maya Angelou: “pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” But that’s not always possible in practice. I know this firsthand. Once upon a time I turned my back on a half-finished MBA and a corporate job’s maddening pace and rigid hierarchy, escaping to do what I loved: writing. The act of quitting made me subversive, and that alone fueled creative expression. I mapped out chapters, content. Figured I’d have the …
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2022 started with a bang. Or maybe it was more of a thud. It was around three in the morning, pitch black outside, winds howling. And I know us writer types love to use that expression for colorful imagery but in this case, the winds were actually howling. Broken branches were knocking against my house and roof and now wide awake, I began to read (and pray), waiting for the worst of the storm to pass through. An hour or so later, I heard a thud and LOUD cracking. There is nothing quite as terrifying as that cracking sound when you live with ginormous trees all around you. But Libs was quiet, the house was intact, and I figured that a tree had fallen in the woods. I fig…
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Recently, my middle schoolers finished drafting and revising their pioneer pieces. Each of them chose a pioneer--someone who had broken barriers--and had researched, took notes, composed, crafted, edited and revised. They studied how the person had changed the world. They also examined the person's obstacles. Several of my students discovered their person had been told they shouldn't have the dream they dreamed. For example, Dr. Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to go into space. However, years ago she was also a kindergartener who said she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. Her kindergarten teacher said, "Mae, I'm sure you mean you want to be a nu…
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Today I'm excited to interview Ainhoa Palacios, runner up in our Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest. Make sure you read her story Chola and then come on back to read the interview. First, let me tell you more about Ainhoa: Ainhoa Palacios was born in Lima, Peru, and moved to the US at the age of six where she was raised by her mother, Abue, and sister. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in journalism but soon after remembered it was a different kind of storytelling she loved. Since, her work has been long-listed in Fish Publishing’s Short Memoir contest, come as a finalist in Sunspot Literary Journal’s Rigel 2021 competition, and appeared in pub…
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Very few writers enjoy reading articles and blog posts about the technical aspects of writing. It's much more fun to read the inspiring posts and Cinderella stories--or even how-tos about building better characters or writing an attention-grabbing beginning. However, I recently finished judging some contest entries, and falling down in the technical area can actually be the difference between your piece going to the final round of judging--or not. You can have the best story idea. You can create amazing characters whom readers want for best friends. You might include sensory details and perfect dialogue. But none of that matters if you put too many ellipses, write run-on …
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Congratulations to Michelle Dwyer and It Happened in a Flash and all the winners of our 2021 Quarter 4 Creative Non-Fiction Essay Contest! Here's a little background - did you know Michelle won a WOW! contest over a decade ago too? Talk about an honor - being here today to interview someone with such amazing talent! Be sure to check out her initial interview if you have a moment! Michelle’s Bio: Michelle started out writing fiction decades ago, and recently discovered that she also has much to say in the world of nonfiction. She has published a compilation of short stories and novels using her pen name Krymzen Hall, and is working on establishing her platform in essa…
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by Bethany Jarmul Midnight black, charcoal gray, metallic cobalt—for the last 15 years, whenever I wanted my eyes to pop, I pulled out an eyeliner pencil and in one minute, I’d have perfectly outlined lids. A year ago, I bought liquid eyeliner for the first time. Despite reading the instructions and my confidence in my skills, my lines looked jagged instead of smooth. It just takes practice, I thought. Months later, I wasn’t getting any better. I pulled up an instructional video and discovered I was holding the applicator incorrectly. Once I corrected this, it just clicked. Similarly, I’ve been writing for many years, first with a purple gel pen in a Lisa Frank journa…
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Back in May, I shared a blog post about Essay Ideas for Prospective College Students. I’m happy to report my daughter turned in her last college application this week (she applied to seven schools in all) and she’s been happily playing her flute around the house ever since (she does that when she’s looking to relax or wants to share music with people online). I’ll admit the whole process was a struggle! We didn’t realize we probably should have hired an independent admissions consultant to help her manage the essays, deadlines, and other thousand tiny little details. With my husband and I being so busy with work, we missed how overwhelmed the process became for her and sh…
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I’m an idea person. It might take me a moment to get started, but ask me for ideas for a blog post, a picture book, or a series and soon I’ll have a column of ideas on the page. They won’t all be great, but they will be many. I have a similar problem when it comes time to set goals or resolutions for the coming year. I’m going to finish a novel, a graphic novel, and a memoir. I’ll submit my work to two agents a week and . . . on and on, I go. I’m not denying the importance of goals, but they have to be goals that work for you. We are each wired differently. We each have different circumstances. Me? I’m a full time writer. I write work-for-hire for the educational…
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Kiara’s Bio: Part-time pop music enthusiast and full-time bookworm, Kiara is a junior at the University of Central Florida. Aside from writing short stories and working on her first novel, Solace At Your Door, Kiara writes nonfiction articles for Her Campus UCF. She hopes to one day publish several novels and work in public relations in the entertainment industry. You can follow her on Instagram (@almondzar) or Twitter (@gotosleepkiara) to keep up with her writing journey. If you haven't read "A Haunted Girl Meets Her Fate," click through and experience her story. Then come back here to read about how Kiara created it. ----------interview with Sue Bradford Edwards-----…
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Robert Hoffman has been enjoying a WOW! Women on Writing Book Blog Tour for his newest work - a book titled Blind Spot. Blind Spot is certainly not Hoffman's first attempt at writing as you'll see in his bio, but it is his first time touring with WOW! and we are excited to wrap up his tour with a special guest post here on the Muffin today as he promotes this humorous work of fiction. Thank you to David Kalish who previously toured with WOW! and sent Rob our way. We love and appreciate referrals! And without further chit chat - here's a fabulous article titled: Aren't We All Just a Little Bit Selfish? Few insults sting quite as badly as having somebody call you selfi…
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Jenna is a UK-based writer and performer, who uses comedy to talk about lesbian culture, travel, and her rather inconvenient mental health issues. She is currently writing a book of humorous essays and can be seen on YouTube performing sketches and generally being very silly. When she’s not writing or generally being very silly, she’s either watching tennis, reading a book or trying to teach her guinea pigs not to poo in their food bowl. Read and watch all of her shenanigans on Facebook or on her website: www.jennawimshurst.com Read Jenna's essay"I Am a Doughnut Bumper" here, and then return for an interview with the author. ----------Interview by Renee Roberson WO…
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As we emerge from that weird stage between Christmas and New Year's Eve that feels like one long day and step forward into a new year, many of us are making goals and resolutions. It's funny, for my day job, I wrote a large collection of blog posts for a few client's sites all about the topic of resolutions, so why not do one for WOW? I'm not one for setting too many goals for the year ahead. Too many things can change, and I'm often far more optimistic than how things really turn out for the year. However, that won't stop me from making some. And as I contemplate which resolution is right for me this year, I thought I'd share a few ideas with you. Just in case you need …
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This is the time of year when I do a lot of thinking. And I don’t mean like when my kids were small and I’d try to take a tiny nap and tell them not to disturb Mommy because she is thinking. I mean, sure, my eyes are sometimes closed and I will often fall asleep during all this ruminating, but honestly, I’m seriously thinking. It’s important, this thinking. I will start with taking a look at what I’ve done in the past year and that informs new dreams, new plans. Because dreams do change, y’all, but how often do we take the time to really think of how we’ve changed and how that impacts our wants and needs and goals or dreams? Certainly, my writing career has come a long w…
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