Category: Writing

Candid Talks, Writing

How to Choose a Literary Journal …for Submitting Your Work

Pauline Shen

If you’re writing for publication, you need to know where your work will fit. After you’ve written a short story (or poem, or nonfiction piece…), you’ll need to send it somewhere. But where? Do you simply send your work to any and all journals that have an open submission call?

Or should you devote some time to reading current literary journals? It is a good idea to look for the best fit for your writing, so you ought to consider reading a selection of journals first. Now wait… there are so many literary journals out there! So, to avoid being overwhelmed I’ve developed a system to help narrow the field when you’re just starting out. It goes like this:

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Writing

Balancing Writing Projects – How to PART TWO

Pauline Shen

How does a writer organize different projects? PART TWO

In PART ONE of this topic, we established what sort of projects a writer must balance in order to move forward in the profession. The full scope involves writing, but a significant amount of creativity and drive must go into levels of different projects, not just one. Even if you’re independently wealthy and have the luxury of just sitting down to type out your novel, there’s always the marketing side of things. So, you’d still need to devote time and energy to multiple projects in addition to your manuscript.

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Writing

Balancing Writing Projects – How to PART ONE

Pauline Shen

How does a writer organize different projects? PART ONE

First, let’s examine what is meant by “different projects.” Writers, effectively, are artists. It’s a craft that carries high risk in terms of outcome versus expenditure of time, energy and effort. In order to market anything in the artistic realm, the maker (in this case, writer) needs to consider the full scope of the endeavour. There’s a lot of talk from writers about the challenges of getting work done and whether “writer’s block” is indeed a real phenomenon. However, that’s just one aspect of the creative process. And it’s only a nugget of the profession overall. Does that sound strange? Let me explain.

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Candid Talks, Writing

Giving Feedback

Pauline Shen

How much criticism is too much to give a writer? Is there such a thing?

This question always comes up in writer’s forums, particularly for those who are participating in a writing contest involving peer feedback. How do you go about offering an anonymous critique to an unknown writer for a piece that was written and submitted within a time crunch? Do you take it easy and focus on positives? Or should you comb through it and scrutinize every possible aspect? If a happy medium exists, is it fair to aim for that?

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Candid Talks, Writing

Journaling

Pauline Shen
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Up to now, the longest I’ve maintained a personal journal was when I was ages nine through twelve. At that time, it was a little pocket diary and my entries consisted of one or maybe two phrases. In my adult years, I’ve attempted and abandoned journal writing several times over. When it came to starting one, I usually had an idea of what I wanted to write about, but then my stamina just didn’t click-in. Who wants to waste time sitting with a journal when there’s no shortage of other things to do?

Plus, when it comes to actually writing the journal entry, doesn’t it feel awkward like you’ve been forced to engage one of those wallflower kids at the school dance? Or worse, you’re the wallflower kid getting pulled into conversation? Eeek!

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Candid Talks, Writing

What’s Your Writing Process?

Pauline Shen

This question popped up on a writer’s forum and the concern was that smaller pieces such as short stories and micro fiction seem to pose much more difficulty for a writer due to their condensed nature. As a writer, what is your process for micro fiction? Do you keep an eye on the word count while drafting, or do you plod ahead with an idea and cut back later? When you’re trimming the piece, how do you know what to chop and what to retain? Isn’t it a struggle to make those decisions?

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Candid Talks, Writing

Should You Pay Submission Fees?

Pauline Shen

If you agree to pay a fee for your work to be considered for publication, how much is too much? Is a couple bucks okay? What about if that “couple bucks” is listed in a foreign currency and so is actually more like five dollars? What if there are added feedback charges, or if the journal presents you with a tip jar option? Does the prospect of paying submission fees motivate you to produce higher quality work? Or do you submit the same work that you’d send a place that doesn’t charge?

So many questions! In this article, I’ll talk about areas where a writer may be asked to fork out cash just for work to be taken into consideration. I’ll also include some tips to help you navigate the submission process without having to pay fees and while being alert for signs of potential scams.

Literary Journals

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Nonfiction, Writing

Selecting Character Names

Pauline Shen
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

How do you select character names? If you’ve ever wondered this, consider first why you’re asking. It’s not like you have zero ideas of names to choose. Do you have a name in mind that you aren’t confident slapping down on the page? Maybe it’s the name of your childhood friend or a departed relative. Did you think about using a name you heard at school or work and thought it was rather unique but years later you’re unsure if it’s usable? The problem boils down to whether it’s a good fit.

The fit has to do with your character, the plot, and your intended audience. There’s a lot riding on a name, so it’s not just an arbitrary decision. You’re placing a label on a fictional being who represents an archetype, role-model, or possibly a new icon (i.e. Harry _ _ _ _ _ _ ). Which reminds me, you may only need a first name. Depending on your genre and plot, however, you may need to select surnames. And if you’re going for realism, this can be a huge conundrum.

So now that we’ve gotten closer to defining the problem, do I have an answer? Well, not exactly. I have some guidelines that I follow and I’ll offer some anecdotes along the way.

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Candid Talks, Writing

What’s the point …of Submitting to Literary Journals?

Pauline Shen

I saw this question on a discussion forum some time ago, and thought it was a good one. The person who posed it was just starting out as a writer and unsure about navigating all the different publication outlets. Should a writer invest time and resources in short stories and micro fiction for the purpose of submitting to journals? Is this a wise choice for a writer whose ultimate goal is to finish a novel? Can you make a living from submitting smaller works of fiction? What, really, is the point of having your work appear in those little journals anyways? Why not just go for the full manuscript from the beginning and skip all the rest?

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Writing

Returning to a Work-in-Progress – How to

Pauline Shen

One of my university professors used to say that he found it easier and more productive to walk away from an essay while he was mid-sentence with an unfinished paragraph on the page. His logic was that his brain would pick up the exact train of thought that he had been working with in the previous sitting so that his fingers could simply continue typing the remainder of that sentence and paragraph without much hesitation. Now, that may work for essays, but I’m not certain that it applies to writing scenes. I mean, how annoying is it to have your reading interrupted right when there’s a critical junction in the story? Or you’ve just gotten into a movie and the power cuts out? What a letdown! Creative writing is much the same; there’s some kind of bubble that bursts when disruptions occur—including when it comes time to shift attention to a more pressing task. Leaving the comfort of your home office to attend a dental appointment, for example.

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