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WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
November/December 2007
Volume 28, Number 6

      .....Editor's Note, by Leon Ogroske 

Most authors find the Internet as the best way to market their work. Whether you are a book author or a freelancer and submit to every market you can locate, you will find our six-part series on Web site development invaluable. Angela Render is a Web developer who will help you, step-by-step, through the building and optimizing of a Web site. If you are computer savvy, her help will be easy to follow. If you aren’t, she will offer you lots of information that will help you guide a professional designer in creating just the image you want to portray.

Rob Loughran, on page 15, and Lawrence and Suella Walsh, on page 45, offer great insights into the value of proofreading and writers’ groups. I first read the Walsh article as we started our local writers’ group, and agree that the most important characteristic of a writers’ group is helpful critiquing. We can’t always see flaws in our own writing as easily as can someone with a fresh pair of eyes. A good critiquer will help the writer develop strengths and point out where improvements might be made.

On page 23, Bob Brown introduces us to his Web site, which will help you when it comes to submitting short stories to various magazines. His Submission Guidelines can be found at www.inventwrite.com/Guidelines.htm. Please capitalize the letter G in the URL or you won’t get to the right page. Once there, you will be amazed at the more than 300 available markets.

Gay Ingram, in our Beginners Only column on page 55, shares her insights as to what makes good writing. Most of us will find that we are powerhouses of writing—we just can’t help ourselves! But are we creating good writing? Make yourself a checklist of the important qualities of good writing and see how you fare.

Four contests are highlighted in this issue. Our Write to Win! winning story will keep you interested till the very end with its treatment of an age-old dilemma. The three winning entries to our Short Story competition provide excellent descriptive writing. My favorite is "They’re Coming." Did someone say "short attention span"? The results of the April Poetry Contest gave Esther Leiper a lot on which to comment. One thing is for certain: I won’t be telling poets that their poetry is "nice." Last, the Photography Contest winning photos each possessed an eerily common element: water.

My hope is that, in the past year, you have learned many helpful essentials that will aid you in improving your writing. WRITERS’ Journal’s mission of helping writers write will continue in 2008, our tenth year of publishing The Complete Writer’s Magazine.

Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

  4       .....Readers' P.O.V.

  5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
           Opposites Attract

  6       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
           Locating a Character

  7       .....Vocabulary Review, Carolyn Howard-Johnson
           Asyndeton

  8       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
           Is Your Script Ready for its Close-up?
           Most people would never consider jumping out of an airplane, rappelling off the Matterhorn, or diving off an ocean cliff unless (1) they had previously participated in these activities, (2) they possessed the proper equipment to ensure a safe outcome, and (3) they believed they reward outweighed the risk. Every year, however, tens of thousands of individuals plunge—without any preparation, forethought, or professional advice—into the heady waters of screenwriting and then wonder why they sink like a stone without making a single splash....

 11      .....Computer Business, by Angela Render
           Building Your Web Presence
           If you're reading this, I don't need to convince you that you need a Web site. You've attended the self-promotion seminars and read the articles and already know how a Web site can help you promote your work. The question you face now is whether to do it yourself or call in a professional. Both options have a cost to them, either in time or in money....

 13      .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
           The Art of Filing
           In many of the past columns I wrote about how to shoot images or scan slides or prints to images, but one topic I have not discussed is how to manage images. Being able to quickly find an image or a series of images to supplement a manuscript is important because it is a time-saver. The less time it takes to locate an image, the more time you have to accomplish other tasks....

 55      .....For Beginners Only, by Gay Ingram
           Good Writing 
           Good writing keeps the reader interested, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, or screenplays. Good writing is about people. Good writing reaches back into emotional memory and touches universal feelings. Good writing engages readers' emotions, touches readers' minds and hearts. Good writing will get readers so involved in the characters' lives that they'll feel what the characters are feeling....

 57      .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           Keep On Keeping On
          Sometimes you receive an unexpected gift that turns out to be a font of blessing and inspiration. Such was the gift given me by a fellow writer, although I'd met her only a couple of times. It was a copy of Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul....

 59       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
            November/December 2007 Market Report Plus, Alison Fahey of Adweek Magazine
            Whenever a writer sits down to compose, he asks one question, "Who will be reading my work?" Depending on the genre, he is allowed a little leverage in predicting the age, sex, and educational level of the reader. But his masterpiece isn't complete without an added artistic stroke: advertising....

                   Markets: Adweek, Script, SM The Magazine for Single Mothers, Golf For Women, M Magazine, Vapors Magazine, In Tune Monthly, Lee Magazine, American Cycle, American Bagger.

Feature Articles

 15       .....Homer Simpson and the Art of Proofreading, by Rob Loughran
            Proper Spelling Is Not a Magic Spell
            For my monthly critique group I sent Linda and Kate my 162-page nonfiction manuscript, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow: A Year-Long Guide to Publishing Success. As usual, they examined every nook and cranny of the text with the precision of an anal-retentive forensics team....

 19       .....Poetry Immersion, by Miriam Sagan
            Intensify Your Relationship with Poetry
            Many people write poetry but don't read it. This is missing half the equation. Writers are then disappointed and frustrated when magazines reject their work, because such markets are looking for identifiable contemporary poetry....

 21       .....Talking Turkey with Diana Jenkins, by Kathy Kitts
            Tips and Techniques from a Children's Author
            When Diana Jenkins was a little girl, her dad told her a story about how he had had no money for Thanksgiving dinner. One year Diana's grandfather had shown up for a visit and had taken her father to a grocery store to buy a turkey. The store was closed. Grandfather beat on the glass and got the owners' attention, but they still wouldn't open. Finally, he stuck his thumbs in his armpits and gobbled like a turkey. The owners laughed, opened the store, and sold Grandfather the food he needed for Thanksgiving dinner.....

 23       .....Who Will Publish My Short Story?, by Bob Brown
            Find the Perfect Magazine for Your Story
           Dueling Partners was destined to be my best-ever short story, or so I thought. I knew my story was long (13,381 words), but it was so good, how could any literary magazine turn it down? Nearly all of them, I found out. It would be an easy call for the magazine editor; one glance at my word count and my beautiful manuscript would be tossed into the recycle bin without he is even reading the title....

 41       .....Writing for Web TV, by Antonio Graceffo
           Mastering the New Media
            If you have ever dreamed of writing a sitcom, a movie, or breaking into Hollywood, you have probably discovered that it is hard to find an open door. Luckily, Web TV and podcasting, while not exactly an open door, might be an open window that leads to our greater success....

 43       .....Coping with the Toxic Triangle, by Dennis E. Hensley
           Time Management
            Recently, at the conclusion of a large writers' conference, the faculty members went out to dinner together. Ten of us—novelists, poets, screenwriters, magazine feature writers, newspaper columnists—were seated in a private room of a nice restaurant. The topic of conversation turned to something we all had discussed many times before, and probably would turn to again many times in the future: the Toxic Triangle.

 45       .....Establishing a Writers' Group, by Lawrence and Suella Walsh
           Synergy at Work
            Many elements go into the forming of a writers' group, the least significant of which are time and place. The format the group chooses will set the tone for the criticism, but the most important components are the commitment and the proficiency of the membership.

Fiction

May 2007 Short Story Contest Winners:

 27       .....Secret Alliance, by Kathryn I. Daugherty
            First Prize Winner of May 2007 Short Story Contest

 28       .....Hurricanes Don't Lie, by Linda Thorne
            Second Prize Winner of May 2007 Short Story Contest

 30       .....They're Coming, by Chris Alesso
            Third Prize Winner of May 2007 Short Story Contest

More Fiction:

 31       .....No Gratitude, by Arnold L. Miller
            H. M. Winner of 2006 Fiction Contest

June 20, 2007 Write to Win! Winner

 38        ....."Lucky Seven"—"They could see...," by Linda G. Beaty

Poetry

 47       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper
            "The Christmas Moose" and "A Christmas Event"
            What is the difference between prose and poetry? Not all prose tells a story and not all poems are lyrics that present feelings and emotions rather than happenings. I thought I'd try something different with this column. I have written the following story—and poem—from two viewpoints. I should add that this North Country incident is true. I chose to tell the tale through my daughter Hannah's eyes as if she were speaking. She was ten at the time. By contrast, the tone of my poem (which follows the story version) is more fanciful—even mystical....

 55       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper
            The Winners—April 2007 Poetry Contest
            Writers' Journal  received an impressive number of entries in our April poetry contest, well over two hundred; thus, the competition was especially keen. I read free verse, sonnets, an unrhymed villanelle, quatrains, a ballad narrative, several shape poems, prose poems, and more....