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WRITERS' Journal
Table of Contents
May/June 2008
Volume 29, Number 3
.....Editor's Note,
by Leon Ogroske
Voice or
speech recognition software can be a writer’s best helper. Bill Vossler on page
41 offers some fundamental information about this writing buddy.
Did you
know that Tiger Woods can influence a writer? On page 42, Michelle Young
Hubacher tells us five ways Tiger’s golfing strategies have helped her writing.
A large
market for freelancers is the church leadership market. In his article on page
47, Danny Von Kanel offers some hints about how we can enter the market. An
added bonus is that most church leadership markets accept reprints. So polish
some of your earlier articles and send them out again.
In May of
1983, Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks was introduced to the readers of The
Inkling (the forerunner of the WRITERS’ Journal) as one with the
“ability to talk about poetry knowledgeably yet in language easily understood by
neophyte poets.” We now celebrate the 25th anniversary of Esther’s
tenure with WRITERS’ Journal. Some people stay true to form. I visited
with Esther last winter when she and her husband travelled through Minnesota.
She can converse with a person about poetry—and remember she has won hundreds of
prizes and awards for her poems—in a manner that doesn’t leave the novice
stranded in a cloud of dust. She inspires and aids many poets with her columns,
editing service, and personal correspondence. WRITERS’ Journal extends
hearty congratulations to Esther on this milestone.
In this
issue you will find the last Travel Writing contest winning entries. The
publisher decided, after a very small number of entries were received, that
writers must not be interested in competing in the travel-writing genre. Even
though people travel more easily now than ever before, and destinations of
interest are abundant, people must not care to share their travel adventures. I
will miss this contest because I have always enjoyed reading about the various
places where people visit or live.
The Science
Fiction/Fantasy contest will take the place of the Travel Writing contest. (We
have to keep the judges busy.) With a November 30 deadline, you have less than
five months to get your entry to us. I am excited and am looking forward to
reading some of the entries to this new contest. If you know fellow writers who
excel in sci-fi or fantasy writing, urge them to enter the contest. It will make
them put their best work forward, submit under the pressure of a deadline, and
it might give them recognition.
Write to Win! contestants should note in our guidelines that
starter phrases can be dialogue. They don’t have to be direct discourse, but
they can be.
Enjoy the “Bonnie and Deacon” winning Write to Win! story.
How about those winning photos? Clue to winning: Get in close.
Leon Ogroske, editor
Columns
4 .....Readers'
P.O.V.
5 .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
Animal
Instincts
6 .....Marketing
Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
The Robin Hood Approach to Marketing
7 .....Vocabulary Review, Carolyn
Howard-Johnson
The Dreaded Adverb
8 .....Effective Screenwriting,
by
Christina Hamlett
Fifty Ways to Annoy Actors
Sending a new script out into the
world can be compared to the nail-biting angst felt by parents on their child's
first day of school. Will it fit in? Will it be teased for being different? Will
it—horrors!—be totally ignored? There's just as much to worry about, however, if
your pride and joy is eagerly accepted, spirited off to fraternize with the
popular crowd and—when next seen again—will be only remotely recognizable as the
product of your original labors....
12 .....Computer
Business, by Angela Render
Graphics:
Friend of Foe?—Part 4 Making it Both Useful and Pretty
People
have different ideas about what looks good. Most people agree, though, that
monochromatic is boring. On the other hand, too much color or too many flashing
graphics can be overpowering....
15 .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
Camera and Gear Checklists
Have
you ever packed up your camera gear and headed out on a photo shoot only to find
that you left that something behind or something you brought doesn't work
correctly? I have—too many times. I solved the problem by creating a camera gear
and a preshoot and postshoot maintenance checklist....
42 .....For
Beginners Only, by Michelle Young Hubacher
What Tiger Taught
Me About Writing
I
met Tiger Woods on trash day. He was hiding in the recycling bin under the
Pottery Barn Catalog. After I pulled him out, I sat on the curb with him and
quickly became immersed in his approach to the short game. I don't know a driver
from a wedge; and much to my husband's disappointment, unless there's a little
wooden windmill involved, I'm not the least bit interested inputting....
57 .....Words...Tools of Our Trade,
by Betty Garton Ulrich
What Influenced You to Become a Writer?
It's interesting to investigate the reasons people
became writers. Some knew from a very young age. Others seem to have stumbled
into it almost accidentally. Some felt an overwhelming desire to put words to
paper, while others fall into that category of "wanting to have written," but
not really consumed with a desire to actually write....
59 .....WRITERS'
Journal Market Report, by
Laurie Graziano
May/June 2008
Market Report Plus, Todd Hester of Gladiator Magazine
It is every writer's intention to form complete ideas
in an understandable and entertaining forum for readers to enjoy. This is
especially true with sportswriters. Oftentimes, it means carefully observing,
critiquing, and cataloging the subtle nuances of an activity to bring the true
essence of a sport to paper....
Markets: Gladiator Magazine, Southern Bride Magazine, Plush, C16
Autostyle Magazine, Billboard, Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Cocktail Weekly, Time
Out New York Eating & Drinking Guide, The Week, OK!, Haunted Attraction
Magazine.
Feature Articles
19
.....My Biggest Mistake as a Beginning Writer, by Dennis E. Hensley
The Need to
Rewrite
I knew at age eighteen as a high school senior that I
wanted to be a professional writer. The problem was, I didn't know anyone who
was a professional writer. I didn't know any editors or literary agents or
publishers, either. So, I made a terrible mistake and tried to make it on my
own. As I tell my college writing students today, "Freelance doesn't mean you
work alone, and it doesn't mean you work for free...."
21
.....Getting Organized, by Dee Goerge
How to
Declutter the Paper Trail
My home office is a Feng Shui nightmare. My back is to
the door. None of the furniture matches. The small space accommodates too many
purposes...
23
.....What's in a Name?, by Jim Tipton
Unforgettable
Characters Have Unforgettable Names
Margaret
Mitchell, the creator of the beautiful but spoiled heroine of Gone with the
Wind—Scarlett O'Hara—in the original draft called her Pansy O'Hara. What
different images we conjure up for a character named Pansy than for one named
Scarlett!...
41
.....Writing with My Pal, the Dragon, by Bill Vossler
Write More
with Voice Recognition Software
Nowadays, I often turn my writing over to my
pal, the Dragon. I close my eyes and kick back in my chair, lace my fingers
behind my head, and summon him up. within seconds, fire and smoke belch from my
mouth, igniting the paper with words. Suddenly I am immersed in an ecstasy of
creation.
44
.....Writing with Light, by Kathryn Wilkens
Improve Your Photography Skills
Writers
know that a story or an essay has a beginning, a middle, and an end. In a way,
so does a picture. When gazing at a photo, your eye first goes to the focal
point. That's like the lead of an essay. Next, your eye roams around inside the
frame, taking in details and subtleties. That's like the middle of an essay
where ideas are developed. Finally, a good photo leaves you with a message. In
an essay, that's what we call "takeaway value." While "reading" a photo takes
only a few seconds, it can be as profound as reading an essay....
47
.....Thus Saith the Lord, by Danny R. Von Kanel
Targeted Writing to the Church Leadership Market
The
Christian writer's market thrives as a gold mine for freelancers. Deep within
that rich reservoir is a smaller but profitable vein of church leadership
(pastor/leader) magazines. Thirty-nine publications await the freelancer's
notice; twenty-eight are paying markets, twenty-seven accept reprints.
Travel Writing
Contest
25
.....Nessebar: Sanctum by the Sea, by Ty Treadwell
First Prize
Winner of November 2007 Travel Writing Contest
28
.....Stopping to Smell the Sunflowers: Cycling Spain's Emporda, by
Amy L. Stripe
Second Prize
Winner of November 2007 Travel Writing Contest
30
.....Out Wickenburg Way, by Ned Tarrington
Third Prize
Winner of November 2007 Travel Writing Contest
Fiction
32
.....Playdate, by Danette Haworth
Honorable
Mention Winner of 2006 Romance Contest
35
.....The Creature at Marble March, by Philip Loyd
Honorable
Mention Winner of 2007 Horror/Ghost Contest
December 20, 2007
Write to Win! Winner
38
....."Bonnie and Deacon"—"The plane had landed but...," by
Ronald Wright
Poetry
50 .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
Poetry by
Design
A few mornings back, I spotted a spider so tiny it
would fit on the head of a pin. Being nearsighted has advantages, so I took off
my glasses and watched it from an inch away—traveling at a great speed for its
size, on a straight line across my desk. What epic journey did it intend? Did it
have any concept of arrival?...
55 .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
"The Implanted Epitaph"
and "Joie De Vivre"
It
is unusual to find a poem with an original concept. Some critics might argue
that there truly is no "new idea under the sun." Yet, Paul Sohar's strange
first-person narrative offers a premise within five quatrains that is unusual
and disquieting . The poem's narrator, in highly arresting opening lines,
informs readers:...
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