Grandfather [writing prompt]
Write about grandfathers.
Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section.
And if you post, please be sure to give feedback to a few other writers.
How to Write a Short Story No One Else Can Write [interview with Danielle Lazarin]
Today, I’m talking to Danielle Lazarin about how to get your short story published by a literary magazine, how to know when your story is finished, and how to write stories no one else can write.
Danielle has a forthcoming story in Glimmer Train, and has published stories in Michigan Quarterly Review, The Boston Review, and on FiveChapters.com. She received her Masters in creative writing at University of Michigan. All that’s to say, she knows her stuff.
You can check out Danielle’s website and follow her on Twitter (@d_lazarin).
Let’s jump into the interview.
Put Your Writing Skills to the Test
If you want to become a better writer, you need to practice deliberately, and one of the best ways to practice writing deliberately is by submitting your work for publication. Submitting acts as a kind of test of your writing skills, and studies have shown that people improve at a skill faster if they’re tested.
I know submitting can be scary. You feel vulnerable, like all your insecurities and flaws are exposed. However, if you want to get published, you need to learn to submit your work, and not just when it’s perfect.
Today, you can make a breakthrough in your writing. You just need to submit your work.
99 Ways to Tell a Story
Have you ever thought of writing the same story in a hundred different ways? Sounds crazy?
This is exactly what Raymond Queneau did in his Exercises in Style, back in 1947. He tells a simple, unremarkable story (more like flash fiction) 99 times, trying out different styles, from ode to mathematical depictions.
Don't Waste Your Pain
I recently heard Horatio Spaford’s great song, “It is Well With My Soul”. I was moved, as I have been many times before. How is it that a song, a really old song, hasn’t gotten musty and useless over the years? Why do the words of others have the ability to touch our hearts so deeply?
Have you ever wondered how an author seems to be inside your head?
I looked up the story behind the song hoping to find some answers. And it turns out Spaford’s writing didn’t come out of a vacuum, but out of his own suffering. His experience can teach you how to powerfully connect your own suffering to the larger, human experience.
