I realize that this blog seems to be geared more towards fiction writers than poets and non-fiction writers, so I decided to talk about a writing contest specifically for poets. This contest is the Poetry Awards by Writer’s Digest. If you’ve a poetic mind and an active pen, please read on!
This contest is not much different from the other Writer’s Digest competitions I’ve discussed; this time it’s just for poetry.
Here are the basics:
Poems can be of any form but must be 32 lines or less
Early bird deadline is October 2, 2017
Normal deadline is November 6, 2017
Early bird entry fee is $15 for the first entry and $10 for subsequent entries; normal deadline entry fee is $20 for the first entry and $15 for subsequent entries
Prizes are given for first through twenty-fifth place winners
First place gets $1,000 in cash, a 20-minute consultation with Poet’s Market editor Robert Brewer, a copy of the 2018 Poet’s Market, and their poem published in the July/August 2018 edition of Writer’s Digest
If you’ve any unpublished poetry you’d like to share, I highly recommend trying this contest. Good luck to all who enter!
Know of any contests in fiction, poetry, or non-fiction with upcoming deadlines? Share the love and post them in the comments below, or email me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com so I can share it in a post on this blog.
Today I’m introducing (yet another) new series of posts to this blog, “Disney’s Grown Up”. This series is a bit different from my other posts. It leans heavily on the “distractions” aspect of this blog and will consist of all my random thoughts about Disney movies, Disneyland, pretty much everything Disney. I’m a born-and-raised Californian who’s loved Disney her entire life and has a mind for creative writing and literary criticism, so these posts will be both passionate and a bit crazy.
My mom and I are proof that you’re never too old for some fun.
I call this series “Disney’s Grown Up” because the topics discussed won’t be your typical childhood Disney conversations. (It’s also named for one of my poems I shared back in May, “Wendy Darling’s Grown Up”.) This series will be for the intelligent, hardcore Disney fanatics.
From tips for exploring the parks to in-depth analyses of the latest movies, you’ll get a taste of the entire fandom from an adult’s perspective. Of course, I’m still going to be making “Let It Go” and “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman” jokes every now and then. It’s pretty much required. Nevertheless, the whole experience will be both fun and intellectually-stimulating.
Some of the topics you can look forward to are Emma Watson’s Beauty and the Beast and the French Revolution, Frozen from the perspective of someone with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and some of the lesser-known (and perhaps darker) history and rumors surrounding Walt Disney. Best of all, in late October/early November I’ll report to you the wonders that await at Disneyland during Halloween and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
I encourage all my fellow fanatics to send me their ideas for posts and their thoughts on the topics I discuss, both in the comments here and by email to thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
And if you’re looking to go to the Disneyland Resort but aren’t sure how to best enjoy the park, look up me up on Fiverr and I can help you navigate the wonderful (albeit stressful) experience.
Happy Friday, everyone! This week started out pretty stressful for me but now I can kick back and relax for a little while (until boredom seeps in and I go through the “I want to do something but I’m too tired” struggle). With the summer solstice just around the corner–and my birthday!–I’ve decided to base today’s writing prompt on Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day”.
This classic piece by the ingenious Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite science fiction short stories. It’s good, old-school science fiction which we’d now see as an amusing–albeit a bit depressing–fantasy, considering what we’ve learned about our galaxy. I won’t tell you much since I don’t want to give anything away but I’ll focus on the element of the story which is important to this prompt.
“All Summer in a Day” takes place in a colony on Venus (like I said, more fantasy than science fiction nowadays considering what we know about Venus). In this story, Venus is bombarded by constant rainstorms and the sun only shows for one hour once every seven years. You can read the story in its entirety here.
Today’s prompt is based on this concept. As usual, the prompt is pretty straightforward:
Imagine that, as in “All Summer in Day”, you only got to see the sun for one hour once every seven years. What would you do? How would your disposition change? Would you be scared of the sun, even understand what it is? What would you do if someone deprived you of that hour of sun?
The reason for the sun’s cycle can be due to the planet you’re on, a curse put on you or your society or the world, some new form of incarceration, etc. Be as creative as you want. The important thing is to focus on how it would affect you as a human.
Jot down whatever comes into your head as you contemplate this scenario. Spend about five minutes on this. When you’re done, turn your notes into a short story or poem. (Try to not come too close to Bradbury’s story!) You can make it science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, whatever you feel fits your notes.
I know that this idea may seem like a stretch of the imagination but that’s the point. This exercise will make you think about yourself and your relationship with your surroundings in new ways. You may also walk away with a new appreciation for the simpler things in life (although I personally still hate the sun when it’s 100+ degrees outside).
Take heart, fellow writers; the weekend is nearly here. Only today and Friday to go. Considering everything I’ve done this week, I’ve decided to post some more lighthearted material and offer up some of my old work again. This one is called “Peahen”. Like the first one, this poem is from my undergrad poetry portfolio. It grew from an attempt at a prose poem and I’m not sure if it’s any good. On top of that, it morphed into an expression of anxiety, judgment, and dating, so it hits a raw nerve for me. I’ll let you decide its quality.
Without further ado, I present “Peahen”:
Peahen
A million violet eyes encircled me
Their feathers spread in full display, unfurled like ball gowns gliding across a flawless wood floor. There were necks of lapis lazuli and scaly emerald. One had ghostly feathers, another the ashy feathers of a duster. They strut with bobbing necks. Their onyx orbs bore down on me— pure, deep oblivion. The eyes closed in tighter, and tighter; peach and golden beaks, cactus-needle claws ripped through vulnerable flesh. Rusty blood oozed through open wounds, their jeweled fans swept air from my lungs.
Thank you for amusing me. I hope that you all find a little encouragement in the fact that everyone has work that they’re not so proud of, and I’ll make certain to continue to remind you of that for as long as there are writers who are discouraged by their harsh self-criticism.
If you have any old work that you’d like to share, be sure to post it in the comments below. You never know what might pull another writer out of the depths of despair or inspire the next bestseller.
This is the exact message on the program’s web page. I don’t know, based on this message, if it’s a temporary or permanent closure; all I know is that they are not taking in new students for the 2017/2018 year.
A couple weeks ago, maybe a month, I learned that the Master’s program I am enrolled in will be closing to new students. I was shocked to learn this but, with everything I have been doing, that news sort of fell to the wayside. Yesterday another student in my program posted the news on Facebook, and so I was reminded of this sad development. I really don’t know if it’s a temporary or permanent matter. Why would the University of Edinburgh close its Master’s in Creative Writing by online distance learning to new students? The on-campus program is continuing, why is my year the last for this great program?
The other students in my year have been batting around the possibilities. Is the university not making enough money from the program? Are they short-staffed? Does it have to do with the current program supervisor taking an early retirement? I also wonder if it has anything to do with the global political environment following Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In truth, we just don’t know. All we know is that we’re glad that we didn’t defer our acceptance like some of us had considered doing and that we all better progress to the next year. We also know that, to us, it just doesn’t make any sense.
All of us in the program have benefited greatly from it. We all love the program and the people we’ve met through it. I know I wouldn’t have gotten past my depression enough to start this blog, my Fiverr gigs, or anything else if I hadn’t gotten into this program. It’s a terrible shame that others won’t be able to benefit from it after my class.
Hopefully they’ll come to their senses and restart the program in 2018/2019 or later. Maybe they just need enough of a rumble from alumni, current students, and perspective students to realize they’ve made a mistake. Maybe a successful alumnae or supporter of the university, creative writing, and online learning students needs to pull some fiscal and public sway. We’ll see what happens and pray that they reverse the decision.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to update my readers on the lessons I learn from this program. I know that there will be plenty. It’s more important now than ever that I share these lessons, given that potential students cannot (for the time being or forever) access this program.
Do you know of any programs that can fill the void left by this one? Any for potential students and writers who, due to personal circumstances, need online learning programs? Any alternatives to such programs overall? Please leave your suggestions in the comments below or email them to me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and I will share your advice in a future blog post.
After a brief hiatus for schoolwork, I’m back. Hopefully I won’t have to go so many days without posting again but I make no promises. As I said in my post on reading diversely, today I’m going to review a book on economic disparity and reform titled Cast Away For These Reasons: Economic Jihad by Jo M. Sekimonyo.
Cast Away For These Reasons: Economic Jihad by Jo M. Sekimonyo
I can anticipate what people are probably focusing on: “jihad.” I know that, in this day and age, many people associate it with extremist radicals claiming to be part of the Muslim faith such as ISIS, especially against other Muslims whom they’ve deemed “unbelievers” and non-Muslims. However, “jihad” is also used outside of religion in a way similar to how “crusade” is used, i.e. “a crusade against drugs”. (Read this entry from The Oxford Dictionary of Islam for more information.)
Don’t get me wrong, most people would think this book is highly controversial. After all, it takes on capitalism, economists, industry leaders, and world leaders. (Of course, the last two are a bit interchangeable nowadays, and Sekimonyo isn’t shy about suggesting that.)
It’s also, by the very nature of the topic, a very dense read. Sekimonyo does his best to make the book reader-friendly with personal tales, analogies, and a minimum amount of economic jargon and graphs, but it can still be a slow read for non-economists. After the initial heart-wrenching story of poverty, the book can be a slow read when he’s not talking about his personal experiences with capitalism and the experiences he’s witnessed. Just keep in mind that the conversation behind the rhetoric is very important and worth taking a hard, long look at Sekimonyo’s words. At least he doesn’t waste valuable space on senseless formulas.
In my opinion, this book is a must-read for those concerned about economic disparity and willing to open themselves to unconventional possibilities.
I usually try to summarize the book at this point in my review but I hesitate given all the layers behind it and my own inexperience with the subject. Still, I’ll try.
Sekimonyo takes the reader on a journey, both personal and universal, to expose the injustices and faults of capitalism not just in the United States but in several first-, second-, and third-world countries. He guides us throughout history, from the origins of “selling and buying” and wages to the messy web we’re tangled in today, and examines several different economists’, philosophers’, and politicians’ approaches. Then, after thoroughly covering all that is wrong with capitalism, we get the icing on the cake: Sekimonyo’s alternative.
Part personal essay and part economic treatise, Sekimonyo has a very unique way of engaging any reader with the daunting subject of economics. He grabbed my attention right off the bat with the sad story of a poor single mother, one of many stories and images he provides from his tour of the world’s poor. These personal anecdotes combined with a conversational tone made feel, for a good portion of the rhetoric, as though I were speaking directly with the man rather than reading a stale tome of socio-politico-economic woe.
Add to this gumbo–to steal one of the author’s colloquialisms–his own experiences at various stages of economic struggle and success and what you get are the (somewhat rambling and sometimes disorganized) thoughts of a well-rounded man who knows first-hand what he’s talking about.
Mind you, I noticed several grammatical errors which tripped me up, but they aren’t anything that the reader can’t overcome.
Word to the wise: read this book with as thick a skin as you can muster. This may go without saying but Sekimonyo is not merciful towards capitalism and its perpetrators. In fact, he doesn’t spare anyone in his rhetoric. I was forced to see some people I admire in a new light, including Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, and Nelson Mandela. That’s one of the beauties of Sekimonyo’s work: he makes you face new opinions of leaders around the globe and economic systems with which we are quite familiar.
The downside is that, at times, his brutal honesty makes you want to smack him upside the head. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to reading things that negatively reflect on things and people we like. If you get to that point, I encourage you to push past it. What he has to say is important and intriguing. Besides, he has a great sense of humor and knows how to poke fun at himself and his readers.
Don’t think that the more “liberal” economic solutions are safe from his scrutiny. He makes certain to cover the debate regarding minimum wage, and his answer isn’t exactly what you’d expect.
Another couple words of advice: keep a dictionary nearby (or a dictionary app open) and take your time reading it. You’ll probably have to read through many sections multiple times, especially when Sekimonyo explains his alternative to capitalism. Mind you, I had to because I’m very new to the socio-politico-economic debate. You may not be, in which case you shouldn’t have any problems, but you may still want to re-read this book a couple times to thoroughly digest it.
Admittedly, I’m still trying to digest it myself but it’s been a very stimulating experience. Sekimonyo has helped keep my brain from melting in the NorCal summer heat and distracted me from the rest of the world’s ugliness. Nothing distracts you from one uncomfortable subject than another equally uncomfortable subject that simultaneously inspires guilt and an urge to take action.
Writer, economist, world traveler, husband, challenger of pretty much everything
Photo retrieved from the “About” page on his website
I was impressed by the range of Sekimonyo’s knowledge. Beyond economics, he also addresses politics, history, social interactions, and, my personal favorite, lore from multiple religions. I especially enjoyed seeing him use the story of Lilith in one of his analogies. I so rarely meet people who know or acknowledge Lilith’s story, especially Christians, so it’s refreshing to stumble across it randomly. (If you’re unaware, you can read about the story in this Wikipedia entry.)
After reading this book, I have a lot to think about. If I could have had someone like Sekimonyo as an economics professor, I might have made that one of my elective courses as an undergrad. I would also love for him to write an updated version of this book discussing the current socio-politico-economic state of the world, especially in light of Brexit and President Trump. I’m sure he’d have much to say about the latter.
Conservative or liberal, economist or novice, I urge my readers to give this book a chance. Would Sekimonyo’s capitalism alternative work? Honestly, I don’t know, but I think it’s a good place to start a conversation. Sekimonyo has given us much of the information we need to start a discussion; now we need to hold up our end of the bargain and actually explore new economic avenues.
Have any thoughts on this book? Economic policies overall? Books you think I should review? Feel free to drop a line in the comments below or contact me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com. Just remember that while we encourage intellectual discussion, it must remain polite and civil. Please express when you have a dissenting opinion but keep in mind that any trolling or bullying will lead to disciplinary action.
Published a book and want me to review it? E-mail me or contact me through Fiverr and I’m sure we can arrange something.
Hello readers. I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I’ve been taking a brief hiatus from blog posts to focus on an essay due this Wednesday (but I’ve already bent your ear enough over that in previous posts). Unfortunately, schoolwork must take precedent over my other pursuits. I should be finished with this essay by Wednesday, possibly Tuesday night, and I’ll be more active after that. I will also be posting a new book review in the next couple of days. If you want to get a jump on it by starting the book before my review, I’ve provided an ad for the book in this post.
Well, I’d best get back to all the work I’m putting off. Happy reading and writing. I’ll be back soon.
Lately I’ve been struggling with writing an essay which should be easy for me. My guess is that it’s writer’s block due to pressure, stress, and high expectations. That’s a different conversation entirely. Earlier today I got one of the biggest mental breaks for the essay, one which could help put me back on track. You know where I was? In the shower. Nothing to write on nearby. I had to keep muttering my thoughts to myself so that I wouldn’t forget them by the time I reached my laptop. Needless to say, I was able to write down what I had already thought of but, for the most part, the muse was gone. Now, as I’m waiting for her to return, I’ve decided that I should talk a bit about inconvenient writing inspiration in the hopes that it’ll shake off some of the cobwebs.
My story is unfortunately common. A writer will be going along at something they can’t walk away from, such as showering or trying to sleep, and BAM! Here comes some inconvenient writing inspiration.
Today was not the first time I encountered inconvenient writing inspiration and I know it won’t be the last. It’s just how my mind operates. If I’m trying to focus on something that isn’t particularly interesting and/or I’m block from most external stimuli, my thoughts wander. By the end of my undergraduate years, most of my class notes were actually notes in the margins for new stories and essays for my various classes. (Somehow I still graduated summa cum laude.) Showering and sleeping are especially inconvenient for me since that’s when I usually have epiphanies about particularly difficult stories and essays.
Image retrieved from FlickrA lot of writers’ minds work that way. Odds are that every writer with access to social media has, at one point or another, complained about needing a whiteboard by the shower or having notes scattered throughout the house on scraps of paper and on various note apps. Sometimes I think it’s the universe’s way of keeping us on our toes…or torturing us.
So, how can we deal with such inconvenient writing inspiration?
The key to the answer is in the question itself: we deal with it. We can’t eradicate the problem entirely. That would involve changing how our brains work entirely and that could ruin our creativity. Frankly, we probably wouldn’t want to “solve” this problem. It’s inconvenient and annoying but, at the end of the day, writers need inconvenient writing inspiration. It helps us with writer’s block, especially when we’re getting more stuck the longer we stare at the blank page.
Dealing with inconvenient writing inspiration takes a little creativity, not to mention a better memory and overcoming laziness. The best way to deal with this sort of inspiration is to just keep things to write on wherever you go, no matter what you’re doing. Notebook or phone by your bed, whiteboard or notebook by the shower (be careful not to get it wet), a small notebook or tablet in your purse or backpack, and scraps of paper anywhere you can reach them will give you a chance at writing things down before you forget. The only problem is that you have to remember to write things down and not feel too tired or lazy to reach for your notebook. (Many writers are guilty of that, myself included.)
Short of notebooks everywhere, I can think of no real “solution” to this phenomenon. You just have to write the thoughts down as soon as you can and hope that background noise doesn’t drive the inspiration from your mind.
With those little not-so-shiny gems of wisdom dropped, I must return to waiting for my muse so that this essay may be written by the June 14th deadline. Perhaps if I start to do something else, I’ll get some inspiration again–so long as I have my phone or laptop nearby!
Have any advice for when inspiration creeps up at the most inconvenient times? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
As you may have noticed, I’ve been reading an eclectic variety of works lately: Cisneros’s short stories on the Chicano/a and Latinx experience, Watson’s erotica, Chandler’s Christian memoir, and so on. At the moment I’m reading a controversial book about economic disparity. (The review for that will come at a later time.) I know that this list seems rather random. If I had read this as someone else’s reading list, I’d think the same thing. However, there’s a reason why I’m reading diversely–to this degree–and it’s not just because I have a book review gig on Fiverr. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a bonus but it’s not the only reason.
Here’s some more Seuss wisdom for the ages. The more you expand your circle, the better-rounded you’ll be.
I have always sung the praises of reading diversely. The problem is that I’ve struggled to put my money where my mouth is, especially for the past couple years. I’m a fantasy fanatic, sometimes delving into science fiction, Gothic horror, and the occasional historical fiction or self-help/inspirational text. My tastes just lean that way.
It’s OK to have your specific tastes–great, even, since you’ll be able to narrow your search for new books a little better. Still, reading diversely can have numerous benefits for you both as a writer and a person.
As I indicated in my first post on genres, I hate when people restrict their reading choices due to genre preferences. You have no idea what you could be missing. Different genres can teach you about different aspects of writing. For example, genre fiction as a whole (fantasy, science fiction, romance, horror, etc.) focus on plot. Literary fiction, on the other hand, relies on character development and narrative voice. Fantasy can teach you about world building, horror about suspense, pedestrian fiction about simplicity of plot and the emotional gamut, and so on. You can learn something about every aspect of fiction no matter what genre you read, but you learn more the more widely you read.
You can also increase your empathy towards and understanding of groups of people whom you otherwise would not associate with or wouldn’t ask about their experiences. George Eliot, in The Natural History of GermanLife, claims that art is “a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow man beyond the bounds of our personal lot.” Literature, as a form of art, allows us to witness those experiences which we will never have, contact those people whom we will never be able to reach, and amplify experiences we’ve had in order to gain a better understanding of them.
I would personally be too nervous to ask a Chicano/a or Latinx individual about their experiences because I’d be afraid of offending them. With Cisneros’s work I can get a glimpse into the lives of such groups and cultivate a better understanding of their struggles not just as a culture but as real human beings. (These days it seems that people have to reminded that people of other cultures are still human beings.) I would also never be able to understand the experiences of Christians if it weren’t for books like Chandler’s because I am not Christian and most of the people in my life aren’t, either. The more diversely I read, the clearer (albeit more complex) my view of the world becomes.
Reading diversely can make you a well-rounded writer and a well-rounded person. We may not want to read certain works because they offend us or we strongly disagree with them. Odds are we won’t mesh perfectly with every book we come across. That doesn’t mean we should entirely close ourselves off from them. That’s the kind of closed-mindedness that leads to censorship, challenged books, book burning, and misinformed conflict. Our world and our writing won’t get any better if we don’t open ourselves to new ideas.
Update 6/19: I’ve had some experience with the withdrawal system now. It’s pretty easy and, despite the fee for going through PayPal, is painless enough. It’s certainly accessible enough for even the novice to use. However, remember that after you first link your account to your PayPal account you need to wait 24 hours before making a withdrawal. It’s for security reasons and I see why they do it but I thought I’d let everyone know. It happens if you change the PayPal email you’re linked to, too. Still, I got the money very quickly and fairly easily so Fiverr is still by far the best freelance experience I’ve had.
Nevertheless, my book review gig was denied again. I’m asking customer service for help understanding how I “violated a third party’s intellectual property rights or rules”, but it’s still frustrating that this keeps happening to me when I know that other people on the site offer similar services through their blogs. I’ll let you know what happens when they reply.
Update: Fiverr replied and essentially said the same thing that they told me when they removed the Gig. I’m going to take it to mean that I shouldn’t reference any third-party sites, such as Amazon and Goodreads, anywhere in the Gig description just to be safe. Don’t want to accidentally violate any site’s terms. I suggest everyone else err on the side of caution as well.
I’m here with another side-job update, this time on Fiverr. In the last side-job update I gave you, I talked about how I was content with only having Fiverr to get freelancing jobs. That’s still the truth but I’ve encountered an issue since then that I feel I should let you know about.
For the second time since I joined Fiverr less than two months ago, one of my Gigs has been denied. This time the denial came after I edited the Gig to include some more information, information I would’ve happily removed if they had told me it was a problem in the first place. More importantly, this Gig was my most popular Gig.
I had edited my “I will review your published book and post the review on my blog” Gig to include the URL for this blog and to mention that I’ll put reviews on Amazon and Goodreads as well. They informed me earlier today that my Gig was pending approval because they don’t generally allow outside URLs in Gigs and that I needed to modify the Gig. I went in and removed the URL. No big deal, right? Should’ve been OK after that, right? Wrong.
Apparently some “third party” had reported me as violating their terms of service with this Gig. Mind you, neither Amazon nor Goodreads ever told me that they had a problem with my reviews. I don’t know the exact reason why they didn’t tell me of an issue but I’m guessing it’s because I actually did read the books I reviewed and I provided my honest opinions, both positive and negative. I never write “fluff” reviews; I only write what I truly think about the work. Still, someone complained to Fiverr and my most popular Gig was denied.
I have since posted a new version of that Gig in which I don’t mention Amazon, Goodreads, or anything of the like. Instead, I say that I provide honest, thorough reviews on my blog. I have also contacted Fiverr customer support and asked them to tell me what exactly I did wrong so that I can avoid it in the future. I’ll update this post after they answer me.
Hopefully there will be no issues with the new Gig. I love writing about my opinions on books and this Gig has given me an opportunity to read and review books I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. I don’t want to lose that opportunity.
Fortunately the removal of that Gig did not also remove the 5-star reviews I had. I’ve worked hard to earn those reviews and I’d rather not lose them. I also still have the order I had in the queue for that Gig, so I’m glad I didn’t lose money because of that. I’m just upset that I had over a thousand impressions on that Gig and now I’m virtually starting over. I also would’ve liked it if they had told me that the Amazon and Goodreads stuff was a problem while I was modifying the Gig for the URL issue. I would’ve removed those options without hesitation had they told me then.
My advice is to be very careful about your wording and very patient if you want to get work through Fiverr. The first Gig I had denied was due to minor errors in wording that were mistaken for term violations (which I never meant it to be), and I had to create two new Gigs to ensure that the misunderstanding did not happen again. Once your Gig is denied, you can’t access it again, so you’ll have to rewrite it and hope that you didn’t accidentally violate terms again. It’s a learning experience and you just have to tread lightly.
Fiverr is still by far the best freelancing site I’ve ever been a member of. Despite all these minor Gig denial issues, Fiverr has not deleted or suspended my account, for which I’m incredibly grateful. Upwork is not as generous. Fiverr also has an incredibly large reach and it’s easy to promote your Gigs via social media. I’d recommend Fiverr to anyone looking for freelance work in any field. However, I also recommend caution in your Gigs and patience when Fiverr denies a Gig.
What are your thoughts on Fiverr? Have any advice, cautionary tales, or success stories? Leave them in the comments below.
