Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Three quick notes from my desk.

1. I’ve been invited to a new podcast to talk about one of the biblical passages behind one of the poems in Birthright. We’re slated to record on Friday, so I’m busy returning to the materials that I studied when I began drafting the poem for a refresher mini-course. I’m always a little nervous (okay—maybe more than a little!) before interviews and discussions/readings. But I guess we all need to face these kinds of fears. I’ll keep you posted about how it goes/when the episode becomes available.

(more…)

Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Three quick things.

1. I’ll admit that I’m having a tough time focusing on anything “routine” for an extended period of time at the moment. To wit: I haven’t yet managed to listen to the entire #AmWriting podcast episode on “Book Launching Fun with #GoodreadsAmazonBookbub”—let alone apply the tips that it provides. But I’m impressed with what I’ve heard so far, and I hope to make use of the advice sooner rather than later. (At least some of the tips seem to be evergreen, not necessarily limited to the pre-launch phase for a single book.)

(more…)

Finds for Writers

Description: closed trunk and text label announcing, "Finds for Writers."

Most Fridays the Practicing Writing blog shares writing and publishing resources, news, and reflections to peruse over the weekend. But it’s been an excruciating week for so many of us. And frankly, I’ve paid next-to-no attention to garden-variety news from the writing and publishing spheres.

On Wednesday, however, I received an email from Facing History and Ourselves, a Boston-based global nonprofit organization that I’ve admired for many years. The email introduced a “mini-lesson” titled “Processing Attacks in Israel and the Outbreak of War in the Region.”

The resource isn’t perfect. (What resource is?) But one of its segments impressed me as something that, though intended for educators and students, could be clarifying for writers as well, in our work and in the rest of our lives. It’s a section titled “Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Tropes in Discussing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

Screenshot of text published beneath "Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Tropes in Discussing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Text taken from the website linked within the post.
(more…)

Markets & Jobs for Writers

Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

Each week in this space, Practicing Writing shares no-fee, paying markets for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction: competitions, contests, and calls for submissions. These weekly posts complement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province. (But this blog does share those more localized opportunities, including jobs.)

As always, if you’d like to share a specific opportunity listed here, please credit the blog for the find. Thanks for respecting the time and effort that I put into researching, curating, and posting this information! I do notice, and I appreciate the courtesy.

(more…)