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Thoughts on Deadlines
Make Your Own Feminist Zine Event!!
We love making zines and promoting feminism! The two just so happen to go hand in hand together, so we decided to host an event celebrating them! Alchemist Review is doing this in with another group on campus, Planned Parenthood Generation Action! More pictures to come!!
Writing Prompt: Ten Year Road Trip
NaNoWri Post
Hi y’all!
November is a hectic month! I hope you all have been able to keep up with your writing! It has become very clear to me that National Novel Writing Month was not intended for college students and if you are a college student and complete the challenge, you can color me impressed!
I think it is important to remember, especially during this time of year, that writing can take the form of many different things. It is not just a word count, even though marking words on a page is really important. Writing can be as simple as listening to conversations at a coffee shop or listening to your new favorite song on repeat. Writing is falling in love with a word, its texture and look on a page. It’s trying to fit that word in what you are working on. Sometimes, for me at least, writing is staring out into space, daydreaming. Some of my best idea’s have come from something as simple as watching a movie and talking about it with friends. Sitting down and creating a work of art has to come from inspiration, making room for being inspired is so important.
I realize that what I have just said makes writing sound very romantic, but sometimes writing is dirty and hard. Revision is really difficult, and probably the worst part of writing, at least in my humble opinion. This is followed closely by getting feedback from readers. This is writing too and it is just as, if not more, important than creating a word count. During workshop, sometimes it is really tough to hear what people have to say about my narrative, but I have gotten some really good idea’s from that. It is all about improving what you have and growing as an individual. Understanding what your audience see’s is essential to the craft.
Now it the time where I would usually share some of my writing, but instead I’m going to so list some of the things that have lead to new idea’s for my narratives or completely new stories.
- Watching my cat play with a mouse toy-rather lazily
- Talking to a friend about the news
- Listening to feedback on the ending of a narrative
- Listening to a Kesha song
- Watching Deadpool
- Giving feedback on someone else’s story
Writing encompasses many, many things other than the physical act of writing. That is why it is art!
Good luck with your writing this week! Please share your favorite writing habits!
Kayla
Open Mic Night
We are so excited for the open mic night in just a few short days! Building and connecting the literary community is what it is all about! We hope to see y’all there!!
National Novel Writing Month
Hi y’all!
November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWri, and to celebrate, Vika and I will be posting everyday this month to talk about writing and to share some of the things we have written. Today, since it is day one, I’ll talk about the writing challenge and give you information about where to sign up!
NaNoWri was started in 2000 by Chris Baty. Originally, it was only about 20 people and last year there were over 40,000 participants. To officially participate, you have to make a pledge to write a 50,000 word novel in only thirty days! That averages to about 1,667 words a day. To put it into perspective, that is about 7 pages due every night at 11:59pm! Once you have completed your draft, you send it in and you will win a certificate and variety of other goodies.
This is great for several reasons. The first, it gets you writing everyday. I don’t know about you, but scheduling in writing time can be really difficult. Between school, work, and a social life (ha), taking time to practice my craft seems impossible. By pledging, you are making a huge commitment and forcing yourself to write. Even if the narrative is not your best work, it is a jumping off point. By joining up, you as a writer are participating in the literary community, how cool is that?
For any questions, here is the link to the NaNoWri website: https://nanowrimo.org/
Stay posted for more writers talk!
Best,
Kayla
Writing Workshop
Last Wednesday, the Alchemist Review had a writing workshop on campus! The event was very successful! We were able to talk to people about their works, help authors fine tune their narratives, and connected writers with other writers. It was a lot of fun and we even are going to be getting submissions out of the event!
A huge thank-you to everyone who helped with the event and for those who came out!
Open Mic Advice
Hey y’all!
We know that performing your work outloud, in front of an audience of people you may not know, is probably one of the scariest things ever. Even scarier than clowns and boogey men. As a writer, it is important for you to get your stories out into the world and receive feedback. What you have to say is important! I have found that if you talk people will listen!
Below is a small list of things to help out in an open mic situation!
1. Choose your piece early! This will ensure you have time to do step number two!
2. Practice! Practice! Practicing is so important! It will help with nerves because you will feel prepared and it will also help prevent stuttering and tripping over words.
3. Understand that the audience understands. People attend an open mic knowing that it is an open mic. We expect nerves (its scary) and we expect things to not necessarily go as planned. The audience is not expecting perfection, so you shouldn’t either!
4. Support other performers. This is a literary community! We support and encourage one another, but that goes both ways!
5. Invite your supporters. Never go into this alone! It can be intimidating and although it is a place to mingle and meet others in your craft, it’s not the same as having people rooting for you at the start.
There are so many other things you can do to prepare for an open mic event. What are some other strategies y’all use?
Writing Prompt: Dolls
Here’s a really spooky story prompt!
A child goes missing, perhaps the woods or the super market, and the only thing that is found is a doll. Is the doll the missing child? Did the doll take the child? Is it all a coincidence? Does the doll make those involved paranoid and delusional? That’s up to you to decide!
Your creation could win our fall contest! Make sure to submit by the end of the month to alchemistreview@gmail.com with the subject header, fall writing contest!