Tag Archives: writing contest

Today, We Write.

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Tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about the book signing. In fact, I feel an epic “What Not To Do Wednesday” post brewing.

But today is the first day of October. October already! So today, today, we write.

And I have the perfect exercise for you. One of those exercises where excuses won’t work. ‘Cause what I have for you is the Saturday Evening Post Limerick Contest.

1. You have a prompt:

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(Bobbing for Apples, by John Hyde Phillips. 1943)

2. And you only need a five-line story, with a beginning, middle and end.

3. Then paste it into the online form.

There’s no need to spend days on this limerick. (You only have till October 3rd, anyway.) But here’s a great exercise to get you thinking about plot. And then you must use your craft to create a five-line rhyme that fits the construct. Take an hour and pump up those brain cells.

‘Cause it’s October already! And today, we write! 

 

 

 

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s Off To Write We Go (After We Visit the Cows)

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ImageA few posts ago, I mentioned that writing–and writing often–begets better writing. And that inspired me to pen “Becoming a Better Writer: Easier Than You Think” for my last Muffin musing. ICYMI, you can check it out here. (Public Service Announcement: ICYMI stands for In Case You Missed It. It’s embarrassing how long I stared at those letters till I figured it out.)

And for those of you struggling to become a better “tell-a-story-in-an-essay” writer, I’m passing along Linda O’Connell’s excellent tips, over at the Pen and Prosper blog. I read on her blog that she’s giving away a Chicken Soup book to one of the lucky commenters at her Pen and Prosper post. And in my experience, there is nothing like reading 100 Chicken Soup stories to get the feel for writing a Chicken Soup type story/essay.

I’m also including a heads up to the Green River Writers Contest. I like to support writers’ groups and Kentucky is a lovely state. Plus, whatever you’ve been working on to become a better writer is sure to find a category in this contest. (Check out the guidelines for fees and publishing rights.)

Lastly, because all (writing) work and no play makes Cathy a dull girl, I took Cathy-on-a-Stick out on a, uh…uh…whatchamacallit.

(Now see? Writing a sentence like that makes me realize I need to get back to work.)