October 20, 2014 • ISSUE 6 • News, Notes, & Events for Writers
Welcome to issue 6 of Writers Dispatch, brought to you by Small Print Magazine.
NEWS & NOTES
Australian’s P.O.W. Novel Wins Man Booker Prize by Alexandra Alter | The New York Times | http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/business/media/richard-flanagan-wins-man-booker-prize-for-tale-of-world-war-ii-pow.html?_r=0
McSweeney’s to become nonprofit publishing house by John McMurtrie | SFGATE | http://blog.sfgate.com/bookmarks/2014/10/16/mcsweeneys-to-become-a-nonprofit-publishing-house/
China Bans Books by Pro-Hong Kong Protest Author | Didi Tang | AP | http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/10/14/47373/china-bans-books-by-pro-hong-kong-protest-author/
50 Reads for Writers by Lancelot Schaubert | http://lanceschaubert.org/2014/10/07/50-reads-for-writers/
How True and Factual Does Your Memoir Have to Be? 5 Principles by Brenda Peterson & Sarah Jane Freymann | Jane Friedman | http://janefriedman.com/2014/10/16/memoir/
Ten Lessons from Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell | Killzone | http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.ca/2014/10/ten-lessons-from-plot-structure.html#.VERlWleDdv-
Short Prose Genres: Defining Essay, Short Story, Commentary, Memoir, and Mixed Genre | Writer’s Relief | http://writersrelief.com/blog/2013/11/short-prose-genres-defining-essay-short-story-commentary-memoir-and-mixed-genre/
Flash Fiction: What’s It All About? by Becky Tuch | The Review Review | http://www.thereviewreview.net/publishing-tips/flash-fiction-whats-it-all-about
5 Tips for Submitting Your Work: Help From an Editor by Margo Dill | WOW! Women on Writing | http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2014/08/5-tips-for-submitting-your-work-help.html
What You Need To Know About Your Second Draft by Chuck Wendig | Terrible Minds | http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/10/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-second-draft/
NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel by Janice Hardy | Janice Hardy’s Fiction University | http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/10/nano-prep-planning-your-novel.html
Creative Writing Courses are Killing Western Literature, Claims Nobel Judge by Alison Flood | http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/07/creative-writing-killing-western-literature-nobel-judge-horace-engdahl
50 Best Films About Writers, Ranked by
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How To Create a Character Sketch Using Scrivener by Matt Herron | The Write Practice | http://thewritepractice.com/character-sketch/
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Joss Whedon Video Interview on His Approach to Story, Writing, and Directing | Geek Tyrant | http://geektyrant.com/news/joss-whedon-video-interview-on-his-approach-to-story-writing-and-directing
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Start here: Three things you need to do at the beginning of your novel | Writers Write | http://writerswrite.co.za/start-here-three-things-you-need-to-do-at-the-beginning-of-your-novel
EVENTS
National Novel Writing Month begins on November 1. Stop by Nano Prep to get your, well, prep.
http://nanowrimo.org/nano-prep
PODCASTS
A Way with Words is a public radio program about language examined through history, culture, and family. http://www.waywordradio.org/
Inside The New York Times Book Review Podcast – NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/books-podcast-archive.html?pagewanted=all
Oct. 19, 2014
This week, Christine Kenneally discusses “The Invisible History of the Human Race”; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; Zephyr Teachout talks about “Corruption in America”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.
Bookworm Hosted by Michael Silverblatt
Intellectual, accessible, and provocative literary conversations. http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/
David Mitchell: The Bone Clocks
Mitchell’s new novel follows his protagonist from 1984-2040; he reflects on mortality in a world that doesn’t much smile upon the aging process. | http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/david-mitchell-the-bone-clocks
I Should Be Writing by Mur Lafferty ISBW #334 – NaNoWriMo Prep / Charlaine Harris Interview – http://murverse.com/isbw-334-nanowrimo-prep-charlaine-harris-interview/
Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and work-for-hire law.
Critics, Characters and Business Affairs
Scriptnotes: Ep. 166
John and Craig were delighted to join the Slate Culture Gabfest on stage to talk about the gulf between critics and creators. We have the audio from that, and additional thoughts on the issue.
Then, how many characters does your movie need? We talk about how to figure out the Goldilocks spot where you have enough characters to make your world feel real, but not so many that they’re tripping over each other.
Finally, business affairs, and how understaffed legal departments create problems for writers and studios.
http://johnaugust.com/2014/critics-characters-and-business-affairs
FORUMS
Absolute Write Water Cooler (hosted by absolutewrite.com, Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5)
This is a very active online forum where everything related to writing is covered.
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/
Crime Scene Questions for Writers (Yahoo group)
A forum for asking and answering crime scene investigation, applied forensics, and police procedure questions for fiction or non-fiction writers. Writers are invited to ask and crime scene investigators, forensic scientists, and medical practitioners are invited to answer. Of course, experienced writers are invited to help the newer ones and each other. [WD note: This forum should prove useful for all writers. You’ll need a Yahoo account to join this group.]
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/crimescenewriter/info
SUBMISSION CALLS & CONTESTS
Ginosko Literary Journal
2nd Ginosko Flash Fiction Contest. $500 prize, $10 entry fee. Two pieces, 800 words each maximum. See: http://ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/contest.htm for more information.
Small Print Magazine
Small Print Magazine seeks Creative Nonfiction.
https://smallprintmagazine.com/submission-form/
NEW RELEASES
Raymond Wong Memoir
Raymond Wong, whose creative nonfiction and book reviews appear in Small Print Magazine, has released his memoir I’m Not Chinese: The Journey from Resentment to Reverence (Apprentice House). See: https://smallprintmagazine.com/im-not-chinese-the-journey-from-resentment-to-reverence/
MILESTONES
Author and Lecturer Olga Kenyon has died at age 77. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-29659854
CLASSIFIEDS
Publishing Jobs Lists:
- American Copy Editors Society Jobs Board | Yahoo! Group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ACESJOBS/info
- http://mastheads.jobamatic.com/a/jbb/find-jobs?oc=1633
- http://careers.foliomag.com/
Small Print Magazine News in Brief
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Our Fall 2014 issue is in production. We read manuscripts throughout the year.
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