WAG wants to entice you—yes, YOU—to throw off your beach towel and wade into the refreshing pool that is the Hogtowne Quill. To that end, we are introducing three new dedicated blog topics and expanding a fourth. These are:
- Humor (500-1,000 words)
Do you have any writing or grammar pet peeves? (Nauseous vs. nauseated—amirite? Overuse of exclamation points? Guilty!) Ever had an embarrassing run-in with an author or a fan? (Ask me about the time I humiliated myself in a public bathroom by going full-fangirl on Joyce Carol Oates.) Check out Bacopa Literary Review 2022’s “An Open Letter to Eowyn of Rohan, Regarding the Amazingness of Her Hair” by Rivka Crowbourne.
And where to start with the subjects ripe for satire! Check out this piece by Binyavanga Wainaina from Granta 92 (2005) “How to Write About Africa.”
- Book Reviews (500-1,000 words)
Reviews do not have to be solely on books about craft. Is there a book whose structure or form inspired your own writing? Epistolary work like Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me or a novel-in-vignettes like Evan S. Connell’s Mrs. Bridge? How about Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?, written entirely in questions?
- Story of My Life: Self-Portraits (500 words or less)
WAG has a lot of memoir writers—this space is for you! Inspired by the Gainesville Fine Arts Association’s (GFAA) recent Self-Portrait exhibit, Susie Baxter’s Write Your Memoir One Story at a Time, and Kaye Linden’s 35 Tips for Writing Your Memoir in Short Stories (and in other short forms), give us a self-portrait in 500 words or less.
- Writer’s Life / Writer’s Notebook (500-1,000 words)
We would love to see more personal essays on your writing life and writing journey. (Are you a writer who’s just gotten back into writing after a long hiatus? Are you someone who’s always wanted to write and has finally taken the leap? We want to hear from you!) We’re expanding this topic to include your writer’s notebook—the one you carry with you everywhere. Give us a peek! Pull it out and tell us a story or give us the scene of something that caught your attention enough for you to jot it down for future use. (David Sedaris fans—we are looking at you.)
So—go ahead and check out the submission guidelines. We’ll all be here, floating around on our giant inflatable alligators, eating donuts and sipping adult beverages with little umbrella straws, waiting to read your work. And look for the blog post on 27 October, where we’ll be introducing a new category for creative submissions: Flash Friday.
Happy writing!
