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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010
Lucky in Love? Share Your Story & Win a Pot O'Gold
Well, not exactly pot of gold ... But any respectable leprechaun would be proud of the grand prize at the end of the "Your Love Story Contest" rainbow: $1,000, plus publication of your true story of true love in both A Cup of Comfort for Couples and REDBOOK magazine, plus a whole library of Cup of Comfort books. Of course, the competition is stiff, so you'll need to put your best writing forward. You'll also need to get Irish-jiggy with it, because the submission deadline is only a month away.
 
You'll find all the details on the details on the Call for Submissions page and the Your Love Story Contest Rules page at cupofcomfort.com—if, that is, you're one of the lucky ones (unlike yours truly; so much for the luck o' the Irish) who can access the site right now. As many of you have noticed, we're having a technical problem with the Cup of Comfort site that is preventing some people from accessing the site and preventing others who can access it from submitting stories using the online submission form. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, and our web-tech team is working diligently to resolve the problem.
 
Meanwhile, for those of you who can't access the submission guidelines, contest rules, and online submission form, here's some basic info on the Your Love Story Contest as well as an alternative way to submit your story:
  • Submission deadline: April 20, 2010 (midnight, EST)
  • Story length: 1,000 to 2,000 words
  • Stories must be true, original, in English, and uplifting
  • Format: Narrative essay or creative nonfiction story. In other words, a true story that is written like a story, using literary elements such as the three-act structure, plot, subplot, character development, scenes, descriptive language, dialogue, etc.
  • A Cup of Comfort for Couples will include approximately 50 stories, all of which will be selected from a pool of 60-65 finalist stories. Finalists will be selected from a larger pool consisting of all of submissions for the contest/book received by the submission deadline.
  • Grand prize: $1,000; publication as the lead story in A Cup of Comfort for Couples; publication of the story in REDBOOK magazine; publication and announcement on cupofcomfort.com; 2 complimentary copies of A Cup of Comfort for Couples; a library of Cup of Comfort books.
  • Three runner-up prizes: $150 each; publication as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stories in A Cup of Comfort for Couples; recognition in REDBOOK magazine, cupofcomfort.com, and the Cup of Comfort e-newsletter; 2 complimentary copies of A Cup of Comfort for Couples; a library of Cup of Comfort books.
  • Compensation for each of the non-prize-winning stories selected for publication in A Cup of Comfort for Couples: $100, plus one complimentary copy of the book.
  • The contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada only. However, anyone can submit a story (or stories) for the book. This means that only North American residents qualify for the grand prize and three runner-up prizes, but all entrants qualify for publication in A Cup of Comfort for Couples.
  • Employees of the publishers of Cup of Comfort book series and REDBOOK magazine do not qualify for the Your Love Story Contest (the grand prize and three runner-up prizes).
  • Only unpublished submissions qualify for the grand prize and three runner-up prizes. Some previously published stories qualify for publication in the book, but we do not publish stories in Cup of Comfort that have been or will be published  in a publication (print or online) with a wide distribution.
  • Finalists will be notified in writing on or near May 20, 2010. Only finalists are notified; we do not send rejection notices to entrants whose stories do not make the finalist cut.
  • The four prize-winners will be notified either by email or by phone.
  • In early May 2010, finalists will be announced in the Cup of Comfort Blog and in the Cup of Comfort newletter. They will also be posted in the Cup of Comfort News forum.
  • The four prize-winners will be announced on cupofcomfort.com, in the Cup of Comfort Blog and Cup of Comfort newletter in July 2010, and in the January 2011 issue of REDBOOK magazine.
  • In July 2010, the final results (prize winners, plus all stories selected for publication in the book) will be announced in the Cup of Comfort Blog and in the Cup of Comfort newletter. They will also be posted in the Cup of Comfort News forum.
If you are unable to use the online submission form at cupofcomfort.com, you can submit your story by email:
  • Send to cupofcomfort[@]fwmedia.com. (Remove the brackets from the email address.)
  • In the subject line, type "Couples" or "Love Story Contest."
  • Copy and paste the story into the body of the email. We do not accept email attachments.
  • Make sure to include your first and last name, your mailing address, your phone number, your email address, the title of the story, and the wordcount of the story.
As soon as the Cup of Comfort site is running smoothly again, I'll let you know. With luck, it will be soon.
 
Colleen Sell
 
 
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  • Want to learn how to write stories that please publishers and readers? Attend a Cup of Comfort online writing workshop!
  • Want an experienced editor to read your story and tell you what works well and what needs work? Get a professional Story Critique!
  • Want to know the type of stories that get published and win prizes? Read some great sample stories excerpted from Cup of Comfort books!
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MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010
Learn How to Find and Fine-Tune Your Literary Voice
One of my most important objectives when editing someone else's story is to retain that author's "voice." Given all the voices I've worked with during all the years I've been midwifing other people's stories, I'm usually able to accomplish that objective without too much ado—provided the author's voice is compelling, distinctive, consistent, and appropriate for the literary category and audience. Therein, for the writer, lies the challenge: developing a strong voice and applying it effectively. The challenge for me, as an editor, is often that the story's voice is indistinguishable, inappropriate, ineffective ... or, worse, nonexistent.
 
"Voice," in a nutshell, is your unique brand of creative expression—how you choose and use words; how you articulate your unique perspectives, observations, insights, and emotions. Having a strong and effective voice will serve you well in almost all forms of writing, but it is especially advantageous in creative writing, including narrative nonfiction (essays, creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, memoirs, etc.). And it's über important when writing a personal essay about your own life.
 
So I am very pleased to announce the next Cup of Comfort online writing workshop: "VOICE: It's Not Just What You Say, It's Also How You Say It."
 
In this 90-minute, interactive online workshop, you'll learn:
  • The hallmarks of a strong, effective voice
  • The difference between style and voice as well as how they are related to one another and can be developed to strengthen your writing
  • How to analyze and apply the elements of voice in your writing
  • How to develop your own unique literary voice and use it to your advantage

The webinar also includes a Q&A session, during which individual participants can ask specific questions that our workshop leaders will answer on the spot for all to learn from.

Date:  April 13, 2010
Time:  1:00 to 2:30 PM (EST)
 
For more information, check out the Writing Workshops page at Cupofcomfort.com.
 
Space is limited, demand is high, and the workshop is only 4 weeks away, so don't dally if you want to participate in what promises to be a very informative and helpful writing workshop.
 
 
As always, good writing ... and good reading ... to you.
 
Colleen Sell
____________________________________
  • Looking for a pro to read your story and tell you what works well and what needs work? Check out Cup of Comfort's Story Critique Services.
  • Want to know what kind of inspirational true stories publishers are looking for? Read some of the great stories published in the Cup of Comfort book stories.

 
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MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010
Writing Quote of the Day-3/15/2010: Jean Luc Godard
A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order.
 
~Jean Luc Godard
 

  • Have a short story that you'd like to submit for critique? Visit our Story Critique Services page
  • Attend one of our online writing workshops to learn how to improve your writing and storytelling skills
  • Purchase one of our Cup of Comfort books to read others' short stories
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FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010
Having the Courage to Take the Time to Claim Your Right to Write
Among my large collection of books on writing and writers are three that I've decided to re-read now: The Courage to Write (by Ralph Keyes), The Right to Write (by Julia Cameron), and Time to Write (by Kelly L. Stone). All are insightful and inspiring books, though I'm partial to Kelly's—for two reasons: (1) Kelly found time in her busy life to write and contribute three terrific essays to Cup of Comfort: "Leaping Year Sisters," in A Cup of Comfort for Sisters; "Powerball of Love," in A Cup of Comfort for Inspiration; and "Heart Choices," in A Cup of Comfort for Mothers and Daughters. (You'll find all three books in the Cup of Comfort Bookstore.) (2) If I had a dime for every time I've heard myself complaining about having no time to write and for every time I've heard another write claiming the same, I'd be able to fund that vacation to Italy I've been dreaming of.
 
Of course, I write every day. But mostly it's writing for hire and midwifing (editing, revising) other people's writing. That is, after all, my day job, which is sometimes my day-and-night job. And that doesn't leave a wealth of time, energy, brain power, and creative juice for "my" writing. But it doesn't have to be that way ... and I know it. If you want it badly enough, you summon the courage to take the time to claim your right to write, which is a lesson I learned long ago and will share with you now.
 
Growing up, I dreamed of becoming a dancer, a writer, a farmer (go figure), and a mother (oddly, I didn't give much thought to being a wife). My prepubescent self was certain I could, and would, do all four of those things, perhaps not simultaneously but surely over the course of my adult life. By the time these thoughts had formed in my youthful mind, I had already been writing my little heart out for years, since second grade, and reading everything I could get my hands on (a must for all writers, budding or otherwise). I was also several years into dancing school: tap, modern, ballroom, and my passion, ballet. I was cuckoo for ballet. And, I realize now, I was a competent, if not confident, ballerina. But when I was a teen—after twelve years of lessons, daily practice, and dozens of performances—I quit. Stopped taking lessons, hung up my ballet slippers for good, and scratched my dancing itch by moving to the grooves of Motown and the Beatles.
 
Years later, when I was the mother of two small children (as fate would have it, the goal I thought I'd achieve last came first), I ran into my former dance instructor, the flamboyant and brilliant Bill Franklin.
 
"Are you still dancing?" Bill asked.
 
"Not really," I admitted. "Too busy with work and kids."
 
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said sincerely. "I've often wondered whether you went on to study ballet seriously."
 
"You did?" I asked incredulously.
 
"Why does that surprise you?"
 
"Well, um ... well, you're the one who told me that I didn't have a classic ballerina figure, that my trunk was too short and my arse too round and high ... that I needed a lot more training and exposure, more than you or any 'small-town schlump' could give me ... that my odds of making it were lousy."
 
"Well, then, you didn't want it badly enough," he sniffed. "Because if you'd really wanted it, you wouldn't have let me or anybody or anything stand in your way. You would've worked your little tushie off and pursued every opportunity to dance."
 
He was right.
 
If you want to dance, dance. If you want to write, write. You may or may not "make it." But if you don't do the work, you'll never know. And you won't grow.
 
If you want to write, you have to make writing a priority in your life—whatever that takes: Schedule time to write, and keep it sacred; don't bump it for some other demand. Get up early to write. Stay up late to write. Turn off the boob tube, and turn on your computer and create your own stories. Skip happy hour and spend time with your muse, instead. Join a writers group, one that will expect and motivate you to produce pages every week or every month. Give yourself a deadline for completing a poem, or an essay, or a chapter.
 
Whatever it takes to give your writing the time and attention it needs to move you forward on your writer's journey, do it. Take writing classes (like the upcoming Cup of Comfort Writing Webinar, "VOICE: It's Not Just What You Say, It's How You Say It"). Have your work professionally critiqued. (The Cup of Comfort Critique Services are great for short stories, short creative nonfiction, short memoir, and essays.)
 
Most of all, write. Want it badly enough to just do it ... regularly and often. And don't let anything or anyone or other demands on your time stand in your way.
 
Okay, I'm climbing off my high horse now ... just in time for my newly scheduled "mid-day writing break." I'm going to turn down the ringer on my phone, log off the Intenet, make myself a mug of hot spiced tea, and give my muse my undivided attention for the next two hours.
 
May you always have the courage to take the time to claim your right to write.
 
Colleen Sell 
 
 
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