Twitter as teacher
Last week, I took on the task of unpacking my book boxes and filling the new bookshelves. As I separated the volumes into fiction and non, I flipped through a few of the titles. I opened George Eliot’s Middlemarch and noticed that the first paragraph extends halfway through the second page of text, it suddenly [...]
I’d Write Creative Nonfiction If I Knew What the Heck It Was
Note: This piece is a discussion of the literary genre of the personal essay. While I’ve posted it here on a blog, what I’ve written is not a good example of the genre of the blog post. For one, it’s waaaaaay too long. Hope you enjoy it anyway.
One of the things we [...]
Therapy Dogs
I know that I’ve put up a lot of posts about my son and his disabilities, and I appreciate the indulgence of all our readers as I work through my struggles. This post however, is more of a writing exercise than an analysis of my current situation. Brittney Carman gave an excellent writing workshop at [...]
Structure
You may have heard that we have a writing contest going on right now (Deadline December 31!). In my last post I talked about writing with an honest heart; I have to say that’s still the first thing I try for when I write, that non-wallowing, non-glossing honesty.
The next thing I work on as [...]
Christmas Letters 101
My mailbox is always full in December– crammed with catalogs and brimming with bills. But I’m also sure to find Christmas cards along with the credit card statements. I admire the few who send handwritten notes each year, although if I were in their shoes, my great intentions would fizzle after a dozen or so [...]
Writing and the Honest Heart
Something to think about while you revise your contest essays:
One of the first things I look for when evaluating an essay is its truth level. By this I mean, how honest is the core issue of the essay? Does the writer give it to me raw, in a way that shows me her [...]
O Revise, What Can I Say More?
As you prepare your wonderful essays for Segullah’s Heather Campbell Personal Essay Contest, and your poetry for our poetry contest, I paraphrase Jacob 6:12 with this advice: “O Revise, What Can I say More?”
Maybe I should just stop there; maybe the admonition to revise thoroughly ought to speak for itself. But I’m a talker, [...]
Word Challenge!
I’ll pick a word and you, in the comments, do a quick free-write of a paragraph or two with your best interpretation of the word.
Today’s word is: Falling
January Word Games
Time for another word challenge! It was so much fun to read the great pieces we got last time. Just to recap, I’ll give everyone a word and you, in the comments, do a quick free-write of a paragraph or two with your best interpretation of the word. I’ll do mine below.
This month’s word is…
15 Minutes a Day
That’s all Shannon Hale asks of herself right now . She’s the LDS Newberry Honor-winning author of several young adult fantasy novels (and Austenland). I am a big fan–I love her polished, lyrical writing, and I love that she’s an LDS mother taking care of her kids and her passion for writing at the [...]
Want to write for Segullah? Read Segullah!
We’ve been busy reading over the great submissions we’ve received for Roots and Branches, our Spring issue. As I sift through these writings, I think about the women behind them. Every one of them tried to put words around an important experience. Every one of them cared enough about their writing to [...]
Weak Words Made Strong
I gave my first and only poetry reading when I was seven years old at a ward talent show. I wore my yellow bathrobe and a pair of black glasses I made out of a pipe cleaner, so that I would look distinguished. And I recited my second-grade poetry, dancing around for emphasis [...]
Unleash Your Inner Poet!
At Segullah, we are always on the lookout for good poetry to publish. So, what exactly is good poetry? I think most of us are better at enjoying it than defining it, but here are three of my favorite attempts, all from the poet, Carl Sandburg:
“Poetry is the opening and closing of a [...]
Happy Literary?
Zero. That’s how many women have admitted to being happy so far in response to this post. And should we expect anything different? After all, Segullah blog is associated with a literary journal. And aren’t literary types usually depressed?
The beginning from the end
Want people (e.g., Segullah editors) to read your stuff?
Want them to walk away saying “wow”?
Two words: beginning, ending.
More Kinds of Segullah
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Segullah Sampler of Blogs
- navel gazing at its finest » True Confessions, Part Six-Hundred-And-Two
- Hearts and Hands » Thanks, Elizabeth!
- Dandelion Mama » Sewing Clothes Kids Love
- Windmill Watching » Dear Dr. Google:
- Hearts and Hands » AWOL: Sorry!
- Windmill Watching » Dear Telephone:
- Scravings » Catalina Wrap Up
- A person named Eunice » While I wait
- Sue's News, Views 'n Muse » Missionaries Move Me
- Rarely Home Mom » St. Patrick’s Day Desserts
Click here our page of selected recent posts by LDS women around the web, with excerpts.