But even for those flexible writers there are genres they avoid. I do not like to read or watch horror, so the idea of writing it is beyond me. However this writing prompt is all about getting outside of your comfort zone and trying things you normally would not try.

Think of your least favorite genre, the kind of movie your significant other would drag you to, or the type of book a friend might force you to read. Any genre that makes you uncomfortable will work.

Now your challenge is to write a flash fiction piece (up to 1000 words) or a poem in that genre. You can honor the conventions of that genre or you can ignore them. Or you can just put a twist a time honored convention. Perhaps the cowboys in your Western will ride on unicorns.

In any event have fun with this prompt. It is sure to get you out of any writing rut and thinking about new things.

Crannóg is looking for short stories and poetry. Poems should be under 50 lines and up to three poems can be submitted at a time. Submit no more then one story at a time and it should be no longer the 2ooo words.

If your work is accepted you will not be paid but you will get a contributors copy for free without postage. If you are American, an Irish journal is a welcome change of pace. I also believe that most non-north American journals are more open to unusual writing.

Crannóg only looks at submissions emailed to them. They expect work to be included in the body of the email as well as in an attachment (.doc or .docx only). They do not accept postal submissions. Make sure to include a 50 word bio and your postal address in case your work is chosen.

Crannóg takes about 6 weeks after a submission period closes to get back to their potential writers. They do not accept previously published works, and receive first publishing rights for your work, and then the rights return to you after publication. Crannóg accepts less then 5% of the work submitted to them

When you submit to Crannóg their editorial board of four writers review your work. Their mission is to publish a mix of Irish and international writing, to give their readers a good feeling for what is going on in the world in terms of new literature.

In conclusion Crannóg is a great place submit to because it is established, respected, and a print journal that gives you international exposure. for more information visit their website here: http://www.crannogmagazine.com/index.htm

West Wind Review publishes short stories, flash fiction, and poems. They publish one issue a year and they pay contributors in copies of the journals. Although they do not tell you how many copies you will receive if your work is accepted.

They are only open for one reading period a year, from July to October. They tend to take two months to respond to submissions. They accept under 15% of the submissions, which means that your work has a good chance, although not too good a chance. To be picked by them is truly a compliment.

Submitting is easy. You just a send an email with a word attachment that contains your work. Each new piece should start on a separate page. They expect your name, email address, street address, and phone number to be on every page. They accept simultaneous submissions as long as you notify them if your work is accepted elsewhere.

The work they tend to publish is experimental and compelling. Their poems do not seem to focus on line breaks, but on ideas and the flow of language. Their website is just a Blogspot Blog, perhaps because they are an academic print journal and their focus goes towards putting that out.

In conclusion West Wind Review is a good, established , and diverse publication with a variety of writing. To submit please visit their website: http://westwindreview.blogspot.com

This Emily Dickinson quote is one of my favorites, because it does not focus on getting a book published, or writing the best poem possible, but on the fact that all those things and others are possible, with writing and with life. It is a quote about hope, as much as it is about writing.

What makes this quote particularly poignant are the circumstances of Emily Dickinson’s life. She wrote in private. Only a few long distance correspondence knew about her writing, but no one else did. A very small number of her poems were published anonymously during her life, but the great bulk of them were published after her death.

Her poems have shaped the world, but she will never know that. Some might see that as tragic, but I see that as wonderful and the truth. Even if you become a famous writer during your lifetime you will not know what your long term impression will be. For me that is good reason to dwell in possibility.