But first, a bit about our contest series. Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week, but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner and the runner up are chosen by a voting system, and then the editors of Authors Publish will select several additional entries from the rest to be the Editor’s Choice winners.

Below are all the winners of this week’s contest. This week the challenge was to invent a word that had not previously existed.

The next contest starts at 9 am PST on Saturday.

The Winner:

Runner Up:

Editor’s Choice:

It was an exhilarating experience and even though I lost the manuscript in a crash soon after, I was very grateful that I participated. Right after I completed the novel I challenged myself to write one poem a day for the next three months. My writing improved during this period more than during any other period of my life. It was an incredible experience. Only later did I discover there is a NaPoWriMo in April that has similar rules.

A lot of people are skeptical of writing challenges. Many say that they only write when the muse hits them. I used to rely on the muse only for poetry until I wrote 90 poems in 3 months. That is when I discovered that a bad mood and a bad day can end up creating just as good a poem as a day where the ‘muse’ visits. Often it takes a lot more work to get there on those days where there is no must in sight, but that does not mean it is not worth it.

If you are going to be a serious writer, you have to write a lot, even if it is not all great, often terrible writing is the only way to get to the good stuff.

Others claim that they just don’t have the time to commit to a challenge like NaNoWriMo. Sometimes this is true, but often more time can be found. I have completed NaNoWriMo while holding down a full time job, and once completed it in 15 days because I had social obligations at the end of November. A former student of mine wrote the majority of her completed NaNoWriMo novel by typing it out on her iphone during work breaks.

Another common argument is that is that serious writers don’t take these challenges seriously. This may have been the case at one time, but lately many famous writers have taken the NaNoWriMo challenge and many have published the books they have written during that time. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, all started out as NaNoWriMo Novels.

The final argument that some writers give is that they already have good writing habits and that they don’t need to change anything.  When I am not taking a writing challenge I still write almost every day.  However when I take part in a challenge my writing still improves a lot because usually I have to write so much in such a short amount of time that I exhaust the normal subjects that I write about and my writing tends to head in startling new directions.

Now I am not arguing that NaNoWriMo is the challenge for you. It is not for everyone. However there are lots of other options out there. There is the day novel writing challenge, a 24 poems in 24 hours writing challenge, and many others.Find what works for you, or set your own challenge. A good writing challenge generates a lot of work and challenges the writer to explore new territory.

Bio:

Caitlin Jans is a poet, a novelist, and the editor of Authors Publish Magazine. Her writing can be found in The Conium Review, The Moth, Labletter, Literary Mama, and elsewhere. You can follow her on Facebook.

I recently started doing this unusual writing prompt myself and have found it to be a lot of fun. It has equaled some interesting results. The first thing I do is write down a title and then the number of lines I plan to write. On the side of the page I write down the number for every line. I usually do no more than 12 lines.

I often use a piece of paper and not a computer for this prompt because I tend to sweat. Once I write down the line numbers I decide what exercise I am going to do. I usually do something like jumping jacks or squats that are easy to count. I don’t like to do more than one form of exercise because the main point is the writing.

Before I write the first line I have to do 20 jumping jacks, or 30 squats, or 5 pushups, etc, and then I write a line of poetry. For each line of poetry that I write I do the same amount of physical exercise.

It is really strange to go between one activity and the other, but I have found that I am more likely to write poems with a lot of energy and strangeness in them, while doing this prompt. Happy Writing!

These three electronic publications are all currently open to submission. Each has its own dedicated theme. The rights to the story revert to you after publication. Because the publisher is respected and established the name will look good in your authors bio or resume. With literary journals associated with publishers, often the easiest way to get your foot in the door, is through the literary journal. Stories can be no longer than 750 words in length and must be submitted via email.

The first themed publication is Mondays are Murder. The story must be set in a distinct location of any neighborhood in any city, anywhere. When you submit include the neighborhood, city, state, and country next to your byline. The story should be noir.

The Second is Terrible Twosdays. Submissions to this can be fiction or non-fiction. You should submit the age of your child at the time of writing. The story should focus on the challenges of parenting. Ideally, stories should be about children aged 0 to 5, but any age up to early teens, is acceptable. Stories may be fiction or nonfiction.

The third series is Thursdaze. The story should feature any drug and your character’s experience with it. They will consider everything from caffeine to cocaine. When you submit include your drug of choice next to the byline.

To learn more visit their website at :http://www.akashicbooks.com/submissions/

Although Bryant Literary Review is a print journal, they publish selected poems on their website and it is very helpful to read these to get a better idea about what Bryant Literary Review publishes. Although, like most literary journals published by academic institutions, the tone from year to year varies because the staff of students changes regularly. The work they publish does tend to be direct and straightforward.

Bryant Literary Review only accepts submissions through mail. Send up to five poems or one short story, with your name, address, and e-mail on each page. Works of fiction cannot be more than 5,000 words, and submit only one piece of fiction at a time.

Bryant Literary Review also accept submissions of photography and artwork for the cover. You must include a self addressed stamped envelope with your submission. The work you submit must be unpublished.

Bryant Literary Review will be open to submissions through the first of December.

To learn more visit their website here: http://bryantliteraryreview.org/index.php