TO MY FRIENDS, THE WRITERS

Here are a bunch of writing prompts. Some are geared for students, but still helpful. Some are for fiction writers, but still will get you going. And there are a couple of cool prompt generators in here too: http://jc-schools.net/write/create.htm http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/prompts.html http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/ http://www.writersdigest.com/WritingPrompts/ http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/writing_prompts.htm http://www.theteacherscorner.net/daily-writing-prompts/index.htm http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/writing/writing.prompts.html http://www.classbrain.com/artteensb/publish/cat_index_22.shtml http://www.ettc.net/writing/Index.htm http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/5/4wiencek.html http://www.abcteach.com/MonthtoMonth/January/writing.htm http://languageisavirus.com/writing_prompts.html http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/018.shtml http://tengrrl.com/tens/019.shtml http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2004/release/prompts.html http://www.oncewritten.com/FreeCreativeWritingPrompts.php And Blue Mountain Artsis having a poetry contest with no entry fees. It's the Thirteenth Biannual Poetry Card Contest and the deadline is December 31, 2008. 1st prize = $300 * 2nd prize = $150 * 3rd prize = $50 Enter as many times as you like I found a good long list of magazine writer's markets complete with links for writer's guidelines without having to spend $29 I don't have on "Writer's Market". It's at Writing for Dollars and each listing tells you straight up whether it pays low, medium or high. There are a lot of good ones on there and I'm only up to Photolife. There are also trade, greeting card and a whole bunch of markets by topics. You're welcome. I think I am going to try my hand at writing greeting cards. I can't believe how well they pay: around $75 each. Here's one list of publishers. Wait, here's a better list with links for guidelines for those that accept freelance submissions. I have sent away for all kinds of guidelines. There was a freelance ad this week for writers to write cards for cancer patients: Freelance Greeting Card Writers Wanted by Jodee Our new company is looking for freelance greeting card writers. Specifically, for both adults and children suffering with cancer. Please submit greeting on an index card with name and contact information on the back. Thank You. Pays $75.00 per verse Contact: Tammy Maxey Maxey,LLC P.O. Box 701 Moorestown, NJ 08057 Also, looking for all categories of greeting including traditional, funny as well as spiritual. I looked around on e card sites trying to find out what passes for funny for cancer patients. It was mostly a bunch of "fuck cancer" cards. Not too funny in my book, but then my sister just died of it in December. I may have trouble coming up with funny cards.

WRITER'S BLOCK SUCKS

Doesn't it? Since this blog is ostensibly about its freelance writing tag, let's talk about some ways out of it and into article ideas in a pinch. My usual desperate measures include writing prompts. Here are some that I have checked out and determined to be not as corny and mind-numbing as most 1. An example, "Set yourself the task of writing in a way you've never written before, no matter who you are." This is one of the easier prompts from a very challenging group of prompts called "Creative Writing Exercise Prompts: Writing Prompts". 2. Here's one, "In 300 words write about a day, week, life of an old wedding dress..." Check out the other 328 prompts at 3. The granddaddy genie in the bottle at Writer's Digest. Example is the proverbial "You've been hired as a writer for "Late Show with David Letterman." Your first assignment is to come up with a witty, nonpolitical Top Ten list for him to read on air. Challenge, from Ms.Refusenik, do it in less than 15 minutes and use the word "cheese". Okay, enough of that. Other article mental church-keys, as we used to call them in greaser-town where I grew up: Google Trends, Google Zeitgeist 2007 (soon 2008), AOL trends and AOL trends blog, Digg, I'd write Delicious but I don't have the patience for all that upper and lower case nonsense. You get the idea. Twitter. All those social networking places including Gather. You can forget MyLot where the IQ seems to be "Big Butts or Not?" questions. Sign up for more Reader RSS subscriptions. Read obituaries. I thank the wonderful writer at Escape Grace blog for turning me on to the obit that will join many other fine obits in my files. Read it here if you didn't read it there. She challenges readers to find a better obit. I've got better ones believe it or not, but I've got ADD and the challenge is to find the goddamn file. I just looked. It's sorta hopeless given my brain.