Who Wants to Be WriteByNighter of the Week?

Published: Wed, 12/21/22

Dear writer,

A lot of you (and one of me) are traveling this week, which means family. And what better way to family (v.) than to sit comfortably in a dark room together for two hours and not have to speak?

This will be my last time* plugging Spoiler Alert, a lovely film based on a lovelier memoir written by Michael Ausiello, with the aid of some WriteByNight book coaching. Take the fam! And stuff them all so full of popcorn they'll fall into a food coma the moment you get home.

Now, I'm not saying our book coaching is guaranteed to land you in the top 10 at the box office.

(That's the whole line.)

For more holiday survival tips, let's revisit a couple of old blog posts. (Do you remember our blog? No? It was this thing on our site where I used to post articles and writing prompts and story contests. Anyway, it was fun.)

Holidays, Family & Writing: Some (seven-year-old) tips for staying on track with your writing project during the holidays. tl;dr version: Disappear from the hubbub whenever you can get away with it.

The Writer's Ultimate Gift Guide: In which we crowdsource (is that a thing?) gift ideas for the writer in your life. And by "the writer in your life" I mean you. Because why give such cool things to others?

For those of you journeying this week, happy & safe travels! Have fun being forced by scumbag airlines to sleep in airports and airport hotels.

If you're flying from, say, Newark to Milwaukee, to choose two totally random towns, please try to act like a human being.

And for those of you not traveling this week, congratulations!

Happy holidays, y'all. I hope you get some good reading and writing done, while staying safe & staying sane and enjoying the season.

* In this particular email

Your Turn!

This week's question comes from WriteByNighter Kyle G., doing some research for his project: "Are there any examples of nonfiction memoir-type works that illustrate interaction with the supernatural, revealing to a novice that there's so much more out there to be perceived?"

Have an answer? Reply to this message and I'll pass it along to Kyle. And I just may run it in this space next time!

And if you have your own burning question, pass it along.

Last week's question, with some of my favorite responses below: Are song lyrics poetry? What is your favorite song about December?

Scott J., referencing Toby Keith's "Blame It on the Mistletoe," says, "Song lyrics are indeed poetry, and when coupled to a fantastic melody, they can be a musical poem that remains in your head and heart."

"I feel that lyrics and poetry start as two distinct things, with different starting points," says Jerry S. "But as they improve in quality, they merge. Song lyrics, or poetry set to song, require the right music."

Susan H. is undecided, but adds, "If it is praise to say that someone's song lyrics are poetry, then it is also interesting that beautiful prose or poetry is likened to music -- although it's not likened to song lyrics."

Susan was just one of at least four of you to mention Leonard Cohen. Sounds about right.

December Promotion: POBOGO

With NaNo over, let's swing back around to poetry! Sign up for private instruction with one of our talented poets and receive a free hour of prep for your first session! That's essentially a BOGO. So we should probably call it a POBOGO. (Take that, NaNo!)

Available poets include:

And hell, if you have trouble choosing between these wonderful poets, let me know and I'll put together a workshop for you. Get feedback from two or more poets at a time. Daunting? Yes. Worth it? TOTALLY!

Click the button below to get started!

I'm Ready to POBOGO!

WriteByNighter of the Week: YOU!

Because although we have some great success stories in the hopper, I need to refill it. So this week, I'm putting out a casting call of sorts.

Did you publish a book in 2022 or do you have one coming out early in 2023? If not a book, then a story, poem, essay, etc., that you're particularly proud of and think our readers should check out?

Reply to this message to let me know about your accomplishments! And please include any relevant links. Preference, as always, goes to writers who accepted help from WriteByNight.

WBN Coaches' Corner: JoAnna Novak

Let's keep the Joanna streak alive by this week introducing you to new(ish) coach & consultant JoAnna Novak!

Speaking of 2023 books, JoAnna has a highly anticipated memoir, Contradiction Days, coming out from Catapult and available for pre-order.

That'll make book no. 6 for JoAnna, who also has three poetry collections, a story collection, and a novel under her belt.

She's also published shorter work in all the places, including the New Yorker, Atlantic, Paris Review, New York Times, (deep breath), Washington Post, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, and Salon.

Learn more about JoAnna on her website, and then let me know when you're ready for JoAnna to read your fiction, nonfiction, or poetry!

Yak Babies: Books in the Bathroom

As our host Aaron asks in the opening, "Do you keep books in the bathroom specifically for the purpose of reading while you are, let's just say it, poopin' and shittin'? No, that's the same thing. Poopin' and pissin'."

So, do you? Keep reading material in the bathroom, either for yourself or for guests?

Click to listen

December Promotion #2: Me!

OK, it's not really a promotion, but I'm finally out of the weeds enough that I'm ready and eager to take on a new writer.

If you're looking for a beta read or critique of your novel, ideally literary, reply to this message with a sample and your total word count and I'll see if we align well. (If there's a WBN coach who'd make a better fit for you, I'll be up front about it.)

If you have no idea who the hell I am, well, join the club! (I'm its founding member.) But feel free to AMA. You can also read this brief Q&A.

What Am I Writing? What Am I Reading?

Last week I had a session with my one-of-a-kind book coach, Tom Andes, to discuss a plot outline I wrote for my new novel-in-progress. Then we set an assignment for me: To write. Anything.

Earlier today I sent Tom a 5,202-word... something. It's either a prologue or it's just a thought exercise. Whether I use it or not, it's so good to be back in the saddle.

I'm still reading Dana Spiotta's Stone Arabia, still moving very slowly. And I reread Stuart Dybek's short story "Hot Ice," because I love it, but also because I needed to hunt for a particular image (that I didn't find, and might actually be in "Blight" instead, another favorite).

What are you writing? What are you reading?

Writerly Quote of the Week

"If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they're happy."

-- Dorothy Parker

Happy holidays! And happy writing!