You are here: Home / Archives for Helpful Tips for Writers

How to Write About Grief and Loss | Emily Thiroux Threatt

By

How to Write About Grief and Loss
by Emily Thiroux Threatt
Author of “Living and Loving Your Way Through Grief”
https://lovingandlivingyourwaythroughgrief.com/

Books and articles are being written at a faster rate than ever before. I am sure this is in part because of the pandemic. This increase also comes from more people seeking help to deal with their grief. Grief used to be something we experienced silently, not sharing thoughts or feelings with others, but now with many people seeking comfort, they are wanting to know if other people are having the same feelings they do, and they want to know what can help them feel better to help them emerge from their pain.

By working with people who are dealing with grief, I have found some common issues to consider when you want to write something about grief.

  1. Grievers want to know that who is writing about grief has experienced or is experiencing grief. The readers who are seeking something to read about grief want to know that the writer relates to grief in a way they can relate to. You can do this by writing from the perspective of someone speaking to directly to the one person who is reading what you say at that moment.
  2. As self-publishing has become easier to do and having a traditional publisher isn’t as essential as it used to be, lots of memoirs about the death of a loved one or grieving a loved one are showing up. If you are choosing to write a memoire in this area, be sure to have a great hook. What makes your story different and appealing? Why would someone choose to read your story as opposed to all the other memoirs out there?
  3. I have found the people who are grieving are wanting guidance. Instead of just reading a story, they want suggestions on what they can actively do to deal with their grief. They want to know that there are people they can share their experiences with. Grief can be a lonely place.
  4. Find a way to include the stories of other people who are grieving so that if the reader can’t relate specifically to you, they can relate to the experience of someone you include in the book. For instance, if you are writing about your experience of having a daughter who died, you may want to include the experience of a daughter who had a mother who died.
  5. Another approach is to write about is a specific kind of grief. I have been hearing from many people who are dealing with suicide, especially the suicide of a child.  This is a niche that could be filled if someone actually has a way to comfort people who are dealing with this kind of loss. The intensity of this kind of loss seems to last a long time, so things that could help over time would be much appreciated.
  6. Grief has surged with the surges of the pandemic. This is a different kind of grief than we are used to. People are tending to look for someone or something to blame from the people who won’t wear masks, to the people who don’t get vaccinated, to the hospitals that are over filled, to the politicians who they feel didn’t do enough or don’t things fast enough.  While blame seems inevitable, when you write about grief and the pandemic, it is better to focus on the people who are grieving than on the people who may be causing the grief. Give them the same love and solace as any other person grieving, and look at their situation independently instead of lumping together all the people affected by the pandemic. Their individual loss is what they are focusing on and they will appreciate you focusing on them, too.

Grief can be a tricky subject to write on. What I have seen in the reactions to all the writing I have been doing shows me that when I focus on providing support, comfort, and love in what I write as well as showing my readers how they can find happiness while they are dealing with grief, they are grateful that you care enough to lighten their burdens some and give them something positive to think about. Just show them that you care.

***

Emily Thiroux Threatt is the author of Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief: A Comprehensive Guide to Reclaiming and Cultivating Joy and Carrying on in the Face of Loss, winner of the Bookauthority Best New Grief Book and the Silver Medal for the Living Now Book Awards.

Emily has much experience in the grieving process and has learned to face life with love, optimism, and joy. Her mission is to comfort and support those dealing with grief and loss focusing on happiness.

November 18 – Holiday Storytelling Fest

By

Thursday, November 18, 2021
Holiday Storytelling Fest 
5:00 – 6:00 pm/ PT
FREE Virtual Event!

Join WNBA-SF Chapter in our virtual storytelling fest to celebrate the holidays as only book women writers can! Five brilliant, talented writers will share their personal stories of gratitude to bring us cheer during this wonderful season of thanksgiving and joy.

After our five presenters tell their stories of thankfulness, we’ll open it up to our virtual audience—that’s you! We want to encourage the sharing of stories during the holidays with friends and family in the spirit of deep gratitude this year.

Storytellers

Co-chair of this event and Pushcart Prize nominee Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte (she/her) is an Oakland multidisciplinary writer whose autobiographical and fictional short story collections, along with her lyrical and stunning poetry, artfully succeed in getting across deeper meanings about the politics of race and economics without breaking out of the narrative. Her writing has been variously described as “rich in vivid imagery,” “incredible,” and “great contributions to literature.” Her first novel, Betrayal on the Bayou, was published June 2020 and a poetry collection she has written with her daughter Dr. Angela M. Boutte, No Poetry No Peace, was published August 2020.  She is also a popular literary reader, presenter, storyteller, curator, and emcee. Website: www.sheryljbize-boutte.com

Co-chair and emcee of this event, Kate Farrell (she/her), storyteller, author, librarian, founded the Word Weaving Storytelling Project and published numerous educational materials on storytelling. She has contributed to and edited award-winning anthologies of personal narrative, Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the 60s & 70s, and Cry of the Nightbird: Writers Against Domestic Violence. Farrell’s award-winning new book, is a timely, how-to guide on the art of storytelling for adults, Story Power: Secrets to Creating, Crafting, and Telling Memorable Stories. Kate offers virtual workshops for libraries and writing groups, as well as performing virtually as a storyteller. Website: https://katefarrell.net/ Blog: https://storytellingforeveryone.net/

Gini Grossenbacher (she/her), novelist, poet, certified editor, educator, publisher, founded Elk Grove Writers and Artists and JGKS Press in Sacramento County. She has thirty-six years of experience teaching English/language arts to adolescents and adults. Her debut American Madams series novel, Madam of My Heart, was a silver medalist for historical fiction in the 2018 Independent Publisher awards; Madam in Silk was runner up for historical fiction in the 2020 National Indie Excellence Awards. Her next novel, Madam in Lace, will release October 2021, and Glimpses, her first poetry collection in March 2022. As well as offering virtual fiction workshops for aspiring writers, Gini provides developmental, copyediting, and assisted publishing services to novelists and poets. Website: http://ginigrossenbacher.com/  https://www.facebook.com/ginigrossenbacherauthor

Diane LeBow (she/her) has worked for women’s rights in Afghanistan, ridden a camel through locust swarms on the Libyan Sahara, and searched for Amazon women’s descendants among Mongolian horsewomen. Her work has appeared in anthologies and publications: Salon, Via, Image, Cleis, Seal, Schocken, Travelers’ Tales, and has won many awards, including thirteen Solas Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Douglass College—Rutgers University for her writing, photojournalism, women’s rights work all over the world. She earned a Ph. D, one of the first in Women’s Studies, at the University of California. Her new travel memoir has just launched, Dancing on the Wine Dark Sea: Memoir of a trailblazing woman’s travels, adventures, and romance. Website: www.dianelebow.com Book launch 2021:  https://www.facebook.com/diane.lebow.9/videos/562680831567057

On July 17, 1955, Richelle Lee Slota (she/they) was one of 200 third graders selected to open Disneyland by running across the drawbridge into Fantasyland. She’s been running into Fantasyland ever since. She performs her one-transwoman show, Kind of a Drag under the drag name, Drama Queen. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London produced her short play, We All Walk in Shoes Too Small. Her one-act play, Famous Michael was staged by Solano Repertory Company. She has published much poetry, a novel, Stray Son, and, with co-author, Yaw Boateng, the non-fiction book, Captive Market: Commercial Kidnapping Stories from Nigeria. https://www.facebook.com/richard.slota

 

Join us for our WNBA November Holiday Storytelling Fest!
Register here to receive the Zoom link:

September 9 – How to Follow Up with a Literary Agent

By

Thursday, September 9, 2021

12pm

Are you looking for a literary agent? Have you sent your query out only to get a polite form letter back wishing you well on your publishing journey?

Here’s the reason: Literary agents are overwhelmed. Some receive 1500+ queries a month. But there’s an even bigger reason as to why you are not getting the traction you want.

Join book broker, Randy Peyser, http://www.authoronestop.com, for a Lunch and Learn for the Women’s National Book Association – San Francisco Chapter and learn the best practices for following up with a literary agent! Randy will share the one thing she does – that no one else does – that consistently compels agents to open her emails.

If achieving literary representation for your manuscript is your goal, let Randy guide you with her insights and advice to get to a “yes” with the agent of your dreams! Randy will share exactly what agents respond to positively, what topics are hot; the quickest way to get agents to stop in their tracks; the one thing to absolutely not do if you are serious about getting a literary agent, and much more.

 

 

Randy Peyser is the Founder and CEO of Author One Stop, Inc.

Randy is the creator of the Write-a-Book Program, and is one of only a few people in the country who specializes in representing authors in finding literary agents and publishers at Book Expo America (BEA) in May every year. Randy is a dynamic speaker who is frequently featured on stage for business organizations, writer’s organizations, and spiritual organizations nationwide. She is a revered lecturer on a variety of topics related to publishing for CEO Space International..

Randy is the former editor-in-chief of a national magazine and an SF/Bay area magazine, as well as the long time features writer for Awareness Magazine in Southern California. Her interviews include New York Times best-selling authors: Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Marci Shimoff, Suze Orman, Marianne Williamson, Caroline Myss, Neale Donald Walsch, Esther Hicks, Judith Orloff, John Bradshaw, Bernie Siegel, John Gray, Joan Borysenko, Dannion Brinkley, Jean Houston, and more.

Randy has edited books from business, to spirituality, self-help, children’s, to fiction and nonfiction – including Guerrilla Wealth by Loral Langemeier, which is part of the international best-selling series of Guerrilla Marketing books by Jay Conrad Levinson.

What: How to Follow Up with a Literary Agent

Where: Zoom (Zoom link provided via email when you RSVP)

When:  September 9, 2021

Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!

RSVP for the discussion; we are limited to 100 total attendees, so please let us know early!

 

7 Ways Authors Can Support Their Author Friends: Kindled Spirits

By

By Debra Eckerling, author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning and Achieving Your Goals 

As authors, we have an advantage in the online world, whether we realize it or not. Fiction. Nonfiction. Screenwriting. Poetry. Essays. Articles. It applies to all. 

In order to connect with our audience, authors must be active on multiple platforms – websites and social media – as well as on live and virtual stages. This leads to a plethora of opportunities to collaborate, support, and highlight our author friends. 

When Dr. Meg Haworth (author of Get Well Now; Healing Yourself with Food and The Power of The Mind) interviewed me for her YouTube series in June, I noted how in three months, we will have collaborated five times. 

As “Kindled Spirits,” as Dr Meg calls it, we know there is more to come.

Here are 7 easy ways authors can support each other through collaboration: 

  1. Create a Joint Blog. Writers on the Move is a great example of authors coming together to share their knowledge.
  2. Trade Book Reviews. On Amazon, Goodreads, or write one on your blog.
  3. Do Interview Swaps.This can take place on a blog, live show, video, or podcast.
  4. Spread Social Media Love. Make a point to tweet or post about an author-friend at least once a week … once a day is even better. Share their books, an article, or a photo. You can also take the time to comment on their posts.  
  5. Curate Panels and Events.Create events with author friends in mind, so you can ask them to participate.
  6. Send Ideas. Do you receive a newsletter that shares podcast interview opportunities? Are you part of a cool networking group or meetup? Share the deets with author friends who would get the most out of it! 
  7. Refer and Recommend. When someone asks for a referral – whether it’s a speaker for an event, a book for a book club, or an author interview – think of who you know who would be a good fit and make an intro. Keep a list of author friends, along with their specialties. Don’t know what they focus on? Just ask.

* * *

As an author, getting out there is a lot about the power of relationships. Authors’ relationships with other authors: priceless!

* * *
How do you support your author friends? What collaboration opportunities get the best results? Please share in the comments.

 

This article was originally posted on the Writers On the Move Blog: https://www.writersonthemove.com/2021/06/7-ways-authors-can-support-their-author.html

* * *

Goal-Setting expert Debra Eckerling is the award-winning author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning & Achieving Your Goals (IPPY 2021, Silver Medalist, Self-Help) and founder of The D*E*B Method, which is her system for Goal-Setting Simplified. A professional writer, project catalyst, and corporate wellness consultant, Debra helps entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives figure out what they want and how to get it through one-on-one coaching, workshops, and online support. She is also the founder of the Write On Online community; host of the #GoalChat Twitter chat, the #GoalChatLive show, and The DEB Show podcast; and VP of the WNBA-LA Chapter.

Connect on LinkedIn and learn about Debra’s #SummerGoalChallenge.

July 23 – Self Care for Writers and Authors

By

Friday, July 23, 2021

12pm

Personal and professional goals are often intertwined. 

When you feel good – and prioritize self-care – you are happier, more productive, and feel like you can do anything … or at least finish that book, essay, article, screenplay, etc. that you have been meaning to complete!

To help you prioritize self-care, the Women’s National Book Association – San Francisco chapter put together a panel of amazing experts for a Lunch N Learn.

Discover how to:

  • Choose yourself
  • Decide what self-care goals are right for you
  • Find better work-life-writing balance
  • And more

 

Goal-setting expert Debra Eckerling is the award-winning author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning, and Achieving Your Goals (2021 IPPY Silver Medalist, Self-Care) and founder of the D*E*B METHOD®, which is her system for goal-setting simplified. A professional writer, communications specialist, and project catalyst, she works with individuals and businesses to set goals and manage their projects through one-on-one coaching, workshops, and online support. Deb is also the founder of Write On Online, a website and community for writers, creatives, and entrepreneurs, as well as host of the #GoalChat Twitter chat, GoalChatLive show, and The DEB Show podcast. She is Vice President of the WNBA-Los Angeles Chapter.

Saeeda Hafiz is a yoga teacher and wellness expert with certifications from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and the Natural Gourmet Institute. As a holistic health educator with the San Francisco Unified School District, she focuses on sharing her knowledge of physical and mental wellness with diverse groups. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The author of The Healing: One Woman’s Journey from Poverty to Inner Riches. 

 

Dr. Meg Haworth is the founder of The Holistic Academy of Intuitive arts and sciences with a signature course, “Evolving Intuition: Building Self Trust for Life.” She is a transpersonal psychologist and holistic nutritional chef. Holistic medicine is her world and helping people heal the connection between trauma and illness is her specialty. Meg’s latest book is Get Well Now; Healing Yourself with Food and The Power of the Mind. She’s had over a dozen chronic illnesses and traumas that she healed with holistic methods and has had the pleasure of helping thousands of others do the same over the last two decades. 

Mytrae Meliana (pronounced “My-thray-yee”) is a women’s empowerment and spiritual teacher, holistic psychotherapist, trauma expert, speaker, and author. She empowers women to heal from trauma, liberate themselves from patriarchy, and connect with the Divine Feminine so they can live true, bold, inspired lives. Mytrae is also Founder of Temple of Sound Healing, which offers sound healing trainings and Certifications for health/wellness practitioners and social justice community leaders. A WOC immigrant from India, Mytrae shares her story of healing, empowerment, and awakening in her memoir Brown Skin Girl: An Indian-American Woman’s Magical Journey from Broken to Beautiful. She healed from Lyme disease using holistic and spiritual healing modalities

Elise Marie Collins, the current president of the WNBA-SF chapter, teaches yoga online right now and lives in a multi-generational household with her parents. She writes about yoga, Ayurveda and aging (healthfully). Her latest book is Super Ager, You Can Look Younger, Have More Energy, A Better Memory, and Live a Long, and Healthy Life.

 

What: Self Care for Writers and Authors

When: July 23 at 12pm PT

Where: Zoom (Zoom link provided via email when you RSVP)

Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!

Click the button below to RSVP for the discussion; we are limited to 100 total attendees, so please let us know early!

 

July 9 – How To Be Creative When You Have Depression or Anxiety

By

Friday, July 9, 2021

12pm

Many creative people live with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Despite common misperceptions, these conditions do not have to prevent artists from engaging in their artforms, producing work for the public, or “put themselves out there.” Award-winning author Nita Sweeney and best-selling author Karen C.L. Anderson, both live with the challenges these conditions present. Join them in this lunch n’ learn where they share tips for creating your work regardless of the story your mind may tell you. 

In this program participants will learn:

  • The role your nervous system plays (because it’s not just a mindset issue)
  • Simple practices for calming and/or moving energy
  • Different ways to think about your mental health condition (this is the mindset piece)
  • A surprising reframe that will help you see yourself and your mental health differently
Your guides for this journey:
  Nita Sweeney is the award-winning wellness author of the running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink, co-creator with Brenda Knight of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration & Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving, and of the free ebook Three Ways to Heal Your Mind. A long-time meditator, three-time marathoner, and former assistant to writing practice originator Natalie Goldberg, Nita founded the group Mind, Mood, and Movement to support mental well-being through meditation, exercise, and writing practice, and The Writer’s Mind, to share how to use writing practice to produce publishable work. Nita also publishes the writing resource newsletter, Write Now Columbus. She lives in central Ohio with her husband, Ed, and their yellow Labrador retriever, Scarlet.

 

Nita Sweeney is the award-winning wellness author of the running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink and co-creator with Brenda Knight of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing. and of the free ebook  Three Ways to Heal Your Mind. A long-time meditator, three-time marathoner, and former assistant to writing practice originator Natalie Goldberg, Nita founded the group Mind, Mood, and Movement to support mental well-being through meditation, exercise, and writing practice, and The Writer’s Mind, to share how to use writing practice to produce publishable work. Nita also publishes the writing resource newsletter, Write Now Columbus. She lives in central Ohio with her husband, Ed, and their yellow Labrador retriever, Scarlet.

Karen C.L. Anderson serves smart, creative women in using the difficult relationships they have with their mothers as a catalyst for growth. Author of Difficult Mothers, Adult Daughters: A Guide For Separation, Liberation & Inspiration (March 2018); The Difficult Mother-Daughter Relationship Journal (January 2020); and Overcoming Creative Anxiety: Journal Prompts & Practices For Disarming Your Inner Critic (June 2020), Karen incorporates story-telling, journaling, awareness tools, shadow work, and simple energy and somatic practices in her Mother Lode 1:1 mentorship program. Her approach is safe, fun, and effective. Karen recognizes that what is possible personally is what is possible collectively, and that “the Mother Wound” is not actually about mothers, but about systems that oppress all women. She understands the adage, “hurt people, hurt people,” while also acknowledging that cultivating compassion and empathy does not have to equal access, and that healthy boundaries (up to and including going “no contact”) are at the heart of healing. She lives on the Southeastern Connecticut shoreline.

What: How To Be Creative When You Have Depression or Anxiety

When: July 9 at 12pm PT

Where: Zoom (Zoom link provided via email when you RSVP)

Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!

Click the button below to RSVP for the discussion; we are limited to 100 total attendees, so please let us know early!

 

June 18 – WNBA SF’s Juneteenth 2021

By

Friday, June 18, 2021

12pm

What Juneteenth Means to Me: Readings and Discussion by Black Authors of the SF Bay Area 
 
Join the WNBA SF in celebrating a holiday full of joy, humor, family and history. Juneteenth celebrates freedom, it is June 19th, the day slaves in Texas learned the Emancipation Proclamation had declared them free two years earlier.
 
Invited authors include: 
 
 

     Dr. Kim McMillon is a producer, playwright and contributor to the anthology some Other Blues: New Perspectives on Amiri Baraka (Ohio University Press, 2021). McMillon is the editor of the upcoming anthology Black Fire—This Time to be published by Willow Books (late Summer 2021).  She produced the Dillard University-Harvard Hutchins Center Black Arts Movement 2016 Conference in New Orleans, and with UC Merced’s Center for the Humanities, ASUCM, and the Office of Student Life, Dr. McMillon co-produced the 2014 UC Merced Black Arts Movement Conference, Fifty Years On. McMillon edited the April 2018 special edition of The Journal of PAN African Studies on the Black Arts Movement and has contributed to the Black Power Encyclopedia(1965-1975), a two-volume reference work that explores the emergence and evolution of the Black Power Movement in the United States.

Saeeda Hafiz is the award-winning author of the book, The Healing: One Woman’s Journey from Poverty to Inner Riches. She is a yoga teacher and wellness expert with certifications from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and the Natural Gourmet Institute. As a holistic health educator with the San Francisco Unified School District, she focuses on sharing her knowledge of physical and mental wellness with diverse groups. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 
 

Ellen McBarnette, WNBA SF member and professional storyteller who will perform a true tale from her own family’s history.

Oakland author and artist with more than ten YA novels crafted.

Karla Clark, Oakland native, award winning poet and editor of manga.

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

What: WNBA SF’s Juneteenth 2021

When: June 19 at 12pm PT

Where: Zoom (Zoom link provided via email when you RSVP)

 

 

Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!

Click the button below to RSVP for the discussion; we are limited to 100 total attendees, so please let us know early!

 

June 25 – Productivity for Writers with Debra Eckerling and Paula Rizzo

By

Credit: Storyblocks

Friday, June 25, 2021

12pm

When was the last time you felt productive? 

Do you feel like you never had time for your writing projects, personal projects, or self-care?

Are you in a hybrid-work or work-from-home situation and feel like you have no balance?

As we enter the next phase of the “no longer new” normal, it’s time to embrace a more productive lifestyle.

Join authors Paula Rizzo, Listful Living: A List-Making Journey to a Less Stressed You , and Debra Eckerling, Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning and Achieving Your Goals for a Lunch N Learn for the Women’s National Book Association – San Francisco Chapter, on June 25, at 12pm PT.

Paula and Debra will offer their take on the frequently asked questions they get on productivity and time management.

No matter your work- or writing-life situation, one thing is certain: any shift in activity can lead to a change in routine. Changes in routine can lead to chaos. And chaos has a tendency to spiral. And no one wants that!

Let Paula and Debra guide you with their advice and insights, so you can discover how to make the most of your time!

What: Productivity for Writers

When: June 25 at 12pm PT

Where: Zoom (Zoom link provided via email when you RSVP)

Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!

Click the button below to RSVP for the discussion; we are limited to 100 total attendees, so please let us know early!

Top goal-setting expert Debra Eckerling is the author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning and Achieving Your Goals, and Founder of The D*E*B Method, which is her system for goal-setting simplified. DEB stands for Determine Your Mission, Explore Your Options, Brainstorm Your Path, and focuses on that key first step: Figuring out what you want, so you can create achievable goals, make reasonable plans, and set yourself up for success. Debra works with individuals and businesses to set goals and manage their projects through coaching, workshops, and online support. She is also the founder of Write On Online, as well as host of the #GoalChat Twitter chat and #GoalChatLive on Facebook. Debra speaks on the topics of goal-setting and productivity, work-life balance, social media, and networking, and has been featured at the Agorapulse Social Pulse Summit, Greater Los Angeles Writers Society conference series, 140 Conference, and more. Learn about Debra at TheDEBMethod.com. 

 

Emmy award-winning TV producer Paula Rizzo is the founder of the productivity site ListProducer.com and best-selling author of Listful Thinking: Using Lists to be More Productive, Highly Successful and Less Stressed, which has been translated into 15 languages and was featured as one Oprah.com’s “Self Help Books That Actually Help.” She’s also the author of  

Paula is also a LinkedIn Learning instructor with several courses about productivity and optimizing work from home remote offices. She’s also a keynote speaker and has presented at Toyota, HOW Design Live, MA Conference for Women, New York Women in Communications, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), American Society of Association Executives and many others. Go to PaulaRizzo.com for more.

April 23 – Conversations with Authors: Journaling Lunch ‘N Learn with Debra Eckerling and Nita Sweeney

By

Friday, April 23, 2021

12pm

Do you keep a journal? 

How has journaling helped you – personally and professionally – over the last month, year, or decade?

Whether it’s for your mental, physical, or creative well-being, the reasons for journaling are endless. And for writers … journaling serves as a jumping off point for ideas, projects, and opportunities,

To get the most out of your journaling practice, join Mango Publishing authors Debra Eckerling and Nita Sweeney for a Lunch ‘N Learn for the Women’s National Book Association – San Francisco Chapter.

Debra Eckerling is the author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning, and Achieving Your Goals, founder of the D*E*B METHOD, and founder and host of Write On Online, the #GoalChat Twitter Chat, and #GoalChatLive on Facebook. 

 

 

Nita Sweeney is the award-winning wellness author of the running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink and co-creator of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration & Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving.

 

During this Lunch and Learn, Debra and Nita will discuss:

  • The Value of Journaling 
  • Journaling Writing Exercises
  • Getting Rid of the Inner Critic 
  • Uses for Journaling
  • Best Practices
  • And more

Title: Conversations with Authors: Journaling Lunch ‘N Learn with Debra Eckerling and Nita Sweeney

When: Friday, April 23, 12pm PT

Where: Zoom (Zoom link provided via email when you RSVP)

Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!

Click the button below to RSVP for the panel discussion; we are limited to 100 total attendees, so please let us know early!

 

 

How Publishing in Literary Journals Helps Your Writing Career

By

By Anniqua Rana

We’ve all been writing away the turmoil of 2020 — whether to escape the trauma of the past year, or to try and create a future to anticipate.  Writing has been our companion. It has helped us create worlds populated with people we would like to meet in person.

Shut-up and Write Groups

On-line Meetup Groups have also been a solace for those looking for community.  Like many of us, I’ve signed up with groups around the world and it has helped me retain a writing schedule. However, I could not have anticipated the direction my writing would take. Stuck at home, I’ve been able to make the proverbial lemonade with Shelter-in-place.

Documenting Memories

In the beginning of 2020, my writing schedule was fairly predictable: a few hours every week in between teaching and grading papers.  Then, in March 2020, when the Bay Area was expected to Shelter-in-Place, I started teaching on-line but was too stressed to write. 

Like many of you, I reached out to my family through on-line calls. We coordinated our times and worked out a 7:00 am PST phone conversation to include a sister in Pakistan, another in the UK, and a third in Spain.  By June, the family realized we needed to do more than discuss COVID infection rates, international politics, and family gossip.

So the sister in Spain, Selma, an artist, and I decided to document some important and some not-so-important memories of our lives growing up in Pakistan.  We shared them with the other two sisters.  They became our content editors, our fact-checkers.  

This wasn’t enough. By May, I retired a twenty-year teaching career at the San Mateo Community Colleges, so I had plenty of time to write more regularly. Selma had retired a few years back. We decided to take our writing plan to the next level.

We’re both avid readers, but over the summer, we decided to coordinate our books so we could discuss them.  We read works by writers like  Szabo, Pamuk, and the Progressive Indian Writers. These writers inspired us to add a new element to the vignettes we were sharing with our family, a reference to the literature we love. We added images and art. We created short videos, which we posted on Facebook. Family and friends applauded them with Likes and Heart emojis.

The Blog We Made

And then, with the beginning of 2021, we decided to take our writing a step further and connect with a larger audience.  We created a blog Tillism طلسم: MAGICAL WORDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.  We were having so much fun with these vignettes of memories related to literature, we decided to share the opportunity with the writing community. Within the first week of starting the blog with nine posts we’re at 2000 views from over seven countries. We’ve also had requests from poets and writers in the Bay Area and beyond who are interested in posting their work.

Just as connecting with others online has been a lifeline for us to overcome the loneliness of shelter-in-place, you might consider connecting with others through your cherished memories. This new way of life has become our norm, and we imagine it will continue for some time yet.

Some of you might enjoy the gratification of sharing a short (500 word) post of memory related to literature in this on-line community of writers.  As writers, you already know the importance of submitting your work regularly.  

How We Can Help

And that’s why we would like to reach out to you if you are looking for (a) a thought partner to discuss creating a blog or (b) an opportunity to submit your work without having to wait too long for feedback.

As 2021 proceeds and you’re still wondering what goals to set for this year, you might consider setting one to submit your writing on a regular basis.   If you have never submitted your work before, this might be an easy win for you.

Here are three ways we can help:

  •     A 30-minute on-line discussion on how to create a blog.  We used WordPress, but have also used Google sites and Wix.
  •     A 30-minute on-line discussion on the basics of SEO for the blog. 
  •     And lastly, because we love discussing literature, we’re open to an on-going discussion about a piece of literature that inspires you and how you would like to write a post to include on Tillism طلسم: MAGICAL WORDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.  We can set up a 30-minute google call followed by communications online.

Guidelines for Submissions

We are seeking short personal posts of no more than 500 words for Tillism طلسم: MAGICAL WORDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. 

  • Posts should be inspired by literature and connected to a personal memory.
  • Posts should include at least one word from a language other than English. You’re welcome to use more.
  • Include keyword tags to include in the post.
  • Include no more than two images only if you have the copyright.
  • Submit the information to anniquarana65@gmail.com embedded within the email (attachments will not be opened).
  • We will get back to you within the week of submission.

Anniqua Rana, who lives in the Bay Area, is the author of Wild Boar in the Cane Field, shortlisted for Pakistan’s UBL Literary Award 2020 after being published by Folio Books abroad, and She Writes Press in the States. She holds a doctorate in International Education and has taught at San Mateo Community Colleges, University of San Francisco, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and Stanford University.

Her work has appeared in International Education,  The Pakistan Daily Times,  Bangalore Review, Fourteen Hills, The Noyo River Review,  Delay Fiction, and others.  She is a member of WNBA-San Francisco Chapter and CWC-SF Peninsula.

She tweets @RanaAnniqua