#WritingWednesday - Read to Become a Better Writer
Reading great fiction makes us richer and better able to navigate our own experience and our way in the world.
As Hannah Frankman explains, fiction offers us something we cannot experience in self-help, history, psychology books. Fiction enriches our lives. It allows us to encounter other people, comprehends patterns of evolution, causes us to see a larger picture, encounter the world in a different light, brings us to a deeper understanding - of ourselves, others, and the world around us.
The Walrus, a Canadian magazine dedicated to rich thinking and rich dialogue has a collection of wonderful stories that they have opened up online to readers in order to stimulate creativity and encourage readers to become writers. Here are some of their favourites:
Sources and Further Reading
The Importance of Reading Fiction
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#PodcastReview: Storytelling For Adults
I am an avid listener of podcasts, be they news, business, politics, health, economics, culture, literature, education, drama, and more. Sometimes it feels as if I don't have the time to read. Therefore, I love having the opportunity to hear stories while I am doing something enjoyable, such as cleaning, organising, or cooking. Here are two that I am enjoying right now. When I don't have time to read for pleasure, I can listen!
LeVar Burton Reads
I grew up watching LeVar Burton host Reading Rainbow and perform as Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation. His is a fantastic example of a beautifully trained and unique voice, clear, expressive, authentic, and immediately recognisable. As an Actor, Director, Educator & Cofounder of the award-winning digital library for children Skybrary App, it comes as no surprise that LeVar is the face (and voice) of great literature. The first short story I listened to was "What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky" by Lesley Nneka Arimah (the fifth episode of the podcast). I was hooked.
http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/
Tales
These are not your Disney-style fairy tales. If you like fairy stories but want to hear them in their original, great gory detail, this may be the podcast for you.
Vanessa Richardson is the co-host and researcher of several other podcast shows on the Parcast network, experienced in weaving together storytelling, voice acting, and psychology to educate and entertain listeners.
https://www.parcast.com/tales/
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NYC Midnight's 12th Annual Short Story Challenge
Calling All Writers and Aspiring Writers on this #WritingWednesday!
Be sure to join NYC Midnight's 12th Annual Short Story Challenge before their deadline on the final entry deadline of January 25, 2018! This creative writing competition is open to writers around the world.
There are 3 rounds of competition. In the 1st Round (January 26 to February 3, 2018), writers are placed randomly in heats and are assigned a genre, subject, and character assignment. Writers have 8 days to write an original story no longer than 2,500 words. The judges choose a top 5 in each heat to advance to the 2nd Round (March 29 to April 1, 2018) where writers receive new assignments, only this time they have just 3 days to write a 2,000 word (maximum) short story. Judges choose finalists from the 2nd Round to advance to the 3rd and final round of the competition where writers are challenged to write a 1,500 word (maximum) story in just 24 hours (May 11 to 12, 2018). A panel of judges review the final round stories and overall winners are selected.
Every writer receives feedback from the judges for every story submitted, and a special review forum is available for the participants to submit their stories for review from fellow writers throughout the competition.
In each Round, writers are assigned a Genre, Subject and Character assignment for their stories. All stories must be created within the competition periods and must include the Genre, Subject and Character assignment. The story must be written in the assigned genre. The list of potential genres is Action/Adventure, Comedy, Crime Caper, Drama, Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Ghost Story, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Political Satire, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sci-Fi, Spy, Suspense, Thriller, and Open Genre. The assigned subject must be integral to the plot of the story. The assigned character must be a relevant character used in the story. The Genre, Subject and Character assignments will be different for each Heat in each Round of the competition.
You can read the rest of the rules here and sign up here.
This group also does a Screenwriting Challenge, Flash Fiction Challenge, and Short Screenplay Challenge, so be sure to join their newsletter.
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