Writing Prompts and Rituals for Winter Solstice (Yule!)

December 20, 2022January 14, 2024 Jaclyn6 Comments

Yule, or the winter solstice, is a time of year when the days are the shortest and the earth begins to tilt to bring us more daylight. At its heart, Yule is a celebration of both the darkness and the light, and it is an opportunity for us to celebrate winter. This post contains ideas for Yule traditions, the spiritual meaning of winter solstice, Yule rituals for writers, and winter solstice writing prompts to help you connect with the season and your craft.

Winter Solstice

It’s impossible to let the solstice pass without recognition when one lives this far north. At 3:00 pm, the sun has already set and on cloudy days it’s hard to tell if it’s coming up at all. These days, depending on how you count your twilights, we are getting about three hours of sunlight, and everything else is dark.

Winter Solstice is one of our family’s favorite holidays, and we’ve created some of our own family Yule traditions. There’s something beautiful about knowing that you have been through the darkest time of year and you know each day will get brighter and brighter. Every solstice, we create a mandala with natural materials.

We also celebrate by decorating “Bruce the Solstice Spruce.” A few years ago, we started the tradition of finding our tree in the woods and bringing him home with us. The white and black spruces that grow up here might not be as full or as round as the store-bought trees, but there’s something magical about the act of actually bringing the tree in from the cold and celebrating it.

What is Yule?

Yule is an ancient Scandinavian festival that corresponded to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day or the longest night of the year. It was known as the time when the world is the darkest and people would wait with bated breath to see if the sun would return. But it was also a time of great celebration, because the sun did return.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice usually falls on December 21st or 22nd. In the Southern Hemisphere, Midwinter usually happens on June 21st or 22nd. When it is Yule in the Southern Hemisphere, it is Litha in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. Yule follows Samhain in the Wheel of the Year, and it in turn is followed by Imbolc.

The solstice actually is just one measurable moment: the moment when the pole of your hemisphere is tilted as far as it will be from the sun, creating the longest night. However, because of the importance of this holiday, many cultures celebrate this time of year for many days, like the Twelve Days of Yule or the week of Saturnalia.

Winter Solstice Meaning

Yule at its heart is a celebration of the sun. We have made it through the long dark. We are on the slide into spring. The sun is coming up more and more each day, making the world brighter and lighter. As the sun returns, we know the plants and animals and mushrooms will also return.

On one hand, the Winter Solstice represents the depths of winter. The landscape is at its most threatening, and it is a time that the land is calling us to go inward, reflect, rest, and hibernate. On the other hand, it’s a time of incredible celebration because the darkest time of year has passed and we have made it through. The days get brighter from here.

Yule vs. Christmas

Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is celebrated on December 21st or 22nd, when the earth reaches its ultimate tilt, while Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. But there are other differences between these holidays as well. Though a lot of Christmas traditions come from old pagan Yuletide celebrations, to me they are very different holidays.

For me, Yule has been the hardest sabbat to write about. Christmas is so prevalent in my culture and was such a bulwark of my childhood that I can hardly ignore that it is happening. But all of the trappings of consumerism and expectations at this time of year honestly used to make me a little bit scroogey about Yule.

On the other hand, this is such a spectacular time of year in the Great North. All day, the light is breathtaking. At night, the aurora borealis are dancing among clear, glowing stars. There is magic in the air, and it begs to be celebrated.

In our family, we’ve decided that we will celebrate everything. We do celebrate both Winter Solstice and Christmas. But, unlike Samhain and Halloween, or Ostara and Easter, I do not think of these holidays as interchangeable.

Instead, we celebrate them separately, as two holy days that are interconnected. On solstice, we make a mandala, honor the sun, and celebrate nature, including decorating Bruce the Solstice Spruce. We try to spend as much time outside as possible, even when it is 30 below zero, like this year.

On Christmas, we celebrate abundance, warmth, and generosity with a big meal, family and friends, the coziness of home, and gifts under our solstice spruce. To me, Christmas represents the time when the return of the light is noticeable, the day when it really does feel like there is more light than there was just a few days ago, and that is definitely something to celebrate.

Winter Solstice Traditions

One of the beautiful things about this time of year is that there are so many ways to celebrate. You can honor the return of the sun, or you can honor the shadows and darkness. You can host friends and family, or you can retreat into your own cozy little world. Bonfires, feasts, sacrifices, and inebriation have all been part of Yule. But reflection, rest, home, and hearth are also important this time of year.

One Yule tradition that has persisted is bringing greenery inside the house. This happened both as Yule trees, which were decorated, or Yule logs, which were covered in ashes, and burned later in the year. You might bring in mistletoe to embrace the properties of the tree it grows on. You could create a simmer pot of spruce or pine. You might bring a stick of willow or birch inside to watch the leaves bud as a reminder of the coming spring, or an omen of good things to come.

Another lovely winter solstice tradition is to give a gift, offering, or sacrifice. This time of year, we put out bird seed in recognition that even our feathery friends might be in need. It’s a time when we must give what we can because we do not know if our neighbors have enough for winter.

In honor of the return of the sun, it’s also a wonderful time to bring fire into your world. You can light a candle or have a bonfire, sit by the fireplace, put up twinkle lights, or just spend time in the precious sunshine.

Yule Correspondences

One of the most recognizable symbols of Yule is evergreen. But this doesn’t just mean pine and spruce trees. Mistletoe is also evergreen, and was thought to bring the properties of whichever tree it grew on. Holly and ivy are also traditional evergreen Yule plants. Animals that correspond to Yule might be squirrels, deer, owls, ravens, or bears.

Food that evokes the Winter Solstice are oranges, apples, gingerbread, fruitcake, cinnamon, root vegetables, and game meat. The colors that correspond to Yule are those of the sun and holly: red, green, and gold. You might also choose to reflect the colors of the land this time of year: white, blue, silver and black. Crystals that correspond to Yule follow the colors: emerald, rubies, diamonds, bloodstones, garnets, and quartz are just a few. Wreaths, candles, stars, and bells can also be used to represent this time of year.

Any of these correspondences, whether they be plants or colors, can be used to bring the joy and meaning of the season into your life. Anything you do with intention can help connect you to the turning of the Wheel of the Year. So break out your owl pictures, hang some mistletoe, light some candles, or eat an apple — it’s all ritual and celebration!

Yule Rituals for Writers

Here are some ideas about how to celebrate Winter Solstice. These Yule ideas are geared particularly at writers, as they are ways to connect with your creativity and your craft this holiday season. However, I’ve tried to leave them open-ended enough that they can act as Winter Solstice celebration ideas for anyone who wants to connect more with the season and the land. It’s a great time to reflect, be generous, take some time for yourself, and dream about the year to come.

Start a journal. It is time to go inward. Like the land, we can pull into ourselves so that we can grow even more next year. One way for writers in particular to connect with this inward-facing energy is to journal. Use one of those nice notebooks you haven’t touched. Use some of the prompts below that call to you. You might choose to start a daily practice, or to journal through the twelve days of Yule. Use your words to discover yourself.

Write the story of your year. As the year comes to an end, write about the key events of the year. What have you accomplished? What have you overcome? What is the overarching narrative of the year? What has changed? How have you grown?

Give gifts. What do you have to give, in terms of your writing life? Could you give lessons, encouragement, or even your writing itself? You have gifts to give, and giving can connect you to a community. How can you be generous this season?

Set intentions and make wishes. It’s a particularly good time of year to think about what you want to grow in your life. As the light comes back, take some time to think about the big picture dreams you are trying to nurture. It may not quite be time to set particular goals and make a plan, but explore your thoughts and intuition to dream about the potential for the coming year. Why are you writing? Is it to make money? To inspire people? To entertain? How can you grow into your fullest potential this year? What would it look like? It’s a great time to make a vision board.

Rest. Like the earth. As the world sits in stillness and waits for the light to come back, the animals, plants, and fungi outside are resting up for all the growth that is to come. We too need rest. This can be a busy time of year, and if you are anything like me, you have a huge to-do list of all the projects to complete, holiday plans to make, travel, and festivities. But these expectations of busyness at this slow and calm time of year makes it all the more important for us to be conscientious about the rest we are getting. Allow yourself to enjoy the time with others and to rest.

Winter Solstice Writing Prompts

Here are 30 Yule writing prompts to help you connect with your intuition and creativity at this powerful time of year. I have purposefully created these prompts to be interpreted in many ways, as inspiration for creative projects like poetry, fiction, or personal essays, or as Yule journal prompts. Don’t worry too much about what they mean. Instead, let your creativity fly with whatever comes to mind. It’s an especially good time of year to use these as winter solstice journal prompts, letting you turn inward to reflect and see what your imagination holds.

Write about a time of starvation.
Write a narrative that begins with finding a word written in the snow.
Start with a memory of a smell you associate with winter.
Write about an unexpected creature killed during a hunt.
Write about your biggest accomplishment this year. What kind of future does it propel you into?
Write about a scarcity.
You kiss someone under the mistletoe, and in that kiss, you gain some of their powers.
Write about what happens when the light comes back.
Listen to your dreams. Go to bed with a notebook and pen on your bedside, trying to remember your dreams. When you do remember your dream, write it down. Start your writing there.
Write the story of the next year. Pull one tarot card (If you don’t have a deck, you can use this.) per month, and write the story that comes up.
Write about giving birth to the sun.
Write about overcoming the darkness.
Go outside if you can. Take a walk with no set destination and let your intuition guide you. Write about where you end up.
Write about the naughty list.
Write about a party that lasts as long as the ale keeps flowing.
What percentage of your day is darkness on Winter Solstice? Do an erasure of a text that blacks out that percentage of the words.
Write about a fruitcake.
Write about being caught by the Wild Hunt.
Look at the variety of paints in the color white from Sherwin Williams. Pick one that is evocative to you. Start your story with the name of the color.
Write about a fire that burns all year.
Write a story that begins with an ending.
Find out how long the shortest day is where you live. Write a story that takes place in that amount of time.
Write about the first sunrise after the long dark.
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This image by Vladislav Nahorny on Unsplash.

It’s not an easy time of year, but it is one of my favorites. As a girl who originally grew up in Florida, I couldn’t have imagined loving the world when it was forty below. But there’s something otherworldly and magical about the landscape of the north at this time of year. Everything, the trees especially, is dusted with hoarfrost, like icing on every surface. The snowflakes are distinct and glistening, which my four year old calls “glitter snow.” And the entire day is a sunrise or a sunset, depending on how you choose to look at it.

Either way, the light turns from pink to blue and slants across the ice to reflect on itself again and again so that the whole world is sparkling. And there’s something about the way that the air nips your cheeks that reminds you to be grateful that you are alive — that even if the sun isn’t shining, just existing is enough.

As I finish writing this, it is 12:18pm and already the sun has begun to set. The hills around us are pink with alpenglow and the snow is taking on the icy blue of twilight. There are hundreds of boreal chickadees in the yard. They are shaking the birch trees so that their seeds fall from their catkins and litter the snow. Even in these darkest of times, the land is preparing for new growth, and we can, too.

If you are looking for more prompts and rituals based on the Wheel of the Year, you can find them here. For more creative writing prompts, look here. For more ideas about how to deepen your writing practice with rituals, check out this post.

Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Lughnasadh and Craft a Magical August

July 27, 2022January 14, 2024 Jaclyn1 Comment

Lughnasadh, celebrated on August 1st, is the first harvest of the year, halfway between summer solstice and autumn equinox. Also known as Lammas, it is a celebration of creativity, craftsmanship, and harvesting what you sowed. This can be a powerful time for writers to connect with their productivity, hone their craft, and practice gratitude for what has been accomplished. This post includes a discussion of the difference between Lammas and Lughnasadh, the themes and meaning behind Lammas, Lughnasadh rituals for writers, Lammas correspondences, and ideas for how to celebrate Lughnasadh. It also features thirty creative writing prompts inspired by the holiday which can also be used as Lughnasadh journal prompts.

The Wheel of the Year is turning again. You can really feel the change up here. You definitely notice when it starts getting darker—not dark, still—but darker. Last week, for the first time in months, I turned the light in my bedroom on. I try not to look at the way the fireweed blooms are racing up its stalks. Or the fact that the irises and the dandelions are past their prime. Or that I know deep down we missed our chance to to pick spruce tips, which are one of my favorite foraged foods.

Instead, I am focusing my attention on the fact that, like every week in the Alaskan summer, the land has given us new wonders, both in our garden and in the woods. It’s a chance to resolve that even if I missed the spruce tips this year, I can make sure I make the most of currants and the kale. Plus, my first dahlia is threatening to bloom.

What is Lughnasadh?

It’s the first harvest! Lammas, also known as August’s Eve and Lughnasadh, is a time to celebrate the fullness of summer and to begin preparations for the winter. It’s time to enjoy the abundance of fruits, flowers, and vegetables that the land is offering up, while also preparing some of that abundance for the leaner times. The holiday revolves especially around grains like wheat and barley, and the crafting of those grains into foods, like bread and beer.

It’s the day that the Wheel of the Year starts to turn toward fall. Though the earth is still bursting with abundance, you can hear the first whispers of winter.

In the northern hemisphere, Lammas is usually celebrated around August 1st, about halfway between summer solstice and autumn equinox. In the southern hemisphere, Lammas falls around February 1. Lughnasadh is across from Imbolc on the Wheel of the Year.

Like Imbolc, Lughnasadh is often overlooked, which is maybe not surprising. It’s a holiday about wheat and when we’re all out here lost in the throes of summer, we might not think a holiday about wheat is super-sexy. And maybe there’s a part of us that doesn’t want to recognize that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting real.

But it’s a beautiful time to pause and really appreciate the abundance that is around us this time of year: Berries are coming ripe, the shyer flowers are bursting forth, and there’s still so much sunshine. It’s easy to get so caught up in the joy of summer that you fail to savor it, to be grateful for it. The lovely thing about Lammas is that it gives us the chance to slow time, to take it all in, take stock, and renew our summer energy.

Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Lughnasadh and Craft a Magical August

Lammas vs Lughnasadh

You might be wondering, what’s the difference between Lammas and Lughnasdh. For the purposes of this post, I am using these holidays interchangeably, but they are definitely not the same. Lughnasadh traditions and histories differ from those of Lammas, but there are also some important similarities.

Lughnasadh was originally a Gaelic festival (shout out to my foremothers!) named after the god Lugh, a master craftsman and artist who created a funeral celebration for his mother after she died from overwork trying to get the crops to grow. Another story associated with Lughnasadh imagines Lugh as the one who sacrifices his life so that the community can eat. As John Barleycorn, Lugh inhabits the spirit of wheat and barley, allowing himself to be cut down so that others will not starve.

The name Lammas is derived from “loaf mass,” a nod to the importance of bread in this Anglo-Saxon Christian holiday. Like Lughnasadh, Lammas celebrates the first harvest around August 1st and pays special homage to the grains that are coming ripe. It was a time to harvest the first grains, bake the first bread, bless the fields and houses, and give thanks.

Many people use the terms Lughnasadh and Lammas interchangeably these days, and I can see why. To me, these holidays are different flavors of a similar celebration. Including these holidays together allows me to consider as many options for celebrating this time of year as possible.

Lughnasadh Correspondences and Symbolism

Colors of Lughnasadh

The colors that evoke the feeling of Lammas are those of wheat, the sun, and plants. Think fiery. Orange, yellow, green, brown, and red can all be used to remind us to be grateful for the harvest we currently enjoy and to start preparing for the close of the year.

There are so many ways to celebrate a holiday using just color. Wear red, write with an orange pen, add some more green to your writing space, or bring in a vase of yellow flowers. All these little signals can help you feel the energy of the season and be a little more mindful and intentional.

Foods for Lammas

Barley! Bread! Wheat! Beer! Lughnasadh is a very glutinous festival. You can imagine that baking plays a prominent role in traditional understandings of “Loaf Mass,” so anything baked is welcome at a Lughnasadh feast. But there are other foods to celebrate at this time as well. Just look around you at what is coming ripe. Here at our house we have strawberries and currants, salad greens, and the very first of our tomatoes and cucumbers. The zucchini have just started to emerge. Honey and mead can also be a great representation of the fullness of the sun and the abundance of the earth at this time of year.

Crystals for Lughnasadh

Again, the crystal correspondences for Lughnasadh are those that evoke fire and the sun, as well as those that evoke growth. You can choose a crystal based on what you want to highlight. Yellows and oranges, like citrine, carnelian, and tiger’s-eye can help you shine. Green abundance crystals like aventurine and moss agate can help you channel the growth and peace of nature.

The Meaning of Lammas

Though Lughnasadh is one turn of the Wheel of the Year that is often overlooked, the themes celebrated and evoked at this time are especially profound. Why do we celebrate Lammas? Some of the themes of this time of year have to do with rebirth, gratitude, abundance, harvest, and craftsmanship. Many of these can be very powerful for creatives.

First, there is the abundance to celebrate. It’s a time of creativity, of things coming to fruition. The earth is highly productive right now, and you can be, too. Use this period when the sun still shines bright to create and celebrate that creation.

It’s not just that the world is alive with the creative abundance of summer. Lammas celebrates that we worked for the harvest, that the intentions and seeds we planted earlier in the year have come to fruition. It is not only gratitude for the fertility of the earth, but also to our former selves for planting seeds, putting in the effort, and knowing how to make things grow.

It’s a good time to reflect on the work you’ve put in thus far and on how much your work has helped guide you toward your goals. Pat yourself on the back for the new skills you’ve gained, the work you’ve done so far, and the harvest that you are now reaping.

Not only that, it’s time to harvest what we’ve grown and turn it into something. This is the importance of bread for Lammas. It’s not just that everything is flourishing, it’s time for us to take action and turn the gifts we are given into something meaningful, something important, something that will feed us. And that’s exactly what we need to do with our words and our art at this time of year. Take the raw material and the skills and turn them into something that will nourish the soul.

Lammas is also a great time to think about the direction you are heading, and to change course if need be. There’s still a lot of time for growth before the winter. It’s even the time of Lammas growth, a phenomenon in trees where they put on a second flush of leaves. You too still have time for tremendous growth in the coming months. What do you want to accomplish in your writing life? How can you use the energy of Lughnasadh to support that? Let this pause before we fall into autumn rejuvenate your creativity. Take advantage of it!

How to Celebrate Lammas

There are quite a few writing-oriented ways that you can use the energy of August to further your writing practice, and especially to hone your craft as an artist. It’s a great time to practice gratitude, reflect on the year so far, work on honing your craft, savor the sensual feast that is summer, and set yourself up for the rest of the year. Here are some ideas for Lammas rituals that can also support your writing and creativity.

Give thanks. Look at what you have to be thankful for in your writing practice. Do you have a great community? Have you written a lot of words this year? Created one piece you are especially proud of? Create a list of all the things around your writing practice that you are grateful for. Keep this list near your writing space, in your planner, on your desktop, or in a drawer, as a reminder when the days start getting darker.
Take stock. Lammas is a perfect time for reflection. What have you harvested? Have you reached the goals you had hoped to by this point in the year? What has been accomplished? What has fallen by the wayside? What unexpected growth or challenges have you encountered? Challenge yourself to make a list of 25 accomplishments and wins so far this year. You might be really surprised at how much you have done, even if it wasn’t the writing goals you expected.
Create a scent that represents what you want to harvest with your writing. This is a great time to gather your fragrant flowers, your favorite herbs—everything that the land is bursting with—while the growth of the plants are hitting their peak. Make a scent that reminds you of this moment, this harvest, the bounty that is provided. Use this scent in your writing sessions to remind you of the fullness and abundance that is available when we nurture what we want to grow.
Level up your craftsmanship. When was the last time you focused on the craft of writing? This is a great time to get in touch with those skills, grow your craft, and really focus on the practice of writing. Find a craft book, a course for writers, or craft videos on youtube and develop your skills. Maybe a few new ideas will help you go further or get unstuck.
Burn your negativities. What do you think is holding you back right now? What’s keeping you from reaching your writing goals? What do you need to let go of to make the most of the rest of this year? Write down all your negative attitudes and bad habits and burn them. Let them go.
Bless your writing space. This is a time of year when blessings are all around us. We can use this energy to give new life to our writing space. How can you make your space a little more sacred? A little more conducive to creative production and harvest? Create a small ritual to recognize, give thanks, and bless the space where you write, even if it’s the kitchen table.
Recalibrate. You can see now what has been going well so far this year, and what has not. Lammas is this unique moment in time when we can see the direction we’ve been heading, and we still have time to change course and experience growth and creativity before the slow times of winter. What has been working and what has not? How can you move forward in a direction that will help you realign and get on the right track?
Set yourself up for the great harvest. It’s a good time to be finalizing the projects you are working on. It’s time to start shaping them into their final forms and getting them out into the world, whatever that means to you. What is the end goal of your writing? Being published in literary magazines? Developing your blog? Finding a publisher? Start moving in that direction. Polish off those pieces and get them out the door. It is time for harvest!

Lughnasadh Writing Prompts

Here are 30 Lammas writing prompts to help get your ideas baking. I have created these prompts to be interpreted in many ways, so don’t worry about “what it means.” Just let yourself write and see where your creativity takes you.

Many of these are intended as inspiration for creative projects like poetry, short stories, or memoir. However, I’ve tried to leave them open-ended enough that they can also function as Lughnasadh journal prompts. How can you explore yourself through these lenses?

Write about your first taste of the harvest.
Write about a corn doll that comes to life.
Write about a great sacrifice.
Research one of the crystals of Lammas (Here is a partial list: aventurine, citrine, golden topaz, obsidian, moss agate, rhodochrosite, clear quartz, carnelian, peridot, sardonyx, tiger’s-eye.) How is it made? What are its properties? What does it represent? Create a character with the same attributes as the gemstone you researched.
Write about someone who doesn’t know they are in decline.
Write about a plant inhabited by the spirit of the divine.
Create a narrative in which a wicker man takes on all the negativity of the people around him.
Write about the dimming of the sun.
Create a recipe for bread that makes dreams come true.
Write about a king who sacrifices himself for the people.
Finish a piece of writing you have already started. Craft it into something fulfilling.
Write about a skill you know well as if it were the favorite sport of the gods.
“This is just the beginning of the fall…”
Write a poem, story, or hermit crab essay in the form of a contract.
Make something greater than its parts. Free write about summer. Cut out the best lines and make them into a poem.
Write about an athletic competition that takes place at a funeral.
Write about collecting seed from something as it dies.
Research a local fruit. What is its lifecycle from fruit to seed to fruit? Tell its story.
Write about a prophetic dream that is spawned by an ash leaf under the pillow.
Write about what happens when you eat the body of the sun god.
What is a smell that you associate with baking? Write about that smell and the memories around it.
Write about a habit that goes up in smoke.
Write about someone sharing their first fruits.
Spend time outside. Document every detail you can. Soak it all up. Use this as the basis for a story, essay, or poem.
Write about the first whispers of darkness.
Use your memory. Think of one moment you wish you could capture. Write about that moment in as much detail as possible.
This photo by Cerqueira on Unsplash.

This picture from Ivan Rohovchenko on Unsplash.

This picture from Étienne Beauregard-Riverin on Unsplash.

This picture from Ashley Light on Unsplash.

I hope you enjoy these Lughnasadh rituals and writing prompts. It’s the time of year to celebrate everything we’ve accomplished so far, everything that has grown, and everything we have created. Feast on the berries and breads. We are an extension of the creativity of the land, and it is our turn to take what is on offer and turn it into something fulfilling, something beautiful.

So give thanks for the strawberries and savor that first dahlia. Bake some fireweed scones and let the things holding you back go up in smoke. These summer joys are fleeting. But they are oh so beautiful. And that’s something to write about.

I hope this helps you find some way to connect with the season and with your writing. Are you doing anything special for Lammas/Lughnasadh? Have any of these writing prompts inspired you? I would love to hear about it!

The Writer’s Moon: Author Interview with Alicia Manson

March 25, 2022January 14, 2024 Jaclyn4 Comments

The Writer’s Moon is a journal and planner for writers that helps you sync your writing practice to the phases of the moon. It’s a 30-day workbook for deepening your writing practice and getting more intentional and productive with your work by using the energy the moon has on offer. In this author interview, the book’s creator, Alicia Manson discusses her inspiration, her own writing practice, and how to use writing as a spiritual and therapeutic practice.

The Writer’s Moon

The Writer’s Moon by Alicia Manson is a guide that walks you through the process of using the energy of the moon to enhance your writing practice. You all know I love planning and goal-setting and you all know I love the moon, so I was quite excited when I met Alicia Manson in the Writing by the Moon Facebook group and found she had created a book that combined them both.

The Writer’s Moon has the tagline: Harness the Power of Lunar Energy to Make the Most of Your Time and Accomplish Your Writing Goals, A 30-Day Action Journal. It includes 30 days of goal-setting and journal prompts that help you explore what’s working and what’s not in your writing, and deepen your practice. It includes ideas for incorporating rituals into your writing practice, journal and reflection prompts, and space for goal setting.

The book is designed to begin with the new moon and goes through each phase of one moon, about 30 days of structuring your writing around the lunar phases. The book begins by guiding you through creating goals and brainstorming for the new moon. The majority of the work of writing happens as the moon grows into a full moon. And then as the moon wanes into the third quarter, you are guided to finish up your writing goals, revise, and remember why you are writing in the first place.

The Writer’s Moon is formatted like a workbook or journal, with space to write and answer the questions asked each day. Each day has a little introduction of motivation that follows the phase of the moon and guides you to deepen your practice. Then there are questions that prompt you to set your goals for the day and begin with intention before you write. Finally, there are questions about how everything went, gratitude, and plans for tomorrow that are intended to be answered after you write.

Manson’s book even gives practical tips and advice for writers, whether they are adhering to the moon phases or not. She includes ways to hold yourself accountable, ways to support your writing practice, ways to practice gratitude, and reward yourself for a job well-done.

I personally found that this journal helped me reflect on my writing both before and after the actual act of writing. Prior to this, I had mostly reflected after and it was helpful to do a little bit of thinking and journaling before I got started on my creative work. Also, there were simple ideas for making your writing into more of a ritual, and I find ritualizing your writing to be very useful. There were also simple ways to stick to my writing goals. I especially loved the prompt of gratitude each day, as I found it helpful to incorporate this into my writing routine.

An Interview with Alicia Manson

Alicia graciously offered to answer my questions about her inspiration, the book, and her own writing process.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for creating The Writer’s Moon?

A: The idea for this book came from my own writing process. Like so many writers, I have a lot going on in my life in addition to writing. I want to use my time in the best ways possible. I’ve worked with business/accountability coaches, as well as productivity and organizational experts, and learned there are various strategies to get All The Things done more efficiently; however, there didn’t seem to be many experts or coaches talking about ways in which we use the cycles of the earth or the moon to work more efficiently. This journal goes a bit further than the typical goal-setting book in that it incorporates loving advice, practical tips, as well as mystical solutions to the short-on-time writer. I wanted to put something out there to help writers like me who are incredibly short on time and are open to nature-based approaches to use their time well. I also wanted to show some kindness and encouragement to the writers who are in need of a writing coach, but for whatever reason, haven’t gotten one. This book is a DIY version of a 30-day coaching program. I help the writer using the book feel supported, encouraged, and excited to write. The journal also allows the writers to express themselves and their frustrations, and obstacles, as well as how to work through them. Last, the journal guides the writer on how to utilize the changing energy of the moon to write more efficiently. Just as it’s easier to swim with the current and not against it, it’s easier to do certain types of writing during certain phases of the moon. More fun, too.

Q: Are there other rituals or practices that you incorporate into your writing practice?

A: Absolutely! And I encourage others to explore their own energy patterns and work with those; test out some rituals that may be new to them; switch things up once in a while. Some of the practices I use most are inside The Writer’s Moon. There are endless ways to enhance your writing process, and these practices are also subject to change as we grow as people and as writers. One of my favorite pre-writing rituals is to do something meditative. For me, that means walking, doing yoga, and/or showering. The most effective mid-writing ritual I’ve found is so simple and shockingly helpful: I light a candle. I keep it on my desk in my view. Maybe it’s the power of the fire, or the focus it seems to provide, but I love it. During longer breaks, I go for walks outside. All of these have cleansing and transformative powers that I find necessary for my writing process.

Q: What kinds of books do you write? What kinds of writing projects are you currently working on?

A: I write the books I like to read and use, so I’m currently writing non-fiction and journals. I have several journals I’m using right now, and am currently reading 20 or more non-fiction books. I have several stacks around my room and pick one book each day to read from. My WIPs are much like that- so, so many. If you’d like to keep up with updates, you can follow The Writer’s Moon on IG, Twitter, FB, or subscribe to the newsletter by going to www.thewritersmoon.com. I update from there as I’m coaching, writing, and editing from that space.

Q: Do you have a favorite moon phase? Which is it and why?

A: I have several, but my absolute favorite is the new moon phase. The new moon (or dark moon) is hidden and dormant, and so are we during this phase. In this state of repose, there is room to grow. There is space for ideas to take root. It’s a place where our creativity can simmer, where we can rest, and like during meditation, the universe seems to open up and, if you’re available for it, it’s a time of massive receiving.

Q: How does your writing practice intersect with your spiritual or therapeutic practice?

A: This is the best question ever. These are so intertwined that I’m not sure someone could have one without the other. Journaling has been a part of my spiritual life since I could write, and I’ve used writing as a way to get through family problems, teenage angst, deep love, shocking loss. More recently, journaling has been a way to design my life. I write out often what I plan to do, as if I’m commanding the universe to co-create my future with me. I’m not sure I would have left a friendship that was no longer healthy if I hadn’t explored it deeply by journaling and reflecting on it. I may not have gotten the fulfilling career I’m now excelling at if I hadn’t written down over and over that I’m worthy of a career full of purpose and meaning. In the past 15 years or so, I’ve used automatic writing to explore depths of trauma and heartbreak that I didn’t want to dive into previously. You and I could probably write a book on this subject alone. Writing is a powerful tool in any spiritual or therapeutic practice.

For more on using astrology and the seasons to deepen your writing practice, check here. If you’re looking for more prompts and inspiration, you can find them here. And if you want to learn more about incorporating rituals into your writing practice, you might like this post about designing your own ritual and this ready-made ritual to inspire creativity.

Alicia Manson author of The Writer's Moon

Alicia Manson is an author, editor, and writing coach living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University, and was an editor for a Cincinnati publishing company for over 15 years. On weekends and in the evenings, you’d likely find her spending time with her family, walking in the woods, lying in her hammock, playing guitar, or, more likely, writing.

Introducing: Marrow Magazine

February 4, 2022January 20, 2022 Jaclyn3 Comments

Dark. Wild. Feminine.

Marrow Magazine is a literary magazine committed to publishing work that explores dark spaces. Send us your monstrous tales, your experiments in darkness, your crepuscular darlings poking their heads out from beneath rocks.

We like it weird!

We publish speculative fiction and nonfiction, magical realism, dark fantasy, surrealism, fabulism, wild fairy tales, and experimental work. We accept poetry, fiction, non-fiction, hybrid, art, and multimedia pieces. Help us challenge the boundaries of what a literary journal can be. Plays, confessions, songs, rituals: as long as it is literary and strange.

We do not charge submissions fees.

We accept submissions year-round. Please allow up to three months for us to respond, as currently we are a three-woman team.

We publish digital issues quarterly, with one new piece releasing each week. Our official issues include all pieces published that quarter as well as extras like author interviews, reviews, and commentary.

If you’d like to submit in a genre, we accept fiction and nonfiction of up to 10,000 words or 3 poems at a time. If you prefer to submit genreless or hybrid work, you can let us know in your email; we can publish with or without classification.

To submit, please use the form below. Use whatever font you like as long as it’s legible, and please keep any personal details off of the submission so we can read it anonymously. Let us know if you’d like us to consider your submission with or without genre.

Please wait until you hear from us to submit again.

We do not consider previously published work, but simultaneous submissions are entirely welcome. Please let us know if your submission is simultaneous and let us know as soon as you can if it’s accepted elsewhere. If we do accept your work, we humbly ask that you withdraw it from consideration elsewhere.

All rights revert back to the writer upon publication.

Click here to submit.

28 Creative Writing Prompts to Celebrate Imbolc and Inspire Your February

January 28, 2022January 14, 2024 Jaclyn3 Comments

Can you feel it in the air? It’s the depths of winter, but there’s something stirring. Even as the snow is still coming down, the end of winter is in sight. Even here in Alaska, the birds have started singing.

It’s Imbolc! Imbolc is the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and it’s a great time to start new projects. In celebration of the day, I’ve created 28 creative writing prompts based on the sabbat.

Imbolc is the first day of February, and in the year this post is written, it is also a new moon and the lunar new year. So, the number 28 is no accident. Try one writing prompt for each day of February, if you feel inspired. Or, you could think of it as one prompt for each day of this Snow/Storm Moon. A moon’s worth of writing prompts. Write your way out of winter, and start your lunar new year off right!

What is Imbolc?

Imbolc is a traditional Celtic holiday that falls halfway between Yule (winter solstice) and Ostara (spring equinox). It’s the day the tide changes in favor of spring. The world is waking up from the slumber of winter’s darkness. The sunlight is coming back in a way that’s actually noticeable and though the world is still covered in snow (at least here!), the earth is beginning to awaken with the light. We are now closer to the balance of the equinox than we are to the drastic darkness of the solstice. It’s a time for hope and preparation.

It’s also celebrated as Candlemas, St. Brigid’s Day, or February’s Eve. Imbolc honors the goddess Brigid, especially in her roles as the goddess of the hearth, of fertility, and of creativity. It’s traditionally a fire festival, a time when baby lambs are on the way, and when there is the promise of spring and new life.

Imbolc is, to me, one of the most underappreciated pagan holidays. One of the things I love about Imbolc is that it is really a time for a fresh new start. Imbolc is a recognition that you need a period of rest and readjustment after the busyness of the winter holidays. It’s hard to start fresh the day after New Year’s Eve, especially if you’ve been out celebrating. If you are already falling down on your New Year’s resolutions, never fear! Imbolc has your back. It’s time to start anew.

How to Celebrate Imbolc as a Writer

Imbolc is an especially powerful holiday for writers. Why? It’s Brigid’s day, and Brigid, in addition to being the goddess of hearth and home, is also the goddess of poetry. This means that anything we do to boost our words and our creativity will be supported.

There are lots of ways to use the Imbolc energy to move your writing forward. It’s a great time to start a new project, to daydream and to plan. It’s the original spring cleaning. Here are some ways that writers can observe Imbolc to support their writing practice:

Spring Clean your Writing Space. Out with the old, in with the new inspirational space. Imbolc is a great time to declutter, rearrange, and create a space that will inspire a new year of writing.
Start a new habit. It’s a great time to start something small and daily that could have a big effect in the long term. Read a poem a day, start a new writing habit, start a new hobby, pick something new to learn about, journal, or pull a tarot card each evening. Find something small and manageable that will help support your writing.
Set some new writing goals, or spend time daydreaming about your vision. It’s time to focus on the new year and this fresh start. Now that the hustle and bustle of the depths of winter is over and we can finally see the light again, it’s a useful time to make a new vision board, or create goals for the new year.
Create a new writing ritual. Especially if you (like me) are the kind of person who has trouble getting in the mood for writing, a little ritual to start you off could be just the thing to connect you with your muse. Put on some music, light a candle or some incense, do a meditation, wear your sassiest lipstick or cozy up in the sweater that makes you feel like your best self. This is the time to think about how the small actions you take can be seeds that grow into a new way of being.
Spend some time writing outside. It’s not always easy to get outside this time of year, but Imbolc is a great reminder that it still does the soul good to be out in the trees and under the sky.
Try something new. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, and sometimes the most refreshing thing you can do for your writing is just to try something new and get out of the same-old-same-old rut. You could do this with your writing (take a playful stab at a new genre, or a new voice), but I also think trying any kind of new thing can revitalize our writing. Go ice skating, go to a new park, or try a new activity. Anything that can give you a fresh perspective also helps make you a better writer.
Start a new project. See below for prompts to help with this one!

Creative Writing Prompts for Imbolc

Celebrate Brigid with some poetry. Use the Poetry Foundation to find one line of poetry that really speaks to you, and start there. You could create a poem, a story, or even nonfiction. Use the line of poetry that spoke to you as the starting point for your own writing.
Write about something waiting to be born.
Write about someone who meets the goddess Brigid.
Go outside and see it with new eyes, and ears, and… Use synthesia to describe what you see. What do the colors taste like? How does the sky smell? Bring us there by mixing all your senses and letting your metaphors run wild.
Write a story about a character who finds something magical while cleaning out their home.
Use this Image, from Tiffany Laura Danyelle on Unsplash.

“The world has been still. But something has started to stir underground…”
Write about what happens when the snow starts to melt.
Check out the Ace of Wands tarot card. This is the card of new growth and emerging to a new state of being. Use this card as the jumping off point for your writing.
What happens when St. Brigid and the Goddess Brigid meet?
The nuns of Kildare, the monastery founded by St. Brigid, were tasked with keeping an eternal flame. Write about keeping a flame alive.
It was rumored that if a man crossed the hedge of the Church of Kildare, he would be cursed or be driven insane. Write a story about a man who crosses the hedge and goes insane.
Clean it out! Do an erasure poem of the wikipedia page of Imbolc. (Or another related page of your choosing).
Use this image from Foundry Co on Pixabay.

Write about making a bed that never gets slept in.
Write about a girl made of reeds who comes to life.
Do a meditation. (You can find Imbolc-specific meditations here.) Jot down the images that come up and create your work from there.
“It’s time to burn it all down. She lit the match…”
Write a story that begins with an initiation.
Find three things that need to be cleared out of your house. Use those three things to describe growth, without using the word growth.
“When I looked into the water of the well, it was not myself looking back at me…”
Write about something that has died within you, thank it and lay it to rest.
Winter is ending, and this means new beginnings are on the horizon. Write a story that begins with an ending.
Write about something unexpected “in the belly.”
“The serpent awakens…”
Write a story that takes place at the exact moment between seasons.
Write about starting a small new habit that changes the character’s life (or yours!).
Use this image, from Annie Spratt on Unsplash.

As always, if any of these prompts inspire you, I would love to read what you create. Drop a link below or send me a message. Truly, nothing makes my heart happier than helping people create, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this special time of year than to write new possibilities into being.

Enjoy!

For more writing prompts, click here.

Dangerous Plants: A Writing Prompt for Character Development

August 22, 2021February 25, 2022 Jaclyn5 Comments

Find out how to create a dangerous character on the Lightning Droplets blog. Learn how to create a character-driven plot. This post includes the three most important questions to ask your character and how to turn those answers into a full plot.

You can use this writing prompt about deadly and dangerous plants to learn how to craft a character that will drive a meaningful plot for your story and help your fiction resonate with readers.

#fiction #writingtips #character #amwriting #writingprompt

There’s something about the lure of dangerous plants. The call of the Angel’s trumpet. The come-hither tendrils of poison ivy. The flashy blooms of oleander. Deadly plants have rich stories and lurid histories, and this makes them ripe for character development. This prompt walks you through creating a character based on a poisonous plant, and offers questions to ask your character that will get your plot racing.

Step 1: Start with a little bit of research.

Choose a dangerous plant. You can pick one of the most deadly, or one of the most poisonous, or the most dangerous. The descriptions in the links here might be enough to get the inspiration flowing, or you might want to use Wikipedia to do more research on a particular plant that speaks to you. Take notes about what strikes your interest. You might even let yourself go down the rabbit hole of research a little bit. Look into legends, history, and the biology of the plant. Often, poisonous plants have very interesting ways of interacting with humans, and of reproducing.

Step 2: Anthropomorphize!

Create a character based on the plant. Perhaps it is something about the way the plant kills. A lot of these plants have interesting historical tales surrounding them. Abraham Lincoln’s mother died from drinking milk tinged with white snakeroot. A Bulgarian dissident was killed with the chemical from castor seeds. What would this story look like from the plant’s point of view? Did Socrates deserve what the hemlock did to him?

What would this plant look like as a person? Would she be pale and unassuming, but deadly when you get close? Or would she be flamboyant and loud, luring everyone to her side? Is he spindly or robust? You could approach this question two ways: how would the physical characteristics of this plant translate into the look of a person? For example, does the character have eyes the color of wolfsbane? Or a rosary of rosary peas around their neck? Or you could think more about the personality of the plant. Are they sneaky? How would that look in a person? (But make sure to stay away from stereotypes!)

Once you are starting to envision your plant as a character, you’re ready to interrogate them!

Step 3: The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask Your Character

Think of this plant as a character. All characters have desires, needs, and a drive to be happy. But the trick is tying the desires and needs of the character directly to the plot. The way to do this is to ask the right questions. You don’t necessarily need to know all of the character’s favorite foods, bands and holiday spots, but you do need to know what makes them tick, how they are going to act, and, ultimately, how they are going to change.

These are the three most important questions to ask any character you create because these are the questions that are going to drive your character’s actions, and therefore also drive your plot. So let’s get digging!

What lie does your character believe?

The best stories have dynamic characters, which means your character needs to change. Maybe this is a small change, like realizing that they actually do like oranges, or maybe it’s a big change, like realizing maybe they don’t feel very fulfilled by poisoning people. Either way, we need to see some transformation, which means they need to change their mind about something. So, what are they going to change their mind about? What lie do they believe?

Another way to think about this is to think about it as a character flaw. What’s wrong with this character that needs to change? How are they acting/thinking/living in a way that does not actually make them happy? How does that relate to the lie they believe?

This is really the root of the matter.

What do they think will make them happy?

Give your plant-character a goal, a terribly misguided goal. This is especially powerful if their goal is based on the lie they believe. What are they pursuing because of this misbelief? What’s wrong with their life as it is, and what do they think they need to get/do/say/love/change in order to be happy?

Something to note about this question: it’s important that this is what they want which is wholly separate from what they need. This goal should be driven by the misguided belief that they hold. This is a goal that should change by the end of the story (even if it is the very last sentence!).

Then focus on what they are going to do to try to pursue this goal: What are they willing to do? What actual steps can they take to try to get there? But don’t forget, you, dear dangerous writer, are not going to let them achieve this goal.

What is going to change their mind?

Finally, what does your character come up against that makes them see the error of their ways? What is the tipping point, the pivotal moment that makes your character rethink their motives and their goals? What’s the event that makes them see the truth?

Of course, these are questions you can ask any character you make, whether they are based on a plant or not. These questions about your character’s personality are questions that specifically drive the plot of your story. You’ve got rich soil to work with.

Step 4: Plants into Plots

Now the plot thickens. (And yes, gardening puns totally intended.)

The real twist in this plot is that this dangerous plant is your protagonist. We know their flaws. We know what they are willing to do because of the lies they believe. So how does it all pan out? This is where the real world action meets the emotions within your herbaceous character. What steps are they taking in their life to try to pursue the lie that they think will make them happy? How does this plan fail? What stands in their way? And what eventually shows them (and your reader) the error of their ways?

Don’t forget, even as this plant is dangerous and believes this terrible lie, we still need to feel something for the character. Why are we rooting for this plant? We don’t have to like the plant, but we need to be interested. How does this dangerous, poisonous plant become a character that we can relate to and whose story we want to read?

Why this works

It might feel ridiculous to start a character with a plant. I mean, for a lot of people they are basically inanimate objects. But beginning the story by trying to find parallels between a human and a plant can help you see human stories from a different perspective. It frees you to think about different motivations and desires.

In terms of the questions to ask your characters, the power is in connecting the changes in your character and the events of the plot. If you allow your plot to be driven by the false belief of the character, the change that they undergo because of the incidents that happen in the story will have much more meaning. The character’s inner journey and outer journey will resonate, which means your story will resonate with readers also.

Finally, I want to give a very big shout out to Abbie Emmons on Youtube. The character questions here are loosely based on her very useful worksheets and videos about character-driven plotting. Definitely check out her channel for more in-depth info on these questions and more ways to think about characters and what drives them. She has short, punchy, informative videos on how to make your writing meaningful and I highly recommend checking them out! They are very good fodder for when you get stuck!

Have you tried this prompt? I would love to see how it comes out! Post a link or paste your results below.

Are you interested in trying more prompts? You might like this prompt using plot generators, this prompt setting myths in new places, or 30 days of writing prompts designed to get you through quarantine.

Enjoy!

Let Your Words Fly: Submission Bonanza 2015

June 1, 2015February 25, 2022 Jaclyn19 Comments

Do you have stories that have been hibernating over winter in the caves of your computer files? Poems that have sleepily spent the dark months hiding from the cold snuggled between the pages of your notebook? Blog posts or essays that are destined to fly in the summer breeze and see a new audience?

It’s time for a Submission Bonanza, and I’d love for you to join me!

Here in Alaska, the new, green life is taking shape. The air feels fertile and full of possibilities. Birds are sending their songs out into the world and all this makes me feel like I should follow suit. With the start of summer, there’s the reminder of the possibilities that exist and the importance of our art seeing the light of day, stretching in the sunshine and basking in the warmth of the outdoors.

Two years ago at this time, I began a Submission Bonanza. It was an attempt to start getting my work out in the world, which I had been terrible about doing. It had been a long time since I had submitted anything anywhere, thinking of myself as not-a-real-writer, as someone who just wrote to make myself happy. At some point, I realized that writing, for me, is actually about connection and the real reason I was not submitting my work anywhere wasn’t because it was “just for me” but because I was afraid of the rejection. I mean, this poem is my soul; how could I stomach someone saying it wasn’t good enough?

Two years and hundreds of rejections later, I am stronger. I know now how to take the rejection letters. Being an editor of a magazine myself, I see how subjective the process can be and I know that it’s not a reflection of the worth of my soul.

I also have quite a few publications under my belt, because as subjective and harrowing as the process can be, there will also be moments when your work falls into the lap of someone who gets you, someone who connects with what you are trying to say. And they’ll want to share that with other people. Which, honestly, is kind of magical.

I have to say, I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit, been remiss in keeping my work flying out into the world and, thankfully, nature has reminded me that it’s time again.

So, I’ll be doing another Submission Bonanza this year, 30 submissions in 30 days. For the whole month of June, I’ll be keeping a running list of literary journals that I submit to, and I’ll highlight some of the best ones so that you can submit to them, too.

If you’re new to submitting, check out my Guide to Creating Your Own Submission Bonanza, Choosing and Selecting Submittable Pieces, Finding Literary Magazines, and Six Tips for Perfect (Professional) Cover Letters.

Feel free to use the Submission Bonanza logo and join up. I’ll keep you posted with how things are going. Keep me posted as well!

Call for Submissions: Cake & Grapes

October 1, 2014 JaclynLeave a comment

Another new(to me)! magazine that’s open for submissions: Cake & Grapes! With a name like that, how can you not submit? Check them out.

We at Cake & Grapes believe that art is anyone’s game.

That’s why we’re opening our doors to you: to give you a chance. Flash fiction, short fiction, epic poetry, photographs, sestinas, sketches, films, paintings, sculptures, gifs, papier mache hats – we want them all.

Show us what you’re made of, and we’ll show the world.

GUIDELINES

We don’t want to hamper your creativity; we just need to lay down some basic rules.

Prose
Short fiction, flash fiction, and non-fiction are all accepted. All prose submissions must be less than 2,500 words in length. Exceptions will only be made for essays that are relevant and irreverent.

Poetry
If humorous, epic poems will be tolerated. Otherwise, it’s fair game.

Artwork
As this is an online publication, we will only be able to accept photographs or scans of your artwork. Please be sure that your work is well-lit. We will consider original comics, sketches, sculptures, paintings, graphic designs, gifs, – you name it – for publication.

Video
All video submissions must be less than 10 minutes in length. We’re not the FCC, so no worries there.

Feel like you fit within our loose rubric?

SUBMIT!

Call for Submissions: The Litragger

August 27, 2014 JaclynLeave a comment

Are you looking for a place to re-publish works that have already appeared in print? The Litragger is the place! Check out their submission guidelines below:

Dear Writers,

We are republishing work that has previously appeared in print, exists in back issues, but does not have an online presence. We believe firmly in the benefit of publishing in print. But we also believe that writers deserve the opportunity to place their work online in a well-designed reading environment, following the print publication cycle, so that they may find new readers and build an audience on the web.

So if you have a piece, send it to us!

Email a word document or PDF to submissions@litragger.com.

Just let us know where it appeared originally and when it was published, and we’ll read it and let you know if we think it’s a good fit.

– Adam and Landon

Call for Submissions: The Great American Lit Mag

August 20, 2014 JaclynLeave a comment

The Great American Lit Mag is open for submissions! Check them out!

The Great American Lit Mag welcomes general submissions of prose and poetry. Our reading periods run for two months at a time with a month off in between for our editors to construct each issue. Our current reading period will run from August 1st-September 30th.

We are happy to consider simultaneous submissions, so long as you withdraw your work from consideration within ten minutes of it being accepted elsewhere.

Unlike most other publications, we are happy to consider previously published work. However, it is unlikely that we will republish any work that is not INCREDIBLE. If you choose to submit previously published work, please note it in your cover letter and include the following sentence: This work has been previously published at (fill in appropriate time and place); however, all publishing rights have been reverted to me, the author, and I am knowledgeably and willfully submitting it for republication under the expectation that my original publishers will be acknowledged. Our response time is typically less than 3 weeks. We want you to be able to get your work into as many hands as quickly and with the least amount of reluctance as possible if it doesn’t find a home here, so we aim to respond quickly.

We do not pay contributors for any work published in The Great American Literary Magazine.

Fiction

Prose should be no more than 3,000 words.

Please send your submission via email to thegreatamericanlitmag@gmail.com with a cover letter and a subject line including your last name and the word “fiction”. For example: Smith Fiction Submission.

Poetry

For poetry, please submit no more than 5 poems.

Please send your submission via email to thegreatamericanlitmag@gmail.com with a cover letter and a subject line including your last name and the word “poetry”. For example: Smith Poetry Submission.