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The Next Big Thing! (Darlene)
Last week Linda was tagged as part of a chain of authors called THE NEXT BIG THING. Now, all of us at 5Writers are joining the chain, providing some insight into our current projects—in my case a...
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This Little Writer went to Market
I’m always on the lookout for new markets for my short stories. Problem is sometimes I get so engrossed in researching literary journals, I don’t write! The good thing about short fiction and flash...
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Our Support System (In Honor of Valentine’s Day)
In Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell identifies many factors that contribute to an individual’s success. One of them—a standout—is that no one succeeds alone; meaning, everyone has someone who helps...
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You Stink!
What the editors wrote: Dear Susie WriterPerson: Thank you for submitting your short story, “Whatever” to Big Fancy Literary Review. We appreciate the opportunity to read it. Unfortunately, the piece...
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Please Refer to the Diagram
I failed ruler in third grade. Though I couldn’t be trusted to take an accurate measurement, the notched wooden implement with the metal edge did serve a useful purpose in my young life: drawing...
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Building Blocks of Storytelling
You are a baby sitting in a high chair. Your parents, aunts, uncles, their friends are telling each other stories around the dinner table. Afterwards, you watch cartoons while the grownups chat some...
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Finding Your Community of Writers
People in the arts, in general, are drawn to each other. We’re odd. We see the world from a different perspective. We’re observers. We’re sponges. And we need each other. But what is this sense of...
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Surviving a Critique Group
As writers, we spend a lot of time alone in a room with our characters and possibly a cat or two. We become very close to our stories, and sometimes we lose objectivity. Is my protagonist...
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Publication News: Darlene Cah’s “White Dog” in Referential Magazine
Yes, I usually write wacky stories with zippy dialogue, but in this one, I get in touch with my dark, miserable, hopeless side! What could possibly inspire such a sad tale? A neighbor’s dog ran out of...
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Who are you?
Let’s say you’re a diverse writer. You have sci-fi novel in the works, a dark, literary short story ready to send out and the first draft of a humorous novella awaiting revision. Oh! And don’t forget...
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ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…Wake me When Something Happens
By Darlene Cah I had written humorous essays, sketch comedy and advertising copy, but always danced around fiction, too scared to really commit. Though, I’d tried to write short stories now and again,...
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The Hub City Writing in Place Experience
by Darlene Cah When I moved south eight years ago, my friend and fellow writer, Nancy Pemberton told me I had to go to the Hub City Writers’ Workshop for a weekend of writing, classes, readings and...
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Put your Characters in their Place
by Darlene Cah Let’s take a tour of my living room in this moment. Yes, you should be afraid! The walls are a dark-ish green with a lighter green accent wall along the entryway. The floors are hardwood...
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Think Inside the Box
by Darlene Cah I’ve posted, many times, about the connection between improvisational theater and writing. This month, our blog topic is “writing in constraints.” How could that possibly relate to...
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Be Crafty about your Craft
By Darlene Cah One time, when I was working as a copywriter for a large publishing company in New York, my art director and I were looking at illustrators’ portfolios for a catalog we were producing....
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What’s your Excuse?
by Darlene Cah Being a creative type, I’m never at a loss for excuses. I can sit at my computer, ready to write, and suddenly, I’ll remember the cats need their nails trimmed. That’s the kind of year I...
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Unamused by the Muse
by Darlene Cah WRITER sits at a computer typing in a cluttered office. A single desk lamp illuminates the mess of books, papers, dirty dinner dishes, soda cans, etc. VOICE Hey! How about that story...
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Does Spending Dollars on Contests Make Sense?
by Darlene Cah I learned (or perhaps, just came to accept) later in life that I’m competitive. Yeah, I like to compete, like to do my best, like to win. When I was in high school I entered art...
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More than a Twist Ending
by Darlene Cah I had to read “The Lottery” in one of my high school English classes. At the time, I was more interested in dragging paint across a silk screen with a squeegee than thinking about the...
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Generating Story and Character Ideas from Writing Prompts: The 5Writers’...
Generating Story and Character Ideas from Writing Prompts: The 5Writers’ Group Story Where do story and character ideas come from? The oldest and most clichéd piece of writing advice is to write what...
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