Upcoming Writing Competitions, "The Caveman's Lament", Horror Manga Intrigue, and more

Weekly Rundown #2

Photo by Andre Benz on Unsplash

Hey everyone,

I have some goodies for you this week, notably a few links that lead to more writing competitions than anyone could possibly enter over the course of the year.

I also thought I’d mention that I’ve become a member of the Soaring Twenties Social Club, which publishes some really cool writing that any fan of this newsletter should check out:

If you’re a writer and you want to be a member as well, read this.

It’s April 2023 and there are more writing contests than ever. If you’ve got something to publish, or need that competitive spirit to rouse yourself out of procrastinating on that poem or erotic thriller or whatever, then check out the links below:

• Poets&Writers list of upcoming writing contests

• Reedsy’s list of upcoming writing contests

• Tadpole Press’s 100 Word Writing Competition

• Freedomwithwriting.com’s 26 free-to-enter writing contests

Brian Bilston, the so-called “poet laureate of Twitter”, is a must-follow for poets and writers on Instagram, and of course, Twitter. Bilston has a knack for finding the sweet spot between humor and heartbreak and his recently shared poem, “The Caveman’s Lament”, hits the mark:

brian_bilston

A post shared by Brian Bilston (@brian_bilston)

I didn’t start reading graphic novels until my early 20’s (with the sole exception of Watchmen, which I had to read for a college course when I was a freshman), and I never touched any manga until my 30’s.

Needless to say, I’ve been missing out.

I haven’t read it yet, but this YouTube video from The Masked Man’s channel about horror manga PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama has single-handedly sold the book for me. I’m not sure when I’ll get my hands on a copy but hopefully before next Halloween.

Dr. Kathleen Waller’s piece on jazz music and it’s influence on writers and artists struck a chord with me, especially since Beat Generation writers (who were heavily influenced by jazz)—notably Jack Kerouac—made me want to be a writer in the first place. What I enjoyed most about this piece was the section on writing prompts designed to draw inspiration from jazz music.

Jazz your Writing

Poetic Outlaws sends a poem straight to your inbox on what seems to be the daily. I was super-pleased to see this gem by Bukowski sitting in my gmail account recently:

The Tragedy of the Leaves

Last week I shared a post by Chuck Palahniuk but I couldn’t resist sharing another one after reading his take on minimalism as a writing style, and his insistance that Hemingway isn’t actually a minimalist, but a “stripped-down” modernist writer. Check out the link below to see what he means by that, because I can’t articulate it as well as he can.

I’m not 100% sure if I agree with his take; the debate on whether or not Hemingway is “minimalist” is something I may take a deeper dive into in the near future.

Try This: One Sentence

I’ve been subscribed to Nerdwriter1 on YouTube for a few years now. The production quality of his videos is excellent, but this breakdown of the movie Passengers, which I admit I’ve never seen despite it seeming like something right up my alley, is incredible.

In this YouTube video, we see how a very simple rearrangement of the exact same story (possible even the same script) can transform what seems like a decent movie into a mind-bender of a thriller. Aspiring screenwriters, take note:

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Alrighty; that’s it for this week’s newsletter. Keep doing whatever you’re all doing. Unless you don’t like what you’re doing….then…don’t do that thing.

Oh yeah, and stay sexy,

Cameron