Thrilled that a story I edited for Joyland has been selected for Best Canadian Stories, 2018 (Biblioasis), Edited by Russell Smith! The story is "A Dozen Stomachs" by Tom Thor Buchanan.

Description

Now in its 48th year, Best Canadian Stories has long championed the short story form and highlighted the work of many writers who have gone on to shape the Canadian literary canon. Caroline Adderson, Margaret Atwood, Clark Blaise, Tamas Dobozy, Mavis Gallant, Douglas Glover, Norman Levine, Rohinton Mistry, Alice Munro, Leon Rooke, Diane Schoemperlen, Kathleen Winter, and many others have appeared in its pages over the decades, making Best Canadian Stories the go-to source for what’s new in Canadian fiction writing for close to five decades.

Selected by guest editor Russell Smith, the 2018 edition draws together both newer and established writers to shape an engaging and luminous mosaic of writing in this country today—a continuation of not only a series, but a legacy in Canadian letters.

Best Canadian Stories 2018 features work by: Shashi Bhat, Tom Thor Buchanan, Lynn Coady, Deirdre Simon Dore, Alicia Elliott, Bill Gaston, Liz Harmer, Brad Hartle, David Huebert, Reg Johanson, Amy Jones, Michael LaPointe, Stephen Marche, Lisa Moore, Kathy Page, and Alex Pugsley

Mockler's Writing Prompts: Windows

Make a list of 10 windows you remember looking in or out of.

Pick one and write down all the sensory associations you have with this window. Where is it located? What events do you remember taking place either inside or outside the window?

Using this brainstorming material, write a story, poem, or play.

For more tips and resources, sign up for the Mockler's Writing Workshop Newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Check out my online courses: Introduction to Short Fiction (a 4-week self-paced online course) and Kathryn Mockler's Fiction Workshop (a live 6-week workshop-based course via video conferencing)

This is a picture of me when I was around 17 or 18, the age when I first wanted to be a writer.

There aren't many pictures of me as a teenager, so I don't have a lot to choose from.

Yes, that's a scarf and Pink Floyd poster on the wall. 

Yes, I'm smoking.

Yes, I look like a stoner.

I know! Embarrassing!

But I wanted to come up with a list of advice for this young fool about writing all these years later in hopes it might help other writers at any stage of their career.

This is a list of things I wish I had known when I was first starting out as a writer and things that I still need to remind myself of from time to time.

It's a work in progress. I will be adding to it, updating it, and occasionally changing it.

INSERT YOURSELF
Don't expect to be picked out of the crowd. Nobody cares about you and your writing. Insert yourself into the writing community. Or better yet build the community you want to be a part of.

SUPPORT OTHER WRITERS
Read and support the writers that you admire. Show up to their launches. Write reviews or blog posts about their books. Share their books on social media. If you can't afford their books, borrow them from the library. Introduce yourself to them at a reading (if you are able—I know it's hard to do).

VOLUNTEER BUT NOT TOO MUCH
Volunteer for something but don't over-volunteer yourself. Your volunteering should not take over your life or impact your writing. I have made this mistake. Volunteering should enhance and help you connect with your peers. Contact a journal you like and see if they need any editorial help. But show up at their events and get to know them first. Random emails out of the blue seldom pay off.

START YOUR OWN THING
Start something of your own. A blog. A writing group. A chapbook. A reading series. If you are able to—find ways to connect with writers in real life in your community. 

CREATE DEADLINES AND STRUCTURE
If you are having trouble with deadlines take a course. I do this all the time. It is very difficult when you are out of an academic setting or if you don't have a publishing contract to set deadlines for yourself and meet them. There are terrific continuing education courses offered through colleges and universities. Many are online if you don't live in a large community. Many published writers offer private live and online workshops. Sometimes there are free workshops at local libraries or community centres. 

DON'T LET REJECTION DETERMINE YOUR VALUE
Try not to let rejection determine your value as a writer and human being. If you are rejected from something you really were invested in know that it will take about a week for the pain to go away. Know that you will be knocked down but you will be able to get up. Acceptances don’t necessarily mean that the best writing has been picked. Best is subjective. Never forget this. Writing is picked for many reasons. Often there are literary trends or a writer has a following or something to offer an audience or the publisher has published too many family saga stories or they don’t like stories about bee keepers. It’s often random. Try not to take it personally. If you find yourself constantly being rejected then do something to get objective feedback (hire an editor, take a course, visit a writer-in-residence, or get a trusted writing friend to critique your work) and try to build your skills and improve your writing. 

EARN A LIVING DOING SOMETHING ELSE
You must find a way to make a living that you can live with. Your writing will not support you financially. Your writing will not support you financially. 

BE GENUINE
Make honest connections with people in your community. Be wary of users. Be wary of people who want to befriend you too easily or quickly. On the other hand, don’t treat people as a means to an end. Networking is not about using people. If you do it right, you are just making friends with likeminded people. Once you see people as tools, they will see through that. Invest in people not in what people can do for you. 

CONTROL YOUR EGO
No one cares about your career. While self-promotion has become acceptable on social media, no one wants to go to a party or launch and be on the receiving end of your CV list. If someone asks you what you are doing, then tell them but be aware you are speaking to another writer who has their own angst about their own career. You are not the centre of anyone’s life but your own.  

TRY TO KEEP JEALOUSY AT BAY
Try not to determine your worth by using someone else’s career as a yardstick for your own success. Jealousy is a waste of time. Everyone will have their own path. There is no age that you should be published by. Focus on yourself and mind your own business. Chances are you won’t win awards for your writing. If you are published, you will hardly be read. Be able to live with not being the most special writer in the room because you won’t be. You have to be in this for something other than external validation. If something good happens, be grateful for it, and be pleasantly surprised but don’t expect it. Support the success of others—genuinely—not because you expect something from them. 

IT'S OKAY TO BURN SOME BRIDGES
There will times when bridges need to be burned (i.e. if we are dealing with racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc.—then burn them all). Over the course of my writing career I've been so afraid to burn bridges I've behaved in ways I regret. I let people walk all over me. I didn't stand up for myself.  Don't be so afraid of burning bridges that you allow others to harm, use, or take advantage of you. Your writing career is not worth more than your dignity.

BUILD GOOD RELATIONSHIPS
When working with people, know there will be disagreements. Know there will be people that you don’t like. You might not agree with an editor’s note for instance. Avoid sweating the small stuff when working with editors. Avoid preciousness. Pick your battles. Control your ego. This is especially true in the film community. If you are difficult and self-important, then people won't want to work with you. 

DON'T BE PASSIVE
Don’t be passive. Being overly passive or polite or approachable can be as harmful as having an out-of-control ego. The key is to live somewhere in the middle. I have shot myself in the foot many times out of the fear of ruffling feathers or feeling like I don’t deserve to exist as a writer. When you need to, speak up. Try to remember that you are of value even if it doesn’t feel that way. Your work is of value. Your opinion is of value. Your concerns are of value. 

LEARN TO SAY NO
I used to be a yes person and now I'm a no person. I encourage more people especially women to be no people because usually what you get asked to do is work for free for someone else. I used to say yes all the time for fear I would lose some great opportunity. But usually there is no great opportunity, and you end up feeling depleted and resentful. No one is going to pay you more or respect you at your job or in your career because you constantly work for free or say yes to things you don't want to do. A small medical crisis forced me to say no a couple of years ago, and at first it was terrible. I was filled with guilt and was distressed all the time. But after the first few times saying no, I realized just how liberating it is to say no and to only spend time on things I really want to and are able to do—no matter who it is—my employer, a friend, someone I admire. When you say no the world doesn't fall apart because, hey, you're not that important. And the person asking will just ask someone else. I wish I could shake my younger self and say stop it. Stop saying yes all the time.

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE PEOPLE
Don’t underestimate people. I have been on the receiving end of being underestimated. It does not feel good. I have underestimated people too and I deeply regret it. Underestimating people is about wanting to feel superior. Don’t do this. People can learn and grow and develop and change. We are never just one thing at one time. Give people the room to be better and to surprise you. 

TAKE CREATIVE RISKS
Don't do the same thing over and over because it worked and you liked the praise. Try something new and be willing to fail. You'll learn more from your failures than from your successes.

DON'T SIT AT A DESK ALL THE TIME
Make sure that you get exercise and leave the house at least once a day. Strengthen your core. You will have a bad back if you don't.

This list is a work in progress. I will be adding to it, updating it, and occasionally changing it.

For more tips and resources, sign up for the Mockler's Writing Workshop Newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Check out my online courses: Introduction to Short Fiction (a 4-week self-paced online course) and Kathryn Mockler's Fiction Workshop (a live 6-week workshop-based course via video conferencing).

Originally posted by Kathryn Mockler, October 1, 2018

"In the end you should probably know your characters as well as you know yourself. You should be able to close your eyes and dwell inside that character’s body." —​Gabriel García Márquez

Creating characters out of thin air can be daunting for any writer which is why many writers tend to base their characters on people they have interacted with or observed or heavily researched or even on themselves.

When I'm creating characters, I always put a little of me in them, and then I bring in bits and pieces from people who are around me or who I observe. That way I feel like I know my characters intimately, but I have the freedom to develop them according to the needs of my story.

This is why I prefer writing fiction over nonfiction even though many of my stories begin with something that is real—a setting, a situation, a person.

When you're trying to figure out how to develop characters, start by observing who is around you.

What do the people around you look like? How do they dress? How do they hold themselves? What does their body language say about the way they feel?

Listen to how you and your family members speak to each other.

Observe your friends and how they talk and act.

Eavesdrop on conversations in coffee shops, in grocery stories. Listen to what people say and how they say it.

I speak differently with my best friend than I do with someone I meet at the bus stop.

All of these details go into creating character. And once you have an idea who you want to write about then you need shape your characters by giving them goals in your story and having them act according to their motivations.

Exercise: Make a list of 5 to 10 people who interest you such as your children, your siblings, your dentist, the bus driver, etc. Whose lives are you curious by? And why?

To get more tips and writing prompts, sign up for my FREE email course: 5 Days of Short Fiction 

Then sign up for my FICTION WORKSHOP!

It's delivered online through video, so you can take it from anywhere!

Starts January 2019
​
Space is limited so sign up now!

WRITING PROMPT: DOORS

Make a list of 5 doors that you remember. They could be doors from home, work, friend's house, school, store, etc.

Pick one, and write down all of the sensory associations you have with this door: touch, smell, sight, sound, and, hey, maybe even taste—if you happened to have tasted your door.

Then write a short story about entering or exiting this door.

​For more tips and resources, sign up for the Mockler's Writing Workshop Newsletter.

Check out my online courses: Introduction to Short Fiction (a 4-week self-paced online course) and Kathryn Mockler's Fiction Workshop (a live 6-week workshop-based course via video conferencing).


Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash

I experienced something like writer’s block when I first started writing. I think it was the fear of having my writing critiqued by my peers in workshops that gave me the feeling that I couldn’t write anything worthy. Writing "terror” might have been a better word for how I felt.
 
I generally don’t experience writer’s block now.
 
I still get stuck on a story or a plot point, but I wouldn’t call that writer’s block.
 
Getting stuck is part of writing. It’s not all going to come easy.
 
Over the years, I’ve come to accept periods when I’m not writing as part of my process instead of beating myself up for it and calling it writer’s block.
 
Sometimes doing things other than writing is productive such as living, working, research, and most importantly thinking and observing.

I recently wrote a story I had been thinking about for a couple of months. And then one day I just wrote the whole thing in one sitting. If I was focused on not writing the story, I'm not certain that the draft, when it eventually came, would have come as easily as it did. Of course I have to revise the draft. It didn't come out polished but allowing the story to percolate enabled the draft to come when it did. Instead of worrying about not writing it, I allowed myself to think about it for as long as I needed to. 

If you are able to, try and accept that writing doesn't always mean pen to paper or hands on keyboard. However there may still be times when you feel blocked or experience some kind of writing terror, so here are a few tips to get back on track:

1. DEADLINES:  Find a way to give yourself a deadline that you will stick to. Take a course, start a writing group, apply for a grant, submit to a contest. A deadline helps you make a commitment and realize a goal. Many of us need these external pressures.
2. TIMED-WRITING: Set a timer and free write for five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes. Don’t stop writing and keep your pen on the page. If you’re able, I suggest using a notebook rather than a computer for timed writing exercises because there will be fewer distractions and you’ll be less likely to edit yourself.
3. COPY SOMETHING: Retype a favourite piece of literature or retype anything—a newspaper article, a recipe. Just get your hands and mind moving. It’s kind of like doodling.
4. NAP: I find napping puts me in a state where I’m able to come up with ideas. When I’m in a half-awake half-asleep state, it’s easier to find solutions to problems or get ideas because I’m not evaluating my thoughts the same way as I do when I’m fully awake. Once I get a good idea, I either write it in my notebook or I get up and go back to the computer. Napping is a big part of my writing process.
5. MEDITATE: Do some mediation or breathing exercises. Again this helps put you in a relaxed state where you’re unlikely to be as self-conscious or critical of what you write, which is often one of the reasons writers feel blocked.
6. FIND A WRITING BUDDY: Set up a weekly meeting with a writing friend to check in with each other.  This can be a chance to talk to someone who actually wants to hear about what you are doing and might be able to help you through a tough spot. You don’t have workshop or read each other’s work. Just support your buddy and act like writing coaches for each other.
7. READ: Whenever I feel like I want to get motivated to write, I read something that I think will influence a particular project in a positive way. I don’t think I could be a writer if I didn’t read
8. CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE: Doing away with the term "writer's block" as if it's a condition or illness and using your non-writing time to do other things that contribute to your writing or your well-being, can help take the pressure off.

For more tips and resources, sign up for the Mockler's Writing Workshop Newsletter.

Check out my online courses: Introduction to Short Fiction (a 4-week self-paced online course) and Kathryn Mockler's Fiction Workshop (a live 6-week workshop-based course via video conferencing).

Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash

Congrats to Flash Fiction Workshop participant Paola Ferrante whose story "Pandora" was longlisted in the Smoke Long Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction and her story "In Defence" was shortlisted in the Grouse Grind Short LIt Prize presented by Prism International.

And best of all her chapbook True Confessions of Buffalo Bill (published by Anstruther Press, 2018) was just released. You can purchase it here.