Seasonal

As the season of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa rapidly approaches people are drawn into their own particular picture of what should happen. Their story almost never does. A time of great tensions and emotions, the days play out in ways we didn't anticipate or we force them into boxes in order to make them closer to what our internal picture looks like. This year I am not painting any pictures. I'm just going to hang out in the gallery of life and see whose portrait I find.

Networks

Several Windshift for Writers newsletter recipients have complained that I have included markets that I included at the beginning of 2005. Perhaps I should have put a comment in the newsletter to explain this practice. Building a relationship with a magazine or periodical that has taken your work before significantly increases your chances of having a new submission accepted. Even if you have never had a piece accepted by a particular publication but would like to see your work on their pages this is your chance to come before them again. Perhaps your piece will be right for a forthcoming issue now.

When I repeat a market it is often that I know the editors involved or have had my own work accepted by them in the past. Building writing networks is a difficult business and takes much patience and perseverance.