Carolyn Martin (https://carolynmartinpoet.com/) presented a wonderful hybrid workshop at our hybrid meeting on April 21 2024. The meeting was recorded and can be watched at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Iq4hT0DJA (submissions) followed by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGL4rVOHbR0 (settings)
Carolyn said she was glad to return to Writers’ Mill, her first time since the isolation of Covid. And there have been many changes, including the present technology which allows our hybrid meetings in the library and online. She thanked the library for this new excellence and noted that her workshop today will also be “hybrid”—with two topics for writers of all genres, “Submissions” and “Setting.”
Submission, Resubmission, Simultaneous Submission, and Organized Submission…
Carolyn inquired as to group members’ experiences with submitting work to journals, anthologies, and other publications. Robin replied she had once been paid well for an article she submitted to a Salvation Army publication. Sheila said she has been published but not paid, and once was given an opportunity to rewrite before publication. Carolyn said she applauds such a partnership with an editor.
Carolyn said that much has to happen before submitting work to a publication. Life happens; Carolyn quoted a statistic that each of us probably has 60,000 thoughts per day; 90% are repeats. We must pay attention to what is happening within and without. As an example she said she gleaned three poems from trapping mice for the first time! Submitting can be a part time job. Writing, revising, and submitting can take a lot of time. Publishing takes work. But:
The first thing to remember is, only send out your best work. To reach your best writing self, take workshops, learn from others, ask for feedback. Don’t be impatient. Take another look before you submit a piece of your writing.
A short discussion about re-submitting published work ensued. Carolyn said that the author retains copyright and is free to reuse and rework the piece after a work is published. (But it will probably still count as previously published.) It can be submitted elsewhere, and changed if necessary. Some publications allow simultaneous submissions (she recommends these), but it is necessary to keep track of what you send out. If a publisher accepts your work, you must withdraw this piece from the other publications you sent it to. Some accept previously published work, and some define very carefully what will count as previously published. It’s good to be transparent, and acknowledge where previous publication has taken place.
Before submitting to publications, you must read the publishing guidelines. Sometimes you will come across something unusual, such as a limit on number of words, even on number of syllables (mostly for poetry.) Some publishers disallow any AI supported work; others are more lenient. Said Carolyn, AI is a brave new world. Some publishers might even disallow anything published on social media. Sheila and others spoke up and said that our Writers’ Mill website is private (your writing is on password-protected pages), as are some “friends only” Facebook pages. However, as one member pointed out, simply removing a piece from your blog (for example) does not mean it hasn’t been published, as there are sites that keep copies of pages on the internet.
Carolyn’s tips for submissions followed her handout, which was sent out to Writers’ Mill members. Find it at https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Writers-Mill-April-Workshop.docx Read the handout, and note she emphasized that having a presence on Submittable is a Must. A majority of publications receive submissions through the Submittable site. It is free of charge. Submittable also has a “Discover” tab, where calls for submissions can be found.
Also found on the handout, Carolyn emphasized some things to avoid: Publications that charge for submissions and those that are slow to respond. Unless you have your heart set on a particular publication showcasing your work.
Carolyn discussed tips to save time (also on the handout), such as creating generic cover letters, bios, and artist statements that can be sent anywhere or adapted easily for particular submission venues. And she reminded us that you must keep track of the submissions you send out. The handout shows a layout for setting up Spreadsheet headings. Color coding on your spreadsheet helps you easily find and track submissions. Believe in your work, says Carolyn.
Someone asked if choosing where to send things takes a lot of time. Carolyn likes to use the “shotgun approach” and sends out her poems to multiple venues at a time.
Keep track of rejections and re-submit quickly. But first, decide if it’s really your best work. Carolyn said she received 93 rejections last year; she aims for 100. She was also published. She said that it is rare that a piece is published on its first time out. The average she found is 10-12 submissions before something is accepted. From the editor/publisher’s point of view, Carolyn says that a submission must not only fit the publication but must also honor the writer. A bad piece of writing can be an embarrassment to the author.
Setting, internal and external settings, poetry, and a writing exercise
The second half of Carolyn’s workshop focused on Setting to ground your writing in any genre.
Setting is many things: Location, time period, mood, pace, season of the year, current events, sights, sounds, aromas, and more. Setting can be internal, such as what is in the narrator’s mind, view, mood, experience. It can be external, such as happenings outside of the narrator, other characters’ effects, historical time, weather, season of the year, local events or worldwide. And a piece of writing, whether prose or poetry, can embody many of these elements in the same work. Using Carolyn’s poem “Waiting to Meet an 8th Grade Poet for the First Time,” found on the handout, we discussed the various ways that setting is used.
Another exercise followed. Carolyn had the library attendees go downstairs to the main part of the library, pick a location, and pay attention to the setting: sights, activities around you, sounds, your own thoughts and feelings. Then return to the meeting room in 15 minutes to write from their observations. The Zoom attendees were tasked with going to another room in their house or current location to observe the ingredients of the setting, including interior experience. After the 15-minute period, there was time to write and share some of the written results of this exercise. Nora made the observation that the activity demanded a different perspective: “the background becomes the foreground.”
In describing settings, Carolyn reminded us to “show, not tell.” For instance, what does “busy” mean in terms of a setting? As writers, we should be constantly aware. She closed the program with words of Henry James who said, “Be one of those on whom nothing is lost.”
Thank you Carolyn for a great workshop, and for a wonderful handout (https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Writers-Mill-April-Workshop.docx)