#WEP OCTOBER CHALLENGE #WINNER'S #GUESTPOST – ELEPHANT'S CHILD AND SELF-EXPOSURE #AMWRITING

Hello everyone! Renée here! 

Elephant's Child, the winner of the October Challenge The Scream, won with her story Un.... Her tagline: Sometimes no one will hear your scream.

 

As our judge, Nick Wilford said: "The rhythm really hammers home the oppressive feel and air of inevitability, but fortunately this is leavened by having a hopeful ending. Very thought provoking."

Today EC is addressing self-exposure. So take it away, Sue!

 SELF-EXPOSURE

I write occasionally. I read every day. I am much more comfortable describing myself as a reader than I am a writer.

What do I read? I refuse to be limited by genre or defined by target groups. Instead, I read for education, comfort, and escape – and am sometimes lucky enough to find them all in the same work.

While I am a greedy reader, I am not uncritical. Writing to strike a chord with me and find a home in my head and heart has to be authentic. Real for the moment (while I am reading), and/or honest for all time. This means that memoirs, autobiographies, diaries, and letters make regular appearances in my towering to be read lists. It does not mean that I avoid fiction. Neil Gaiman (one of my favorite authors) summed it up for me.

‘Fiction is the lie that tells the truth.

We all have an obligation to daydream. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that society is huge, and the individual is less than nothing.

But the truth is individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different.’

My latest WEP post was and is certainly real, an ongoing part of me that I rarely display. I was in at least two minds about submitting it, and having done so, felt exposed and vulnerable.

Not a comfortable place. So I thought about it. And thought some more.

That thinking brought me to a place where I realized that all writers expose themselves, or at least some of themselves, in every piece they create. As an aside, I do not think that art and the artist who created it can be separated. Each piece exposes their backgrounds, their personal values, their beliefs, their hopes, their dreams, and their fears. Some of it is conscious, and I suspect some of it isn’t. And by exposing themselves this way, they make themselves vulnerable. Vulnerable to being criticized, dismissed, or not understood.

Do my musings make sense to you? And do you agree?

Writers have long been my heroes, and I thank them for their courage and the gift of trust they bestow on their readers.

And I thank WEP, both the administrators and the contributors, for making this a safe place for writers to stretch their wings and to hopefully soar.

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Our award-winning author, Elephant's Child is from Canberra, Australia

She says she is in the process of reinventing herself. Even though she keeps busy with gardening, reading, birds, blogging, and swimming.

You can learn a lot more on her blog. Just follow the link https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/

Photo by: Photo by Alysha Rosly on Unsplash

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Thank you so much for your guest post, Sue. How about you, readers? How do you feel about self-exposure? How much of you, is in your writing?

We'd love for you to tweet this post or share it to Facebook or your favorite social media site.

#WEPTHESCREAM #WEPwinner #guestpost SELF-EXPOSURE https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/11/wep-october-challenge-winners-guestpost.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim #amwriting #writingchalleng

#WEPTHESCREAM #WEPwinner Uh…. #guestpost SELF-EXPOSURE https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/11/wep-october-challenge-winners-guestpost.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim #amwriting #writingchallenge

#WEPTHESCREAM #WEPwinner Uh… #guestpost Self-Exposure https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/11/wep-october-challenge-winners-guestpost.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim #amwriting #writingchallenge

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Our next challenge will be here before we know it! We hope many of you will consider joining us for our December challenge. Narcissus! We'll be posting early, anytime between December 1st and the 15th.

Thanks, Sue!

See you all there!

#WEP 2021 Continues the Artistic Inspiration for October - THE SCREAM! Sign up here. Write your own #tagline!

 Welcome to the October Challenge!

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The link above opens for submissions on October 20 @ Midnight!

Please Note:

CRITIQUES

This is a most vital part of participation, but it has also proven to be why folks walk away from participation.

Please be courteous with your words!

For the WEP, a critique is:

Constructive feedback or positive reinforcement of the writer while helping reign in problems or giving helpful suggestions.

The point is to be helpful, not hurtful.

The WEP is a place where writers can confidently share their work without fear of harsh words or biting feedback. No matter what the choice is by the author of the type of critique.

Check the Menu Items Under The Critique for more information!

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BLURBS ARE BACK, BUT WITH A DIFFERENCE!

We need your help. Give us your own tagline for the piece you've submitted. All writers know it's an essential part of the writing process when giving your pitch or submitting to agents and editors. 

So here's your opportunity to practice.

An example of a #tagline from Denise's Paris Dreams novel:

"Sometimes, a new life comes at a cost."

Here's an example from my first novel: Murder, Madness & Love:

"After a gritty detective becomes involved with a beautiful widow, rumor and obsession obstruct his quest for justice."

Short and sweet. A tagline doesn't have to tell the story. It captures the theme. Go on, give it a try!!!!

Jemi Fraser will collect/collate your taglines during the reading process. They will then be posted in the October winners post. 

October's Prize:

The October Prize is a Beta Read and critique or a content edit of a short story or novel by Yolanda Renée.

Author of a suspenseful romance series, she's all about keeping the reader guessing and the intensity high.

Her latest novel, A Passion for Murder, was called "A Captivating Thriller" by reviewer Mason Canyon.

Amazon     Blog     Facebook     Twitter

You've got to be in it to win it!

THE DECEMBER CHALLENGE

Note the Posting Dates!!!!!!

From our CHALLENGES 2021 PAGE

This one depicts a classic subject by an Italian Master and needs no introduction. Narcissus is a well-known character from Greek mythology – his story has been repurposed and retold all through the ages. Caravaggio was one of the prime movers of the Italian art scene of the 16^th/17^th century, and a good few of his artworks are based on the classics. He was a controversial figure in his lifetime but has come to be recognized as an artist with far-reaching influence on modern painting. He was a master of chiaroscuro and developed the use of shadows in art.

This particular painting can be interpreted in many ways – will you update Narcissus' story to fit a modern timeline?

Or retell it from a different angle/POV,  perhaps a Narcissa instead?

Explore the mental disorder that is known after Narcissus and its impact on caregivers/physicians/family?

Or perhaps go in a different direction entirely - make Narcissus quite incidental to the story – maybe the painting is only a prop in the setting?

Remember, there is no right or wrong interpretation. You can make the prompt front and center of your entry. Or not. Totally your call. Think out of the box, or rather, frame – and delight us with yours.

Happy writing!

We'd love if you'd Tweet Tweet Tweet

some / all of these:

WEP writing prompt The Scream @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @LGKeltner https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/10/wep-2021-continues-artistic-inspiration.html Sign up October 20-22! #amwriting #flashfiction #WEPFF #poetry #nonfiction #amwriting #flashfiction #WEPFF #poetry 

Get-your-thinking-caps on for The Scream @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @LGKeltner https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/10/wep-2021-continues-artistic-inspiration.html Sign up October 20-22! #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction

Join WEP @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @LGKeltner, for the next Challenge of 2021, October's The Scream. Sign up and Post October 20-22! https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/10/wep-2021-continues-artistic-inspiration.html #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction

Write with @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, for the October challenge The Scream! Sign up and post on October 20-22! https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/10/wep-2021-continues-artistic-inspiration.html 

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We are looking forward to seeing where this month's prompt takes you!