The Next Big Recognition Spotlight [CLOSED]

THE SPOTLIGHT: Season III, Issue 4

This issue is jam-packed, folks. So I am not going to make this a winded introduction.

NBR's November Prompt Challenge has closed and the voting goes on throughout the month. Click on the inline link to read the fabulous entries and cast your vote! They're all super-short (less than 800 words each) so there are no excuses.

We've got a great article by painebook on writing what you know and the stack of coincidences in his life that have fed him subjects, characters and experiences that he's brought into his writing.

The Spotlighters section is maxed out. Check out the lovely answers from your fellow NBRians.

Okay, as promised, I am cutting you loose. Enjoy the issue and have a great holiday weekend if you're celebrating Thanksgiving in the US.

Happy writing to you all!

~Michael Holiday - Editor in Chief

by painebook

Write what you know, no matter how outlandish it sounds. When writing, it's always best to put what you know, what you feel, and what you've experienced into your work. If it's a bit unbelievable, you can open yourself up to criticism.

Take me, for example. I've had readers tell me that some of my character connections and storylines seem to be too unrealistic. Comments like - "How could that possibly occur?" "That's convenient but would never happen." "How could he/she possibly know that person?" I've experienced a lot of coincidences in my life that makes me want to say, "What the ....?" Now I put them into my writing.

Here are a few interesting examples. 1985, Montreal, Canada. I was having a nice dinner in an out-of-the-way restaurant. A woman sitting at the next table leaned over and asked if I was Brian. She'd met me at a party at Fort Carson, Colorado in 1978. We had a nice conversation.

I met my Pittsburg-based brother in New York on a Saturday in November 2009. His wife suggested we go to a wine bar she'd frequented when she lived in the city. My next-door neighbors walked out of the establishment as we walked in. In a city of 7+million, what are the odds of that happening?