Writing Short Stories – I write picture books, poetry, and have started writing middle grade. I’ve also recently become interested in writing short stories. Here are a few tips to help those wanting to write short stories like me.

The Institute for Writers blog post, “7 Questions to ask yourself about your short story,” is a good start.

A more thorough description of the short story is available on the ElectricLiterature blog post, “How to Escape the Slush Pile: A self-editing checklist for Short Story Writers.”

And here’s the annual fiction writing contest sponsored by Pockets. I already submitted my story a few days ago. Wish me luck.

I also just submitted an essay to an anthology contest after reading several magazine articles on writing essays. Keep writing and submit! Do not give up!

And Happy Mother’s Day! I just received this beautiful bouquet of flowers from my children.

Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon. – E.L. Doctorow