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Recently, the amount of people who choose to self publish over traditional publishing keeps on increasing due to several reasons; just seeing the excruciatingly long process of traditional publishing, the increasingly easy and globally accessible ways to self publish make self publishing much more enticing. While it's exciting to see more and more amazing books coming to light without having to go through the obstacles of traditional publishings, we cannot ignore the truth that most self-published authors can only make little to no sales and their books remain unknown to most. Why is that? The most common issue is that not many writers excel in marketing. This is not an issue to traditionally published authors because their respective publishing houses will handle the marketing issues for them, meanwhile, self-published authors have to put in the effort themselves. In this blog are tips on how you can increase your chances as a self published author. Alpha & Beta Readers Eye-Catching Cover Establish an Author Platform Alpha & Beta readers When you write your book and finally get that complete, rough, and ugly first draft, you'd know immediately that this is not the best version of your story yet. And so, you'd edit it. But self editing can only get you so far, because eventually, every writer needs feedback from others to further improve their story. What are Alpha Readers and What Do They Do? Alpha readers are the ones who would read those rough drafts and give you some feedback. The kind of feedback they give varies depending on them and your preferences so when you get an alpha reader, make sure to tell them what kind of feedback you're expecting. What About Beta Readers? After your first draft goes through alpha readers, you can personally improve them before sending the revised draft to beta readers. What's the Difference Between Alpha and Beta Readers? In short, alpha readers get your very rough draft that hasn't gone through much editing yet, while beta readers get the draft that has been fine-tuned at least once (mostly though, several times). How can you get Alpha/Beta readers for Your Book? You can: Find them through author/writer groups that you can usually find and join in through social apps like Instagram, Tiktok, or Discord. (If you're a Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction writer, you can DM me and I'll invite you to a group chat I have on Insta!) Announce the fact that you need some alpha/beta readers through your social media (Instagram; Tiktok; etc.) Ask friends / family to read your book. (Though, do keep in mind to choose those who can give you an honest review because sugar coated feedback will only waste your time). Hire them through writerly websites like Reedsy or freelancers’ bases like Fiverr. How Many Alpha/Beta Readers is Ideal? The answer is: depends. The type of book and length of it may influence the ideal number. Usually, people opt for more readers the longer and more complicated the book. The widely recommended amount is around 2-5. Because only 1 is too few and you cannot get a clear conclusion of what your book quality is. And more than five may be too much and will instead confuse you with all their differing opinions. What Kind of Readers are Ideal? The ones familiar with books and the genre of the book. Plus, is interested in your book and would be someone who wants to read it should it be out in stores. It would be numerous times better if you can find a sensitive reader* and those with actual experiences in relation to your storyline amongst those 5. *A sensitivity reader is someone who reads for offensive content, misrepresentation, stereotypes, bias, lack of understanding, etc. They create a report for an author and/or publisher outlining the problems that they find in a piece of work and offer solutions in how to fix them. For example, if I'm writing from the POV of a black woman, then it would be so helpful for me to have an actual black woman as one of my alpha readers. If I'm writing about a nurse, then I'd find an actual nurse and they can fact check the story details. I know accomplishing these would be hard, but we're talking idealistically here. However, if we're talking realistically then at the very least, they should be honest and able to give constructive criticism. An important point to remember: When dealing with these readers, you have to keep a balanced diet of accepting their suggestions, and sticking to your ideas. Yes, they're meant to help you and we need to take their suggestions into account to improve the manuscript BUT, it is very important to stick to your uniqueness. DO NOT, in any way, follow them unconditionally at all turns. This may make your book lose its uniqueness and instead become just like any other book that doesn't feel like you. Those kinds of books are grey, basic, and boring. Have faith in your ideas! Eye-catching Cover Everyone says not to judge a book by its cover but in reality, we all do. There are hundreds to thousands of books in a bookstore, and in terms of e-books, the number of choices are even more frightening. One of the most impactful hooks you can have for your book to ensure it stands out amongst the billions of existing books is to have an immaculate cover. If you want to self publish with a very minimum amount of money investment, then you can try designing your book cover yourself with the help of apps like Canva, Kittle, or Adobe. (Though, if you have little to no designing skills then this may not be the best idea as it may instead obstruct your book's potential.) If you have some money to invest in a professionally designed cover, you should keep these points in mind: Budget Alignment of Genre and Style Preferences Regarding Add-Ons and Additional Details Budget Not everyone has thousands of dollars lying around to use, we get it. Now the good news is: the price range for book covers vary a lot, and a higher price doesn't always mean higher quality. When you find a book cover designer, whether it's through freelancing websites like Fiverr; or a writing website like Reedsy or through social apps like Instagram and Tiktok, you can usually get an enchanting, fully custom design starting from $150 while more experienced designers can charge around $500 or even more. On the lower end, you can also get a good book cover for $30-$50, though this price mostly includes only basic services, such as one concept for an ebook* with less flexibility for changes. *This means you will only get one design for your front cover. Spine and back are not included, nor would you have much chances to make adjustments. If you want to consider a cheaper option, you can check out premade covers* which most book cover designers usually have in stock for a cheaper price with the same quality as their custom covers. *Premade covers: premade book covers are ready-to-go, professionally designed book covers available for purchase. These covers are typically organised by genre and are customizable to some extent, such as adding your book title and author name. Alignment of Genre and Style Different book cover designers have different genres they specialise in, and even with designers who specialise in the same genre, their styles are bound to be different. And this is why, before you decide on a designer to choose, make sure you've browsed through their portfolio and are certain that their style suits your book best. Let's take me as an example. I am a book cover designer myself and while I want you to consider me as your book cover designer, if your book is a romance drama I may advise you to pass on the job to someone else as I specialise in fantasy book cover designs. But what if you think my style suits your romance book? Then sure, let's work on it. Book cover designers specialising in one genre doesn't mean they can't/won't do other genres after all. In the end, it's your call on how you want your book cover to look Preferences Regarding Add-Ons and Additional Details When requesting a book cover, your designer will usually offer some add-ons which you can have for an additional price. These include but are not limited to: audiobook cover, a dust jacket design, social media promo package, cinema-sized posters, and merchandise designs. Many times, these additional details are what makes your book cover so pricey. So, whilst it's a good idea to have these add-ons, if you want to minimise the cost and don't think you want those add-ons too early on, then you can get that lower priced set that gets you only the things you do want. Establish an Author Platform We all know how important having social media presence is in this day and age, and that is especially true for those who want to sell something. However, a lot of indie authors still neglect this point, or are unsure how to manage it. To begin with, there are a lot of options you can choose to create your social media presence. You will have to start off by choosing a platform. What platforms can you have? Websites A good website makes you look more professional and trustworthy and yes, your potential/seasoned readers will definitely check it. People who come across your page and are curious will also check it, so having a website is a must. If you want to keep it simple, then hire someone to get it done for you. The good old Fiverr can help you find them. But if you want to do it yourself, then website builders like Wordpress, Wix, or even Canva can help you. With those website builders you can even make an amazing website for free. Of course, these websites have a Pro option that will require you to pay. But even without it, you can still create a great website. Ensure that you really need the extra features before you upgrade to the Pro option so you won't waste your money on things you won't use! Social media Instagram, Tiktok, Threads, Twitter, Pinterest, the list goes on. Personally, I recommend Instagram and Tiktok amongst all of these. Why? Simply because the amount of bookish people who are active in those two platforms are immense! Especially younger audiences like Gen Z. The number of posts under #writergram alone is way over the 300k mark and is climbing higher everyday, meanwhile #writertok has an even larger number, reaching over 900k. But how can one become popular on social media? Make an account and follow fellow writers on the platform! Spend some time stalking fellow writergram and writertok accounts to see what kind of posts you would like to see and list them out as inspirations for your own posts. Posting aesthetics and edits on these platforms will help you grow people's attraction towards your book! Some good examples of writers with interesting contents on both Tiktok and Instagram are: @jbryderauthor Author of The Forgotten Colony. @amiewalker.writes Author of The Dawn of Ruins. @thelaylaverse (Instagram) (@thelaylaverse0928 on Tiktok) Author of The King Knights Opening. @thchloegong Author of These Violent Delights. And of course, me, because I'm iconic. (I'm not.) @melifluousgelatoo.writes (Instagram & Tiktok) An important thing to note: Do not get too focused on the numbers, be it the numbers of follows and unfollows you have or others in your account’s insights. This can easily make you discouraged. Because no, not all your posts will blow up and many of your followers may unfollow you with little to no reason at all. This is the truth and it's not always your fault (though, if you're unsure whether it really is your fault, then do your research and google it or ask some of the writergrammers/writertokers you know.) Instead, make a community. Genuinely interact with people. Comment on their posts, reply to their stories, and get to know them. These people are ultimately the ones who will be there for you in times of need and the ones who will be happy for you whenever you accomplish something–not mere numbers. So focus more on establishing a connection with fellow writers than making a viral post. Writing Sites You can also spread your name through writing websites like Wattpad, AO3, Webnovel, or WeInk. Ultimately, they are similar. You can post your stories, engage with readers, and opt to generate income from the platform. But at the same time, they are distinctively different from each other. AO3 focuses more on fan fiction, while Wattpad is more well known for the cliches, and it has a wide range of genres too. Another example is WeInk, where you can even share the books you have officially published in print. Other: There are also sites like Patreon or Ko-fi if you want to give your readers extra ways to support you. The se two examples are quite similar to each other. Both being platforms that allow creators to connect with their communities and make money from their creative work. Personally, I use Ko-fi because: It's so easy to use. I spent very little time trying to get the hang of it and everything works seamlessly. Less fees. Only 0-5% platform fees and 3% transaction fees, whereas Patreon has 5-12% platform fees, plus payment processing, currency conversion, and payout fees. Quick pay outs. Whenever someone buys one of the products I sell through the platform or get any tips, Ko-fi sends it immediately to my bank account. Patreon, however, offers monthly payouts. Through those sites, your fans can send you little gifts that you can transfer into their bank account later! This is definitely helpful especially when you're like me (a broke teenage writer). Not only that, you can also sell things such as book merchandise and bonus content. The next part about ARC readers, reviews, and more will be coming out next week, so follow @rewritethestarsreview to know when it drops! Follow MG @melifluousgelatoo.writes for writing tips and prompts or @mgsdesiigns for book cover commissions.

Our 6th issue: Dreams of a Caged Bird, is all about how we’re caged up and chained down, yet still dreaming. We want to hear what keeps you captive, what your fears, worries, hopes, and dreams are. We understand that deciding on what to write can be difficult, so we are providing a list of quotes to inspire your writing. These quotes will reflect themes such as escaping your cage, hopes, dreams, and feeling caught. “I know why the caged bird sings.” - Maya Angelou “You have escaped the cage. Your wings are stretched out. Now fly.” - Rumi “Every poem breaks a silence that was meant to be overcome.” - Adrienne Rich “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” - Nelson Mandela “We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” - Malala Yousafzai “Freedom is never given; it is won.” - A. Philip Randolph “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Take these broken wings and learn to fly.” - Unknown “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” - C.S. Lewis “If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” - Marvin Gaye “That dream was planted in your heart for a reason.” - Unknown “Maybe this cage has been a cocoon all along.” - Stacie Martin “Dreams have only one owner at a time. That’s why dreamers are lonely.” - William Faulkner “If you can dream it, you can do it.” - Walt Disney “You locked me in a cage so big I thought I could fly.” - Darling March “Dreams come a size too big so we can grow in them.” - Josie Bissett “Some birds just aren’t meant to be caged.” - Unknown “I don’t dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living.” - Steven Spielberg “The stars are always there. Even when clouds hide then. Even when you can’t see them. They’re always there. Just like hope.” - 11:11 “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.” - Mandy Hale “She learned that she was not meant to be caged and she broke free.” - Unknown “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.” - Unknown “There comes a day when you realize turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realize there‘s so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on.” - Zayn Malik “You hold the key to your cage.” - Unknown “I have a deeply hidden and inarticulate desire for something beyond the daily life.” - Virginia Woolf “If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” - Lemony Snicket “That's the funny thing about chances, you don’t know if it’s yours until you take it.” - JmStorm “A golden cage is still just a cage.” - Anita Krizzan “Patience is more than simply learning to wait. it is having learned what is worth your time.” - JmStorm “Know that when you feel so stuck as if you’re in a birdcage that you are the one who holds the key” - OliviaLunaHealing “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and love the life you have imagined.” - Henry David Thoreau “We think caged birds sing when indeed they cry.” - Unknown “Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams.” - S.A. Sachs “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt “Why do you stay in prison when the door is wide open?” - Rumi “Hope is a waking dream.” - Aristotle “Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness.” - Alejandro Jodorowsky “Most human beings live like a bird in a cage whose door is blown away. Too busy gold-plating the cage to soar to their ultimate possibility.” Sadhguru I hope this helped get your creative juices flowing and inspired your writing. Issue 6 submissions will be open from December 1st to January 3rd. Follow us on Instagram @rewritethestarsreview or check out our website for more information and updates! Follow the writer @claywithcar for more!

Nearly every artist experiences creative block. Whether you act, paint, write, or do something in between, I’m sure you’ve heard of it or even experienced it yourself. Unfortunately, I’ve fallen victim to creative block many times. So, today I will be discussing what a creative block is as well as sharing the lessons I’ve learnt on how to prevent and work through it. What is a creative block? In case you haven’t heard of or experienced a creative block, I’ll explain what it is. A creative block is a period of time when you’re stuck in the creative process, unable to move forward with your project. Creative blocks can make you feel unmotivated, uninspired, and/or exhausted. But they aren’t always a bad thing. Sometimes a creative block can serve as a sign that you need to take a break. When this happens, make sure to listen so you can recover as quickly as possible. How to prevent a creative block Don’t overwork yourself. Oftentimes, people fall into a creative block or become unmotivated because they’ve overworked themself. Remember to not give yourself too much work, and take breaks when needed. Plan. Although it can be time-consuming, creating a schedule and planning your work properly is beneficial. Planning can help you avoid taking on too much work at once. It can also ensure you get work done on time. In fact, I’ve been trying to do this recently for these reasons. Thus far, this has been working pretty well for me! Having everything I need to get done written down and given a deadline helps me feel less overwhelmed and stay on task. I know I have to get a few things done every day, then I have free time. If I follow my schedule, I will have everything done when it needs to get done. Write, sketch, and let your ideas flow. Sometimes a creative block can be caused because an artist has too many ideas, and isn’t sure which or how to pursue them. So, letting your ideas flow occasionally is a great way to see which you want to continue with. For example, you could sit down and sketch multiple ideas, letting your imagination take the lead to help you decide on how to continue. To do this, you would make an initial sketch and add anything that comes to mind or that you think will improve it. You can also do this with multiple sketches at once, and compare them. Sketching is one way to do this, although you can adjust this method depending on your art medium. Don’t fear imperfection. Many artists aren’t satisfied with their work, and are frustrated with themselves when they’re imperfect. In some situations, this leads to the artist becoming unmotivated. You should keep in mind that imperfection is normal and that it leads to improvement! How to work through a creative block Get inspiration from the world around you. Going out to a park, coffee shop, beach, or other public space and simply observing what’s happening can be a great way to get your creative juices flowing. Writing, sketching, or expressing yourself artistically in another way while doing this can also be beneficial. Clear your mind. Sometimes all you need to overcome a creative block is to clear your mind. You could do this by meditating, resting, doing something you enjoy, expressing what’s on your mind, etc. Get inspiration from other artists. A great way to get inspiration is from other artists. You can put on some music, read, observe paintings/drawings, watch a show, etc. These can be used to gather ideas for your work, or just to lift your spirits. Turn the task into small steps. Doing a whole project may feel overwhelming, especially when you’re stuck in a creative block. To help with this, you can turn a large task into many smaller and more manageable tasks. Don’t force yourself to work. Sometimes forcing yourself to get work done can just make the tasks seem more difficult. Instead, you should give yourself time to rest. You could even try some of the strategies I’ve stated, such as planning and letting your ideas flow, or come up with your own. Unfortunately, creative blocks are practically unavoidable. They will be frustrating but sometimes needed, and even beneficial. I hope with the help of this article you’ll find them easier to avoid, overcome, and learn from. Works Cited “5 Tips to Avoid ‘Creative Block.’” Odd Reform, 12 Mar. 2021, oddreform.com/blogs/odd-blog/5-tips-to-avoid-creative-block. Accessed Nov. 2023. Harjo, Joy. “Creative Block: Joy Harjo’s Tips to Overcoming Creative Block.” Master Class, 18 Jan. 2022, www.masterclass.com/articles/creative-block-explained. Accessed Nov. 2023. Heil, Jenna. “What Causes Creative Block?” RMCAD, 29 July 2020, www.rmcad.edu/blog/what-causes-creative-block/. Accessed Nov. 2023. Andrea. “9 Tips to Overcoming Creative Block.” Endpaper, 18 Feb. 2022, blog.paperblanks.com/2021/02/nine-tips-to-overcoming-creative-block/. Accessed Nov. 2023. Follow the writer @claywithcar on Instagram for more!

With hundreds of minority groups who face unfair treatment worldwide, positive representation is very important. It creates a place where these minority groups feel seen, safe, and appreciated. Although some authors try to create positive representation, they accidentally end up supporting harmful stereotypes. The more negativity and harmful ideas we can eliminate, the better. In this article, I will be explaining the importance of positive representation as well as how to include it in your writing without it feeling “performative” or forced. The Importance of Positive Representation Positive representation in literature is beneficial to people of all different ages and backgrounds. According to Albert Bandura’s “the father of self-efficacy theory,” if you see successful people who share your religion, skin color, gender identity, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, etc. it may motivate you to be successful like them. Many people would somewhat agree with this theory. Sometimes seeing someone similar to you accomplish things proves to you that you can also accomplish things. Positive representation not only gives people motivation to achieve things and is inspiring, but also shows that anyone can do great things. In many situations, becoming successful can be difficult due to harmful stereotypes. An example of this is landlords not providing housing to people of color because of the stereotype that they can be “dangerous”. Another example is an employer denying someone with mental health issues a job because of the stereotype that they’re “unreliable”. Neither of these are true for everyone fitting into either category, and are extremely harmful. In some situations, these stereotypes can limit opportunities and even make it difficult for people to live comfortably. This is why making sure representation is positive is very important. If groups are represented in negative ways, some people are likely to form negative opinions about those groups. Along with this, groups are often represented incorrectly or in unrealistic ways. How to Add Positive Representation Do your research. Researching about groups you’re including in your writing is very important. Research can help you learn about a group’s culture and what they experience daily, which can both benefit writing and add positive representation. Some of the best sources you can find are actual opinions from people in the groups you’re writing about. Oftentimes, I try to find blogs or speak to people of minority groups in person for their opinion. A resource I have found useful is the Writers Helping Writers Blog, especially the “stereotypes” and “diversity” section. Please note, I do not gain any commission from sharing this link. Make your writing realistic. Exaggerating traits of characters can support harmful stereotypes, so instead try to include representation while keeping it at a realistic level. Oftentimes exaggeration of traits is paired with a harmful stereotype. An example of these used together is LGBTQ+ men being extremely feminine. The stereotype being that the men are feminine, and it being exaggerated. To do this you can introduce different traits depending on what makes sense in the situation. For example, you could show how a character is affected by stereotypes when they are relevant or brought up in the story, but not make it their whole personality. You can also add nuance to your writing by showing how characters behave differently based on their background. You want to show what people of different groups experience, but not make it unrealistic. Give characters their own identities. Although multiple people from the same group may share traits, they’re all individuals with their own identities. The key is to show both of these in a character. Treat groups equally. Making groups different from each other is important, and creates diversity. But, sometimes people are biased towards one group. You should try to create diversity between groups, while still remaining unbiased and treating all groups fairly. Avoid using stereotypes. Whether a stereotype is positive or negative, it still has harmful impacts. Many stereotypes lead to untrue opinions about groups. Also, stereotypes support the idea that everyone in a group is the same, despite the fact that everyone has their own unique identities. Typically, you can tell if something is a stereotype by seeing if it generalizes a group, puts high standards or negative ideations on a group, or makes assumptions about a group. Many people believe in stereotypes without intending to. Stereotypes are everywhere, and are nearly impossible to avoid. In fact, some individuals from minority groups have stereotypes about their own group because they’re so common. You can still try to help with the issue by trying to only seek out true information. An especially effective way to do this is to get information from people of minority groups themselves, which leads me to the next point. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Never be afraid to ask someone from a minority group questions regarding how they’re represented and involve them directly as editors and/or alpha/beta readers in your work. Many people would be happy to answer your question, and appreciate that you’re sincerely trying to make a difference. Overall, positive representation benefits everyone, if done right. The most important thing when trying to achieve this, is to remain respectful, be sincere, and work hard to get it right. As long as we all work together to create more non-stereotyped representation, develop well-rounded characters from diverse cultural backgrounds, and remove negativity regarding certain social groups, we can make a difference. I hope this article helped you to go on about how to do this, and help make a difference. References Jagoo, Krystal. “The Importance of Representation in Books.” Verywell Mind, 23 Jan. 2023, www.verywellmind.com/the-importance-of-representation-5076060. Accessed Oct. 2023. Elbaba, Rawan. “Why On-Screen Representation Matters, according to These Teens.” PBS NewsHour, 14 Nov. 2019, www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/why-on-screen-representation-matters-according-to-these-teens. Accessed Oct. 2023. Lambert, Karis. “Why Representation Matters.” Moorepay, 7 Feb. 2023, www.moorepay.co.uk/blog/why-representation-matters/#:~:text=With%20a%20lack%20of%20representation. Accessed Oct. 2023. Ackerman, Angela. “Representation in Literature: Why It’s Important & How to Handle It.” WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®, 10 Oct. 2018, writershelpingwriters.net/2018/10/representation-in-literature-why-its-important-and-how-to-handle-it/. Accessed Oct. 2023. Kaufman, Neal. “Seeing the Success of Others Makes Us More Likely to Succeed | Canary Health.” Canary Health, www.canaryhealth.com/seeing-success-of-others-social-modeling-neal/#:~:text=According%20to%20Albert%20Bandura%2C%20the. Accessed Nov. 2023. “How Do You Avoid Stereotyping People?” Www.linkedin.com, 7 Sept. 2023, www.linkedin.com/advice/0/how-do-you-avoid-stereotyping-people-skills-critical-thinking#learn-about-other-cultures-and-groups. Accessed Nov. 2023. Drew, Chris. “The 9 Types of Stereotypes (a Guide for Students).” Helpfulprofessor.com, 18 Oct. 2023, helpfulprofessor.com/types-of-stereotypes/. Accessed Nov. 2023. Follow the writer @claywithcar for more!

As November continues, writers from all backgrounds strive to win NaNoWriMo. But what is it? NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, where writers compete against themselves to write 50,000 words in the span of one month. This is a goal the many writers push themselves to achieve, but it is no doubt a hard goal to complete. Yet many writers achieve this target (and some go even beyond), every year. How are they able to reach this target? Is it because they have a strong community to uphold them, or are they just sleep-deprived and chug coffee to stay alert? I believe it is all of these reasons and more that contribute to them winning NaNoWriMo. Aside from these reasons, I’m here to offer you a list of unorthodox ways to motivate yourself during this tiring month. List of Ways: Stalk Writing Professionals Change Page Format Explain Your WIP 1. Stalk Writing Professionals Whether it be your favourite New York Times #1 bestselling author or your dream agent, there is someone who has already emerged victorious from the querying trenches that cheers you on. Who do you look up to? Why is it that they inspire you? When you’re feeling like writing is too much, go and stalk their social media accounts. Most writing professionals understand how hard it is to write, and they love giving out advice. Many authors and agents have blogs where they discuss everything from their writing process to how they got published. Even if they don’t have blogs, their social media account can inspire you in ways that you don’t even notice. For example, a short reel of them first unboxing their author copies may help you to dream about a time when you may do so as well. No matter what they post, a writing professional’s social media account is a great way to motivate aspiring writers to one day follow in their footsteps. 2. Change Page Format You may ask, “Why should I change my page format? It doesn’t impact my overall word count,”. This is true, but what if I told you that simply changing your page format to A4 to paperback size can help motivate you? While it doesn’t change the amount of words, doesn’t it feel amazing to see the number of pages rise from 50 to 100? Some may argue that it would be cheating, but I argue that your work won’t change. After all, the word count is still the same; it's only the visual component which is altered. Don’t worry about the page number or ‘cheating’. Instead, look at the number and be proud. Use that pride to motivate yourself, and to continue writing this NaNoWriMo. 3. Explain Your WIP At first, this may seem like a useless point. And it will be, if you don’t explain your WIP to the right person. Find someone that you want to be your hype person, but doesn’t know about your manuscript (yet). Then sit down, have a cup of your favourite beverage and talk about the story from start to bottom. If you’re nervous about spilling your deepest story ideas, don’t fret! Your hype person is here to cheer you on and be excited about it with you. If they’re not enthusiastic enough to make you more thrilled, then choose someone else. During this conversation, be your true self. From plotting betrayals and plot twists or blushing when the characters confess their love, let this be the time to fall in love with your manuscript all over again. Remember what made you want to write this at first. Then, when you return back to writing, channel the bubbly excitement you felt when talking about it into writing. All writers are different, and not every tip may work for you. But no matter what, I hope that you can conquer NaNoWriMo and learn how to motivate and inspire yourself. You got this! Follow @sj_writesss for more.

Welcome to RTS, the only magazine to post a Halloween Special Feature... 5 days after Halloween. It's not our fault the college application deadline is on November 1st. Anyways. Welcome to spooky extravaganza. Note that these pieces are all Halloween-esque and thus predominantly revolve around issues and topics that might be triggering for some. Please proceed reading at your own risk. Table of Contents: Frankenstein's Lover Forever and Always (sing the vampires) true love The Haunted House Season of the witch The Witches’ Rendezvous Hues of You Mon Amour, The Ghost The Final Ritual Man Among Giants Witches of Hushfield My Eerie Birthday The Night Is Nearly Over Dancing in a demon’s embrace The Toyshop Where the Willows Weep Poetry Frankenstein’s Lover Flash of lightning Strike of thunder My heart is beating Behold, my wonder! Pushing away your cold, soft fingers I grab the lever Your touch lingers Together forever You twitch and shriek Unhappy you’re back Too weak to speak I pull you off the rack You groan, spit vile Wanting heaven I softly smile Knowing we’ll do this again by Tatum Bunker More Information: These were inspired by both Halloween and the idea that every part of a human is beautiful, including their insides. Instagram: @tatum_tot24601 Bio: Tatum Bunker is a freshman at Utah Valley University. She's an aspiring writer but majoring in Criminal Justice with a potential minor in Psychology. One day she wants a book of her published pieces as well as a possible novel. She loves thrifting and has a major sweet tooth. Feedback: Smrithi: Frankenstein is one of my favorite books so I LOVE this idea!! The imagery is vivid and descriptive, and I love the references to a "you". The ending is intriguing and leaves you wanting answers. Lovely piece! Bri: I enjoyed the concept of reviving a lover and therefore love. Ava: Fun, new look at a well known story with underlying commentary on relationships. Forever and Always (sing the vampires) I suck your neck with sharp teeth I slip the ring on your severed finger Waltzing with the dead, we sing Blushing soft as we wed in bed I slip the ring on your severed finger The evil spirits praise our union Blushing soft as we wed in bed We sip the blood of virgins The evil spirits praise our union The cross we burn, we hiss and bawl We sip the blood of virgins The moon glows bright, a gift from me to you The cross we burn, we hiss and bawl Waltzing with the dead, we sing The moon glows bright, a gift from me to you I suck your neck with sharp teeth by Tatum Bunker More Information: These were inspired by both Halloween and the idea that every part of a human is beautiful, including their insides. Instagram: @tatum_tot24601 Bio: Tatum Bunker is a freshman at Utah Valley University. She's an aspiring writer but majoring in Criminal Justice with a potential minor in Psychology. One day she wants a book of her published pieces as well as a possible novel. She loves thrifting and has a major sweet tooth. Feedback: Smrithi: This is an excellent piece! I love the imagery and diction. The clever repetition of the lines draws the reader in and I love how the poet has structured this poem. Definitely on theme and I love the vibe of this piece! Bri: I liked the variety of horror romance symbolism. Ava: A really creative format that makes you feel like you're putting together a puzzle. true love TW: gorey i rip your heart out we kiss, your guts stain my lips ‘til death do us part my fingers inside your ribcage, i rip your bones to get to you, true i write on your grave i want, i need, i crave you in my own red blood the mourners do cry they wear black, i wear your skin i, forever yours i rip my heart out for you, my guts stain the floor ‘til we meet again by Tatum Bunker More Information: These were inspired by both Halloween and the idea that every part of a human is beautiful, including their insides. Instagram: @tatum_tot24601 Bio: Tatum Bunker is a freshman at Utah Valley University. She's an aspiring writer but majoring in Criminal Justice with a potential minor in Psychology. One day she wants a book of her published pieces as well as a possible novel. She loves thrifting and has a major sweet tooth. Feedback: Smrithi: This is a descriptive and gorey but rich poem. I love the formatting and the tetret stanzas. It reads a bit like a song and I love that aspect of this piece. The imagery contributes to the spooky vibe of it and it definitely screams Halloween! Bri: I enjoyed the gore and the unconventional romance/love. Ava: A gorey declaration of grim love that feels very of the season. The Haunted House There’s a haunted house far, far away, isolated from everyone’s every day. Surrounded by deep waters that grumble, threatening to make their way over the plain. Filled with disappointment and anger within, sadness is the top layer that quakes but there’s a lot more below the surface, there lives a ghost with his circus. Inside the house it is pale, I was there, running, running away As the ghost creeped up on me and whispered, as it went on to speak “Why did you let them treat you that way? You knew right and wrong, why did you steer the steering wheel their way? You knew what was going on, you were supposed to be strong ,What happened? Why did you hold on? To everything serving you the worst that they could, you fool” Mocking “You couldn’t decipher lies from truth” The voice gets louder as it says, again and again, the same old song, it plays, it knows no end More voices join in Screaming, “You knew their intentions! Why did you not runaway then? Should’ve would’ve, how could you not have? I can drown in these memories as the voice it overpowers me The ghost wraps his arms, almost encompassing me When I wake up and realise I need to leave Or I’ll always be in a haunted house, haunting me Is who they think I am, the way they see by Lavengeriene Blue More Information: This poem talks about an experience in your life where you may have been mistreated and while the moment is gone, the memory remains - coming back in flashbacks time and again. This, I believe, goes well with the theme of Halloween using some of its key symbols like ghosts, haunted house and a spooky atmosphere. Instagram: @lavengeriene_blue Bio: Lavengeriene Blue is a new artist who uses writing as a way of self-expression and aims to give a physical form for the emotions we feel. She strives to incorporate sounds and visuals to better solidify the feelings or experiences ,and in doing so tries to bridge the gap between poetry and people who find writings to be intimidating. Feedback: Smrithi: I love the idea of this piece and how the author has chosen to write it. The last two paragraphs are wonderful and really connect back to the idea the author is trying to showcase. Lovely!! <3 Bri: I love the deeper meaning. Ava: A message about guilt and trauma in a halloween costume of ghosts and haunted houses. Season of the witch It’s been twelve moons and a half, it’s been two new crows over the roof, five pumpkin pies, forty one tears and one empty house. The fall makes me a question that stirs my guts from the inside out: “What’s a widow with no corpse?”. I never thought about the “without”, but I guess it’s marauding with no soul or manor to haunt. “Never trust a witch” is what they say, what they didn’t tell is that no candy was ever sweeter than the spookiest, sourest spot of you. “Never trust a witch”, but tell me then why do I live without regret for these forty two tears I have shed for two eerie eyes I won’t see again. by Teresa M. Medina More Information: I think it would be a good fit because, as it is not a ghost story or a horror tale, it can provide diversity in the issue, topic-wise, while still being related to Halloween. I think versatility is a key point when it comes to engaging readers, and it can also show the flexibility of the issue prompts. Instagram: @louvre_in_blue Bio: She's a 16 year old science student from Spain that tries to write as much poetry as possible while she attempts to make it through the last year of high school. She also loves books and movies, which means she can procrastinate in lots of different ways. This piece is about the anniversary effect that comes with loss, about how the pain lasts and lasts and some things just bring the memories back, like halloween in this case. What I feel is important about it is the idea of grief as a consequence of love, as an extension of the feelings we had for that witch that flew away on her broomstick. Feedback: Smrithi: A thought-provoking piece. I love how time is told through staple concepts relating to halloween and the end of the introduction sets the scene. Humanity being questioned regarding body horror and the idea of eternity is apparent in horror and reminiscent of equality. It seems as though there’s two plots happening and while I think they are both well done, they were confusing and jarring when suddenly mentioned. I believe if you had a few lines or a section where you explored how they were connected, it would improve the flow. Bri: Enjoyed that the first stanza/intro is very halloween-esque and whimsical. Ava: A breakup message everyone knows but this piece shows it in a new light that goes perfectly with a halloween theme! The Witches’ Rendezvous "When shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" In the shadows of the night, When the hungry wolves the moon do sight. When forest beasts shall lurk and prowl, And vigil is kept by sentinel owl, Away from the bustle and commotion, We shall brew our magic potion. On Sabbath day near the brier, We'll set a cauldron, light a fire; And churn and churn till the spell is done, And vanish ere the morning sun. When night returns in sable veil, Then we three shall this spell impale Upon the wanderers passing by, As cackling on our brooms we fly. by R.S. More information: My poem "The Witches' Rendezvous", starts with and is inspired by the famous opening lines of William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", and it has all the eerie and spooky elements pertaining to the Halloween theme. Instagram: @thepoetrywindmill Bio: R.S. resides in India and writes Poetry to find harmony in life. She graduated with Honours in English and loves to read and write poetry. She is greatly influenced and inspired by the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, Pablo Neruda, W.H. Auden and William Butler Yeats to name a few. She loves nature walks and rises early to feel inspired with the morning star and create new rhymes. Feedback: Smrithi: This is a very Halloween-esque poem and I love it! The rhyming scheme flows wonderfully and I like that it's inspired by Macbeth. The poem has both a whimsical and spooky feel to it. Excellent idea and execution! Bri: I liked the reuniting with horror undertones. Ava: This piece has a great rhythm to it when read and I always love a witch story. Hues of You TW: Implicit mentions of emotional abuse and murder Red, such excellency, is the hue all for you Every shade of you, blissfully blesses me When we met, graced me with purple My eyes lit up as you glowed in yellow Three cherished words, all perfectly pink Fill me with poisonous lies, tar all black Belittle me with your stabbing green eyes Watch them turn white in a hurry Screech with fright that chills the auroma Chills with silenced screams as my ear bleeds Red, such excellency, is the only hue for you The only hue meant for you for infinite Your spirit is satisfied with my orange apparel No matter, no matter, my precious poison Your colors thankfully, harshly, faded by Brianna D. Paulino More Information: Not necessarily Halloween, but does with the creepy/horror factor. It's a short poem-styled story about the narrator implicitly murdering their toxic lover and ending up going to jail (thus wearing orange), however, the narrator shows no remorse. It would fall into the horror factor because it is terrifying to imagine a scenario occurring like that in real life. Whether it's emotionally harming the partner or straight up taking their life away. Instagram: @Brananaa22 Bio: Brianna Paulino is a dedicated and determined high school Hispanic student who has a strong for creative writing and helping others. Founding a youth-led organization (The Cleverly Creatives), she puts in her effort to give others an opportunity to share their creativity. She has published work on various websites such as The Graveyard Zine and Gen Z: We Are The Future. She writes, crochets, journals, and listens to music during her free time. Feedback: Smrithi: I love the layers of this poem! On first read it may seem confusing and simply a bunch of colors put together but as you start reading between the lines, the layers of meaning are unveiled to you! Love how much thought is put into this poem, plus the vibes are so on theme <3 Bri: I enjoyed the colours and character association. Ava: A poem that is a very creative use of colors to carry across a bloody story. Fiction Mon Amour, The Ghost The brittle crunch of orange and brown, their fragility almost pitiful under my worn Doc Martens. I wear the so-called aesthetic threads of autumn, fingerless gloves that serve no purpose of warmth but the fickle ploy of obsolete expenditure. I clutch my phone, the smell of pumpkin spice and root vegetables comes in waves through the screen and I sniff, compliantly; the fumes of commercialised commodities. Deliciously pathetic. I remember the days of Fruit Salads and BlackJacks, Drumsticks and Jazzies in a flimsy orange pail; back when I’d the audacity to knock on stranger’s houses and demand confectionery. I’d a fifty/ fifty yet always be granted my latter request. Dan from down-the- road hadn’t quite the charisma for improvised japes. I recall, with beclouded nostalgia, the days of cheap, plastic-y wigs and scratchy attire numbed by the tackiness of Poundland makeup. Mother’s eyeliner cobwebs freehanded with jejune adroitness. Tell me of now, you then insist, a faint plea in my ear that whispers like an echo, what of it now? I suppose you wouldn’t recognise it, I reply with nonchalant honesty. And you wouldn’t, really, for the days of Samhain and Alholowmesse’s sweeping Catholicism have long since been trampled by tacky consumerism. The quaint souling now but a diabetic’s minefield and jaw-breaking toffee apples. You’ve the Celts to thank for communal feasts and I’ve Starbucks to thank for Skeleton gingerbread. Your costumes serve tribute to Equinox and Solstice yet I only served Amazon profits. You laugh then; boisterous chuckles that taint the air like a virus, shakes what leaves still cling haphazardly to the trees with abrasive coolness that always makes me shiver. With delight my love, of course, for you’ve livened the world with your presence again. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! You exclaim, with that regency-poet-style ostentatiousness that I’ve grown fond of, is Hallowed Eve thus forever infantilised? Aye I nod, afraid so. I think then of what health and safety would make of open bonfires, the folklorish fiction of Stingy Jack who once, you tell me, tricked the Devil and is now forced to roam earth with burning coal. Perhaps the Scot’s turnip carvings would be better suited to ward spirits with LED enhancements; jellied window stickers of the aged innocents you once burned. Not all is lost, you tell me, I shall embrace these queer commodities if it means we can keep the threshold. Tradition is but an extravagance. Damn you and your purple prose - but I understand. Times have changed in regressive infantilization yet, centuries forward, our ‘quintessential’ remains. I feel you then, for a second of tangibility before the hand on my shoulder is lost to cruel logistics. A warm peck from cold lips on my cheek. Must go, you announce - and I’m left with the dross of modernity again - phone vibrating through my palm; wasp-like and insatiable. I left a maple cold brew for you. My pitiful seasonal tribute. Name? They asked. Oh. It’s for mon amour, the ghost. by Robin Pearson More Information: I’d like to think the Halloween nostalgia is something a lot of people can relate to - as can they connect with the modern traditions that we’ve accepted in our culture without really knowing why! Instagram: @rob1n_pearson Bio: Robin Pearson is a queer poet from the UK who enjoys writing, gothic lit, and accumulating knowledge of their hyper fixation. They’ll most likely be found re-watching a show for the Xth time or thrifting with an armful of jumpers. Feedback: Smrithi: I love how this piece is written! The idea is splendid and I love the references to various Halloween traditions. The end note that all is not lost gives hope and ends the piece on a great note. Love this piece <3 Bri: I enjoyed the criticism of capitalism and how traditions change over time. Ava: Great commentary on commercialization of traditions and holidays. I really enjoy the idea of the ghost and its place in the story. The Final Ritual Trigger Warning: Mention of Blood and allusion to the crucifixion of Christ The evening crept by slowly as we waited for the moon to show itself. I sat on the edge of the group, eyes wavering from face to face. In the soft lilting glow of the burning torches, they all looked the same. Impatient and hungry. So hungry. A chill crept down my spine and lodged itself in the raised hairs on the back of my skin. You would think that after these many years, I’d get used to it but I never was. I don’t think, I’ll ever be. Someone called my name. I knew the man but at the moment, his identity escaped me. All I could see in his face was a ravenous longing. But still, I went to him. Better those nameless girls than me. “Wass the matter?” I asked, my voice echoing through the crowd. As was usual, they were eerily quiet. “The girl’s being brought in now,” the man said, grinning like a skeleton. “I hope your knife’s sharpened enough.” “Has it ever not been?” I challenged and the man’s grin widened, white teeth poking from his shadowy skin, resembling a monster from my darkest dreams. I smiled, looked away, and began to lose myself in the process of waiting. Around us, the night began to darken until we could barely see even ourselves, and then, the moon rose, illuminating the mouthless desire on each face. A cheer went through the crowd like a long, low shiver. I waited for it to die down. And when it did, the girl was brought out, mouth gagged, eyes wide, staring helpless, like a deer in bright light. I averted my own gaze. To look at her face would be to familiarise myself with her existence, and when she was destined for death, why must I put myself through the pain? That’s the reasoning I’ve always lived with. The harvest moon bathed us in a soft light as the unnamed girl was bound to the stake, her hands spread on each end. The irony was not missed by me, but like every bit of conscience, I stored it in the back of my head, locked away tightly. They gathered around her, eyes dripping with hunger and called for me. This was it. My time to prove myself as I’ve always done, that I was a part of them. I gathered all my apathy and walked up to her. Ignoring the wide eyes, I slashed her throat, a perfect stroke. The blood, the smell, the rest was but an afterthought. Everybody rejoiced as the blood dribbled down my shoes. My job was done. Like every other time. I turned, away from her. That was the last mistake I ever made. It would forever haunt me, perhaps even through afterlife, if there is such a thing for someone like me. As the girl stalked towards me, her steps slow and pondering, I let a prayer slip through my lips. It was left unheard by every deity. by Amian Bent More Information: This story was dually inspired by the witch huntings of Salem as well as one of the prompts on Rewrite the Stars' Instagram. I think it would be a good fit for the magazine's halloween theme because it has a sense of lingering horror and a creepy, atmospheric feel to it. Instagram: @words_of_an_endangerd_soul_ Bio: Amian Bent is a young writer from India, who's been writing fiction and poetry for five years now. Her writing journey started with the idea of a novel, one that's in the constant process of development and will hopefully be published in the near future. When not writing, she is busy reading Gothic literature or Young Adult Fiction, and listening to different types of music. Apart from writing, she's also interested in photo editing and nature photography. Feedback: Smrithi: This piece is marvelous! I love the cryptic feel of it and the suspense is illustrated extremely well. I love the idea of it and how the author has chosen to write it. Excellent! Bri: I liked the cult idea. Ava: A chilling, atmospheric story that is perfect for a dark, halloween night. Blood, manipulation, revenge, oh my! Man Among Giants There is a woman in the clouds. There is a stranger up above with silky moonlit hair that flutters with every gust of wind. Around her slender neck is a stunning strand of diamonds. They glint in my direction, and I can’t help but grin at the sky like a madman in love. My lips part, in awe of her magnificent presence. As she moves, little wisps of clouds curl around her feet as if carving a path for her. I must reach her, but how? While she travels the sky, I am grounded to this earth’s soil by gravity. I sink to my knees and nurse my grievances until an idea rekindles my newfound feelings. I abruptly stand up and sprint to my shed. Gathering my sketchbook and graphite, I formulate my plan. Stroke after stroke, my eagerness grows. With this invention, I can reach the woman in the clouds! 3 years later... It’s done. I have perfected my stilts. Walking outside, lightly dragging the poles on the sidewalk, I halt at my destination. I take a deep breath and begin preparing. I strap on the stilts, attach its base to the leveled pavement, and push hard on the soles. With a shuddered jolt and metallic whine, the stilts grow in length. “I’m soaring!” I gasp. With every passing moment, the ground turns into my past. My heart gallops in anticipation of the perfect moment. Glancing up, I see her approaching her usual spot. Almost there...almost there. My pace slows. I’ve reached the clouds. I’ve reached her. “Excuse me, ma’am!” I call out. Her head tilts with curiosity. Her movements stop, and the clouds around her feet dart impatiently. So close. I offer a kind smile, and the woman glides closer to me. “I’m from down there,” I point below the clouds. Her gaze follows my strangely worn, yet polished fingers. “I saw you once long ago, and I couldn’t help but admire your presence. In fact, I brought a gift for you.” She smiles back, finally at ease. The mist grows languid, and I seize the chance. Bending down to unlatch a hidden compartment from my right stilt, I show her a jewel-encrusted piece of metal. Her eyes glitter at the bejeweled gift, and I carefully place it in her outstretched hands and close her fingertips around it. She holds it close to her heart, and I watch with apprehension as her grip tightens. Clink! Thud. The noise reverberates through the fog. The woman in the clouds falls still on the buttermilk sky. I smirk. Everyone knows giants love gifts, and most importantly, are hoarders. Her unyielding greed brought on her own doom. I merely didn’t tell her about the dial that activated the poison-coated knife. I suppose her kind doesn't have switchblades. Unclipping the garish necklet from her still body, I make my descent and let out a loud guffaw at the irony: I’m a man walking on stilts among giants! by Sophia Bernabe More Information: When I began writing this story, I was actually trying to write one of my supplemental essays for college applications. It started off with the idea of hiding amongst giants by wearing stilts. With this, I was trying to convey this feeling of trying to catch up with everyone else and not belonging—similar to imposter syndrome. As I kept thinking, my essay devolved into a story of a person who built stilts to reach the sky and achieve their dreams. When I saw the Halloween prompt on Instagram, I immediately began fine-tuning the plot to be a better fit for this magazine. Instagram: @sophiebrnb_ Bio: Sophia Bernabe is a senior in high school aspiring to be an anesthesiologist. Because of the publication of her piece “Alienation From My Culture” to the HaluHalo Journal and her leadership in the Life Savers Club, which brings in specialists to educate students on what often hides behind a paywall, Sophia is keen on combining medicine and English to aid the underrepresented in fulfilling their dreams so that medicine and fiction alike can become a more diverse space. Feedback: Smrithi: This piece is so interesting! I love the concept and how the author has written it. Simple but exquisite. The plot twist at the end is surprising and adds a nice touch to the story. Bri: I loved the plot twist at the end and theme of greed. Ava: Fantastical story with a twist. Feels like an old fairytale. Witches of Hushfield There used to be witches in Hushfield. Not the kind with green, wart-covered skin and thinly veiled anti-semitic hooked noses. Not the kind with melodramatic, wide brimmed and pointed caps. Not the kind who ate children or cursed them. The kind with drab puritan attire but a light in their eyes. The kind who knew how to communicate with the aching whispers of the woods. These witches were subtle, plucking the strings between life and death like harps. These witches knew they could be burned or hanged, but ne’er imagined they would suffer a fate far worse by the hands of people vindicated by the so-called grace of God. There used to be witches in Hushfield. There are witches in Hushfield. Not the kind who eat children, but the kind who are children. Not the kind who cast curses, but are themselves cursed. Not the kind with drab puritan attire. No, these witches wear converse that crunch leaves beneath their feet. These witches listen to Nirvana. These witches drink Coca-Cola and smoke cigarettes just outside the backdoor of their minimum wage job. These witches are cheerleaders, homecoming queens. These witches are honors students, less than honorable sons. These witches are tri-sport athletes, attending tutoring between practices to keep their mama happy. These witches are sent visions of the future, but spent more time playing M*A*S*H and cootie catchers with friends. These witches listen to true crime, convinced they’d someday fall prey to the same. These witches do part-time ghost photography. These witches sneak kisses, knowing exactly what would happen if anyone found out, reeling from the rush of the risk. These are witches entering the fall semester of their senior year, ignoring the glances of solidarity from their fellows. Ignoring the aching whispers of the woods. Ignoring the mysticism that has undertoned their lives. Ignoring the bones half unburied in the dark earth. Ignoring the glances of suspicion from the other residents of Hushfield. Everyone knows something is off about those kids. It’s something about the eyes. Dilated pupils that seem to see beneath the surface. It’s something about the lips. Mouths that twitch from the incantations they know in their soul but were never taught the words to. Everyone knows something is off about those kids, they just don’t have a word to put to it. ‘Witch’ is archaic. As are witch hunts. That will not stop the residents of Hushfield from sharpening their pitchforks and their pitch-forked tongues, hungry for more blood to wash away the tragedies. There are witches in Hushfield, and they are just as safe as they were 400 years ago. by Adia Reynolds More Information: This draws off original characters in a deeper story but can also be read in a stand alone way. This isn't just about creepy witches and Halloween haunts. This draws off how often the marginalized and vulnerable were held culpable for "witchcraft". I also was inspired by the rhythm and repetition of the famous poem "We Real Cool". These witches are just trying to get through their senior year of high school, but no one can deny there's something off about them. Instagram: @cryptic.cryptid.writes Bio: Adia Reynolds is a coffee-loving honors student majoring in English with a writing concentration. Her works have been published in three prior magazines, and she someday hopes to work her way up to publishing a full novel. When she's not writing she spends her time playing video games and listening to plot summaries. Feedback: Smrithi: Oh my god I love this piece. It's descriptive, it's creative, and it's perfectly on theme! I love the darker notes interwoven with the lighter mentions of our daily routines. The last line is truly marvelous. Overall, this is a brilliant piece that perfectly captures the spirit of Halloween! Bri: The vocabulary, sheer variety of examples and the continuity of the theme of women. Ava: A slow descent into discovery of these modern witches. Very memorable last line. My Eerie Birthday As I tossed and turned in my bed, my eyes opened just a crack. Through blurry vision, I made out the numbers on the clock beside my schoolbooks: '00:03', and beneath them, '31st of October'. So, it was officially my birthday. Wondering what it had in store for me this year, I acknowledged the new chapter awaiting me, closed my eyes, and embraced my pillow, feeling a faint smile painting my face. Slowly drifting off, a sudden bump that felt like it was coming from below my bed jolted me upright. I sat there, heart pounding, fixing my gaze straight ahead. The only things I could hear were my heart pounding in my chest and my erratic breathing pattern. Cold sweat gathered on my forehead, and my hands were clenching the sheets. Summoning every ounce of courage, I decided to investigate, not sure if I was doing the right thing. My gut was telling me to flee my so-called “safe space” as fast as possible, but something- I don’t know what- was screaming at my brain to check out who- or what was under my bed. Lowering my head, I grasped the sheets that obscured my view. Slowly, I lifted them, a wave of regret washing over me. Staring back at me were two glowing blood-red eyes that seemed to pierce my very soul. I couldn’t even see an outline of a face, body, anything. My hair rose all over my body, and my breath caught in my throat. I froze. Time seemed to stand still. That’s when I heard growling, presumably also coming right from where the red dots were staring at me. Without a second thought, I turned and fled from my room, feeling my eyes beginning to fill with tears. As I reached the hallway, I slammed the door shut and propped a chair beneath the handle, hoping it would serve as a barricade- at least until the morning. Running down the stairs and almost tripping, I jumped on the sofa and pulled the blanket that was on it over my head, finally letting my emotions come out. I tried hopelessly to muffle my cries with my hands. I still felt them staring at me, somehow. I was exhausted. The next thing I knew it was morning, my mother found me, confused, with the blanket up to my torso. I tried to explain to her what happened, but she wouldn’t believe me, saying that these are only excuses I tend to make up to stay up late. Like a guillotine falling over my head, I heard her shouting to go and make my bed. A chill ran up my spine as I slowly made my way back up the stairway, prolonging my eventual face-off with whatever that was. I put my hand on the doorknob, but I was interrupted. “Come in,” a low voice on the other side of the door announced. by Alexandra Ilie More Information: I strongly believe that my story is a good fit for your magazine. This tale delves into one of my deepest fears, intertwined with a spine-chilling Halloween myth that has fascinated and haunted me for years. Instagram: @mariuuwuu Bio: Alexandra-Maria Ilie entered the world on October 30, 2005, in Bucharest, Romania's vibrant capital. Her love for literature and writing has been a constant companion since her early years in elementary school. However, it was in the 7th grade, at the age of 13, that she truly began to nurture her talent, sharing her imaginative creations with the world through her own blog. From that moment on, Alexandra-Maria has dedicated herself to honing her skills, captivating audiences with her works. Feedback: Smrithi: This piece is simple and marvelous and reminiscent of various different Halloween stories. I love how the author captures the horror and spooky feel right away with descriptive language. We are immersed directly into the narrator's POV and we feel their fear as ours. I love the ending and how it's haunting but also intriguing. We want to learn more and figure out what happened. Great piece, perfect for Halloween! Bri: I loved the idea of literally something going 'bump' in the night and the cliffhanger ending! Ava: Great ending that leaves the reader wondering what happened next. The Night Is Nearly Over Trigger warnings: body horror, terror, death Kian opened his eyes to see …nothing. He blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and tried to move, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move any of his limbs. It was like he was paralysed. Kian could feel fear creeping up his throat, but the only thing he could do was try to regulate his breathing, a technique that rarely helped him in usual times. He couldn’t see the clock, but he scrunched up his eyes, hoping he would fall back asleep. The night is nearly over. The night is nearly over. He repeated to himself, hoping to any God that might be listening that it was true. But his heart sank as he heard a chuckle. “Oh, Kian, you sweet summer child.” A ghastly, growling voice mocked him. He could hear the smile invading its words. “Do you really think you’re safe here?” Kian tried everything in his power not to listen to it, his eyes still closed, but a tight claw grabbed his face, squeezing his jaw so tightly it hurt. “I am safe. You’re not real.” Kian tried to appear confident, but even he could hear the shake in his voice. The voice laughed. “You think you’re safe in your bed, Kian? Is this your bed?” It taunted him as it pried his eyes open. With a horrific jolt Kian realised he was in a torture chamber of the 1500s, and that he was tied down to a rake. He felt his limbs start to be stretched, further and further and further. He screamed… And then he was back in his bed, trapped in his own body. The voice laughed. “You silly boy. You know that this is all in your mind. Why are you torturing yourself like this, Kian?” The voice had taken on a mocking tone, and Kian felt a tear leak out of his eye. He just wanted to go back to sleep. No. He was done with this now. He would not be a victim to this night terror anymore. “I banish you.” He whispered. The voice scoffed. “What was that?” It asked, his voice suddenly innocent. “I am in charge here. Not you. And I want you gone!” Kian shouted. Pride surged through his chest and he felt his foot twitch. He went to sit up, and- “You want me gone?!” The voice growled, and Kian suddenly felt a searing pain surge across his neck. He saw scarlet blood spurt from what used to be his throat, and his vision went cloudy. He felt himself fall backwards, and… by Sarah R. New More Information: This piece was written as an exercise into writing Gothic literature. I think it fits the theme as it's creepy and scary, and I think it has appeal to teens who are looking for gateway horror stories or experimenting with different forms of horror stories, as I did as a teen. Instagram: @aldbera Bio: Sarah R. New is in her late 20s, but has been writing since the age of 6. After graduating from university with a BA in Film Studies, she dabbled in screenwriting before returning to fiction writing. Sarah loves to cook and bake, spends most of her time with her cats and is an avid traveller who has visited four continents. Her travel memoir, The Great European Escape: The Trials and Tribulations of Travelling While Chronically Ill, is available for free from https://sarahrnew.wordpress.com/. Feedback: Smrithi: This piece blurs the lines between reality and fantasy and I love how effectively it does so! We readers wonder whether the 'monster' is real or simply in the narrator's head, and the ending leaves us with more questions than answers. The spooky feel is present throughout and I love how descriptive the writing is! The ending was horrifying in the best way possible. Great piece! Bri: I liked the idea of convincing yourself 'it's nearly day' 'night is nearly over' to be safe, you know? Ava: I enjoyed how your sleep paralysis demons have come back to haunt you in this piece, and they're here to play mind games. Dancing in a demon’s embrace TW - blood, violence, knives Pomegranate juice drips watery red onto previously pristine white pages. Cream contrasts dark, bitter coffee. Energetic hip-hop music plays while you and I are slow dancing. It's romantic, borderline sensual, and you're holding me with that soft smile that tells me you love me. Living in the shell of that angelic demeanour, disguised as a warm heart and saccharine words, is a maniacal, sadistic demon running amok, blood dripping from its teeth and just barely concealed. Your grip on my waist is possessive and painful, sugar-coated words fraying at the edges with malice. A flash of silver, a blade driven in so deep only a leather-covered hilt is visible, but its glory is shadowed by the crimson spreading fast over white lacy bodice and sticky scarlet running over lips and onto your dress shirt. "You demon," I croak, and then fall like the leaves in the autumn, dancing to their demise. by Xann More Information: My friend sent the link for the Halloween submissions to me and I thought, "Why not?" So I went to look for inspiration and then realized I could write a dark-academic theme for Halloween, so I did. Instagram: @magicallyliterary Bio: Xann is a teen poet who is absolutely terrible at math but loves pretty words. Feedback: Smrithi: The dark academic vibes are definitely present throughout this piece. I love the vivid imagery that helps us visualize the scene in our mind's eye. The ending is intriguing and the last line is written so poetically! Great piece overall and seems fitting for Halloween :) Bri: I enjoyed the vivid descriptions and overall lovely, rich dark tone. Ava: Gives the feeling of classical music playing over a dark waltz. Sets the mood and aesthetic of dark academia with ease. The Toyshop TW: loss of consciousness WC: 479 They screamed, trying to warn the unsuspecting travellers, but their voices had been locked and muted the day their souls were sewn into these lifeless faces and porcelain limbs, and their minds were trapped in these stringed bodies. *** The bell chimed as the three travellers stepped in. A robed man stood behind the counter, peering at them through spectacles. He introduced himself as the Collector. ‘The Collector of what?’ Gawain asked. The Collector only smirked, gesturing toward some seats. Shelves upon shelves full of all sorts of dolls surrounded a wooden table. Something felt off but Gisela couldn’t place it. A sweet scent returned her attention to the Collector, who glided to the table with a pot of tea and four china cups. He poured himself and each traveller a cup of tea. Gisela lifted the cup, letting the flowery smell fill her senses. ‘What’s in the tea?’ asked Sigrid. ‘Local flowers and herbs,’ the Collector said. He gulped down his tea. Sigrid raised her eyebrows. Gisela fixed her eyes on Gawain as he took a tentative sip. ‘Did you hear that?’ Sigrid questioned. ‘Hear what?’ replied Gawain, turning his head toward the witch. Sigrid shook her head to clear it. ‘Something high pitched. Human but also… Distinctly not human.’ ‘I heard nothing,’ stated the Collector. Gisela shook her head at Sigrid and did not realise until she’d swallowed mouthfuls of tea. It felt smooth on her tongue and warm in her throat. She took another sip and smiled at Sigrid, content to spend some quiet time with her girlfriend. Sigrid returned the smile before lifting the teacup to her lips. ‘Now for business,’ Gawain began. But Gisela was too busy staring at her girlfriend to listen to her brother. She knew what they were here for, and what Gawain would talk about, so she tuned his voice out. Sigrid’s lips moved out of sync with her voice. Gisela couldn’t hear her. She wasn’t sure what they came here for. Something felt off. Perhaps more tea would help. The sweet flowery scent enticed her to swallow mouthful after mouthful. The room spun and her ears rang. Someone shook her. Her eyes were unfocused, barely kept open. Wave after suffocating wave washed over her as she fought to stay conscious. She was acutely aware of the throbbing in her head and the cold sweat on her face. Slurs of familiar voices rose above the currents before being dragged under. She felt the body that she no longer had a connection to being lifted. Rushed movements tickled her consciousness. Flashes of light and shadow passed before her unseeing eyes. Non-human voices bounced across the room and echoed. The welcoming scent of flowers wafted around her, forming soft tendrils that caressed her cheeks. Their arms reached at her, inviting her to join them in the next realm. She was ready to succumb. by Owl More information: It's the spooky part of my WIP and involves a Collector of Souls who sews souls into dolls and puppets. Instagram: @owl_writes Bio: Owl lives almost exclusively in her head and is in love with all the characters she created. Her favourite genres are fantasy and historical fiction. Spooky season gave her an excuse to skip ahead in her WIP instead of writing chronologically. Feedback: Smrithi: This is such a cool piece! The idea is unique and I love how the author has written it. From the very first line you feel as though something is off but as the story progresses, it gets progressively creepier and weirder. Excellent writing -- I love how the last paragraph is vivid and really draws the reader in. Bri: I liked the idea of someone hearing something the others didn't. Ava: A well written short that leaves me wanting to read further. Where the Willows Weep “This place is perfect,” said Brendan, as with a satisfied sweep of his hand he gestured towards the grounds of the Airbnb they had rented for the night. “Perfect?” asked Samantha in a voice laced with skepticism. “Yes. Absolutely! A brooding old manor, a creepy old pond encircled by weeping willows and these grounds. I tell you; these grounds are haunted.” “If I recall correctly, that’s pretty much what you said last time ...” “So, what are you trying to say,” broke in Brendan, “that this is useless?” “No,” she replied tiredly, “maybe it’s time to reconsider all of this. We’ve had this channel for almost six months now, and if you rule out editing and camera effects, we haven’t posted anything with even the slightest hint of a spook.” “But this place, it’s got a spooky air. I’m sure we’re going to find something tonight,” murmured Brendan as he gazed out at the fast-falling twilight. “Got the camera?” asked Samantha as they trekked through the overgrown brush. “Right here,” Rita patted the pouch slung across her neck. “According to local legends,” whispered Samantha, “these grounds are haunted by the ghost of a girl who wanders around wailing at midnight.” “Let’s set things up near the pond, should have a good view of things from there.” It was a clear night with hundreds of stars glimmering in the old pond, encircled by its ever-watchful guard of willows. As the minutes ticked by, the night grew lovelier still and the moon sailed across the starlit sky accompanied by a court of wispy clouds. “It’s half past twelve,” said Samantha dryly, “let’s wrap up ... nothing’s going to happen tonight.” “Shh, listen,” hissed Rita. There came upon the wind the distant sound of sobbing, getting nearer with every passing second. “The ghost,” hissed Rita as she focused the camera on the patch of trees from where a soft blue glow emanated. An eerie silence replaced the sound of crickets as the blue glow drew nearer, leaving the trio rooted to the ground as the hazy glow materialized into the weeping ghost of a young girl. “A wailing ghost,” crowed Brendan. “Quiet,” came the whispered reply, “you’ll scare her away.” The ghost girl continued towards the pond, seemingly unaware of her breathless audience. “Let’s follow her,” said Brendan as he made his way through the trees. When they finally caught up, she was hidden amongst the willows crouched over something on the ground, sobbing for a while before disappearing into a blue mist. When dawn broke over the town, it carried with it the tale of the brave little dog who had died one cold winter’s morning while trying to rescue a little girl who fell through the ice on the pond. Back among the willows that swept the water’s edge a tiny grave, inscribed with the epitaph ‘Maxie, the best dog that ever lived’, was heaped over with forget-me-nots that gleamed blue in the gray light of dawn. by Yvanka Maria Guia Rebelo More information: It features ghosts and ghost hunters Instagram: @a.quiver.of.tales Bio: Yvanka Rebelo is a bookworm and writer who is firmly convinced that words are magic. Feedback: Smrithi: I love how a large majority of this piece is dialogue but we still get enough context to understand the story. The second half of the story is quite descriptive and I love how we really get a feel for the environment. Unique idea and great storytelling! Bri: I enjoyed the ghost hunting, dynamics between the cast, and ghost legend. Ava: A sweet twist on a ghostly haunting! Follow us @rewritethestarsreview and these remarkable writers for more!

Whenever I submit to literary magazines, I often wonder what happens behind the scenes. How many people read my submission? Does it go through multiple rounds of reading? Who makes the final decision on whether to accept it or not? Could I have changed the piece slightly to increase its chances of acceptance? Are there different kinds of rejection letters based on how many rounds of reading your piece got through before being rejected? Were there other factors at play that contributed to the decision of my piece? Why specifically was it accepted/rejected? Almost all of these questions remain unanswered for the various magazines I have submitted to. However, as the founder of my own magazine, I thought it would be a good idea to answer these questions for those of you who submit to our publication. I hope these convince you to submit in the future! List of Questions: What is the inital reading process like? What is the rubric? When is a decision on my submission made? Could I change my piece slightly to increase chances of acceptance? Does my piece go through multiple rounds of reading? Are there different kinds or versions of rejection and acceptance letters based on my piece’s score? Why was I specifically accepted or rejected? What happens if I’m accepted? Were there other factors at play that contributed to the decision of my piece? What is the initial reading process like? Currently our magazine consists of three editors — Bri, Ava, and I. We have a common spreadsheet where all the pieces and genre are added, and there are separate categories for each of us. We read each piece, write a short paragraph of feedback and our initial thoughts of the piece, score it based on a pre-decided rubric, and make our personal decision. If there are notes we want to make on the piece for the other two editors to see, we add that in a separate column. We each read at our own pace and whatever order we’d like to. There’s one overall deadline (usually one or two days after submissions close) by when we must all individually finish reviewing all the pieces. What is the rubric? Each of us provide scores out of 5 for the following five categories: Originality & Innovation Writing/Art Storytelling Adherence to Theme Appeal Thus each piece gets a final score out of 75. Originality & Innovation: Let’s take our ‘kindle the flame’ theme for example. We got many submissions that spoke about a literal flame. Some described it, some wrote stories of bonfires and arson, and some made the flame evil. These pieces weren’t bad at all — many were published in the issue - but the ideas weren’t out-of-the-box. There was only one submission that interpreted the theme as something we’d work tirelessly for, something that kindles our flame, and wrote a poem about a chef who craves validation. This submission was made even better by the author’s explanation of how their mother owns a bakery and it inspired the piece. You can read the piece “How to Cook up Success” by Nai in issue iii: kindle the flame. Our themes are usually quite broad and we want to see unique and creative interpretations of it. That isn’t to say that literal interpretations are bad, but they usually don’t score high on this particular category. So if you want to catch our attention, think of different ways you can interpret our theme and bring your authenticity to light! Another way to be original is through the structure of your piece. In “Aflame” by Caroline Chou (issue iii: kindle the flame), the author depicted the poem as a hand holding a flame. This was not only original but also eye-catching! It’s all about thinking outside of the box and exploring the limits of what you can do with your imagination and technology :) Writing/Art: This rubric basically covers our opinions of your skill. For art, we look at how detailed the art is and how you’ve utilized the art medium. For writing, we look for an engaging and persuasive writing style. Good vocabulary is appreciated but I personally believe that good writing doesn’t equate to fancy verbs. We also prefer good grammar and no typos (one or two is fine but if there’s more then it shows a lack of interest to proofread your work) and a lack of these tend to score lower on this category. We also look for how hooked we are in the piece, i.e. whether the author is able to keep the readers engaged throughout. Some pieces tend to be bogged down by flowery language and unrelated ideas which can detract from the focus of the story. Storytelling: This category explores how the author or artist has chosen to tell their story. For art pieces, we look at the theme of their piece, the message they’re trying to convey, and how they do so through the piece itself and the artist statement. ‘Underwater City’ by Joy Qu published in issue v: jabberwocky, for example, addressed the theme of rising seawater levels. Although it isn’t immediately evident from the art alone, the combination of the artist statement and the details of the piece bring out the idea extremely well. The process is more or less the same for written pieces. We look at the theme of the piece and whether it shines out through the writing. We highly encourage submitters to utilize the “tell us more about this piece” optional question, because it adds context and background to the piece. If the theme isn’t clear to us from a couple of reads, the responses to this question are used to clarify the theme. So if you leave that question blank, it just leaves us wondering what you were attempting to do with the piece. Adherence to Theme: This category is pretty self-explanatory. All of our issues and features and special submission periods are themed. When we declare a theme, we want pieces that revolve around that theme. How you interpret the theme is up to you, and as mentioned before, we love unique interpretations! We do not, however, want pieces that aren’t connected to the theme in any way at all. Pieces that score less than 3 on this category usually aren’t accepted, despite their scores on other categories. We’ve often rejected excellent pieces simply because they didn’t fit with our magazine and our issue. If you’re not sure whether your piece’s connection to the theme will be understood, feel free to elaborate in the “tell us more about this piece” section! It’s there for a reason :) Appeal: This is a final “overall” category. As a reader and writer, we consider whether the piece appealed to us. Can we see it in this particular issue of our magazine? Did we personally relate to it? Maybe the piece isn’t inherently original, but we still enjoyed it tremendously nonetheless. The piece might get an Originality score of 3 but an Appeal score of 5. Appeal is quite subjective and varies from editor to editor, piece to piece. However, the higher the average Appeal score, the more likely the piece will be received well by readers of our issues and thus the more likely the piece is to be accepted. When is a decision on my submission made? I firmly believe in making final decisions on submissions only after we have read through all the submissions. That is why we send out our decision emails all at once a week after the deadline, instead of rolling decisions as and when you submit. Only after seeing everything, we get a feel for what the issue is going to be like, and can thus choose which pieces fit and which don’t. Immediately after we read the piece, however, we each make individual decisions. “A” for accept, “M” for maybe, “R” for reject. At the end when deciding which pieces to accept, I look at the individual decisions. Three “A”’s will most likely be accepted, while three “R”’s will result in a rejection. With everything in the middle, it gets a little more complicated. Now is when we order the pieces in descending order of their total score, and give decisions accordingly. Rather than blindly choosing the top 20 submissions, however, we also consider the final decisions. Since art is so subjective, we prefer not to choose simply based on an arbitrary number alone. A piece with two “A”’s and one “R” and a low total score is more likely to be accepted than a piece with three “M”’s and a higher total score. As mentioned earlier, we make decisions on all submissions at once. I, the editor-in-chief, first assign final decisions based on individual decisions. I then consult with Bri and Ava about their thoughts of the chosen submissions. After all of us have reviewed the sheet and have accepted the chosen submissions, we finalize them. Could I change my piece slightly to increase chances of acceptance? As writers ourselves, we can see potential in a piece and can tell whether a few tweaks would make it a good fit. If we feel like an edited version of your piece would fit in our magazine, we will specifically email to let you know and ask whether you would be open to editing. So you don’t need to worry about whether minute changes in your piece would’ve guaranteed acceptance! Does my piece go through multiple rounds of reading? Some big publications tend to have multiple rounds of reading, i.e. an initial round where submission readers select pieces followed by the editor-in-chief reading through the selected pieces and finalizing pieces from those. As a small volunteer-run publication, however, we neither have enough people to make that happen nor the time. There is a single round of reading and that round is the one elaborated above. This is why first impressions matter so much, because they are also your last impressions! Sometimes for pieces marked “maybe”, we may read through them again and change our decisions — but these are rare cases and most of the time we trust our gut instincts. Are there different kinds or versions of rejection and acceptance letters based on my piece’s score? For the most part, our decision letters tend to be standard. Sometimes however, the letter may be altered. This happens when we feel like your piece could fit as a blog post (usually for creative non-fiction pieces), in another issue or feature, or we know another magazine with a theme where that piece would fit. Apart from these cases though, it’s unlikely your rejection letter will be modified. Why was I specifically accepted or rejected? We provide feedback to every single submitter who asks for it! For those who don’t, we specify in the email that it is available on request. With personalized feedback from each of our editors, we ensure that we highlight our favorite aspects of your piece and/or suggestions for improvement or why we chose to decline the piece. If it is unclear from the decision letter, however, feel free to reply to our email asking why we made a particular decision on your piece. We’ll be happy to respond! What happens if I’m accepted? Congratulations! In your decision letter, we will ask whether the piece is still available for publication. If we feel as though edits are required, we will specify it in the email and ask you to reply with an edited version by a deadline. We also ask for confirmation of the bio you submitted in the form to be published alongside your piece. Once our designers have finished designing the issue, we send it out to the contributors to verify there aren’t any typos or issues with displaying their piece. After confirmation, we publish the issue! The issue is typically released during an issue release party. Prior to the party, we inquire with each of our contributors whether they would be interested in reading or displaying their work at the party. Those who want to do so during the party, and others simply come watch! For the issue release party we welcome anyone and everyone, and usually also include literary games and discussions. Post the issue-release, we publish a feature piece on our blog with the stories behind the inspiration of each of the pieces in that issue. Stay tuned for issue v: jabberwocky’s feature ;) Were there other factors at play that contributed to the decision of my piece? As a magazine with a diverse masthead from volunteers of a wide age range and countries around the world, we strive to be as welcoming and accepting as possible. Answers to optional questions like pronouns, country, age, etc are not on the spreadsheet that the editors use while reviewing submissions. We try to read submissions name-blind, which is why we highly request that authors not include their names on the document of the pieces themselves. We hope that until now and henceforth, we have fostered an atmosphere that encourages writers of all backgrounds and identities to submit to our magazine. If you think we can improve our functioning in any way, please let us know! This is an exhaustible list of questions, and we would be happy to answer any other questions that you have! Feel free to reach out to us on any of our social media platforms, submit a message through the contact form on our website, or email us! We may take some time to reply to you , but rest assured we will get back to you as soon as possible! As mentioned earlier, if you have any grievances with our magazine, do not hesitate to reach out to us. While we have published several issues, we are constantly exploring and learning how to be a better literary magazine and would appreciate any insights you have to give us. Our feedback form is permanently linked through our Instagram bio, and you have the option to submit anonymous responses. We look forward to hearing from you, and are grateful for your continual support of our little venture! For more from this author, follow @theunwrittenstories101 on Instagram.

Have you ever wondered how to get readers to be intrigued about your work on page one? Well, you’re not alone. Many writers want to create literary masterpieces with magical stories, wanting to share their fictional world with everyone. But how does one do that, effectively? How to capture the fleeting attention of our reader, and leave them wanting to know more? The best way is to have a paragraph before the first chapter to make readers interested. Let’s take a look at an example from the novel, The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson, a mystery novel written in 2010 - “It was the bright yellow tape that convinced me my sister was dead. When the police had called me, I’d cried for her, but afterward a slender thread of suspicion had snaked into my brain and coiled itself around my thoughts. Claudia was deceitful, like every junkie has to be, but she also had a temper and hated to be ignored. I’d kept my distance from her since September; maybe being the butt of the world’s worst practical joke was the price I would pay for four months of silence.” In the first sentence, it uses the connotation of the bright yellow tape to convey the message that her sister was dead, correlating the bright yellow tape to the police. The second sentence conveys that the story is not one sided and has a deeper story. That is why a slender thread of suspicion is used. It is a metaphor and a symbol; a metaphor because it compares a slender thread to suspicion and a symbol because it represents the main character's slight suspicion about her sister as the thought coiled around her thoughts. The second half of the paragraph explains part of the backstory to the relationship between Claudia and the main character, giving us a context in which to weave the strands of information provided. It’s a wonderfully crafted first paragraph, and sets the story in motion while getting the reader interested about the death and the relationship the main character has with her sister. Let’s take a look at another example. This is a segment from the first chapter of The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch (2006): “Locke Lamora’s rule of thumb was this – a good confidence game took three months to plan, three weeks to rehearse, and three seconds to win or lose the victim’s trust forever. This time around, he planned to spend those three seconds getting strangled.” The paragraph gives a wonderful element of intrigue and interest, for when the speaker states: “he planned to spend those three seconds getting strangled.”, one is automatically invested. It’s quite an interesting paragraph as it makes the reader think: “Hey, why does he want to be strangled?” It also makes the reader wonder: “how did the protagonist come to such conclusions regarding the ‘confidence game’? What even is a confidence game? Making the reader wonder about something which cannot simply be looked up is how to make readers interested in reading your story. The key takeaway here is that in order to get readers intrigued in your work, you must use the writers’ arsenal - tools like imagery, literary devices, and description. Show when needed, and tell when needed - one cannot afford a bored reader plowing through pages of purple prose, or dozing through simple, unimaginative “bullet lines”. You want to be able to create paragraphs that lure your readers into the storyline. Even though getting your readers interested in your writing is a tough task to tackle, through perseverance and effort, anything can be accomplished! To learn more about this writer, follow @writer_jasonwu for more

Public libraries are not only a helpful resource for readers of all ages, but also an important part of many communities. They host fun and educational events, as well as provide things such as internet access, classes, bathrooms, and shelter to everyone. Despite your appearance or beliefs, public libraries are open to support and help you. The importance of public libraries Public libraries can be a valuable resource to everyone! They provide shelter, bathrooms, and sometimes even food, water, and medication. Gitnux even says, “Approximately 77% of Americans believe that public libraries provide them with the resources they need” (Gitnux, 3). One of the most amazing things about libraries is that they have something for people of all ages. For example, they may host events such as online or in-person storytime for children, help with homework for teenagers, and a wide variety of classes such as parenting or literature classes for adults. Many other things that can be enjoyed by multiple age groups include access to books, free Wi-Fi and internet, help to find jobs and create resumes, and events such as movie nights. The services provided by libraries may vary, so make sure to look online or ask around before looking for something specific. Many resources found at libraries are especially useful for teenagers and young adults. Many high school and college students are required to read specific books for their classes, which many people have to buy. Instead, you can check with local libraries to see if they have it. You can also look for library books to read in your free time, instead of buying a whole new book. This is a great way to save money! High schools and colleges typically require you to do research, and libraries can be a great resource to help get this done. If you aren’t able to find all your research in school, you can usually find books, computers, and even help with your research from librarians at public libraries. If you have any interests you wish to expand your knowledge on, some libraries offer classes on a variety of topics. Checking those out can be very beneficial. Finally, if you’re starting your first job or planning to apply to a college, many public libraries provide help with creating resumes, finding jobs, and applying to colleges. According to one source, “About 74% of public libraries offer SAT/ACT test preparation services” (Gitnux, 4). How you can support public libraries Donate your old books to libraries. If you happen to have any unwanted books that are still in good condition, consider donating them to a library. Before doing so check on the library's website, or ask in person, to ensure they'll be able to accept them. This is a great way to support libraries, make room for more books, and let others have access to amazing books. Get books from library book sales. Sometimes libraries host book sales. Books at these sales are typically used, but will likely be discounted. This can help you save money, expand your book collection, and support libraries. Find ways to volunteer. Many public libraries are open to volunteers. This may include restocking shelves, teaching classes, organizing, cleaning, helping with inventory, collecting data, etc. For more information on volunteering, check out the library's website or ask staff there. This can also provide you with volunteer hours for a resume, and if you're old enough you may even be able to become a part of the staff at the library. Visit and utilize libraries. Simply checking books out, asking librarians questions, getting a library card, using library computers, and utilizing any other resources provided by the library can support them. Some government funding is affected by the usage statistics that libraries collect. Inform others. Informing others about the importance of public libraries and the resources they provide can influence more people to utilize them, which will help with usage statistics. Supporting public libraries is often beneficial to both the library and those supporting them. Because of this, it can also be a great idea to share ways to support public libraries with others. I hope this gave you some insight into why public libraries are so important, and provided you with resources you can utilize at local libraries as well as ways to support libraries. Keep in mind that different things on this list may benefit some libraries more than others. For more information on these topics visit your local library’s website or ask a librarian in person. References ‌Cabello, Marcela, and Stuart M. Butler. “How Public Libraries Help Build Healthy Communities.” Brookings, 30 Mar. 2017, www.brookings.edu/articles/how-public-libraries-help-build-healthy-communities/. Accessed Aug. 2023. Krause, Shea. “8 Public Library Resources to Take Advantage Of.” Reading Partners, 22 Apr. 2020, readingpartners.org/blog/library-resources/. Accessed Aug. 2023. Bezner, KM. “8 Ways to Support Your Local Library.” The Masters Review, mastersreview.com/8-ways-to-support-your-local-library. Accessed 28 Aug. 2023. Kat, et al. “Unique Volunteering Opportunities in the Library.” 5 Min Librarian, 8 Feb. 2019, www.5minlib.com/2019/02/unique-volunteering-opportunities-in.html?m=1. Accessed Aug. 2023. Gitnux. “The Most Surprising Public Library Usage Statistics and Trends in 2023 • GITNUX.” Gitnux Market Data, 2 Aug. 2023, blog.gitnux.com/public-library-usage-statistics/. Accessed Aug. 2023. Howard, Jennifer. “The Complicated Role of the Modern Public Library.” National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), www.neh.gov/article/complicated-role-modern-public-library. Accessed Aug. 2023.

While pursuing a passion can be enthralling, it can also be a battle between deciding whether it is an obsessive or harmonious passion. Once we decide I enjoy engaging in a certain activity, for example writing, I wonder if I write to get the job done or if I truly enjoy it. Even when I’m equipped with a passion to write, sentences are constructed by words that are challenging to stack. Sometimes, passion itself isn’t all that writers need because they are passively forced to produce creative work. In the research paper Image of Everyday Creativity. An Individual Case of a Person with Passion, there are two mentioned streams of passion, in which there is harmonious (adaptive) and obsessive (maladaptive) passion. To get into this, researchers explained examples of people’s activities based on their passions. Harmonious passion is autonomous when done with the natural correlation of someone’s interest. It takes a natural process to accept that they are passionate about a certain activity and they do not feel controlled by the consequence of their action. They are willing to turn their emotions to be positive in order to engage in the activity. When passion does not overwhelm them, a positive correlation between creativity is found in harmonious passion. For example, we could never turn the river to flow uphill from downhill. The river flows from a starting point that gravitates downstream to end at a broader water surface by the sea. Our mind works the same. By letting the flow go, the cognitive process releases the ability to birth new ideas. Staying on the harmonious stream does not engage with external demand but we are excused to make autonomous decisions that risk lighter opportunities for growth. For example, while we look for inspirations, we tend to seek the works created to please our taste and by creating the soft duplicate of an inspiration, we feel a sense of creative safety. Harmonious passion is not a feeling determined by pure creativity or joy in creating art, but the sense of safety to induce new challenges so we could be open to new types of activity. After all, the key to self-development is formed out of curiosity and a sprinkle of risk. However having a harmonious passion does not mean we can always go with the flow. If we stick to this type of passion as a safe zone, then there is nothing worth creating, or could be said, there is no use in bringing passion as an excuse in the first place. Why bother creating something out of your sincere passion if it does not give you a room for new challenges? Creativity is born out of perseverance is one of the processes in making us human. With this mindset, sometimes we feel that pressures are coming from many sides which leads us to have an obsessive (maladaptive) passion that only demands us to engage in an activity that identifies with negative motivation. We turn to the mindset of wanting to just get it done and seeing the outcome grow in quantity. This is the starting point of growing an obsessive passion. Why are we doing what we love to do if we befriend suffering in the process? This is probably why: Society demands us to do what they virtue. No matter how conducive we are to engaging in the activity we are passionate about, there is no use making it an achievement to prove to society since society does not see progress as an achievement. In society’s eyes, no ends are worth pursuing, especially if the value that they pursue is for them to gain collective happiness. An excerpt from the book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do by Michael J. Sandel mentioned: “Whether my skills yield a lot or a little depends on what the society happens to want.” This directs to the entertaining bits that people want to see and ditch the less valuable creativity made by people. If the drive to create a work is to gain validation from society, then we are classifying the meaning of the previous statement. As we are living in the age of catastrophic consumerism, the end goal of creating art can be to feed the eyes of society. The passion held by an artist could be misled to gain validation rather than creating a sincere personal statement. As I am writing this, I focus on my selfish reason to write in the most sincere way to please my passion. Anyone who writes would understand that their words come off subjective to the tone they want to convince the readers. Imagining the purpose of writing to completely please the audience would mean I gain nothing from my hobby. But then again, this exact piece of mind I am sharing is what we accept as passion. This is what we all fight to call a harmonious passion because we want a positive experience to be gained out of the activity. People who write well are rewarded as good writers. Poets are awarded. But we writers who choose words every day tend to see that we are merely passionate. How about we move the perspective this way: Rather than going on with the flow to find new ideas, we should be able to determine our best pace to avoid working too hard or too unpinned. This article is a letter to someone who never wants to run out of words to please theirself . Who never wants to believe that the flow is the safe zone, but to have their own pace in exchanging ideas be it by writing or reading. As I believe that passion is growing an idea from a seed into a tree, passion is a work in progress whose object is us humans. We have always been a whole being who pursues constant changes whether we realize it or not. We bloom through seasons and passion is what makes us human. Read the original blog post here. References: Uszyńska-Jarmoc, J., & Kunat, B. (2022). Image of everyday creativity. an individual case of a person with passion. Creativity. Theories – Research - Applications, 9(2), 94–118. https://doi.org/10.2478/ctra-2022-0013 Sandel, M.J. (2016) Justice: What’s the right thing to do? Vancouver, B.C.: Langara College. To learn more about the author, follow @sarahbasalim on Instagram.

by Smrithi Senthilnathan Howdy, everyone! I hope your submissions for issue v: jabberwocky are going well. A bunch of you asked us for inspiration of what constitutes a 'wacky' piece so this post is for you guys! Read this piece, then start curating your own submissions. Reminder that there are only 10 days left to submit <3 Note: This piece was written by me in 2021 and has been left alone since then so please pardon my grammar and word choice (and do not judge me too badly, I promise my writing has improved since then). Also note that this piece isn't based on a 'wacky quote' in particular, however your issue v: jabberwocky submissions should be attributed to a quote. Happy reading! P.S. Read till the end for an analysis of this piece and more examples you can check out!! Laughing My Apples Off I stagger under the weight of my sight returning. After not being able to see for months, the outside world is too bright. The sun shines directly into my eyes. It feels surreal and frightening to see after two years. I’m not completely sure I’m not hallucinating, but if I am, I try to drink in the illusion of sight as fast as I can, before I lose it. Once my eyes have adjusted to the brightness, I stop squinting and fully open my eyes for the first time in two years. It’s funny; even though I haven’t seen in so long, the act of seeing comes naturally. I almost forget how it was like to not see. Almost. I remove my hands from my face and inspect my surroundings. Every surface is decked with bright colors, splashed all over. The paint is clumsy but it would’ve been done by blind people. A couple of meters away people are milling around, going about their jobs as always. New York is as busy as ever. It takes a beat but I soon realize what is odd: Everybody else’s eyes are still closed. A spot of green on the building next to me catches my eye. I walk closer to examine it. My breath catches in my throat. What I thought was just a random assortment of paint, is actually a group of words painted over and over again: Don’t tell them you can see. A shudder passes through my body. I whirl and look at the other buildings. Those words are everywhere. Every single wall, every single building has them. A chill creeps up my spine. Something’s going to happen. I can feel it. Two seconds later, a hovercraft descends from the heavens. I gaze at the people around. Nobody seems to hear the whirring of the engines. I wonder if there is some kinda Great Deafening going on. Am I the odd one out? The hovercraft lands about three feet away. The front part opens up. For the second time, I’m blinded by dazzling light. I throw up my hands to cover my eyes until they adjust. A single figure emerges out of the hovercraft. It isn’t a person but it’s unlike I’ve seen before. The ‘creature’ resembles a head on a huge bouncy ball. And to complete the image, its clothes are splattered with colors, black polka-dots interrupting the vibrancy. I want to call it an ‘alien’, but from all the sci-fi YouTube channels I binged before the blinding, aliens have green or blue skin, their heads are big and their bodies are thin. This ‘creature’ is a living bouncy ball, with a tiny head and yellow skin. “Greetings human,” a chirpy voice says from underneath layers of hair on the bouncy ball. I glance around but nobody seems to notice the hovercraft and the creature. I swear I see one person walk right through the hovercraft. “Uh… hi?” I respond. Another bouncy ball, with white polka-dots and orange skin steps up from behind the first one. “Are you the creator of this… siteweb called Tumblr?” Like the first one, it’s voice is high-pitched and sounds like an excited five-year-old’s. “Y-yes?” I’m the definition of a nerd but creating Tumblr is the greatest thing I’ve done. I only did the base work and the Tumblers elevated the platform to another level. But still. I’m amazing. “You have our gratitude. We are from the planet Caprica. We are the reason the Great Blinding occurred on your planet.” A ball of fury rises in me. Who were they? How dare they blind every person on my planet? I’m one of those typical depressed Gen Z people, but I’m still possessive of my planet. Wait. Earth is the only planet with life. I learned that in science five years ago. I let out a laugh, but it comes out shaky. These ‘creatures’ were probably just kids, having some fun. “Yeah I totally believe you. Great job on the hovercraft.” The ‘creature’ walks to me, and then extends its hand. At first I think it’s for a handshake, but then I see a sizzling ball of flame. I stare as the ball hovers in midair, suspended by nothing. At this point I’m not sure what to believe. “Believe us, human. As you know, we have granted your sight back. We saw this platform you created… what is it called? Tumble something? Yes we saw this Tumble and were greatly impressed. Across the world, people respond to posts on Tumble with ‘LMAO’. After much research, we deduced that LMAO means ‘laughing my apples off’. We Capricans too would like to… discover the secret of laughing our apples off. As Tumble’s creator, you are the only human who can teach us. We are going to take you to our planet. You are welcome.” I’m dreaming. Or hallucinating. Weird creatures are abducting me to learn how to laugh their apples off? “Ass, not apples” I manage to say through hysterical giggles. “Oh. Thank you human. Now, we are taking you to our planet to learn how to laugh our ass off, whatever that means,” the first creature says. “This is a great honor. Treat Capricans with the utmost respect,” the second one says. And because this is definitely a dream, I nod and step into the hovercraft along with the ‘creatures’. Little do I know that I will never step foot on Earth ever again. ANALYSIS What the piece did well: It creates a suspenseful atmosphere where you're excited to read about what's going to happen next. The setup for the joke of 'laughing my apples off' is done well because it introduces aliens who don't know human speak and culture and the punchline is delivered well. It's kinda wacky and makes you go 'whaaaaat?'. What the piece lacked: Random isn't funny. You can't randomly be the creator of Tumblr or randomly have aliens occur. Worldbuilding could've been made a lot better to make it actually funny and interesting. The writing is bland (but I attribute that to my 15-year-old self who couldn't do descriptions for the life of her lmao). Overall: This fits the definition for wacky but we want you to make your pieces actually funny and resonate with us, instead of just throwing a bunch of random elements together and hoping they form a coherent piece. We want to reiterate that this kind of work is not what we're interested in, but rather the wacky part of this piece is to give you an example of our general theme. We look forward to your pieces! Examples of our theme we definitely recommend you read: The Tiger King by Kalki (Short story) The Tale of Melon City by Vikram Seth (Poem) Anxious People by Frederick Backman (Novel)

by Khione Archerone A number of us went through a phase in life of reading y/n fanfics, imagines, headcanons and what not for our favorite characters and fictional crushes. We loved them so much and fanfics gave us the chance to imagine what it would be like to date them or be friends with them. More often than not, these fanfictions and imagines would cater to a very specific kind of scenario. One in which the character we were reading about was showing affection in some way, to the reader or y/n character. Don’t get me wrong. It’s absolutely fine to read these, or even enjoy them. Everyone likes being loved, or shown affection to, it’s part of human nature to crave it in whatever way we can. However, the way we choose to do so now, and the way we interpret love and its ideal, has changed tremendously and is clearly evident in modern media. Recently, I watched a video talking about how modern love is a capitalistic ideal. How everyone wants to be loved but no one wants to love. The current societal norms and expectations have turned love into passive force or something that happens to you. As they say, art imitates life so it spread into popular books and tv shows too. Let’s take the example of Aaron Warner from the Shatter Me series. Don’t jump on me - I love him just as much as the next person - but we have to acknowledge the fact that he is literally written, to be this passive love interest character that just falls in love with the main character for no apparent reason. He’s simply obsessed. She means more to him than his life does, she is his world, his everything. He can do anything for her–but she doesn’t share the dedication or sentiment. She exists, he loves her. If it was the other way around we may call that unhealthy pining. But we don’t because it’s a guy doing it and not a girl. This is a trend you’ll mostly see with male love interests in female leading books. The love interest is obsessed with the girlboss main character, and he shows his love for her in extravagant ways. Society calls that love. But is it? From this example, love seems to be a passive choice, something that happens to the main character. The main character who doesn’t show any affection or dedication back. The main character who exists and is loved, not as a choice but as a consequence of being there. Love here is one-sided, and possessive. Almost shallow in this sense.. Dominated by the affection of one person who does everything for their significant other, while the other couldn’t be bothered to do much of the same. Real love is, fortunately, not like that. Real love is a choice. A choice that we, as individuals, make. An active choice that you make everyday. You choose to love your family, you choose to love your friends, you choose to love your partner. Love is a mutual thing - two people (or more, whatever) need to actively support and love each other to build a healthy dynamic, romantic or otherwise. But that’s not YA Romance. And this argument isn’t just limited to the romance genre. Like I’ve already demonstrated with Aaron Warner, it is wildly popular throughout YA in general. Fantasy, science fiction, romance, thriller, none of the genres are exempt from this kind of thing. It’s fairly common and only seems to be growing. Love interests exist in YA books as a representation - they exist to show the main character that they are loved, and can be loved for simply existing. They are perfect the way they are and will be loved for it - which isn’t a bad message per se, but the execution is depthless and thus the story lacks substance. The main character very rarely, if ever, shows affection back in the same way her cis male love interest does. When writing, a common advice given to write characters is that we need to treat every character as their own person with their own story. But, at some point while writing love interests, and very specifically male love interests, we turned them into being less a person, and more of an object to show how truly amazing the main character is. Love becomes a part of a checklist. It happens to the main character at some point for no obvious reason. And the main character themselves often isn’t a person, but rather a self-insert of the author that represents the author’s dreams and ideals - going on a big adventure, having multiple people fall in love with them, and more ideals that we read about in books. On the topic of love being a passive force, let’s discuss the idea of soulmates. The idea of soulmates dictates that someone is pre-dictated by the universe to be your friend or romantic partner, etc. This takes away from the fact that love is a choice and makes it seem like you just happened to fall in love with someone because a higher power deemed it so. However, as someone who does believe in the idea of soulmates, I also believe that the only thing “pre-determined” if you will, is the idea of potential. You have the potential to be best friends with someone, you have the potential to be romantically involved with someone. These things don’t just happen, they’re not predetermined, but rather a series of active choices that you make with the people around you that lead you into finding, or rather, making a relationship that can be described as soulmates. In most books today, especially young adult, characters exist only to further another character. What we promote as ships and the romantic relationships or otherwise we make edits for, are not love but devotion or obsession - which is fine as long as it’s mutual in some way. Take the example of Roma and Juliette from These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. Both of these characters in the book make it very clear throughout the duology that they are devoted to each other equally. One-sided romantic obsession is frankly uncomfortable and deeply unrealistic. It promotes an idea of love that is not focused on loving as much as it is on being loved. But how can you be loved if everyone is unwilling to actually do the loving bit? That idea, that no one is willing to love in today’s world, is why authors write their love interests the way they do. But the media can affect people’s perception of reality, and vice versa. It becomes a self-repeating cycle to see it in fiction than in real life, and the only way to stop it is to break the cycle. So let love interests be their own characters. Let female leads be as tough as they want to be while being affectionate towards the people they love. It is not a weakness for two people to be mutually devoted to each other, but a strength. Let books show that. Show what it means to love, and be loved. Write stories that define love as a choice, and what it means to choose that. And remember: love is nothing to be ashamed of. Love is beautiful. Showcase that beauty. Love love. To learn more about the author, check out @wrajthful on instagram.