Sunday, April 28, 2019

April Fun in the Sun Month: Publishing Opportunities: Sports Articles


By ~ The Steps to Getting Published Team



For April, with the weather getting warmer, The Steps to Getting Published team was happy to research publications that accept writing projects in the sports genre. If you like writing stories or poetry with a focus on baseball, soccer, fishing, basketball, swimming, hiking, cycling, or any other sport, these publications may be perfect fits for your work. Give it a try! And please let us know if you are able to place your work with any of these publications. We always love hearing about your publishing journeys and triumphs!




Publication: Sport Literate
Accepts: Sports: essays, poems, creative nonfiction




Publication: Across the Margin
Accepts: Sports: fiction, poetry, and nonfiction (unpublished, proofread)




Publication: TrailGroove Magazine
Accepts: Hiking, backpacking and new ideas: short stories, essays, photography and art (unpublished)




Publication: Gray’s Sporting Journal
Accepts: Short stories and poetry: fishing, outdoors, sport adventures



Publication: Bikes in Space/Elly Blue Publishing
Accepts: Bicycling stories: feminist, sci-fi, LGBTQ



Publication: aethlon
Accepts: Sport-themed literature, poetry, essays, and book reviews (unpublished)

Q&A: The Inciting Incident






By: Carla Trueheart 

Hello, writers! April's Q&A discusses the Inciting Incident in your story: What is it? Where should it be placed? We hope you'll find the questions and answers helpful, and please let us know any other questions you might have. Happy Writing!


Q: What is The Inciting Incident?
A: The Inciting Incident is the moment in a story when the protagonist is thrust into action by a turn of events. This event is usually a drastic and dramatic shake-up of the status quo, and is something they cannot ignore or turn away from. It serves as the lift-off point in the story, sending the plot into motion.


Q: Where should the Inciting Incident be placed in a story?
A: As soon as possible, depending on genre. In YA fiction, for example, the Inciting Incident will usually take place in the first chapter, after an introduction to the protagonist showing him or her in their natural, ordinary world. In mystery writing, a dead body usually opens the story and serves as the Inciting Incident. Other genres differ slightly, but in general, writers should set the plot in motion early on, after the readers build sympathy for a character, or at least after they know what’s going on in their current life—what’s missing or what might shake them up. 

Q: Why is it important?
A: The Inciting Incident is important because it sets the plot in motion and launches the story. Characters should want something and have clear motives for a reader to really identify with them and root for them. If the Inciting Incident is missing, chances are the story will suffer from lack of spark and lack of character goal. Good or bad, the event that serves as the Inciting Incident should stir the pot and trigger character movement.


Q: How can I spot the Inciting Incident in my favorite stories?
A: In most cases, the Inciting Incident will be at the beginning of a story, shortly after an introduction to the protagonist or main characters. You will know when you read it because the story will move from an ordinary, everyday setting to a new setting or new problem within the characters’ current setting. 

Q: What are some examples of an Inciting Incident?
A: In the Harry Potter series, the story opens with Harry in his ordinary (albeit unpleasant) daily life. The Inciting Incident occurs when Harry gets his letter to Hogwarts and learns he’s a wizard. 

In The Hunger Games, the story opens with Katniss Everdeen in her ordinary (and also unpleasant) world. Her sister’s name is chosen for The Hunger Games, and when Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place, she is thrust into a new setting and a dangerous situation she cannot turn away from.

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is sent over the rainbow to the land of Oz after hitting her head during a tornado storm on the farm. Before this Inciting Incident, we learn that Dorothy feels like she wants to see new places, travel away from her farm.

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker follows Obi-Wan and learns the ways of the force after the Empire murders his aunt and uncle. Prior to this, we witness Luke in his ordinary world, gazing up at the sunset, seeking a change.

Q: How can I add an Inciting Incident to my own story?
A: If you plot in advance, set up a story (weaving in backstory if need be) and set the characters, tone, and mood in the opening paragraphs. Then decide if you want the protagonist to act or be acted upon—basically do they volunteer for a dangerous game like Katniss or are they hit on the head and sent to another world like Dorothy? If you are a “pantser” type of writer, be aware of the opening of the story and your page count. Set the Inciting Incident as close as you can to the beginning, while remembering that readers will like to get to know your protagonist a bit first. Think about character motives, goals, age, emotional state, and their setting. 

Q: What are some other names for the Inciting Incident?
A: Other names might include The Catalyst, The Significant Event, The Opening Event, The Trigger, or The Point of No Return.


As always, please let us know in the comments below if you have any other questions!

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Spring Writing Prompts 2019





By: The Steps to Getting Published Team


Happy Spring! The Steps to Getting Published Team is proud to bring you another edition of writing prompts. This spring edition includes spring themes for fiction writers, poets, and screenwriters. As always, we would love for you to post any stories, poems, or plays in the comments below—it would be our pleasure and honor to read them! We hope the new season inspires you with its rebirth, warmth, beauty, and colors. Happy Writing!

Writing Prompts for Fiction Writers

  • Create a short story based on a childhood memory of spring
  • On a rainy spring day, you’re walking home from a coffee shop, umbrella overhead, when you fall into a puddle to another world. Describe the world. Why did this happen to you?
  • Write a letter to the season
  • Write about two people on a first date in the park having a sweet picnic—and someone forgot the food.
  • In ten words or less, describe spring
  • Write about a garden of flattened pink roses. What might have happened?
  • Create a humorous short story about a gardening disaster
  • Write a short story with a flower festival setting


Writing Prompts for Poets

  • Write a poem from the perspective of a blooming flower petal
  • Write a poem about a new kind of flower
  • Write a poem about a springtime Tunnel of Love
  • Write a poem about how the grass and new flowers look in springtime, after a rainfall


Writing Prompts for Screenwriters

  • Construct a short screenplay where characters meet a guardian of spring
  • Write a play about a springtime sport injury that threatens to ruin the upcoming summer season


Image Prompt

Choose one of the images below. Write a short story, poem, or play, based on the image. 









Spring Writing Competitions 2019


By: Emrald Sethna



The Steps to Getting Published - Spring Writing Competitions!

Hello, dear writers! Spring is closing in on us, it's time to get ready for some Spring Writing Competitions!

Here are some competitions taking place this season:

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize - April 30
Entry Fee: $25
Max Word Count: Full manuscript
Prize: $5000 and publication

Nimrod Literary Awards - April 30
Entry Fee: $20
Max Word Count: 7500
Prize: $2000

My City, My Home: Short Story Contest - April 30
Entry Fee: $25
Max Word Count: 1500
Prize: $500

The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award - April 30
Entry Fee: $20
Max Word Count: 10000
Prize: $1000

The David Nathan Meyerson Prize for Fiction - May 1
Entry Fee: $25
Max Word Count: 8000
Prize: $1000 and publication

Feature Story Contest - Don't be a Hero: A Villainthology - May 1
Entry Fee: Free
Max Word Count: 10000
Prize: Publication

Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition - May 6
Entry Fee: $20-$30
Max Word Count: Varies
Prize: $5000

Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition - May 15
Entry Fee: $15
Maz Word Count: 3500
Prize: $1500

Grieve Writing Competition - May 15
Entry Fee: $16.50
Maz Word Count: 500
Prize: $7000 in total prizes

James Laughlin Award - May 15
Entry Fee: Free
Max Word Count: Full manuscript, 100 pages
Prize: $5000

Science Me a Story - May 16
Entry Fee: Free
Max Word Count: 4 pages
Prize: $150

Tillie Olsen Short Story Award - May 30
Entry Fee: $15
Max Word Count: 5000
Prize: $500 and publication



Happy Writing!