Recently, a frequent attendee at my monthly writers’ gathering, First Monday, First Person, sent me this note after missing a meeting:
“As I was driving back to Madison, I was aware of my thoughts turning to different stories I have heard, directly from humans’ voices, through the air, into my ear. That matters so very much to me.”
It matters to me, too.
Many of the pieces published on True Stories Well Told begin that way: one person reads a story aloud, and the rest of us listen. A particular voice carries a particular life across the room and places it, briefly, in someone else’s imagination.
But you don’t have to attend First Monday, First Person to contribute to that exchange.
I’m looking for true stories to publish on this blog.
Send me a personal essay, reminiscence, reflection, book review, observation, question, or piece about the writing process. Surprise me. The subjects may be ordinary or momentous. What matters is that the experience is yours and the telling invites a reader into it.
A few guidelines:
- Short is good. Essays under 800 words work best for the blog.
- Images are welcome. A photograph or memento can help bring the piece to life.
- Previously published work is welcome, provided you retain the right to share it.
- Please include a brief, third-person writer biography.
- Think carefully about naming other people. This is a public blog, and someone you know may read what you write. Pseudonyms are welcome.
You retain the copyright to your work.
Send submissions to sarah.white@firstpersonprod.com. You may paste your piece into an email, attach a document, or send it in whatever form is easiest for you.
You lived it, you pondered it. Write it down. Then let me hear it.
