HOOT Review

"I hope you’ll make mistakes. If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something...."

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:53:32 -0400

“

I hope you’ll make mistakes. If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful. I once misspelled Caroline, in a letter, transposing the A and the O, and I thought, “Coraline looks like a real name…”

And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that’s unique. You have the ability to make art.

And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that’s been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and it gets you through the other ones.

Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.

Make good art.

I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn’t matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art.

Make it on the good days too.

”

- Neil Gaiman, Make Good Art commencement speech (which you should watch)

Good advice, y’all.

—James

The three types of stories I most often reject because I feel like I’ve read them before.

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:57:50 -0400

The three types of stories I most often reject because I feel like I’ve read them before.:

millionsmillions:

Joe Hiland, The Indiana Review‘s fiction editor, has some advice for writers who submit to his (or any) magazine.

We at HOOT talk about these sorts of things a lot when looking through our submissions for what we want to publish. After all, it’s not just about what suits our tastes, but also what is new/exciting/pushing buttons in the form!

—James

Need a reason to check us out?

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:58:36 -0400

We’re recommended on Goodreads as “ the best so far” in terms of cool places to publish poetry.

This is a helpful thread, so check it out!

—James

Postcards and tea are magical together. Do it, especially since...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:11:55 -0400

Postcards and tea are magical together. Do it, especially since it’s getting colder!

—James

catpostcards: Leaving on Vacation HOOT digs cat things. We...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:09:35 -0400

catpostcards:

Leaving on Vacation

HOOT digs cat things. We support our cats going on vacation as long as they come back, you know.

—James

Don’t wait for motivation to come to you!

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:54:18 -0400

Don’t wait for motivation to come to you!

Positively Reviewing Your Own Work?

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 09:44:02 -0400

Positively Reviewing Your Own Work?:

RJ Ellory, award-winning author of crime novels such as A Simple Act of Violence and A Quiet Belief in Angels was blasted by fellow crime writer Jeremy Duns for posting glowing reviews of his own work on Amazon under the pseudonym “Nicodemus Jones.”

After Duns exposed Ellory on Twitter, the author had no choice but to fess up to calling A Quiet Belief in Angels “a modern masterpiece” that “will touch your soul.”

For the record, I think the HOOT tumblr counts as “shameless self promotion through all available internet media” vs. increasing your Amazon hits…maybe. At least we’re honest when we say we think we’re awesome!

P.s. We try to post reviews of what other people think of us, too, just in case you don’t think we have enough evidence.

—James

penamerican: This one’s a little cynical, but we figure that...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:00:37 -0400

penamerican:

This one’s a little cynical, but we figure that people are nice and rested from the Labor Day weekend. Also, he draws hands in a really cool way.

12 of the Most Beautiful Online Literary Magazines

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:54:23 -0400

12 of the Most Beautiful Online Literary Magazines:

HOOT’s fantastic online issues may have not made the cut, but check out these other greats (especially if you are looking to procrastinate on something important).

—James

Reader survey:

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 09:54:45 -0400

Why do you, or would you, subscribe to HOOT?

It's not summer anymore...

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:55:38 -0400

…which means you should really start working on your writing again!

Join us tonight at 9pm EST and until 10.30 EST for the coolest online literary crit session ever!

Y’all should know the drill by now, but if not, here goes:

Most of the HOOT staff (3 out of 4) will be sitting in a specially created chat room (which you can find by clicking http://www.hootreview.com/workshops) to talk about your writing! Bring a piece, 150-words or less and in any stage of the process, and let’s discuss! Or, if you don’t have a piece, help us work through others’ pieces!

Why you should do this:

you don’t have to go anywhere far away
no one can see you squirm, so it’s low stress
you can take or leave our commentary
you get to see the sort of work we like to see/publish with HOOT
it’s free!

If those things don’t convince you, you’re probably hopeless.

We hope to see you there!

—James

More workshop reviews!

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:58:07 -0400

So in case you need one more reason to visit out HOOT chats on Wednesday night from 9-10.30 EST, here’s a testimony from 3labs, a frequent user, about how awesome we are:

“I just started writing poetry a few months ago, learning in on-line classes. I stumbled upon Hoot and their chat workshop just by chance as I was exploring the online world of poetry. I went to one a month ago—-and have not missed one since! It’s a bit of free-for-all experience whether you are discussing another participant’s poem or sitting back and watching the group discussing yours. One of things that I found quite useful when my own work is being discussed is to be able to see points of critique that everyone seems to agree with and those in which there is disagreement. I must also say that the editors do a great job making it all work, leading it along and being primary sources of feedback. You do definitely get critiqued, but both with what does not work for folks as well as what does. Sometimes, the chat even goes to the point of brainstorming specific suggestions for solving problems that are seen. And folks are just funny sometimes too—I have chuckled a lot during the workshops. I must say that the editors of Hoot seem to, in part, be billing their efforts with their review as a place that will be friendly to writers. That has certainly been my experience. I am really grateful for this free online workshop and will continue to be back at it till they throw me out.”

Aw, thanks 3labs. This was charming and thoughtful!

COME VISIT USSSSSS.

—James

5 Building Blocks of Your Character’s Personality

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 21:18:47 -0400

5 Building Blocks of Your Character’s Personality:

bookaddict24-7:

“Now that you’ve decided what your character’s motivation is, it’s time to actually construct the vessel in which this purpose will reside. Just how do you build a person? By creating a life where none existed.”

-Dailywritingtips.com

Happy writing!

This is important in “micro-settings” too! Especially when you have less space to work with a character, that person needs to be that much more compelling and human!

—James

kitschyliving: Owl Deviled Eggs We are totallymaking these at...

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:47:06 -0400

kitschyliving:

Owl Deviled Eggs

We are totallymaking these at our next meeting.

Check out our online issue #11, too!

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 09:38:54 -0400

You can see it here: http://www.hootreview.com/onlineissue11/ (don’t you love self-explanatory links?)

Things you have to look forward to:

vegetables
mice
interesting vocabulary choices

If you’re reading this, chances are you are 1) not at work or 2) “working” on a side project that involves Tumblr— so hit us up and share your thoughts!

—James

Print Issue #11 is up!

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:57:45 -0400

http://www.hootreview.com/printissue11/

And it’s pretty awesome. Don’t you think?

This week’s written piece, entitled “No More Astronauts,” is by Adam Loomis.

And yours truly (aka James) did the background art! Look at that, school-art teachers— I told you I’d be published someday.

—James

newyorker: Richard Brody remembers filmmaker Chris Marker, who...

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:48:59 -0400

newyorker:

Richard Brody remembers filmmaker Chris Marker, who died yesterday at age ninety-one: http://nyr.kr/Q72HeE

For Marker, memory isn’t passive; it’s an act of resistance—the edge that cuts a path into the future—and the effective work of memory is the very definition of art. Marker was a master of film editing—the part of the filmmaking process that Jean-Luc Godard, another master editor and memory-artist, defined as holding past, present, and future in one’s own hands—and the very possibility of remembering Marker demands a little editing, a splicing-in of excerpts from a surprising and crucial document.

(Image is a still from “La Jetée.”)

For anyone who is unfamiliar with his films/videos, check them out. I highly recommend “La Jetée,” and by that I mean you’ll probably need to see it 5 times before you understand anything about it. I still don’t, really.

—James

Workshoppin' on Wednesdays

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:53:33 -0400

In case you’d forgotten that we do this, tonight (Wednesday night) is our usual online workshop! Bring a short piece (150 words or less) and your literary lenses and get ready to critique others’ work/have other people help you with yours!

Go to our website, http://www.hootreview.com/workshops/, and click on the link. We’ll be there from 9-10.30 EST, so we’d love to have you!

—James

PEN Poetry Roundup: Po-blog is dead, long live the Po-blog!

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:49:34 -0400

penamerican:

In a world of inspired poetry Twitter and tumblr…nay, in a state of status update and animated gif, whatever happened to the blog scrolls of yore where poetic thought is explored ad hoc in post and comment alike? The poetry blog is alive and well; collective concerns like Montevidayo and THEthe Poetry Blog are thriving, and today we’ll celebrate some lone rangers lighting up the night with their blogged thought:

Elisa Gabbert collects her favorite tweets of all time for a nice case of cross-platform meta, then chattily dissects poems and poetics plural.

Read More

apoetreflects: “I dislike the word ‘craft,’ when we talk of...

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 09:48:51 -0400

apoetreflects:

“I dislike the word ‘craft,’ when we talk of poetry. ’Craft’ suggest an inanimate object, as when we say a carpenter crafts a chest of drawers. But somebody’s already made the wood. So therefore, thinking of it … my idea is this: perhaps making the poem from the beginning involves three separate areas of experience. The first experience … is interior. When the poet realizes for the first time … when he touches for the first time, something far inside of him. It’s connected with what the ancients called The Mysteries, and it’s wrong to talk of it very much. Some poets have the experience very early. Wordsworth said that he had experienced it when he was seven or eight years old. And others when they’re fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. Whitman, interestingly enough, did not have this experience until he was about thirty-seven years old. Before that, he was writing merely well-crafted newspaper verse. Then, when he touched another center inside—or when he—or you can use the metaphor of finding a well if you want—or you could talk of it as breaking through an ego wall but I don’t think it’s as useful—if any person comes near that experience he or she will never forget it the rest of his [or her] life. If he [or she] writes poetry it will come from that … You can talk of that as an experience. We could call this stage wholly interior.”

—Robert Bly, from his “Craft Interview” which was conducted in the Spring, 1972, and appears in Talking All Morning (University of Michigan Press, 1990), Poets on Poetry Series.