Aydin Reyhan
Collision Magazine (collision.pitt@gmail.com)
This literary magazine is run by students at the University of Pittsburgh.
Analysis: The editors of this journal accept the works of poetry, prose, literary criticism, and visual art/photography. The essays should be a decent length (not too long or short) and catch the reader’s eye. It needs to stand out more than the others. If one has already been published in this magazine, they are encouraged to attempt to do so again.
Prose: No more than 3000 words for this type of work should be sent in. Creative non-fiction prose includes the personal essay, narrative, travel piece, and profile.
My story fits in the prose section of this site. The one I would submit is “The Field,” which is about the soccer game I attended. It is my first “eye” essay. It is a descriptive travel piece, being that I described what was in my sight in Philadelphia at the game. My experiences that I heard with my ears and saw with my own two eyes are all in there. Therefore, the purpose of this piece is intended to be read by an audience that loves sports and traveling. Also, I want the audience to experience the same emotions I did when at the game. The roar of the crowd, the goals, the arguments, and competition between the two nations is what should be understood or thought about. That is all crucially important.
Representatives Essays
Subject Matter: The prose dominates the journal. They are written in a narrative voice. They are all written from a personal perspective of things they see, hear, and touch. There is even a bit of dialogue. None of the writings have anything to do with sports. Therefore, mine would be a unique addition.
Voice/Tone: There is no humor or political commentary, just serious reflection. Writers present their experiences from their lives as if they are telling us in person.
Form: This is mostly written in experimental form. After every sentence, they begin at a new line, even if it is not the beginning of a new paragraph. The grammar seems not to be corrected in some of the pieces so I do not know if it was done on purpose or not. There is one poem where the writing is small and placed on different spots of the page, as opposed to putting it all in one long form line by line.
Artistry: They are all quite literary and narrative. However, they are not too journalistic. None of the pieces seemed to have been taken out of a journal of any sort. Some describe important scenes from their lives with words that fit perfectly within.
Gift for a Fifth Child was written by Lawrence Lenhart of the University of Pittsburgh.
http://collision.honorscollege.pitt.edu/pdf/Collision11.pdf
Page 7
It is a story about an Irish family that has a house with a lot of history behind it. The main character takes the keys of the house after attending the funeral of the owner, John. The description of the inside of the house has a meaning behind it all. The author takes us through each part of the house and gives us a taste of what occurred within. John had promised to give the priest a hat but had to break it since he promised it to the main character. The imagery, voice, and description gives me the vision of the entirety of the story. It’s a quick yet interesting read.
Length: Some of the prose pieces are 3-4 pages while the poetry is no more than 1-2.
Number of Pieces Accepted: 14 per publication (Prose and Poetry)
Pay: 1st Prize-$250
2nd Prize-$135
3rd Prize-$100
Cover-$100
Manuscript requirements: All written work should be sent in a .doc document. The author’s name should not be included within the document of the submitted work. With the attached material, your name, contact info, and school name should be included in the body of the e-mail. One must be an undergraduate in order to submit his/her work.
There are no reading dates.
They are willing to provide feedback for the essays that are submitted by students.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Blog 21-Craft essay
Craft Essay
For the past three months, we have evolved as writers within the creative non-fiction genre. I the beginning, it was just a class to take with the hope of earning an A and learning a bit. However, the realization that there’s much more than that struck almost instantaneously.
At first, my writing was solely regarding the world of sports, soccer to be particular. My goal is to become a soccer writer within the near future after graduating college. Blogging, watching games, analyzing, and thoroughly describing my views and thoughts on the game is what soccer writing is all about. Making the switch to creative non-fiction for the class room was a bit difficult after an entire summer of sports writing. Every story was written from my perspective.
My first creative non-fiction piece was about the time I experienced my first car accident. The goal of that particular work was to tell the story from start to finish. No imagery or philosophy was intended to be written. I explained in chronological order what had happened at the time. The intended audience for that piece would be people who have had similar experiences that could relate to me. The story was written in organized form, moving from one paragraph to the next. It was directly to the point from start to finish which allowed it to develop along as it went.
Next up was the story on the family business. Transition swayed throughout the entire piece as there would be dialogue and description playing off one another. Whether it was having an issue with a customer or not wishing to follow my parents’ orders to make two pizza pies, it was all clear. It wasn’t as organized as the first piece because of the transitioning. Some paragraphs would be longer than others. The idea was to give my ideal audience of people who have worked/owned restaurants the first hand experience of what my family and I go through. However, for this story, I may have not put it in the best order. I could have made it a tad more exciting if I didn’t rush through writing the piece.
My third and fourth pieces were about the inside of a packed stadium at a live soccer match and travelling to Turkey respectively. Both were organized in the same way as the first one. The Field showed my experience at my first ever showdown between Turkey and the USA. I would transition between game play and the dialogue occurring with me and the other fans all around the stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The audiences that I would imagine enjoying the read are fans of international soccer. The language and dialogue within my story are what occurred at the game. It’s an experience I will never wish to forget.
The travel piece on the differences between Turkey and the USA is probably my favorite one of all. I wrote it out straight through for the rough draft. From playing video games in the United States to kicking a rubber round ball in the dirt, the differences of these two nations are certainly there. For the revised draft, I took my time and made a few changes here and there to make it even better than it was. For people who would like to find out what it is like to travel to Turkey, that story is a must read. The imagery, metaphors, and easy description mixed altogether are what defined the piece.
Throughout this semester, I experimented with different types of stories in different ways. I really had to force my way out of my comfort zone in order to do the job right. The language was all straightforward within all four of my works. I wrote the stories and descriptions the way I know them. The ethics of my representations are certainly acceptable. No one was intended to be offended by any of my stories. They were written for the purpose of learning and enjoying the words on the screen.
My process definitely changed and grew throughout this semester in the ways that I learned more about organization, imagery, ethics, craft, and of course the idea of focus. The last one was difficult because I usually like to jump around to write the story as the thoughts pop into my head. However, I learned how to organize my thoughts and write them down as they fit in the best order.
Writing creative non-fiction has been a wonderful journey for me to take part in. From beginning solely as a sports writer, I grew into someone who can write about different, new, and interesting subjects that will not only attract sports fans but people who deal with everyday situations. Owning a restaurant, watching a sporting event, traveling, and experiencing accidental events are all parts of my life that I was finally able to write about. Even if it is just a tiny bit, my writing process certainly did improve throughout the semester as I was finally able to shift from sports writing. The tools I picked up in this class are ones I will never forget. Thank you for reading.
For the past three months, we have evolved as writers within the creative non-fiction genre. I the beginning, it was just a class to take with the hope of earning an A and learning a bit. However, the realization that there’s much more than that struck almost instantaneously.
At first, my writing was solely regarding the world of sports, soccer to be particular. My goal is to become a soccer writer within the near future after graduating college. Blogging, watching games, analyzing, and thoroughly describing my views and thoughts on the game is what soccer writing is all about. Making the switch to creative non-fiction for the class room was a bit difficult after an entire summer of sports writing. Every story was written from my perspective.
My first creative non-fiction piece was about the time I experienced my first car accident. The goal of that particular work was to tell the story from start to finish. No imagery or philosophy was intended to be written. I explained in chronological order what had happened at the time. The intended audience for that piece would be people who have had similar experiences that could relate to me. The story was written in organized form, moving from one paragraph to the next. It was directly to the point from start to finish which allowed it to develop along as it went.
Next up was the story on the family business. Transition swayed throughout the entire piece as there would be dialogue and description playing off one another. Whether it was having an issue with a customer or not wishing to follow my parents’ orders to make two pizza pies, it was all clear. It wasn’t as organized as the first piece because of the transitioning. Some paragraphs would be longer than others. The idea was to give my ideal audience of people who have worked/owned restaurants the first hand experience of what my family and I go through. However, for this story, I may have not put it in the best order. I could have made it a tad more exciting if I didn’t rush through writing the piece.
My third and fourth pieces were about the inside of a packed stadium at a live soccer match and travelling to Turkey respectively. Both were organized in the same way as the first one. The Field showed my experience at my first ever showdown between Turkey and the USA. I would transition between game play and the dialogue occurring with me and the other fans all around the stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The audiences that I would imagine enjoying the read are fans of international soccer. The language and dialogue within my story are what occurred at the game. It’s an experience I will never wish to forget.
The travel piece on the differences between Turkey and the USA is probably my favorite one of all. I wrote it out straight through for the rough draft. From playing video games in the United States to kicking a rubber round ball in the dirt, the differences of these two nations are certainly there. For the revised draft, I took my time and made a few changes here and there to make it even better than it was. For people who would like to find out what it is like to travel to Turkey, that story is a must read. The imagery, metaphors, and easy description mixed altogether are what defined the piece.
Throughout this semester, I experimented with different types of stories in different ways. I really had to force my way out of my comfort zone in order to do the job right. The language was all straightforward within all four of my works. I wrote the stories and descriptions the way I know them. The ethics of my representations are certainly acceptable. No one was intended to be offended by any of my stories. They were written for the purpose of learning and enjoying the words on the screen.
My process definitely changed and grew throughout this semester in the ways that I learned more about organization, imagery, ethics, craft, and of course the idea of focus. The last one was difficult because I usually like to jump around to write the story as the thoughts pop into my head. However, I learned how to organize my thoughts and write them down as they fit in the best order.
Writing creative non-fiction has been a wonderful journey for me to take part in. From beginning solely as a sports writer, I grew into someone who can write about different, new, and interesting subjects that will not only attract sports fans but people who deal with everyday situations. Owning a restaurant, watching a sporting event, traveling, and experiencing accidental events are all parts of my life that I was finally able to write about. Even if it is just a tiny bit, my writing process certainly did improve throughout the semester as I was finally able to shift from sports writing. The tools I picked up in this class are ones I will never forget. Thank you for reading.
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