Today’s creative writing prompt is
Dear Editor…
One of the easiest ways to get your name into print (apart from getting arrested and appearing in a notorious court case) is to write a Letter to the Editor.
Choose a magazine or newspaper, check out the letters page to see the style and length of items published there, and choose a relevant subject. Some magazines even pay for each letter they publish, or offer prizes for the best ones.
I imagine lock-down and COVID-19 stories have been done to death (!) lately, so you might want to think of something else to write about.
Years ago, I used to send letters to the women’s magazines about the funny things my children said and did. But if I did that now, they’d probably sue me (the children, not the magazines).
Instead, I am using the picture here to include with a letter to an ornithology magazine asking if anyone knows what this bird is up to on my car (besides leaving a lot of mess)? It is a Blue Tit (the bird, not the car) and for the past week or so seems to have become obsessed with its own reflection, so I’ll be penning a letter to Wings, the magazine of BirdWatch Ireland.
Specialist magazines associated with hobbies and pastimes often snap up readers’ letters, so I’m hopeful.
Of course, you could always try a letter about writing for Writing Magazine. They ask for a maximum of 250 words and award a copy of The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook to the writer of their star letter.
Back to Basics – if you need to catch up, it started here (but we’re over half way through now).
I intend posting prompts here each day (until May Day) at 5pm – alive at five (Dublin time).