"Tips For Young Writers"

1. Read, read, and read some more. The more you read, the better you write. Reading in bed with a bowl of popcorn is the best way to go about this.

2. Keep a journal, something private, where you can let out your inner most thoughts. This is good if like me, you have a very bad memory. I do remember keeping a locked diary when I was a girl. I only wish I could remember what I had written in it! Another good hint, don't ever throw your journals or diaries away!

3. Look for inspiration right in your own back yard. You don't have to travel across an ocean to find great ideas for stories. You can find them in your classroom, your lunchroom, your bathtub! Your family and friends can turn out to be your best characters. My two sons, Noah and Jess inspired me to write Awfully Short For The Fourth Grade, Back In Action, and George Washington's Socks. Many of my family and friends are sprinkled throughout my books.

4. Learn from the pros. When you do read, choose the best writers you can find. They can often be your best teachers. [...]

5. Don't expect perfect, ever. Expect mistakes, and lot of them! Most writers rewrite over and over, I know I do. And don't write in stone - meaning don't think you can't change or improve what you've written, even if you've worked on it for a very long time. Sometimes you have to write through lots of trash before you get to the treasure.

6. Don't try and correct each and every word as you go. Write your story out and then go back and make your corrections. Worrying about spelling, grammar, and punctuation while you're writing can bog you down. I check all those boring things over after I've finished for the day.

7. Read what you've written out loud. I do this all the time so that I can hear how the words flow.

8. Become a people watcher. Where ever you are take notice of people and their reactions to events. This will help you when you develop your characters.

9. When you travel keep an eye out for a story and take a notebook along with you. You never know where inspiration will turn up!

10. Write from your heart. Write about things that matter most to you and your words will soar!

Advertising for Write Away

While it is true that Write Away webzine is free (we don't charge anything for the issues found online) we still would like to widen our circle of writers through advertising.

If you have a blog or website and would like to help WA! out by helping us get our name out there, please consider adding the picture ad above to your domain for others to see.
Many thanks,
Hannah

January 2009 Issue Complete

So sorry I didn't think to post this announcement here sooner, but the January issue is done and ready for you to download here. Many thanks for all you guys' help.

The February issue is well under way also. We're collecting writing to 'fill out' the magazine right now, so if you have anything to contribute, please send it in now.

Thanks,
-Hannah, Editor-in-Chief

The WA Giveaway (3)

Editor Ellis: As of today, all issues of the Write Away Giveaway (5 issues) have been given away. For those of you who are still interested but didn't get into the giveaway, please contact us. And thanks!

Editor Hannah: Right, Ellis. Many thanks to all of those who participated.
And remember, the subscription fee we ask for is only to cover costs for printing and shipping if you want the printed version of WA! mailed to you.
You don't have to pay! You can download the whole thing off our website for FREE here.

The Prices For Write Away In Print

The WA! Giveaway for 5 Free January issues is almost done, with only 1 free
copy left! But I think the giving fun isn't done... :)

We have stated our purpose as WA! to be a service and an help, not an extra cost, to writers-- and we want to live up to that purpose. That's why we are changing the "rules" just a bit in regard to Write Away! Magazine subscriptions.


When we considered it, $10 for 12 issues sounds like a lot (especially when many of you may not have even seen our work yet!) So we decided to offer a few deals for subscriptions. They are listed below:

Full Year Payment or Incremented Payment

You may pay the full price for a year's subscription ($11.50) all at once, or you can pay the amount in any other method of payment over time. We will not hold you to a full year's payment though because we print each of the issues the month before , and not yearly in advance. You pay for WA! magazine only for the months you ask for.

[Stamp payment section omitted for editing.]


Don't Forget WA!... Webzine

You may not think this is a deal per se, but it is! If you would like to have WA! monthly emailed to your inbox as an attachment to be opened in Word (97-2003), please email us with your own address and we'll put you on the list!


Try It Out!
While we offered the Giveaway to only 5 people, we think it'd be great to let more who are truly interested to request 1 Free issue also, at no cost. See if you like it first, then decide if you'd like to subscribe.



We wish we didn't have to charge anything to produce Write Away! magazine, but since that is the case, we hope you understand and still continue to support and contribute to WA!
If you'd like to take us up on any of these offers, just kindly copy the text above, and email it to us!
Many thanks,
Hannah & Ellis

A Giveaway!

Write Away will be giving away 5 FREE copies of the January 2009 issue!

If you would like to recieve one of these 5 printed issues for yourself or your family, contact us by email at writeawaynow@gmail.com.

The first 5 people to email us will recieve a free issue of Write Away! in the mail.

Keep an eye on the sidebar to see how many FREE issues are left!

We also want to take time to thank all our contributors and loyal supporters for all you have done with us so far. We look forward to another great year of WA! in 2009.
Merry Christmas and God bless!

--The WA! Staff

By Mail or By Web?

Can I Still Get W.A. In the Mail?

Absolutely.

From talking to various Write Away-ers and looking at our poll here on the side> , it appear that a good many of you prefer getting WA in the mail. And we say: "No problem!"
Even though we will still be publishing WA monthly on the website(http://sites/google/com/site/writeawaywebzine )--for FREE --we are also going to offer to again a printed version of Write Away to be mailed to your home.

For Everything There Is a Price

At least WA's worth it!

Postage & printing costs were our main concern when we decided to keep offering mailed WriteAway issues. That's why the price this year is $10 for 12 issues, per subscription. For just that much money, you can get a full-color, printed version of Write Away mailed to you every month.

If you'd like to do that, just remember to email us and tell us you are requesting the mailed issues, and we will get back to you with our mailing address ASAP.

We Want To See Everybody Happy

And that includes you!

If you have any ideas, questions or suggestions about the mailing of WA, feel free to contact us. We want to make this Writer's network and magazine works for everyone. :)

As You Can See...

Hi everyone! I am sure by now you might be a bit confused over the future of WA. Well, we are too so let's hang in there together! We (the editors) have been very, very busy researching ways to suit the needs of our authors/subscribers/writers. It's alot more complicated than we thought! Thanks for bearing with us. :)

So far, here's what we have been thinking about....this Blogspot will be the "forum" part of the Write Away network, where authors can talk and chit-chat about stuff that is in the WA issues, while the Google site (mentioned in emails) will be the "Home" or visitor "landing site" for new writers or where you could download WA issues. This is still in the baby-step stage, please realize.

Just thought I'd tell you all that and say hello, I'm one of the editors, you see...:)

Sincerely, Ellis

This Is It!

We are beginning

to put together

the very first

online issue of

Write Away! Webzine.

And so...

In order for there to actually be issues in this coming year, we need you all to send in your work.

Be sure to send your writing in before the deadline if you’d like to have it in a particular issue. But other than that it’s very simple: just email your finished story, poem or piece of writing to this email address and we'll take care of the rest.

If you can't remember the guidelines, just look at the sidebar text box to the right of the screen and at the chart in this post; both of those will tell you all you need to you to begin.

Okay, ready? Send it on in!

–The Editors.

Information for your benefit...

Hey there--

January 2009 is coming up fast and we here at Write Away Webzine are rearing up and getting ready to present your work in a new, colossal way!

While we are all anticipating the onset of the monthly issues of Write Away! here, please don't forget to send us an email to tell us you'll be reading, and perhaps writing for us. Thanks. :)

writeawaynow@gmail.com

From the soon-to-be-former editor :)

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Write Away webzine. As you can see, Hannah has done a great job setting it up. She and her sister, Liz (their work has appeared in Write Away under the names H. E. and E. J.) are going to take charge of Write Away beginning with the January/February 2009 issue, which will be the very first online issue.

I look forward to seeing Write Away grow and change under the editorship of the girls, and I hope you do too. For now, if you have any comments or questions, you can e-mail them at writeawaynow@gmail.com. And read over the information Hannah has posted here; you’ll get a feel for the format and submission guidelines.

Thanks so much to Hannah and Liz for enjoying Write Away enough to continue it!

~Tabitha O’Connell, Editor-in-Chief (until January) ;)

The Format

Here is the format Write Away monthly webzine will be published:

Copyright (c) 2008 by H. Hottenstein & E. Hottenstein

etc, etc.

The individual writings will be arranged according to taste and variety. You can submit your articles to be published by the last week before the month they will appear. (Example: Submit January articles by the second to last week in December.)

If you have any questions about or suggestions for the webzine, please contact the Staff.

Thank you!