Unity in a collection of literature is an often overlooked aspect of putting together a literary magazine. I’ve seen numerous times in literary magazines, particularly college- and university-run magazines, where the content of the magazine seems to be an amalgam of different stories, different poems and more noticeably different kinds of work. Many magazines include the submissions that they feel were the strongest pieces, but less often is it seen that the pieces in a collegiate magazine are unified thematically or tonally.

(c) Can Stock Photo Inc. / AlexMax

As a reader, I don’t enjoy being jarred when turning the page and finding a story that is dramatically different in content from the previous one— even if the magazine isn’t necessarily meant to be read through at once, clashing sorts of stories can make a great deal of dissonance with the reader. I think it’s the editor’s job to make sure the stories are presented in the best light possible, and that means paying attention to how the whole collection flows.

An example of good unity in a collection is Asimov’s Science Fiction. The stories connect with each other in their shared sci-fi aspects, but also in their literary slant. Where some sci-fi and fantasy magazines will accept any stories from those genres, Asimov’s typically will publish stories that fit a style or emotion rather than a blanket of sci-fi without a common thread.

It’s very important in my opinion, then, that the stories put forth in Runestone can connect to each other in some way— whether it be from content, or theme, or tone, or even in character or musicality. The pieces themselves are, obviously, the most important aspect of a literary magazine, and we are intrinsically limited in regard to unifying the magazine given that we don’t have any say in what submissions we receive, but it is important to attempt to make the readers experience what we want it to be— and above all that it is smooth enough in between works to keep them from putting it down. It may also be a matter of setting guidelines for what sort of stories and pieces we’re looking for, encouraging authors of those types to submit to us and discouraging those pieces that we would not consider for publication.

As for what that sort of unity might be, I have no idea. It may be something devised and envisioned, but it may also have to be something arising from the best pieces that we choose— or it might be something that rises spontaneously out of those submissions. Whatever the case, however, unity must be a factor in deciding how a literary magazine is organized and structured. If a story does not fit into a greater whole, even if it is exemplary writing, it must be handled carefully to ensure that it does not turn away readers.

Meet the blogger: 

I’m Matt Swenson, a student of Hamline, a gamer, and primarily a Fiction author, and have been writing seriously for at least fifteen years. I tend towards Fantasy and Sci-Fi though I dabble in almost every genre, and read as much as my spare time allows.

image from stclairbroiler.com

Situated on the corner of St. Clair Avenue and Snelling Avenue, the St. Clair Broiler opened its doors in 1956. The display sign boasts classic neon letters and flames, a callback to that decade of monogrammed blouses, stylish eyeglasses, and rock & roll. While the first fast food restaurants began multiplying around the nation, the St. Clair Broiler stayed firmly rooted in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul. They serve a variety of dishes today– the menu brags of all-day breakfast, creative sandwiches, ribs, and desserts– but they are still best known for the charbroiled burgers and hand-dipped malts that made them a local landmark nearly sixty years ago. The St. Clair Broiler is tied to the Twin Cities as an evocative emblem like one found in fiction, such as the Double R Diner of Twin Peaks.

Many writers set aside a special place to work on their craft. For some, it can be a desk in the attic, or a favorite park bench. Others prefer background noise and gravitate toward cafes and coffee shops. One Minnesota writer, William Kent Krueger, regularly wrote at the St. Clair Broiler for over twenty years; a diner now woven into the literary fabric of the Twin Cities.

In the late 1980s, William Kent Krueger, then employed at the University of Minnesota, began spending his early mornings writing at the diner before going to work. He always sat in the same booth from 6:30am-8am, writing longhand in wirebound notebooks. He garnered the attention and support of the Broiler staff, who eagerly watched and waited for the story to come together. When he published Iron Lake, it was the first of many books to come out of Krueger’s time at the diner. 

Iron Lake is the first book in the Cork O’Connor mystery series, which is set in northern Minnesota. Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor– part-Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian– is a former sheriff who takes on grim, compelling cases. The books combine bleak wilderness and mythic puzzles to establish their specific niche within the genre. Krueger has said that he found the chatter around him at the St. Clair Broiler a source of inspiration rather than a distraction. Prior to Iron Lake’s release, he remarked:

I think there’s an energy here that fuels the writing as much as the coffee does. There are people coming and going and you’re involved in life and occasionally, if I need to look up from the page, I look out there, and I see life passing me by on the street as well. Sometimes I’ll see somebody wearing something and I’ll think, “That’s really striking,” and make a note of it, and that’s an outfit I’ll have somebody wear. I think the thing about the Broiler is you don’t take yourself outside of life, you sink yourself into it, and out of that a whole lot comes.

Krueger continued to write at the St. Clair Broiler for some time after Iron Lake’s release. Though he writes elsewhere now, Krueger still rises early and seats himself wherever a hot cup of coffee can be found. But the St. Clair Broiler is forever immortalized in the Cork O’Connor series– a diner known simply as “the Broiler” is detailed in the pages of that northern Minnesota locale. 

Meet the blogger:

Sarah Basil focuses her studies on creative nonfiction, and loves to explore hybrid and graphic genres as well. She graduates in May 2015 with a BFA in Creative Writing and a minor in English literature. Her work appears in issue 6 of Dirty Chai Magazine.

#1 Steven Roggenbuck

Steven Roggenbuck is the master of combining hilarious-absurd YouTube comedy and inspiring/very serious poetry. Not only can you find the majority of his poetry online, but he truly encourages free poetry for the masses, such as with his second book called “DOWNLOAD HELVETICA FOR FREE.COM.” His poems often center around internet culture and have therefore established quite the following of Digital Natives as fans.

steveroggenbuck.com

#2 Melissa Broder

Twitter. Twitter is important. Melissa Broder is a brilliant twitter-er. Her twitter, @melissabroder, discusses the many facets of life including being broken hearted, oversensitivity, depression, being whole, etc. She seems to be an inner-conscious of many 20/30-something year olds. She also writes poetry (she was just in POETRY’s December issue) but really her twitter is basically poetry in under 140 characters.

melissabroder.com

#3 Dustin Luke Nelson

Dustin Luke Nelson is the master of video poetry. Watch his video called “Tuba Player,” which shows eerie black & white film footage over a narration of Robert Wood’s poem of the same name. Or his video “It Happens When You Remark on the Shape of the Only Cloud in the Sky,” which is him narrating (though his voice is extremely distorted) his poem to a video of a train station. He also recently set the world record for longest applause (which of course he filmed).

blogsareaboutego.blogspot.com

#4 Amy Lawless

With her amazing website (f)lawless, Amy Lawless posts some of the weirdest, most hilarious blogs out there, including her most recent entitled “CRRREEEEEPPPPPYYYYY” which is as follows “I was just updating my blaaaag, because,well, yolo, and i noticed a creepsville, usa vibe here. What’s up with the number 11?:” She also utilizes podcasts, Vimeo and audio sharing sites to deliver her poetry in non-traditional ways. Amy is the perfect example of using multimedia to reach a wider and more diverse audience.

amylawless.blogspot.com

#5 Neil Hilborn

“OCD,” first published in 2013 via Button Poetry’s YouTube channel launched Neil Hilborn as the sort-of face for the YouTube-era of digital poetry. He used the online platform as a stepping stone into making “poetry” his career. He travels around the country to perform and speak about his writing. He also released a album of his poetry with a very nonsensical video as means of getting word out, along the style of many of the more “alt-friendly” crowd of YouTube content-providers. He also is a fantastic way of finding new poets as he posts (Facebook) or tweets about new poets, almost daily, including many of his Button Poetry family members.

neilhilborn.tumblr.com

Meet the blogger:

Lukas Hall is on the editorial board of Runestone, as well as an Editorial Assistant for Poetry City, USA. His poems have appeared in East Jasmine Review, Aviary Review, Souvenir Lit, Mojave River Review, and Split Rock Review. He also won the 2013 Patsy Lea Core Memorial Award in Creative Writing, for his poetry.

Defeat writers block once and for all.   [© Gajus / Dollar Photo Club]

Do you want to be the best writer around? Well, as the song in The Karate Kid goes, nothing’s gonna ever keep you down if you follow these tips.

1. Bring a notebook with you. Put a notebook in your purse/bag to be prepared when inspiration strikes. Also, putting a notebook by your bed helps you record those wild dreams you never remember the next day. And if you do your best thinking in the shower, consider investing in a waterproof notebook, like an AquaNotes notepad for just $7.

2. Recognize opportunities to write. I once had a teacher who used to write scathing poems about the school administration during staff meetings. Take a cue from him and write whenever you can. Write on the bus. Write in the waiting room at your next doctor’s appointment. Bonus: helps ease any anxiety you might have when visiting the doctor or dentist.

3. Daydream. Do you ever see someone on the street and wonder what their life is like? Make up a story about them. Have fun and wonder about the world around you. Why is the sky blue? Sure, we know the scientific answer, but think of another explanation. Be as crazy as you want; maybe it’s made up of thousands of blue balloons that floated away from children’s hands.

4. Read. This advice is repeated over and over, but it’s too important not to mention. Reading can help you learn about sentence structure, plot structure, and line breaks. It can also provide inspiration for your own story or poem. Perhaps you enjoy the structure of a poem but want to focus on a completely different topic; why not mimic its structure (while giving credit to the original author)?

5. Write in a different genre. Not only does this keep you well-rounded, it can also spark ideas as you switch from one genre to the next. When I was a newspaper reporter, I often wrote about people. As a result, many of my poems ended up being portraits of people because I was used to telling other people’s stories, describing their behavior and speech patterns, and so on. Writing fiction might inspire you to create a narrative poem or incorporate dialogue into your poems.

6. Avoid writer’s block—keep typing so you don’t lose your flow. For example, if I can’t think of the exact word I want to use in a certain spot, I just write WORDS or TRANSITION in capital red letters and move on. That way I can get the gist written down without interrupting my flow of thoughts, and still remember to come back to the places where I was stuck.

7. Don’t overthink it, just write. Too many writers create their first draft stuck in full-on editing mode. They can’t move on until they figure out where that comma goes or where that line should break. Save the editing for later drafts so you can get those initial thoughts jotted down. Don’t shut ideas down before they’re fully realized.

Meet the blogger:

I am a senior studying English with a Concentration in Creative Writing at Hamline University. I primarily write poetry, but am currently working on a fiction piece about the adventures of two surfer bros. When I’m not writing, I can be found playing the drums or attempting to play the harmonica.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a Caribou Coffee and peer editing a friend’s fiction short story. During a break to refuel, we started to chat about literary journals and how necessary they are to read, support, and ultimately, submit to. You’re widely encouraged to have a thorough understanding of the journal you’re submitting to if you expect to have any real shot at publication (HINT: Know the name of the editor or editors you’re submitting to and don’t begin your cover letter with “To Whom It May Concern”). This is common sense, right? You don’t want to submit your horror short story to a journal that only wants religious or spiritual themed short stories. Knowing who to send your stuff to often comes from reading a copy or two to have a better understanding of what’s out there and what that specific editor or journal you’re submitting to seeks.

But there’s a problem. Whether you’re an undergrad or MFA student, funds are limited so how can you be expected to pay for a journal when you can barely afford tuition and school books? If you know where to look, solutions are available. Some journals have gone online and offer free or discounted eReader or PDF copies. If you workshop with a group of friends regularly, maybe you can each offer to get a subscription to one journal and frequently trade copies to increase circulation without shrinking your wallet. You can always go to your local library, too. The point is you’re creative, so find creative solutions, research journals and get your readers.

The world of literary journals is hemorrhaging cash to the point you’re likely to be paid in contributor copies or with only a hearty thank you after all your hard hours of sweat and sleepless nights over a cup of tea or hot coffee. And that’s when your work is accepted. The reason behind this is the circulation of the journals themselves is poor, at best. So why do they exist…and more important, why submit to someone who can’t pay you any money?

To network with your peers, editors and to build a base of readers. By finding the right journal to submit to, you will find editors and readers who will appreciate your work and treat it with the respect it deserves. By connecting and networking with editors and readers, you ultimately find an audience. It doesn’t matter how good your poem, short story or creative nonfiction essay is if you keep it tucked away in a filing cabinet or on a USB drive. The bottom line is the journals need you and you, the author, need the journals.

Which brings me to Runestone. There are very few BFA run literary journals which are online and exclusively for undergraduate students across the nation. Embrace and relish in the fact that even though we’re new, Hamline University, its faculty and students, have a rich and diverse history publishing Water~­Stone Review through its MFA program. Know that if you submit to us, we’ll respect your work, value it and keep it confidential. Embrace Water~Stone’s “punk kid sister,” Runestone.

 
Meet the blogger:

Originally from Washington, D.C., I moved to Minnesota and received an AFA in Creative Writing from Normandale Community College before transferring to Hamline University to complete a BFA with an emphasis in fiction. In my spare time, I herd cats, read Hemingway and drink scotch.