Sometimes as writers we just need a quick fix—to be noticed, to have our work read by someone other than our spouse, and to see our words in print (or online). If you find yourself in need of some quick validation, submitting a short piece to Visual Verse may be just the ticket!
Visual Verse is an online anthology of art, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction—anything goes, in other words. On the first of every month, Visual Verse posts a new image and requests submissions for its online journal. Here are the rules: submit a piece of 50 to 500 words and write the piece in an hour or less. Of course you should take the time to edit for typos, etc., afterward, but the writing should happen within an hour. And while it may be obvious, I will just say so specifically here: it’s a non-paying market. You will be writing just for the joy of seeing your work “out there” in the world.
This type of writing from art is called ekphrasis, and it’s fun! Just take whatever comes to mind in response to the image and run with it. (If you’d like to learn more about ekphrasis, see my December 2015 blog post.) I have occasionally used one of the images from Visual Verse as a writing prompt in my Monday Amherst Writers & Artists workshop, and workshop participant Barbara Galvin and I had pieces published in Visual Verse Vol. 04, Chapter 07. They were titled “Lady in Black on Blue” and “Watcher,” and appear on pages 72 & 73 in case you’re interested.
The deadline for Visual Verse is always the 15th of the month, so you have six days to respond to the image above. Here’s the link to submit and to sign up for their mailing list. Let me know if you decide to do it!
The image above for February 2018 is by Daniel Frost.