Saturday Newsletter: October 2, 2021

A note from Jane

Now it’s October, it definitely feels like fall—the perfect time of year to curl up in a cozy chair on one of those ever-lengthening evenings with the new issue of Stone Soup and a pile of books to read. There are so many delights in this month’s issue, but I wanted to draw your attention to a book review, included in our new feature highlighting material from Stonesoup.com. I am a huge fan of the absurd, especially when it appears in the form of an incredibly serious approach to something not obviously worthy of that kind of attention, so I loved reading Brais Macknick-Conde’s review of David Rees’s How to Sharpen Pencils. Besides the fact that I am naturally drawn to the book Brais reviewed, I also really enjoyed the style in which they reviewed it. While sharing all of the proper insights of a great reviewer, they brilliantly deadpan their way through their review, mirroring the style of the book itself, and closing with a gloriously tongue-in-cheek summary of the important things learned from this manual.

This weekend, I challenge you to produce a review of a piece of creative work in the style of the original. Focus in on two or three paragraphs of the writing you are reviewing and take note of the author’s word choices, sentence structures, turns of phrase, and adherence to the rules of genre. Do they have particular stylistic tics you can mimic? Maybe something like long, rambling sentences broken up with clauses or dashes—as if they are having lots of thoughts at once, in a haze—or, perhaps, equally long, meandering ones, somehow controlled with commas; or semi-colons. Or perhaps it’s all short and to the point. Or choosing every word or phrase carefully, like a cat waiting to pounce? They might use deliberately technical language, or period speech. Whatever it is, work with your observations to have fun working in the mode of someone else’s style or genre. Understanding our greatest inspirations can be a great way to help us find our own voices, and have some fun in the process.

If visual art is more your bag, take inspiration from the tremendous October issue cover art by Zoe Campbell. Her Baleful Strix is so vividly alive, its legs powerful, its wings outstretched, leaning into our space and fixing us with its eyes. Its power is emphasized by her bold color palette, an extraordinary mixture of strong, fiery warmth and cooling blue-grays and purples. It makes me think of fall, and Halloween, and mythology—and at the same time, the creature’s expression, and even the striking title, make me question its identity. Is it really the baleful loner it seems? I feel there are many possible tales to tell embedded in this image . . .

Whatever you choose as your creative inspiration this weekend, if you are happy with it, send us what you make!

Before I go, I wanted to say that this week we are saying a fond farewell to one of our longest-serving interns, Anya Geist. We already knew Anya as a contributor pre-2020, but when COVID-19 struck she stepped forward to participate in and help us deliver all the new projects we started at that time—classes, Book Club, prompts, contests, and related web posts, just for starters—and she became a really important part of our team. We couldn’t possibly have got it all done without you, Anya! I was lucky to be the team member working most closely with Anya. It was a pleasure from start to finish, and great to have someone keeping me (mostly) on track! We especially had fun teaching our summer camp on starting your own literary magazine. (And what a great group joined the class, performing the miracle of making an actual online magazine in four days flat. Phew!). I want to say on behalf of the whole Stone Soup team that we are so proud of everything you have achieved with us, Anya. “Thank you” is two rather small words, but they mean so much in this instance. We look forward to hearing more from you as you continue to carry your brilliance out into the world. You can read a message from Anya herself below.

Until next time,

 A note from Anya

Dear Stone Soup Community,

For the past sixteen-plus months, I have been working as an intern for Stone Soup. Now, my time here is coming to an end—I’m ready to take all that I’ve learned into my own community in Massachusetts, and to launch into all of the excitement that is sophomore year of high school.

I have learned and grown so much through Stone Soup, and not only via my internship. Stone Soup has let me share my writing and art with the world: photography, short stories, poetry, my novel . . . all of it. I have met other young writers through the writing workshops, and through the summer camps; and of course, I gained invaluable leadership experience through my internship—co-running Book Club, creating an interview series with Stone Soup contributors, and far more. If you had told me five years ago that the magazine I loved to read would become so much more important in my life, I might not have believed it. But that’s what has happened. I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to explore my confidence and independence, and to engage with the community—with all of you—through creative prompts, flash contests, Book Club, and so much more. Stone Soup will always be very special to me, and I hope that other young writers and artists will feel that way, too.

Sincerely,