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R.P.R.L. Submission

Writers' Guidelines

Creating the story

Although we’d like to think that you’ve exhibited enough interest in writing previously to take classes or read a few books on the subject, we’d like to offer a few hints about the kind of nonfiction writing we want to see. Some of the most interesting true tales use the literary devices of fiction to enliven what could be dull narratives of background, character traits, or plot actions. Consider glancing through the pages created by Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson or Thomas Wolfe. Your Real People Real Lives story should be totally authentic, but charming and colorful. Don’t just drag the reader through a series of literary hoops and flips, but give them something to take with them to the dinner table or coffee shop. Like powerful lessons of survival and forays into higher awareness. Insights into compassion and healing. Or the creative transformation that can happen when you follow your heart. Feel very free to uplift, educate and entertain all of us earthlings.

Each volume of real people real lives will include a mix of stories with varied themes such as:

MORE TIPS FOR WRITING STORIES FOR REAL PEOPLE REAL LIVES

Show, don’t tell. Fill your scenes with vibrant actions that drive the plot onward like a great eagle, imagery that teases the senses, and dialog that allows the reader intimate access into the characters’ relationships and emotions. Your readers want to see and feel everything. Take them where they’ve never been before.

Write from the heart. Tell your story honestly and fully. Include every delicious detail, but don’t wander into a left field full with cow pies that shouldn’t be there. Each scene must be as real for the reader as it was for you or the person who lived through it.

All stories should have a beginning, middle and end. Begin with a strong opening sentence that invites the reader to explore further. Introduce the main characters, create some environmental background and send in enough elements of the plot to initiate the basic theme of the story. Let the reader in on the nature of the protagonist’s quest.

In the middle section of the story, the plot should swing from exposition into a developmental stage. Challenges that arise for the protagonist or group should lead to trying out or discovering ideas to fix, alter or eliminate their problems. Obstacles usually arise to prevent or screw up their well laid plans, so the protagonist and crew must come up with new solutions. New characters may show up. Characters may suddenly change directions or reveal personality traits that may or may not help to move the story along. The gods may act badly. Eventually everyone should have agreed on what’s to be done and goes to do it.

A good story should end with a satisfying conclusion that resolves the story’s conflicts and confusions in a positive way. The main characters should get what they want and somehow be changed by their experiences forever. By the story’s conclusion, the reader should have a moment like Aha! Wow! Yes!

Readers of Real People Real Lives are generally classified as mainstream adult. Use language that’s lively and appropriate for your story’s characters yet still connects with your readership. Read your story out loud. The words and story should flow easily and melodically. Make every word count and get acquainted with verbs that bristle with unusual definitions. Remove anything that’s not truly essential to the story.

One of the best ways to discover the nature and flavor of Real People Real Lives stories is to read them. Real People Real Lives books can be purchased at booksellers everywhere. A few sample stories are also posted on the Retired Hipster website.

Terms & Conditions

Submission deadline: Open
Submission Fee: Free
Awards: $250 Grand Prize awarded to one story per volume; $50 each for each additional story published in Real Lives Real People. And that’s not all. You’ll also receive your own complimentary copy of our book after it’s finally published
Word Count: At least 1,000–2,000 words
Point of View: First-person or third-person only.

Style: Narrative nonfiction, creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction only. If you’re thinking of sending us published articles, editorial, expositive or persuasive essays, rants, diatribes, fiction, poetry, prose, profiles, eulogies, sermons, testimonials, letters, commentaries, academic papers, erotica, or experimental literature, think again. We’re hungry for stories with beginnings, developed middles and endings that could potentially make our readership weep, laugh or sigh into their pillows every night for a week. And it’s got to be as real as the muffin, coffee and multi-vitamins you had a few hours ago.

That being said, it’s also possible that some previously published material could slide under the ultrawaves. For one thing, we’re not about to act on reprints of material that’s been or will be published in a glossy magazine with a mega-circulation (think Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, Harper’s, Reader’s Digest, etc.) or in a book that contains work by several authors. The exception would be a book that features original work by only the author in question. You tell us, we’ll decide.

Tone: First all, everything has to be in English. We all speak English here at Retired Hipster and, in return, we expect your stories to speak to us in our language of choice so that everybody’s on the same page, so to speak. The important thing is that your story be written only by you, as true as you remember it (if there are facts to be checked, we’ll check ‘em), and we want you to leave your readers with more poignancy, inspiration, warm fuzzies, or humor than they can ever assimilate in one half-life. Your command of literary devices, vocabulary, and structure should be gold-star great. Cry, baby, cry!

We’ll mail a publishing agreement to the author of each story selected as a finalist. Due to the large volume of submissions we receive, we cannot send you a notification acknowledging receipt of your submission(s), nor can we update you on the status of your submissions. Sorry. The exception is the finalists who we’ll notify in writing. We also cannot return manuscripts. The Grand-Prize winning story and list of contributors for each volume will be posted on the website after the book is published. We await your entries with the bated breath of eager puppies.

Please Email Submission to: retiredhipster@yahoo.com
Subject line please write: R.P.R.L. STORY