Until now, I haven’t publicized a lot of our alumni successes. I wanted to be clear about my priorities: the goal is always you and your writing. I want to teach you how to be a healthy, skilled writer, and help you learn how to write what you want to read.
However, just because I haven’t been talking about our graduate success stories, does not mean they haven’t been happening. On the contrary. They’ve been publishing — a lot.
Below, you’ll see a collection of alumni success stories that we will be updating four times a year. Celebrate them, give them some high fives and love, and please share your milestones and success with me too.
There are so many great writers in this community. I’m proud of you! Congratulations on your success.
Margaret has been publishing and winning awards for her short stories.
My "real" writing started on a hot summer night in 2013 in Amsterdam when I decided to purchase The Story Course. By then, I had been receiving the Daily Prompts for a few months and I decided that I wanted to up my game.
I liked the course so much that that fall I enrolled in The Story Intensive. Fast forward to 2017 and this is what I have to report:
I'm in my final year of creative writing MFA at UBC; I have published two nonfiction pieces in Geist and four short stories in Prairie Fire, Numero Cinq, Broken Pencil, The Intima, and The Examined Life Journal. My non-fiction writing has won the Hamilton Short Works Prize and a national contest in Poland (in translation), and was shortlisted for EVENT CNF contest. This year, a story I published in Prairie Fire was nominated by its editors for the Journey Prize—I didn't make the anthology, but it was such a rush to get that email!
My "real" writing started on a hot summer night in 2013 in Amsterdam when I decided to purchase The Story Course. By then, I had been receiving the Daily Prompts for a few months and I decided that I wanted to up my game.
I liked the course so much that that fall I enrolled in The Story Intensive. Fast forward to 2017 and this is what I have to report:
I'm in my final year of creative writing MFA at UBC; I have published two nonfiction pieces in Geist and four short stories in Prairie Fire, Numero Cinq, Broken Pencil, The Intima, and The Examined Life Journal. My non-fiction writing has won the Hamilton Short Works Prize and a national contest in Poland (in translation), and was shortlisted for EVENT CNF contest. This year, a story I published in Prairie Fire was nominated by its editors for the Journey Prize—I didn't make the anthology, but it was such a rush to get that email!
Margaret Nowaczyk
Kelly published her novel to great acclaim.
Enrolled in the story course in 2014. Finished and published my novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, with Wayne State University Press the following year. It was chosen as a Michigan Notable Book, Foreword Review Indiefab Finalist, Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Award Finalist and IPPY Bronze Medalist.
Enrolled in the story course in 2014. Finished and published my novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, with Wayne State University Press the following year. It was chosen as a Michigan Notable Book, Foreword Review Indiefab Finalist, Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Award Finalist and IPPY Bronze Medalist.
Kelly Fordon
Milena's short story was published and she has recently completed a collection of stories.
In late 2013 I left my "regular" job as the director of a nonprofit evaluation group to pursue creative writing full-time. After stumbling around and trying a few community writing classes in Pittsburgh, I came across Sarah's website, her story prompts, and information about her online writing course, The Story Intensive. (I actually discovered Sarah's website from a post by Suzannah Windsor, another alum, who had published one of my essays in her beautiful journal, Compose.) By the end of the summer, 2014, I knew I needed some better structure to my writing practice, and so I signed up for The Story Intensive, TA'ed by the wonderful Lana Pesch. I loved the weekly assignments and lucked out with an incredible group of committed, talented, and thoughtful writing buddies.
"Birthday Party" came out of the Story Intensive exercise of writing 100 unrelated sentences, then arranging the sentences into a story. It is an exercise I've used several times since, when I feel stuck for ideas and just need to get myself writing. I've been working on the story since that first draft in 2014, finally adapting the piece into a (very mature) YA short story. One of the best parts of having it published has been the excuse to reach out to Lana and our writers' group and hear what everyone is up to. Sharing around emails reminded me of the different comments my Story Intensive readers provided me in those early drafts, and how important they were in shaping the path of the story.
I've recently finished a collection of short stories (and am looking for an agent or publisher 🙂 ). The first story in the collection also came from one of the Story Intensive writing exercises, and happened to be my first print publication last year. I am so grateful to The Story Intensive for setting me out on a solid writing foot. Thank you, Sarah and Lana and the women from my Story Intensive TA group!
In late 2013 I left my "regular" job as the director of a nonprofit evaluation group to pursue creative writing full-time. After stumbling around and trying a few community writing classes in Pittsburgh, I came across Sarah's website, her story prompts, and information about her online writing course, The Story Intensive. (I actually discovered Sarah's website from a post by Suzannah Windsor, another alum, who had published one of my essays in her beautiful journal, Compose.) By the end of the summer, 2014, I knew I needed some better structure to my writing practice, and so I signed up for The Story Intensive, TA'ed by the wonderful Lana Pesch. I loved the weekly assignments and lucked out with an incredible group of committed, talented, and thoughtful writing buddies.
"Birthday Party" came out of the Story Intensive exercise of writing 100 unrelated sentences, then arranging the sentences into a story. It is an exercise I've used several times since, when I feel stuck for ideas and just need to get myself writing. I've been working on the story since that first draft in 2014, finally adapting the piece into a (very mature) YA short story. One of the best parts of having it published has been the excuse to reach out to Lana and our writers' group and hear what everyone is up to. Sharing around emails reminded me of the different comments my Story Intensive readers provided me in those early drafts, and how important they were in shaping the path of the story.
I've recently finished a collection of short stories (and am looking for an agent or publisher 🙂 ). The first story in the collection also came from one of the Story Intensive writing exercises, and happened to be my first print publication last year. I am so grateful to The Story Intensive for setting me out on a solid writing foot. Thank you, Sarah and Lana and the women from my Story Intensive TA group!
Milena Nigam
Melinda was published in The New Quarterly.
My article on revision called A Better Story will be coming out in the Winter edition of The New Quarterly. I'm very thrilled.
My article on revision called A Better Story will be coming out in the Winter edition of The New Quarterly. I'm very thrilled.
Melinda Burns
Pia's short story won an award.
I bought the Story Course in March 2016 and went slowly through it. In Spring 2017 I finally reached lesson 6 and the famous 100-sentence-practise. I had been looking forward to this and I think, I expected something magic to happen. I used a new character for it, which I stumbled upon while I was using one of the writing prompts. Writing those 100 sentences turned out to be extremely difficult for me. I could only do this exercise in 20-minute-blocks, so it took me many days to complete it. I hated every minute of it. Nothing magic happened. I wrote some bad stuff, that’s all. After finishing I couldn’t turn the character away and so I kept on working with this story.
In June I finished the short story and sent it to a competition in July. It won an award called “Moerser Literaturpreis,” which meant a huge honour and a decent check. None of the 100 sentences ended in the final version of the story, but they helped me to get to know the character and the terrain of the story.
I bought the Story Course in March 2016 and went slowly through it. In Spring 2017 I finally reached lesson 6 and the famous 100-sentence-practise. I had been looking forward to this and I think, I expected something magic to happen. I used a new character for it, which I stumbled upon while I was using one of the writing prompts. Writing those 100 sentences turned out to be extremely difficult for me. I could only do this exercise in 20-minute-blocks, so it took me many days to complete it. I hated every minute of it. Nothing magic happened. I wrote some bad stuff, that’s all. After finishing I couldn’t turn the character away and so I kept on working with this story.
In June I finished the short story and sent it to a competition in July. It won an award called “Moerser Literaturpreis,” which meant a huge honour and a decent check. None of the 100 sentences ended in the final version of the story, but they helped me to get to know the character and the terrain of the story.
Pia Helfferich
Christina published a creative nonfiction essay in the Coachella Review.
This creative nonfiction essay came out of a series of wild freewrites scattered over about two years, from the ten-minute warm-up prompts that have been a part of my writing practice since I met Sarah back in 2009. I wrote these freewrites (as I always do) as if no one would ever read them. This is something I believe every time I do a writing exercise, or have managed to trick myself to believe, so that I can write without self-consciousness.
My analytical, plotting mind could never have convinced me to write this story, but I began to notice and become curious about the gathering pool of related scenes seeping up through the cracks of my fiction. I listened to my writing friends when I needed to ask the questions: What is this? Is this something? And I listened when they said: Yes! Keep going!
When I finally decided to steer straight into this piece, it became a deliberate exercise, a challenge to break open an old, stale story and peel away the summary that hid the discomfort and vulnerability beneath. I don't remember writing a lot of the paragraphs and scenes, and was continually surprised by the images and connections that bubbled up. I wanted to keep this piece as raw and as close to true (and unreliable) memory as I could, to share the unfiltered experience of the jumble and drift of thought, beliefs, images. The writing was quite effortless after years of practice with freewriting, drift, and always turning toward the discomfort while writing. The letting go of the piece was the difficult part. I am grateful to the Sarah Selecky / Story Is a State of Mind community (whether we've met in person or online) for the structure and support that helped me through the process of writing and release.
This creative nonfiction essay came out of a series of wild freewrites scattered over about two years, from the ten-minute warm-up prompts that have been a part of my writing practice since I met Sarah back in 2009. I wrote these freewrites (as I always do) as if no one would ever read them. This is something I believe every time I do a writing exercise, or have managed to trick myself to believe, so that I can write without self-consciousness.
My analytical, plotting mind could never have convinced me to write this story, but I began to notice and become curious about the gathering pool of related scenes seeping up through the cracks of my fiction. I listened to my writing friends when I needed to ask the questions: What is this? Is this something? And I listened when they said: Yes! Keep going!
When I finally decided to steer straight into this piece, it became a deliberate exercise, a challenge to break open an old, stale story and peel away the summary that hid the discomfort and vulnerability beneath. I don't remember writing a lot of the paragraphs and scenes, and was continually surprised by the images and connections that bubbled up. I wanted to keep this piece as raw and as close to true (and unreliable) memory as I could, to share the unfiltered experience of the jumble and drift of thought, beliefs, images. The writing was quite effortless after years of practice with freewriting, drift, and always turning toward the discomfort while writing. The letting go of the piece was the difficult part. I am grateful to the Sarah Selecky / Story Is a State of Mind community (whether we've met in person or online) for the structure and support that helped me through the process of writing and release.
Christina Cha
Suzannah stuck with a story until it was published in Geist.
In 2013, after working through The Story Course, I chose one of Sarah’s daily writing prompts (“Write a scene that takes place at a rink”) as the basis for a story to submit to the Little Bird Contest. The story didn’t place, so I shelved it for a couple of years, only coming back to it every so often to jot down ideas about revisions that might help flesh out the story more fully. Finally I decided to do some serious revision on the piece—which ended up taking well over a year before it was ready to submit to literary magazines—because I still felt it had a lot of potential.
I was delighted when Geist offered to publish my story, “Will There Be Any Stars?,” which they did in early 2017. I’m especially excited that this is my first Canadian publication.
In 2013, after working through The Story Course, I chose one of Sarah’s daily writing prompts (“Write a scene that takes place at a rink”) as the basis for a story to submit to the Little Bird Contest. The story didn’t place, so I shelved it for a couple of years, only coming back to it every so often to jot down ideas about revisions that might help flesh out the story more fully. Finally I decided to do some serious revision on the piece—which ended up taking well over a year before it was ready to submit to literary magazines—because I still felt it had a lot of potential.
I was delighted when Geist offered to publish my story, “Will There Be Any Stars?,” which they did in early 2017. I’m especially excited that this is my first Canadian publication.
Suzannah Windsor
Leslie was the winner of the 2016 CBC Creative Nonfiction prize for "Adaptation" and published a picture book, In The Red Canoe.
The Story Intensive changed my writing, changed me, in ways I can't even begin to articulate. I was in the first course and am still in touch with two of my cohort. October 2016 saw the release of my first picture book for kids, In The Red Canoe (Orca Books). I am indebted to Sarah and SSM for getting me writing and keeping me writing.
The Story Intensive changed my writing, changed me, in ways I can't even begin to articulate. I was in the first course and am still in touch with two of my cohort. October 2016 saw the release of my first picture book for kids, In The Red Canoe (Orca Books). I am indebted to Sarah and SSM for getting me writing and keeping me writing.
Leslie Davidson
Carrie was published in Racket and is working on a novel.
One of the stories I wrote recently found a home! My story is called “Rescue,” and it is published in an anthology of new Newfoundland writing called Racket, along with stories by the other members of my writing group, Port Authority.
Carrie is now finishing up the first draft of her novel which is the creative thesis for her master's at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL.
One of the stories I wrote recently found a home! My story is called “Rescue,” and it is published in an anthology of new Newfoundland writing called Racket, along with stories by the other members of my writing group, Port Authority.
Carrie is now finishing up the first draft of her novel which is the creative thesis for her master's at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL.
Carrie Ivardi
Susan has published several articles in print and online magazines.
Susan’s article “Sample Size of 2” was published in March 2016. She also had an article appear in the March/April 2017 issue of Vermont Magazine and a few pieces in the online magazine The Sunlight Press.
Susan’s article “Sample Size of 2” was published in March 2016. She also had an article appear in the March/April 2017 issue of Vermont Magazine and a few pieces in the online magazine The Sunlight Press.
Susan Cruickshank
Stormy published her novel, The Drowning Shark: A Sierra Rouge Adventure.
Two years ago, my husband and I carved out three days to go through The Story Course together. We'd been struggling in our process of co-writing a YA novel we'd been working on. The exercises helped us clarify our own voices, but also get in sync with each other and polish our writing and storytelling skills. Today, we are excited to share that our novel (The Drowning Shark: A Sierra Rouge Adventure) has been published! Thank you Sarah Selecky for such a great course!
Two years ago, my husband and I carved out three days to go through The Story Course together. We'd been struggling in our process of co-writing a YA novel we'd been working on. The exercises helped us clarify our own voices, but also get in sync with each other and polish our writing and storytelling skills. Today, we are excited to share that our novel (The Drowning Shark: A Sierra Rouge Adventure) has been published! Thank you Sarah Selecky for such a great course!
Stormy Sweitzer
Lara was shortlisted for the Geist CanLit Short Story Contest and published in the Danforth Review.
Lara started a blog of love letters to dead writers which is on hiatus, but she does hope to return to it. One of those posts was featured on the Ottawa Arts Review blog.
In September 2016, she published the story “Posy” in the Danforth Review that was started in the Intensive. She was also shortlisted for the Geist CanLit Short Story Contest for what she says is a very rude story about Nickleback.
Currently she is "sort of working on some creative non-fiction stuff and have two plays slowly brewing."
"Sarah and the Intensive did so much for my relationship with writing and I am so grateful for what she has created. I did the Monday night live writing practice sessions this spring while I was bedridden and it was such a wonderful way to feel a bit more like myself again. I'm very grateful."
Lara started a blog of love letters to dead writers which is on hiatus, but she does hope to return to it. One of those posts was featured on the Ottawa Arts Review blog.
In September 2016, she published the story “Posy” in the Danforth Review that was started in the Intensive. She was also shortlisted for the Geist CanLit Short Story Contest for what she says is a very rude story about Nickleback.
Currently she is "sort of working on some creative non-fiction stuff and have two plays slowly brewing."
"Sarah and the Intensive did so much for my relationship with writing and I am so grateful for what she has created. I did the Monday night live writing practice sessions this spring while I was bedridden and it was such a wonderful way to feel a bit more like myself again. I'm very grateful."
Lara Stokes
Loucas' story won first prize and will be published in Island Writer Magazine.
I graduated from the Story Intensive with four complete short stories that came out of the lessons and assignments of the course. Inspired by the material, my teacher, and my classmates, I wrote the most and best I had written in years. Out of sheer bravado, I submitted my final critiqued story to Prism International's Annual Short Story Contest. My story was long-listed (but not published) with 14 others from a field of 450 submissions. This was the first time I truly felt like a writer.
My story was then summarily rejected eight times in a row. This was the second time I truly felt like a writer.
Meanwhile, on a whim, I pulled my Story Intensive assignment on dialogue and at 750 words send in to a flash fiction magazine, practically unchanged. It was accepted for publication with flattering editorial remarks, and was published, practically unchanged. True writer feelings for a third time.
Back to the rejected story. I revised it from 3,700 words to 2,500 words with the intention of submitting it to the annual contest of my local writers' association. But first I enrolled in the Story Workshop (for a second time) and put my story through the scrutiny and feedback of my teacher and classmates. I fine-tuned it with their input and sent it in. It took first prize and will be published this December in the literary journal of the Victoria Writers' Association, Island Writer Magazine.
Two more of my stories from The Story Intensive are now making the rounds. A novella of speculative fiction is also in the works—by someone who now feels like a genuine writer, so watch out. Many thanks to Steph VanderMeulen, Jennifer Manuel, and Sonal Champsee, and the dozen or so kindred spirits from around the world who guided me and inspired me through one stint of The Story Intensive and two of The Story Workshop.
I graduated from the Story Intensive with four complete short stories that came out of the lessons and assignments of the course. Inspired by the material, my teacher, and my classmates, I wrote the most and best I had written in years. Out of sheer bravado, I submitted my final critiqued story to Prism International's Annual Short Story Contest. My story was long-listed (but not published) with 14 others from a field of 450 submissions. This was the first time I truly felt like a writer.
My story was then summarily rejected eight times in a row. This was the second time I truly felt like a writer.
Meanwhile, on a whim, I pulled my Story Intensive assignment on dialogue and at 750 words send in to a flash fiction magazine, practically unchanged. It was accepted for publication with flattering editorial remarks, and was published, practically unchanged. True writer feelings for a third time.
Back to the rejected story. I revised it from 3,700 words to 2,500 words with the intention of submitting it to the annual contest of my local writers' association. But first I enrolled in the Story Workshop (for a second time) and put my story through the scrutiny and feedback of my teacher and classmates. I fine-tuned it with their input and sent it in. It took first prize and will be published this December in the literary journal of the Victoria Writers' Association, Island Writer Magazine.
Two more of my stories from The Story Intensive are now making the rounds. A novella of speculative fiction is also in the works—by someone who now feels like a genuine writer, so watch out. Many thanks to Steph VanderMeulen, Jennifer Manuel, and Sonal Champsee, and the dozen or so kindred spirits from around the world who guided me and inspired me through one stint of The Story Intensive and two of The Story Workshop.
Loucas Raptis
Cheryl won a short story contest.
I won a short story contest! The story was created through The Story Intensive a couple of years ago. The character first appeared as a result of the prompt, "Other people's problems." My feedback group latched onto the one sentence about him so I did the plot and drift lesson (the BEST lesson ever) on his story and continued with another scene for him in the dialogue lesson (another Best!). I kept going back and forth between these lessons to complete the story and then polished it up, and now it's a winner and I got paid! Hopefully the first of many.
I won a short story contest! The story was created through The Story Intensive a couple of years ago. The character first appeared as a result of the prompt, "Other people's problems." My feedback group latched onto the one sentence about him so I did the plot and drift lesson (the BEST lesson ever) on his story and continued with another scene for him in the dialogue lesson (another Best!). I kept going back and forth between these lessons to complete the story and then polished it up, and now it's a winner and I got paid! Hopefully the first of many.
Cheryl MacLean Misurka
Susan was nominated for The Journey Prize and published in the Eden Mills Writers' Festival chapbook.
“Martin and Amar,” a short story that I wrote as my final assignment for The Story Intensive in 2015 in Jen Manuel's group, just garnered one of the spots in the Read at Fringe contest plus publication in the Eden Mills Writers' Festival chapbook. This September 10th, I had the privilege of reading alongside such luminaries as Emma Donoghue and Lisa Moore. Thanks again Sarah for taking my writing up a notch, as since the course my stories have made it past the first round of judges in the CBC contest and have been nominated for The Journey Prize.
“Martin and Amar,” a short story that I wrote as my final assignment for The Story Intensive in 2015 in Jen Manuel's group, just garnered one of the spots in the Read at Fringe contest plus publication in the Eden Mills Writers' Festival chapbook. This September 10th, I had the privilege of reading alongside such luminaries as Emma Donoghue and Lisa Moore. Thanks again Sarah for taking my writing up a notch, as since the course my stories have made it past the first round of judges in the CBC contest and have been nominated for The Journey Prize.
Susan Carpenter
Paige's book of short stories will be published by Biblioasis.
Six years after I signed up for the Story Course, my book of short stories, Zolitude, is coming out with Biblioasis in February 2018. I'm also headed back to Banff for October to spend a month at the Leighton Colony, which is basically a childhood dream come true.
Six years after I signed up for the Story Course, my book of short stories, Zolitude, is coming out with Biblioasis in February 2018. I'm also headed back to Banff for October to spend a month at the Leighton Colony, which is basically a childhood dream come true.
Paige Cooper
Purabi has been working on her craft and researching her second novel.
I attended two conferences, two pitch slams, query letter workshops, met wonderfully talented people and we are now part of a group.
Recently I visited Jerusalem. A small but significant part of my second novel takes place here and it was immensely satisfying to be able to get under the skin of my heroine even if it was for a short while. I now know more about her than when I started to portray her character in my novel.
I attended two conferences, two pitch slams, query letter workshops, met wonderfully talented people and we are now part of a group.
Recently I visited Jerusalem. A small but significant part of my second novel takes place here and it was immensely satisfying to be able to get under the skin of my heroine even if it was for a short while. I now know more about her than when I started to portray her character in my novel.
Purabi Das
Tanya has been published in PRISM International and Nomfiction, and was a runner up in the Writers Adventure Camp short story competition.
Around this time last year, I started a story in The Story Intensive. It was about a time, in 1985, when my grandfather convinced me that I could lay chicken eggs. Flash forward one year…and the addition of one talking cat…and that story has found its home in the fall issue of PRISM International! I am so, so excited, and so, so grateful. This story would not exist without this course.
— September 2016
Last summer, I published a short piece of creative non-fiction with Little Fiction I Big Truths. Although I began this story a long time ago, I was only able to start *listening* to it, and allowing it to be what it wanted to be, through the lessons in The Story Course and the Story Intensive. Today, I got my first glimpse of Nomfiction, the print anthology that contains my story! I'm so, so proud to be a part of this, and to have my work alongside these talented writers.
— March 27, 2016
Tanya was also a runner up in the 2nd annual Writers Adventure Camp short story competition.
— Summer 2017
Around this time last year, I started a story in The Story Intensive. It was about a time, in 1985, when my grandfather convinced me that I could lay chicken eggs. Flash forward one year…and the addition of one talking cat…and that story has found its home in the fall issue of PRISM International! I am so, so excited, and so, so grateful. This story would not exist without this course.
— September 2016
Last summer, I published a short piece of creative non-fiction with Little Fiction I Big Truths. Although I began this story a long time ago, I was only able to start *listening* to it, and allowing it to be what it wanted to be, through the lessons in The Story Course and the Story Intensive. Today, I got my first glimpse of Nomfiction, the print anthology that contains my story! I'm so, so proud to be a part of this, and to have my work alongside these talented writers.
— March 27, 2016
Tanya was also a runner up in the 2nd annual Writers Adventure Camp short story competition.
— Summer 2017
Tanya Ward