They Don’t Make Submission Guidelines Like They Used To

Defunct Cover

The following prompt was adapted directly from the submission guidelines of the intriguing online journal Defunct: A Literary Repository for the Ages.  

Write about something that has had its day: defunct magazines, defunct technologies, defunct theories, defunct fads, defunct foods, defunct religions, defunct civilizations, defunct super heroes and villains, defunct political parties, defunct languages, defunct etiquette and customs, defunct bands, defunct media, defunct assumptions, defunct slang and idiom, defunct holidays, defunct animals, defunct products, defunct toys, defunct celebrities, defunct predictions, defunct facts, or something you wish would become defunct. Imagine a review of the Aztecs. Or a review of the Dodo. Or a review of the Eight Track Player. (Source: http://www.defunctmag.com/submit.html)

Read: Sue Silverman’s “We Regret to Inform You” (at the beautifully designed Defunct site) and then “spill” for 15 minutes. Here’s the link: http://www.defunctmag.com/Essays/Culture/Silverman_We-Regret-to-Inform-You.html

Read your work out loud—to the walls or an innocent passerby!

Next, write about a different item from the defunct list. Or, counter what you just wrote. You may want to create a character or choose a specific person (your mother, the young man next door, a deceased relative, a coworker etc)  & write the “devil’s advocate” position from their perspective.

Or, if you haven’t already, write about something you wish would become defunct or imagine it is!

Thanks to Maya Liebermann for the title of this post!