Kelly Chastain - The Rogue MFA

Kelly ChastainFebruary 5, 2026

Stop Waiting to Be Invited In and Build A Writing Accountability Group Yourself

Being a writer is one of the best/worst things to ever happen to us. The thrill of free drafting, finishing a project, or submitting work to a magazine is equal parts nerve-racking and satisfying. But keeping ourselves accountable to our writing practice can be one of the biggest hurdles.

You have amazing ideas, all playing like a film in your mind, but getting them onto paper? Well, sometimes it takes more than cajoling. It takes a writing community, where creative co-working and accountability are baked in.

The accountability aspects of a Writing Community are the writer’s equivalent to body-doubling for ADHDers. We hang out and complete our tasks, separately but together. It works because other people in the group are also counting on us. We can be good at letting ourselves down, but we don’t do that to our friends. All of a sudden your motivation to get work done hits a new high.

Your Friends

You probably know some writers already because we’re moths to a flame, and we can’t help but find each other in the wild. You might already be encouraging each other, and listening to their plot hole woes. You may have gone to college with them. This is the perfect person to ask to form a writing community.

Let them know that you’re trying to finish a project, or that you’d simply like to write more consistently, and see where you have time in you schedules to do that together. Writers very rarely say no to scheduled writing time.

Don’t have any writer friends?

Add Writer to Your Identity

This doesn’t mean you need to slap it to your social profiles or your LinkedIn bio (do people still use that site?). And if saying, “I’m a writer” makes you feel like an imposter, there’s always this classic, deployed during lunch in the break room. “This weekend I did some creative writing.” Then see who else nods along.

Because the thing about creative writers is that we don’t just like it. We freaking LOVE it. And as soon as you out yourself, the folks around you who also have a mountain of journals littered with dialog scraps and half-baked character sketches, are going to come forward like they’ve been summoned by an oracle.

Odds are, they’d like to have more community, and especially accountability, for their work too, or they’re already in a group and might invite you to join. You win either way. Drop the hints, and not just at work. With the folks you’ve befriended at the gym, the coffee shop regulars, the parents at school pick up and drop off, and the people you see consistently.

Mentors

If no one raises their hand about creative writing, you have people in your life who know other creative writers. I love to introduce my friend circles to one another instead of keeping them in their separate camps. We’re all friends for a reason: they’re cool and we have shared interests. If there’s overlap, I instinctively want them to connect.

Start talking to people in your life who you consider mentors, even if you don’t think they could possibly help you. The sheer range of interests among my friend groups is mind boggling, and it’s probably true for your friend groups too. So…

Make it known that you’re looking to find or start a writing community.

Other Artists

Now if all else fails and you don’t have any writers in your general vicinity, I know you have artists. Crafters, knitters, scrap-bookers, clay earring makers. Needing dedicated time to create isn’t exclusive to literary arts. It’s a common phenomenon in the creative community at large, and you can use that to your advantage.

Of course it’s ideal to find a writing community or a group that’s story centered. But it isn’t required. Your friend who’s trying desperately to finish crocheting that damn baby blanket before her little niece has a baby of her own, would love it if you said, “We’re setting aside an hour every Thursday night to do nothing but craft.”

Take a peek around you and see who you can link up with. Next week, we’re talking about additional ways to find and build community, and how to stay accountable to your projects and goals. What they are, where to find them, and how to get involved.

Until then, tie yourself to the chair if that’s what it takes.

Kelly ChastainJanuary 29, 2026

The Magazine Submission Tracker That Saved My Sanity (and maybe yours too)

It’s right up there with eating liver and onions on purpose. I’m not suggesting this goal for the fun of it. I’ve actually hit it a few times. But why on earth would I do that to myself?

Because Publishing Requires Resilience

Most of the time, rejections have nothing to do with the author. Think about it. Most of the things you say no to in your real life have nothing to do with the person asking. You say no because you don’t have time, you don’t want to go, you don’t need what they’re selling, and on and on.

Publication is a long game. Getting good at rejection is a big part of that. I’ve known some brilliant writers whose egos couldn’t handle a no. And it’s a real shame because if they’d have stuck it out, I’m sure they’d have published a lot of great stuff.

Just to show you how arbitrary it can be, here are a few reasons why magazines reject pieces:

The magazine was full by the time they got to your piece and the editors bulk rejected everything left in the queue.
You didn’t do your research and your piece was a terrible fit for the magazine.
You did do your research and it still wasn’t a good fit for the magazine.
They say they take submissions, but they never actually read any of them, and instead solicit pieces from writers they know. cough, cough The New Yorker

Will 100 Rejections Per Year Fix Any Of This?

It will not fix the million reasons lit mags reject work. What it will fix is your ability to weather the seas of rejection. Here, you’ve set up a goal paradox, where either way you win. And there’s something about that that works.

I don’t say any of this to discourage you from ever submitting your work. Hardly. I say it so you don’t feel obligated to take a rejection personally, or think it says something about you as a writer. It doesn’t.

So. Submit Work and Track Your Submissions

Tracking submissions helps you with submission etiquette. Most magazines allow simultaneous submissions, meaning you can submit your piece to several magazines at the same time. A few holdouts still request exclusive submissions.

Back in the snail mail days, you would photo copy your submission, mail it to the magazine with a self addressed stamped envelope so they could mail the outcome back. In that system, it made sense to send pieces one at a time.

Because when one magazine accepts your work for publication, it’s your job to then inform everyone else you’ve submitted to, and withdraw your piece from their consideration. Nowadays, most of that is handled quickly online. No donkey cart full of snail mail required.

Tracking where you’ve sent a piece is vital. Since I’ve been tracking submissions for at least a thousand years, I made a template that you can use for free. No, these aren’t real magazines or story titles, but how fun would it be if they were?

You’ll track the story title, the magazine you sent it to, when you submitted the work, how you submitted, the contact info in case it was an email (which is rare, so often I use that field for general notes), the outcome: accepted, rejected, or withdrawn, and the submission fee.

This helps you remember who to contact and how, and how much you’ve spent on a submission fees. The average cost is about $3.00, but there are still a lot of magazines that let you submit for free or for reduced fees based on identity, ability, or student status.

You’ve learned how to format your writing for submissions, how to find magazines to submit to, how to write your author bio, and now how to track the submissions. All that’s left is getting out there and doing it.

Kelly ChastainJanuary 22, 2026

The Author’s Bio Formula That Doesn’t Make you Sound Like a LinkedIn Nightmare

When you set out to publish, especially for the first time, the steps can feel a little daunting. We’ve covered how to format your writing for literary magazines, and how to find magazines to submit to. Once you upload your .doc, the lit mag will ask you for your author bio.

If they choose to publish your work, they’re going to publish your bio in the back of the magazine. That way, readers who liked your piece can learn more about you, and possibly where to read more of your stuff.

First, we start with the boring English Teacher babble.

Formatting Guidelines

Just like formatting your writing submission, bios have rules too.

All bios are written in 3rd person. Yes, you will feel like a psychopath writing about yourself like this at first, but remember, strangers are reading it and probably a bunch of bios back-to-back.
The same formatting applies from our story submission. 12pt font, Times New Roman, or a sexy equivalent like Georgia or Garamond.
You will create different versions, depending on where it’s posted.
- A single line for social media profiles. Sometimes people call this their personal logline. 15-30 words.
- The standard version for submitting work, for book jackets, and for websites. 50 – 200 words. For literary magazines, aim for 50 – 100. This is what we’re focusing on here.
- For press kits and About pages – 250+ words. These are designed to be copied and pasted into articles or interviews, and are usually (not always) a touch more formal.

What Do I Write?

There are no requirements for content, but typically, writers go about this in three different ways. You can focus on establishing some kind of authority with relevant credentials, you can keep it purely personal, or you can mix up the two. I’ll use my friend, Elizabeth, as an example, and show you what it could look like all three ways.

Each one of these focuses on Elizabeth’s story about her wallflower, book-loving protagonist, whose small book-tock account goes mega viral overnight.

Relevant Credentials – Elizabeth’s livelihood is based in the book-tock/book lover world:

For the past ten years, Elizabeth Smith has owned and operated an independent bookstore, Spine Tinglers. She loves leading the store’s monthly book club, and has founded an online community for book lovers, where she teaches members how to format, post, and market their book-centric social media accounts.

Personal – Elizabeth is a devout reader, something that also aligns with her protagonist. Plus, she’s kinda quirky, which makes her memorable:

Since she was old enough to read, Elizabeth Smith has never been out of arm’s reach of a book. In her off time, you can find her curled up on the couch with her favorite classic, or the year’s must-read novel according to her community book club. She was born and raised in Boston, but now lives on a hobby farm outside of Amherst with her three rescue dogs and a donkey named Matilda.

The mash-up – We get a sense that Elizabeth knows the book-tock space, and that she’s also a super interesting person:

For the past ten years, Elizabeth Smith has owned and operated an independent bookstore, Spine Tinglers. In her off time, you can find her curled up on the couch with her favorite classic, or teaching in her online community for book lovers. She lives on a hobby farm outside of Amherst with her three rescue dogs and a donkey named Matilda.

This Is An Evolving Blurb

As you begin to publish, you’ll want to list the names of the magazines in your bio. Other additions can include nominations, long and short listed pieces, and if you’ve won prizes or contests. Degrees and certificates can also be listed, but they aren’t a requirement for publication.

When you have several publications, you may want to create your own website. Or a place online where people can read all of your work. Listing your web address in your bio is a great way to get people back to your site.

Most importantly, don’t overcomplicate it. If you want readers to remember you as an authority on a subject, go for a credentials based bio. If you want your quirkiness front and center, keep it personal. If you’re not 100% sure, go for the mash-up.