Draft: the journal of process

09/12/2022

We'll be at the Bookfair in Iowa City on April 8 for Mission Creek Festival 2023! All literature events are free and open to the public, but if you want the full festival experience, early bird passes are on sale now at www.missioncreekfestival.com

17/01/2022

Issue 7 is here! Explore drafts of director Chris Radcliff’s film THE STRANGE ONES & Carmen Maria Machado’s story THE HUSBAND STITCH, along with a never-before-published draft from ✨Ursula Le Guin👑..

Iowa City artist Mark Vollenweider’s amazing portraits inspired by Machado’s story are also available for purchase on our website. https://www.draftjournal.com/issues/issue-7

Featuring a never-before-published draft from Ursula Le Guin, a deep dive into "The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado, and script drafts of "The Strange Ones" by Chris Radcliff

05/11/2021

So pleased to be included within this auspicious group of Iowa City literary journals via this Andersonian-inspired shoot at FilmScene.

Issue 7, featuring a screenplay by Chris Radcliff for the film The Strange Ones, first and final drafts of Carmen Machado's "The Husband Stitch", and a never-before-seen draft from Ursula le Guin, will be out soon! Preorder, as ever, available now at our website.

22/09/2021

❌From the Annals of Rejection❌
“I’m afraid we can’t use it…”

A most genteel rejection from the The Threepenny Review

14/09/2021

WRITERS’ SPACES spaces that fascinate us. We love to see where a writer spends her time and the objects she keeps within her creative field. Visit our website at https://www.draftjournal.com/ to see even more spaces from our contributors. We’ll be sharing more pics here, too! Happy drafting.

09/10/2020

We've got news!

The Fail Safe, a podcast that explores why failure is essential to the creative process, is now part of the draft journal website. Woop!

Find episode descriptions and peruse the many brilliant authors—including Roxane Gay, Kelly Link, Alexander Chee, Leslie Jamison, and more—who've chatted about their own failures and triumphs.

https://www.draftjournal.com/fail-safe-podcast

The Fail Safe podcast explores how today’s most successful writers grapple with and learn from creative failure, providing encouragement for anyone who’s ever wanted to write. Created & hosted by Rachel Yoder, the first episode aired in June 2016.

06/05/2020

Taking it back to our roots with Issue 0 - https://mailchi.mp/285704839278/taking-it-back-to-our-roots-with-issue-0

Before there was draft, there was draft: the preview, of which we printed a 50-copy run and handed out to folks at AWP 2010 in Washington D.C. in order to promote this idea that we had. This issue has never before been for sale.

26/03/2020

Amy Butcher shares an amazing 20-step exercise adapted from poet Jim Simmerman’s “Twenty Little Poetry Projects,” with a downloadable PDF available at our site

an amazing 20-step exercise adapted from poet  Jim Simmerman’s  “Twenty Little Poetry Projects”

25/03/2020

Mary Miller serves up a writing prompt to do with a friend, even if you're at a distance

a collaborative exercise in literary genetics

25/03/2020

Check out a writing prompt from draft featured today in the The University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums wonderful Nature Journal Challenge project. Great for kids and adults alike

NATURE JOURNAL CHALLENGE DAY 10:

A special part of this project has turned out to be the interaction with other groups in developing the daily prompts. Today's prompt comes from Draft: the journal of process, featuring first and final drafts of stories, essays, and poems along with author interviews about the creative process. The following was submitted by Draft and adapted from an exercise by artist/writer Lita Kurth:

"Find a leaf. Regard this leaf and describe it in great detail (size—use estimated numbers—color, shape, flaws, all its little parts) until you notice ~something~. Describe the discovery.

Now write TO the leaf, anything from a respectful letter to a rant.

Finally, let the leaf write back.

Save the leaf, closing it between the pages of your journal for safe keeping."

We know these are personal projects and journeys, but would love to see what you wrote to the leaf. Share if you'd like!

24/03/2020

A leaf—or really any object near or far—serves as inspiration for this writing prompt from Lita Kurth | Be well, writing friends

a three-part exercise which seems to work especially well for beginning writers

20/03/2020

If you were to make a map of your story, what would it look like? Hunter Liguore walks us through a wonderful world-building exercise via draft. Check it out!

https://www.draftjournal.com/writing-exercises/world-building-through-map-making

If you were to make a map of your story, what would it look like?

03/03/2020

"If you start with a piece that’s really small, you can do anything. The story could fail miserably or it could be a masterpiece—either way, there is possibility.” ISSUE 0 now available, featuring gems like this from Mary Miller along with her micro and macro drafts of the story originally known as "Once Upon a Time, Bananas"

https://www.draftjournal.com/issues/issue-0

02/03/2020

NEW+OLD+SPECIAL ISSUE 0 is here, featuring a micro-turned-macro story by Mary Miller as well as drafts of the award-winning story SAGITTARIUS from Greg Hrbek!

Order online or find us at the .

We're back, baby!

https://www.draftjournal.com/issues/issue-0

10/01/2020

Watch Carmen Maria Machado talk about her work here via The Tuesday Agency, and then check out her process of writing her popular short story THE HUSBAND STITCH in Issue 8 of draft, forthcoming later this year!

Before the Show is an artist interview series recorded at The Tuesday Agency in downtown Iowa City. As writers, musicians and other artists travel to town we...

12/09/2019

Up on our new site!: Explore Iowa City artist Mark Vollenweider's process in creating the iconic cover image for Issue 4!

https://draftjournal.com/mark-vollenweider

Mark Vollenweider, an Iowa City-based artist, shows us his process of creating the cover image for Issue 4.

02/09/2019

Issue 3 cover art comes from Christian Zink, a tattoo artist in New York City. He and John O’Hara (also a tattooist at The Queens Ink Tattoo) collaborated on a tattoo, inked onto John’s skin for our cover. Check out the process, from sketch to tattoo, on our website.

https://www.draftjournal.com/christian-zink

Issue 3 cover art comes from Christian Zink, a tattoo artist in New York City. He and John O’Hara (also a tattooist at The Queen’s Ink ) collaborated on a tattoo, inked onto John’s skin for our cover.