Writing about witchcraft is magical and hard work. Establish a sacred writing space. Burn essential oils or incense as you write. Play soft music. Decide on the angle you will take with your book or article. The market is replete with Wicca 101 books and witchcraft. Many accomplished authors such as Christopher Penczak, Raven Grimassi, Laurie Cabot, and Deborah Blake have already covered many subjects. They live what they write and lead magical lives. They have proven themselves to be authorities on what they write. If you do the same, you can achieve your dreams.
When you are confident you have polished the article, your story needs a home. I recommend reading the two books How to write for the New Age Market by Richard Webster and The Pagan Writers’ Guide by Melusine Draco. These books show you what to write and where to send your magical words. Some markets to write for are Eternal Haunted Summer Ezine, Sagewoman magazine, and Witches and Pagans magazine.
Editors are swamped with writing-related tasks. Write something basic to start with until you grow more confident. My writing has appeared in anthologies and Ezines. The witchcraft and mind/body/spirit writing market mostly center around non-fiction. Most of the markets are in the United States and prefer non-fiction. An important question is what to write, why, and for what audience. In depth writing will grant you that coveted byline. They prefer that you share your research sources.
If you are aspiring to write a book on witchcraft, the best publishing companies are Llewellyn, Moon Books, Weiser Books, New Page books, Immanion Press, Inner Traditions, and Avalonia Books. Avalonia publishes scholarly material. The best way to familiarize yourself is by reading what they publish.
Keep track of where you send your writing and never give up. The most successful people are the ones who kept trying. When an editor expresses an interest in your writing, be ready.
The last stop on our broomstick ride is your perspective of witchcraft. To succeed in this market, have a reverence for witchcraft. To write for this market, you need to have an awareness for it and live it. Most of the editors and writers have a lot of experience and practice it regularly. They not only write it, but live it fully and deeply. Now you can have magic in your life and in the lives of your readers.
spiritual
Gothic Poetry
I like to write gothic poetry. Gothic poetry has a fascinating history, thanks to the writings of Tennyson and Thomas Gray. If you are a lover of the dark side, and enjoy music such as Inkubus Succubus and romantic poetic musings, then I hope this post inspires you to pen dark verse of your own.
Once I walked home past a cemetery on a magical cold winter night. The chilling glow of the streetlight over the tombstones woke the muse in me. I went home and wrote a poem about what I saw that night.
Surround yourself in an environment that inspires you to write dark verse. I live in a city well-known for its dark spooky history. I visit my favorite cemetery, Mount Olivet, carrying a thermos, a journal, and my pen. Graveyard tours are offered in my hometown. Put away the laptop or phone for an hour or two. Grab a journal, a quill pen, and latte-and go!
Now, once you are comfortably seated in a cemetery, sipping your latte, open your senses to the environment. Hear the bird songs, the creaking tree boughs, see the crows – crows are always hanging around in a cemetery. I think it has something to do with them being messengers of the dead–if you believe in that. Write down your verses. Therefore, it’s great to use a journal rather than a tablet. You can be messier and more creative. It frees up your creative expression.
Observe the way the crows perch on tombstones, how old the tombstones are. I once found an abandoned bird’s nest in a cemetery. Notice the age of the trees, colorful leaves, or flowers at the foot of a grave. A moth flitting over the ground, birds pecking for seeds, crows screeching from the treetops. A crow nest lives in the cemetery in my neighborhood. The nest has been there a long time.
Once, I strolled through Mount Olivet. An apple tree grows inside and outside of the cemetery. A fallen apple lay on the ground. Dead carpenter ants rested on the apple- except for one carpenter ant that crawled over the rotted apple. It churned my stomach. I left.
The Titanic victims are buried there. A word of caution: remain grounded and centered while you are there. Take what you like and leave the bad energy behind.
The quiet of a cemetery can be relaxing. They are not dangerous places, but people should still use common sense. If you do want to write there, go during the day. Safety trumps all. Don’t disturb the graves or take anything that doesn’t belong to you.
This may hopefully lead you to create a poetry chapbook!
Magickal Tools to Help You Write
Through the centuries, authors used a quill pen and a notebook or a typewriter to write down their inspired musings. Today, we have laptops and tablets. Laptops are very popular, but I hope to encourage you all to try writing using a notebook and pen. These methods here might seem antiquated, but they worked for Mary Shelley, Emily Dickinson, and other writers of the past. Writing by hand slows you down, makes you reflect more on what you write. I want to share ways to make your writing sessions fun.
I sometimes use a quill pen and write in a journal before storing it on the laptop. Quill pens convey a slower, romantic time. If you wish to use a typewriter, go ahead. I think the quality of writing was better when we used typewriters than laptops because it took more effort. Now we print something off and think it is complete. Nope. I still edit with a red pen on paper. I find reading the works of other writers helps me to write better. I have many books to study and learn from. I don’t just read for enjoyment.
Burn a candle as you write. Burn the candle safely. Essential oils release tension and get you in a writerly state of mind. The oils can be lavender for relaxation, bergamot for spice, and rosemary oil for memory.
Bat wing clothespins are a cute way to organize your musings. Cool mugs organize your pens, pencils, CDs, and markers. Use color-coded file folders to store your stories or poems. If you do print out to review and edit on paper, your writing will be stronger. When you read your writing on paper, especially that’s been put aside for a few days, you edit with more clarity.
If you want a magickal-looking notebook, here is a good idea. Peruse through a tarot deck. Find an image you like. Scan it in, print it out in color, and then glue it to your notebook cover. Scribble and draw spiders, pentacles, bats, or moon crescents on the plain pages. Before you know it, it will be as magickal as a tome from a witch shop and half the price.
Meditate every time you sit down to write. Glowing scented candles, mystical tarot cards, and your hard-earned words add magic to your life. Your writing space can be a sacred space. It is your space and should be personal and welcoming to you.
Make sure your desk and computer are ergonomic and that you are seated comfortably. Take breaks and go for a walk to relax your body. Take care of your health. Drink water and get plenty of exercise. Be sure to eat healthy. I once spent a few days in bed in serious pain due to sitting too long at a computer. It is important to practice self-care. There’s nothing cool about being unable to move due to severely seized-up muscle pain. Don’t let this happen to you.
It is important to protect your health from computers. The blue lights can be harmful to your health. Staring at your iPod five secs before bedtime can seriously affect your health. But we could use cool cover cloths on laptops for nighttime. My laptop is decorated with cool moon phase stickers.
I use tarot cards to spark creativity. I own a ghost tarot deck and it was perfect for when I wrote my novel. The images were spooky and eerily beautiful. There is a good book to help you use tarot cards to help you write. It’s titled Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner. The book is packed with excellent methods on how to use tarot while writing.
I hope these ideas help you in your own creative projects.
Dragon Soul Press 