From The Horse’s Mouth: How to Write with Us! (Publication Guidelines)
Building the largest, most serious collection of articles, that are serious, and not joke articles, meant to be taken seriously and at face value in a real and devastating manner, straight “From The Horse’s Mouth”
Go ahead and check out the publication by following this link! It has essentially just began, so now’s the time to get in on the ground floor.
Comment on this, and I will add you as a writer to the publication!
The Backstory:
As an assignment for one of my classes in undergrad, we had to put together a news-worthy package highlighting a fascinating or mysterious part of the town in which my school was in — Saint Joseph, Missouri, and post our findings on Medium. Now, at that time, I lived there for three years, and had no idea what that town had that could be considered “interesting” or “redeemable”. So while other people highlighted the town’s historic involvement in the Pony Express, or brought to light the questionable practices done by the local asylum in the late 1800’s, I did what I do best: be a goofy quirky guy!
Rather than researching the town and finding something that intrigues me, instead I took a fact I already knew, and created an entire lore around it. That fact? Eminem was born in Saint Joseph (he moved to Detroit while young).
I went on to make an entire conspiracy as to why Eminem ever left Saint Joseph. I made up things I presented as facts (nothing harmful, obviously), I visited real historical spots in Saint Joseph and recounted a false history involving Eminem, and in the end, I alluded that due to myself bringing to light his involvement in the corruption of the local government, he was after my family, and I had to quit the search for the truth.
Ironically, my professor loved it, and gave me (who spent a total of five days on the project), the same amount of credit as the students who spent the entire summer semester on the project. But why am I telling you this? What did I learn from this experience?
I learned how fun it could be writing, because I did so in a way that I knew would make me and my friends laugh. Writing in such a way where your tone is absolutely stoic but the things you say couldn’t possibly be coming from a person, that is hilarious to me. The more unnatural, the more unexpected, and the bigger the commitment to that notion, the better.
“From The Horse’s Mouth” was Born
After discussing with friends the idea to create a publication full of absurdist stories just like the one I wrote for that class, we came up with “From The Horse’s Mouth”, a publication meant to be a home for the weirdest, most confusingly-well-written stories on Medium.
How can you get involved?
Are you someone who makes jokes that people have to think too long about, and by the time they actually get it, the moment has passed, and the comedic potential is gone?
Can you think of the most random, niche topics and adequately establish a believable ethos, setting yourself up as the voice to listen to?
Can you make a person question everything they know?
Consider joining “From The Horse’s Mouth” and go all-out!
What we accept:
Anything and everything! Fiction, non-fiction, fiction disguised as non-fiction, nonfiction disguised as fiction, mystery, fake book excerpts, falsified government documents, blog posts, poems, shopping lists, reviews, blueprints, recipes, pictures of your underwear, research papers, sport game recaps, anything your brain can think of.
Just make sure to follow the
Rules
- Your article must be satirical. It doesn’t have to be over-the-top, but it does have to be easily seen as humorous and subversive.
- Follow Medium’s policies.
How to Get Added to the Publication
Follow “From The Horse’s Mouth”, and comment on this article.
We want this to be as accessible as possible. At the end of the day, we want this to be a fun thing people can participate in.
A Recommendation
Have your the absurdity come from how grounded your writing actually is. I would recommend a solid structure, decent flow, entertaining storytelling, but at the end of the day, make this yours. Make this fun. Because it won’t really be coming from you.
