On Reflection: Submission Guide
A publication for personal reflections. Personal essays, poetry and prose are all welcome. Here’s how to join us…
“I’m writing my story so that others might see fragments of themselves.” — Lena Waithe, screenwriter
On Reflection. The name explains itself, I hope.
You decide what you’re reflecting on. Doesn’t matter if you’re reflecting on what something means, or something that happened. What matters is that we see reflection. Essays, prose, and poetry are welcome.
What we do not accept…
All reflections are personal essays, but not all personal essays show reflection. Most declined stories fall into one of these:
- Self help: If your story gives tips or advice for the reader, that’s not reflection it’s self help. We do not publish self help.
- No trauma dumping: Hard things happen to all of us. We lose jobs, homes, friends, and partners. People and pets we love get sick or die. In a journal, we might write a play by play to help process our emotions. It’s helpful, but it’s not reflection. These are events we can reflect on later, when the pain is less raw. It took time after losing my dad before I could “reflect on” that loss.
- Confessions about someone else: You said or did something to another person and after reflecting, realized it was wrong. Kudos to you. Most people never see their own wrongs, much less admit them. However, if finding your story could cause another person to feel hurt, shame or bring up old wounds, it is not a good fit here. Tell your story, not someone else’s.
- Rants and rebuttals: There’s nothing wrong with a good rant or rebuttal, but they’re seldom reflective in nature so they aren’t a good fit here.
- Stories that end with “in conclusion”: That’s a writing style best suited to self help and does little or nothing to enhance a personal reflection.
- Responses to writing prompts: If another website or publication gave you an idea to write about, great. If your story begins by explaining the prompt and linking to the origin, this is not the right place for it.
SUGGESTION: have a look through our page to see the types of stories we are publishing. It will give you a feel for this publication.
SUBMISSION GUIDE
The rules are few, simple, and carved in stone.
1. On Reflection is a place for reflecting…
We are looking for personal reflections. It’s the #1 criteria we look at.
2. Posts must follow Medium’s rules.
Also, please credit images with a link to the source
3. Please use a landscape format image
Landscape means wider than tall. Title first, then subtitle, then landscape format image. That’s the format we use here.
4. We only accept unpublished drafts.
Sorry, we do not accept previously published stories.
5. No excessive footer promotion
The point of your story isn’t to promote your other stories. Medium does that for you below your story. A text link at the bottom is okay. If people like your writing, trust me, they’ll go to your profile.
How to get added as a new writer…
If you are not a writer yet, here’s the process:
- Be sure you’ve read this page, including what we do not accept.
- Write a story you’d like to submit. Then click the 3 dots at the top of your edit page and click “share draft link.” Copy the link.
- Click here to submit your first draft.
PLEASE NOTE: If your story is accepted, you will hear back within a week and usually much sooner. If you do not hear back within a week, it is safe to assume the submission was not a good fit for this publication.
P.S.
- This publication is able to nominate posts for a boost. You might find it helpful to understand how Medium curators assess story quality
- Due to time constraints, we can not offer personal feedback or editing suggestions on declined submissions.
“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” ― Philip Pullman
