SUBMISSION GUIDE

Overview

Ways is an emagazine published monthly by the collaborators of Steel City Theology. Its goal is to produce high-quality theological content in a variety of tones, specialties, and formats. It is meant for an educated non-specialist readership; therefore, although it is edited by academics, its articles are not meant to be dry, full of jargon, or difficult to understand, and its contributors are not expected to have institutional affiliation. Ways accepts submissions under the following categories: feature, memoir, and shortform.

Submissions should be sent to info@steelcitytheology.com.

Feature

Each issue of Ways contains three to four long feature essays. These essays are explicitly theological in nature and they set the academic highwater mark for the zine. Writers should craft the body of their essays so that diligent undergraduates can understand them; however, footnotes can be pitched towards a more specialized audience. Essays should be 1500-3000 words in length. Further information can be found in Appendix A.

Memoir

We hope to avoid unwitting crossover between the longform theological essays and memoir: theology is personal and thus the writer should invest themselves in their essay, but the feature essays deal with more generalized themes than a person’s stories and memories. Nevertheless, stories and memories are a fruitful place to speak of a proto-theology, the point where a person meets God in their life and begins to make meaning out of combinations of events. As such, Ways lists memoir as its own category. Essays should be 1500-3000 words and should deal with a singular event or discrete theme in the writer’s life. Further information can be found in Appendix B.

Shortform

Shortform is a category for diverse short submissions. Shortforms should not be longer than 500 words, although as a general rule, 100-300 words is plenty, and they may include photos or other graphics. Unlike the features, shortforms do not have to explicitly state their theology or engage the reader in carefully-laid argument; the writer can leave the God-connection implicit so that the reader may do the work internally. To quote Milton Glaser’s essay “Ambiguity and Truth,” on the power of ambiguity in art, “The brain frequently remains inert until a problem is presented to it.”

We do not want to strictly define what the types of submissions we accept under this category because we are sure we have not thought of everything. However, consider the following examples, and build your own ideas from there:

• Photos, sketches, or doodles, with or without captions. Captions should be 2-3 sentences and should describe 1.) the image and 2.) the meaning behind the image. All images must be original.

• Poems.

• Flash fiction.

• Creative nonfiction.

• Personal reflection.

One special subset of the short-form section is heritage commentary. Families hold onto traditional activities over long periods of time, and these activities become meaningful as a way to connect with others and to remember loved ones who have died. These connections often include, implicitly or explicitly, spiritual or theological associations. Heritage submissions shouldn’t be lofty in tone, but the skill or craft under consideration should be meaningful to the writer. Additionally, the skills or crafts will vary widely based on a person’s geography, upbringing, background, etc., so the suggestions below are only meant to get the writer thinking. They include:

• Recipes. (To avoid copyright problems, please make sure that the directions for the recipe are in your own words).

• Quilt patterns.

• Spinning, weaving, knitting, or other textile arts.

• Farming, gardening, foraging, or hunting.

• Preserving foods.

• Brewing.

• Woodworking.

• Musicmaking.

Any reports of skills or crafts should include a paragraph that speaks to the meaning behind the skill. Questions addressed can include: Who in your family was known for doing this? Why did they do it? Why has your family preserved this knowledge?

Contributor Information

All contributors should submit a 2- to 3-sentence biography to go along with their essay or graphic. The biography can include where you’re from, what you do professionally, and human interest details—what are your hobbies? What do you do in your free time? What is your family situation?

Appendix A

Feature Style Guide

• Length: 1500 to 3000 words.

• Audience: Educated non-specialists in theology.

• Citation style: Follow the “Notes and Bibliography” style of the current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. For reference, see Purdue OWL, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

• Difficulty of the body of the text: Understandable for diligent undergrads.

• Difficulty of footnotes: Can be heavily academic or technical in nature, can be much more arcane than the body of the text.

• Further reading: Can be popular or academic sources or a mixture of both. Should have at least 4-5 sources.

• Quotes: Don’t quote at length. Quotations should be less than four lines. Use public domain translations when available, except for the Bible.

• Bible: Preference for NRSV unless you have a good reason otherwise.

• Prose: Straightforward. Say what you mean to say. Don’t keep the audience at arm’s length, don’t show off, don’t hide behind big words. Don’t use a big word if a small word will do the job.

• Editing: SCT staff will edit for grammar, length, and clarity.

• Use of pronouns: First and second person pronouns are fine. As a guideline, limit personal narrative to 20% or less of the length of a piece.

• Tone: Hospitable and/or funny. No pot shots at people who aren’t in positions of greater power than we are. Err on the side of geniality.

Appendix B

Memoir Style Guide 

• Length: 1500 to 3000 words.

• Content: This form is not meant to be a comprehensive account of your life, or even of a period of your life. Limit yourself to dealing in-depth with one event or theme in your life.

• Factual accuracy: We understand that memory is a shifting entity and that people receive events in different ways, and that therefore not everyone may remember things the same way you do. However, please make every effort to present the data points of your story as honestly and verifiably as possible. In other words, help us avoid James Frey-style debacles. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Million_Little_Pieces)

• Prose: Straightforward. Say what you mean to say. Don’t keep the audience at arm’s length, don’t show off, don’t hide behind big words. Don’t use a big word if a small word will do the job.