First Look : Literature - Featured : Greg Ritchie

Happy Friday Loud Mouths! To celebrate the end of another work week (the most depressing week of the year, if you listen to the press), we present you with a sneak peek at another one of our upcoming writers, Greg Ritchie!

Greg lists James Joyce, Franz Kafka and Harper Lee amongst his favourite authors, and his blog, 'A Literary Concoction', offers witty and frank reviews and remarks on everything from established classics such as 'Animal Farm', to underrated gems like 'The Cone Gatherers.'

Greg's articles, tackling topical literary issues such as linguistic elitism and the rise of the e-book, will be available for viewing on Loud Mouth. Until then, have a look at his work on http://literaryconcoction.wordpress.com/

Keep an eye out for our next blog post, where we'll be sticking with the literary theme and examining whether the best readers make the best writers...

Have a lovely weekend,

Malvika Jaganmohan
Co-editor in Chief

First Look : Opinion - Featured: Will Bateman

Hello lovely Loud Mouths! An exciting treat for you today - an introduction to one of our upcoming opinion writers, Will Bateman.

Will is in his final year at college, studying for A-Levels in Sociology, English and History, and he hopes to carve out a career in journalism, specialising in American culture and politics. His blog, Politicin', demonstrates his shrewd ability to dissect even the most complex political dilemmas, unravelling American politics in an accessible manner that will tempt even the most resistant readers to take a peek into the cut-throat world of politics.

Loud Mouth is very lucky to have a writer like Will on-board, and until his work is displayed on the site, delve into his area of interest at http://politicin.wordpress.com/

Malvika Jaganmohan
Co-editor in Chief

What are we looking for?

 © Rebecca Millar 2011

In the past few months, we've received a huge number of creative, quirky and thought-provoking submissions from talented writers, hoping to have their work displayed on Loud Mouth. Although many of these were successful, unfortunately, there were many which weren't. 

The Loud Mouth team has decided to help the submitting writers out there by outlining some basic guidelines when it comes to the kind of work we look for. It goes without saying that impeccable spelling and grammar would help your case massively. However, we must emphasise that we value content more highly- a comma can be added easily, but an uninteresting and superficial article is very difficult to make engaging.

Opinion

• The subject matter of your article must be topical, covering an event that has been in the press within the week, or at most, within the month.
• There is a 1500 word-limit for each submission.
• There must be evidence to back up your assertions i.e. quotations from relevant organisations; statistics from respected authorities; interviews etc.
•  There must be a relevant angle, putting forward a particular perspective. We are not looking for 'balanced' essays, but confident, bold opinions. However, we do not accept articles that put forward unjustified or unsubstantiated opinions.

It is very difficult to balance these factors, which is why the Opinion section is one of the most difficult areas of the website to contribute to.

Arts & Culture

• The subject matter of your article must be relevant. The articles in this section relate to music, theatre, film, radio etc.  
• There is a 1500 word-limit for each submission.
• The subject matter of your article must be topical, covering an event that has been in the press within the week, or at most, within the month.
• There must be evidence to back up your assertions i.e. quotations from relevant organisations; statistics from respected authorities; interviews etc.
•  Articles in this archive are NOT opinion pieces. They must not be purely unsubstantiated assertions. Having said that, we are not looking for 'balanced' articles. Articles are NOT essays. There must be a relevant angle, putting forward a particular perspective. 

Creative

• There are no constraints upon the content or form of your creative piece. However, there is a 1500 word-limit for each submission.
• Serialised novels are also welcome. If you wish to submit a serialised novel, please include the number of chapters you expect to write and a basic storyboard with your first submission. If your submission is successful, you will be granted a weekly or fortnightly slot which MUST be adhered to.
• Graphic novels/ comics can also be submitted. Please send your submission in a .pdf form.

Literature

• The subject matter of your article must be relevant. The articles in this section relate to recent book releases, critical literary essays and authorial reviews or interviews.
• There is a 2000 word-limit for each submission.
•  We are not looking for 'balanced' articles. There must be a relevant angle, putting forward a particular perspective.
• Although we encourage opinionated submissions in this section, opinions must be thought-provoking, and they must display a high degree of competency, originality and complexity. 

Fashion

• There is a 1500 word-limit for each submission.
•  Articles in this archive are opinion pieces, but they must not be purely unsubstantiated assertions. Having said that, we are not looking for 'balanced' articles. Articles are NOT essays. There must be a relevant angle, putting forward a particular perspective. 

These are just a few starting points, but hopefully, we've demystified the selection process somewhat. As the team examines more submissions, we will be able to expand upon this list and provide more detailed advice for aspiring writers.

Please keep in mind that if your submission has been unsuccessful, you are still welcome to request feedback within a week of receipt of our decision, improve upon your work, and re-submit. Very often, the errors or inconsistencies that we were unable to overlook in your submission can be easily addressed! We're here to help!

If you think that your work satisfies the criteria listed above then send it to us in a .doc or .docx form to loudmoutheditor@gmail.com

Good luck!

Malvika Jaganmohan

Co-editor in Chief

First Look : Photography - Featured : Sam White

Here at Loud Mouth, we don't just welcome writers, but also photographers. We're building up our portfolio of photographers, one of whom is Sam White.  Here's what he has to say about his photography:

"I have been influenced by artists, such as Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville that focus their own work on the physical image and exterior of the body, distorting the images they paint accordingly to fit in with their interpretation of the human body and the simple formations that make us human. I used this idea to draw upon the images of the interior of the mind as well as the portrayal of the exterior, contrasting and merging both to create images identifying inner feelings and workings of the brain, and how simple emotions cause startling changes in body and impulsive changes to physical appearance. 


I wanted to create work that would not merely influence to audience to respond with: "Oh, that's nice." or "What a pretty photo." I don't want my work to simply induce melancholy... I want it to cause woe, to allow the audience to feel the actual mental pain created by the photograph and for them to think about it long after they have left the gallery, or webpage where my work is housed. I used these simple emotions to create graphic photos that I intended to distress and dissolve the watcher's safety; to make them feel uneasy when viewing the work... to disturb their mind."

Sam is just one of the photographers featured on Loud Mouth - be sure to keep up to date with all things Loud Mouth  so you'll be the first to see what our photographers have to offer when we launch the website

'Til then

Becky Millar
Senior Editor for Photography and Design 

The start of something new...?

High School Musical references aside, welcome to Loud Mouth's official blog. Along with our Youtube channel, Facebook page and Twitter feed, this will act as your source of up-to-date Loud Mouth information.


For those new readers who have only just discovered Loud Mouth, we are an upcoming website dedicated to showcasing aspiring artists, photographers and writers. We accept any and all submissions, but we must emphasise the fact that we only include the very best. At the moment, we are looking for initial content and so we encourage all the Loudmouths out there to submit to one or more of our sections: Opinion, Arts and Culture, Creative, Literature, Sport, or Photography and Design. All details on how this can be done can be found here, in our 'Info' section. 


We are currently in the design stages, and thought it may be a good idea to log everything we're doing, so we can remember this process once the site is up and running. We just spent the day flicking through some amazing photography to fill the web pages up with. Also sifted through many, many, many articles, poems and stories, drawing out the best of the best to join the ranks of the Loudmouths. Very proud to call their creators Loud Mouth contributors. 

Here's a little glimpse of what can be expected...