Helia Lit

A Digital Literary Magazine

[helialit]

All good! Here’s what I came up with:

Create a piece of art in your chosen medium inspired by a story that has stayed with you long after you finished reading it.

We don’t want to see the story itself. We want to see what remained after the last page—the feeling, the question, the image you couldn’t shake.

What part of the story followed you home?

What image holds its meaning for you?

What would you create if you could answer the story without using words?

Find the single image that carries what the story left behind.

Tag us. We want to see what a story looks like after it has lived inside you.

[helialit]

Write a scene about a deadline that means something. Someone has until a specific moment to do the one thing that matters. Try this in the genre that speaks to you most.

What happens to someone when the clock is real? Do they rise, freeze, or fall apart? What do they do in the last hour that they've put off for a year?

Show us who they become under pressure. Pressure reveals character faster than anything.

[helialit]

Read your work the way an editor would.

Authors read for what they meant to say. Editors read for what's on the page. Here’s how you can close the gap:

👉 Read it out loud. Your ear catches what your eye glides past.

👉 Read the last paragraph, then the first paragraph. Does the ending pay off the opening's promise?

👉 Find your three favorite sentences and ask whether the story needs them, or whether you do.

Give yourself a day or two between drafts and come back cold. Your brain needs time away from the work in order to be a better editor.

[helialit]

Write a character standing in front of a door they're afraid to open. Give us everything leading up to it, and let what's behind it stay a mystery.

What does the fear feel like in their body? What are they telling themselves as they wait? What finally moves them to reach for the handle, or to turn back?

Do they flash to memories or imagine what will happen if they move forward? Is there a reason that they HAVE to open the door? What are the stakes?

The door can be literal or something else entirely. Give us the ten to sixty seconds before the choice and what runs through their minds. That's where the story lives.

[helialit]

Every writer reaches the point where the words go blurry from reading the same sentence over and over, and your brain starts to fill in what it meant instead of seeing what’s actually on the page. 

Here’s how to make sure your edits move your piece forward: 

👉Edit for one thing at a time: 

Do multiple passes for your edits. If your brain is trying to scan for all the things, it’s going to miss them. But if you’re looking specifically at dialogue or action or grammar, then your brain doesn’t have to be on overdrive. 

It makes your editing time more efficient and effective. 

👉Put it down for at least 48 hours:

We can’t tell you how many times we (and other writers) try to go straight from drafting to editing. The thought is typically “I’m in the flow! Keep going! Get it done!” 

But the truth is, your brain needs time to switch. You need to see the pages with fresh eyes. Otherwise, you’ll only catch a fraction of what’s actually there. 

👉Racing to get it done fast to get it out in the world: 

We get it. You’ve poured your heart, soul, and hours into your piece and you want to share it with the world. BUT! Getting it into the world fast instead of well is not the name of the game. 

It’s worth taking the extra time to make sure it’s done right. 

What are your favorite editing tips? Let’s become better editing writers together.

[helialit]

Create a piece of art in your chosen medium that belongs to the story that changed your heart or taught you to see the world in a new way. We don’t need to see the plot played out, but we do want to see the feelings the story evoked within you, fully expressed in your art.

It doesn’t have to be abstract (but it totally can be!). What mediums are you called to? What stories call you to create and express?

Focus on the single image that holds the whole story, the one that says what it's about without spelling it out? 

Tag us. We want to see what your work looks like before anyone's read a word of it.

[helialit]

Write a scene where a character wins something, and it isn't what they thought they wanted, but it was what they needed.

What did they give up to get it? What does winning cost them? Does the win change them or reveal who they already were? How does winning change how other people see them?

It doesn’t matter if your characters are winning competitions, arguments, or hearts. We want to see what your imagination can come up with.

We've had "what things are worth" on the brain all summer (you'll see why soon). Show us a win that costs more than it pays.

[helialit]

👉 Introducing the three(ish)-sentence cover letter, because yours is probably too long.

Editors aren't reading your cover letter for your life story. They're reading it to get a sense of who you are and your work. Here's all it needs to do:

1. Here's my piece (title, genre, word count).

2. Here's one true, short thing about me or the work.

3. Thank you.

That's it. A cover letter longer than the story doesn't make your work look more serious. It makes an editor tired before they reach the story. Let the story do the talking. That's the part you spent months on. Want to make sure your work is ready for submission? Check out our free Submission-Ready Checklist.

[helialit]

Write a character who has one chance to say the thing they've never said. They can say it now, or never. Show us the ten seconds before they decide (and how it all goes down).

Who are they talking to? What happens in their body while they decide? What's the cost of saying it, and the cost of staying quiet?

You don't have to tell us what they choose (but bonus points if you do because we’re nosey and we want to know what happens). 

Go somewhere brave with this one. Tag us so we can read it.

[helialit]

👉 How do you cut a scene without gutting the story?

Cutting isn't deleting your way to a shorter draft. It's moving the necessary work of a scene somewhere more efficient.

Every word in your draft needs to be working for the story and moving it forward.

Before you cut a scene, ask what it's doing:

- Is it moving the plot? (Something happens that changes the trajectory of the story.)

- Is it revealing character? (We learn something we can use later or shows us something about the character we need to know.)

- Is it doing setup a later scene needs? (The chain of consequences is real, and we bow down before it.)

If a scene is doing none of those, it's a candidate to be cut. If it's holding one of those functions, it earns its place in the story. 

The goal isn't a shorter story. A story is always as long as it needs to be. The goal is a story where every scene carries weight and earns its place.

[helialit]

Design the cover of a book or magazine that doesn't exist yet but should. Bonus points if you tag us (we have a professional interest in imaginary print objects right now 👀).

Let your imagination run wild. We want to see your creativity unlocked.

[helialit]

Write the moment someone opens a letter they've been waiting on for years, but focus on their hands before you share their face or thoughts.

What’s in the letter? Is the character alone? How does their environment reflect what they’re experiencing or what has changed as a result of the letter?

Nuance is everything here. 

Tag us in your creations so we can repost you 😊

[helialit]

Submission Voice is the formal costume you put on because you think editors want it. We don't. The version of the story you'd tell your best friend at midnight (messy hands, real stakes, your actual cadence) is the version we stop scrolling for. You don’t have to be formal to be professional. 

Professional is doing the work, showing up for your writing, and telling the honest story (which may or may not be “marketable”). 

We want the stories your soul aches to share with the world. Not the one you write because you think it will sell.

[helialit]

Every locked door in your character's city unlocks at midnight for an hour. Where do they go? What do they do? Who do they meet? 

Do your characters find an unexpected realm? A different universe? A new timeline?

Do they meet friends, foes, or foils?

Is it safe or is it dangerous? What are the rules (is any)? 

Let your imagination go wild. We can’t wait to see what you write!

[helialit]

"Done" is not a feeling writers have very often, but that doesn’t mean the work is incomplete. Complete is a checklist you can verify and prove. Here are a few things that help writers stop iterating to death so you can actually get your work out into the world. 

the ending keeps the opening's promise

you've read it aloud and it reads smoothly

Your last revision changed commas instead of plot, characters, or narration. (When you're moving commas around over and over again, it’s time to ship it.)

[helialit]

YOUR PROMPT: Depict in your chosen medium the representation of what it costs to bring your art to life.

Everything comes with a cost. Is that time? Is that a piece of your soul? Is that the cost of a job, a spouse, a life? We want to see what you think the cost of art is represented in your work. Think it's worth sharing? Submit your art:

https://www.helialit.com

[helialit]

YOUR PROMPT: Write a love story in five sentences or less (any kind of love is fair game). Love is one of the most powerful emotions in the human experience. It changes minds, hearts, and lives every day. It’s not just romantic, either. Friendship is a love that can create found families. The love for a child can soften a heart. And going completely out of the box, someone who loves to win can go to some extraordinary lengths to feel that high. 

When you think about a love story, what’s the story you want to tell?