Issue V: Nightmares & Daydreams

Inspired by the idea of a dream journal, our fifth issue will be released in the form of a dream journal interspersed with nightmares and daydreams. Dream journaling is the process of writing down one’s dreams, often into a specific “dream journal” or “dream diary”. Dreams are often said to unlock mysteries, answer questions, or give us new insights into problems we’re facing. Dream journals can be ideal for generating raw creative material, and have been sources of inspiration for many famous creatives and inventors in the past.

There are some prompts online that can help you journal your dreams. Here are some of the ones we liked:

• Identify the people, creatures, and animals in your dreams by describing them.
• Write down a full account of a dream you’ve had recently. Try to include as many details as possible.
• Are there any recurring images or patterns in your dreams?

The idea behind this issue is to collect your nightmares and your daydreams and turn them into our very own dream journal. We’re looking for works that tell stories. They don’t have to be complete stories. They don’t even have to have a plot. We’d love to see disjointed narratives and different types of storytelling beyond the usual “once upon a time” story structure. Creativity in how these stories are told is our main objective!

Submission Guidelines

• Anyone can submit their work to this issue as long as the theme is met.
• This issue’s submission period will run from August 27, 2023 to December 9, 2023.
• We are considering any form of written and visual works for this issue! There are many ways to tell a story and we’d love to see them all!
  • Guidelines for written work
    • 1-3 pieces are allowed to be submitted per author
    • Submit each piece in its own Word document (.doc or .docx) or Google document (please ensure the document is shared with us upon submitting!!). If you are submitting a hybrid piece, feel free to submit it as an image (PNG and JPEG files are acceptable)!
    • Please use a readable font (Arial, Times, etc). Doesn’t matter what font it is, but we should be able to read it!!
    • If you’re submitting a long-form written piece (i.e. flash writing, reviews, etc.) please keep it in 1.15x spacing (preferred but not necessary). Please note that 1.15x is the default on most writing software (e.g. Word, Google Docs, etc) so chances are, if you typed it in those and didn’t alter the settings, you’re fine!
    • There are no hard word limits for this issue, however, to avoid the physical issue from becoming too expensive for anyone to buy, we’d recommend pieces be less than 1,500 words. However, if you feel your piece has potential even if it is longer, you are more than welcome to submit it!
  • Guidelines for visual work
    • 1-3 pieces are allowed to be submitted per creator
    • Submit each piece as a JPEG (.jpg) or PNG (.png) file
    • Ensure to include a description of the piece(s) that you’d like us to use on our site for accessibility!
    • Feel free to add any commentary you’d like to about the piece! Creator commentary comes in many forms and it could be a great addition to a piece!
  • If you are submitting a hybrid piece, you may use whatever guidelines best align with your piece! If you are still unsure, feel free to email us (vociviamagazine@gmail.com) and we’ll let you know!
  • Email your submission(s) to vociviamagazine@gmail.com with the subject line specified on our FAQ page! Ensure that you include the following in your email:
    • Include the title and author’s name in the file(s) (if written) or in the body of the email (if visual).
    • If you are submitting a piece that has been published previously, it is your responsibility to inform us and to ensure that you have full publishing rights before sending us your work. You take full responsibility for providing us with works that are legally yours. We will not accept pieces that are published in magazines or otherwise that do not allow republication, and it is your responsibility to make sure that this is not the case for your previously published works. If we find that your previously published work is barred from republication, we will not accept it. If you realize that you have submitted a prior work that you no longer have the rights to, inform us before publishing so we can retract it.
    • Include a third-person bio in the body of your email. This will be used in the contributor’s section once we start work on the issue and you are always free to edit it at any time! Just email us the most updated version of your bio before we start work on the issue (if you are accepted, the deadline to change it will be given in the email).
    • If your piece requires a content warning, please mention it either in the piece itself or in the email! Please visit our FAQ page for what content warnings we request! Some of our readers are minors and, as such, we are very strict on our content warning policy! We will not tolerate any homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, racism, ableism, or any discrimination of any kind on our platform. You may talk about such things in your piece, but if we find your piece is supportive of any discrimination or discriminatory practices, you will immediately be rejected.