5 Minutes for Special Needs, a really wonderful website that offers support and insight to both people with special needs and loved ones of those with special needs, is currently running a SMITH-inspired contest for six-word memoirs and we couldn’t be happier. Winners will be announced next Friday and included in the prizes is an [...]

I think it’s safe to say that most New Yorkers have a love-hate relationship with their city. I moved to the Big Apple about a year ago and my experience so far has certainly had it’s share of less than wonderful moments (in addition to the numerous, truly great ones). I’ve spent hours of my [...]

Online dating is a semi-weird thing that most people have tried at least once and very few are willing to admit to. And it’s sort of a shame that we don’t talk about it because, in all honesty, what could be more interesting to talk about than a massively awkward experience we’ve all been through?
LifeBytes: [...]

My love for Jordan Jesse Go! is no secret. Honestly, the first blog I wrote for SMITH was about the previously mentioned weekly comedic podcast that I listen to almost religiously. My favorite segment has always been when Jordan and Jesse invite listeners to call in with responses to whatever topic was discussed the week [...]

I almost feel like a liar labeling this blog a “Call for Submissions” as I have pretty good sense that the the intersect of SMITH readers and coal miners is on the slim side. But hey, everyone has a story…even coal miners.
The Miner’s Story Project is a project that aims to take a very specific [...]

While we usually aim to post calls for submissions for non-fiction stories from the everyday lives of our readers (…it’s kind of our thing), we sometimes have to show some love to the fiction writers out there reading SMITH. National Public Radio is currently accepting stories for their annual Three-Minute Fiction Contest. Up until 11:59pm in July [...]

The idea that you can learn a lot from listening to others tell stories and share their experiences may be far from a new idea (and one that we at SMITH can definitely get behind), but the fact remains that, in a world of full of unique people, we can be each other’s best teachers [...]

People simply don’t meet the way they did twenty years ago—no one debates that. Dating and social networking sites have given us a whole new way of connecting with people before we even necessarily know what they look like (because let’s face it, people usually don’t look much like their profile photo in person). What [...]

The problem with finishing any great story is just that -the story is over. Just when you’ve found yourself completely caught up in the character’s lives and sincerely invested in what happens to them, the author has to go and ruin everything by wrapping it all up. 
Well the time has come to take matters into [...]

The current economy may be affecting our lives in a number of negative ways, but isn’t it possible that something good (or least interesting) can come from all this? Inspired by the unexpected outpouring of creative work that followed the Great Depression, First Person Arts has announced the In These Hard Times Contest: an open [...]