Happy Birthday to Legendary Girlboss Mary, Queen of Scots
She lived as she died: a long time ago.
But in more modern news… On the twenty-first day of the onety-twost month of the twenty-first year of the twenty-first century (12/21/21), we will reveal The Belladonna’s Top 21 Most Read Pieces Of 2021! If you had a piece in The Belladonna this year, there’s still time to boost your numbers and make a last-minute play for the list. About 50 pieces that aren’t currently in the top 21 could make it with just 20–100 more views, so it’s truly anyone’s game!!!
And for the pieces that haven’t been published yet, submissions will be closed from December 18 — early January (concrete date TBD). Keep that in mind when you send us your end-of-year subs!
LAST WEEK ON THE BELLADONNA
W̶i̶r̶e̶c̶u̶t̶t̶e̶r̶’̶s̶ New York Times Management’s 2021 Gift Guide by Gwen Coburn & Miriam Jayaratna
“For the person who has everything…except a fair wage!”
Hi, It’s Me, Abortion. Can We Talk? by Lizzie Logan
“Sorry I’m late, but ‘I’m late’ is how these things always start, isn’t it?”
Advent Calendar 2021 — Writer’s Edition by Rochelle Elana Fisher, Nadine Cheung, Nat Hrvatin, & Anna Pook
“In the words of Garrison Keillor, ‘A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.’”
Your Password Must Contain by Rachel Geman
“A punctuation symbol with a cool origin story, like an Oxford comma that didn’t deserve to go to Oxford.”
Taming The Wild Copier In The Teachers’ Lounge by Nat Hrvatin
“It’ll sink its teeth into your sanity.”
Empty Nester BINGO by Debbie Feit
“Fun for the whole family… if the whole family was home.”
EDITORS EXPLAIN: Intros & Preambles
Let’s talk about intros in list articles, or rather, preambles to a piece (which is what comes before the actual list). Does the piece need an intro? What are the pitfalls? We’ll talk about that in this tip.
The most common mistake people make when introing a list piece is making the intro too long! (Like in the paragraph above — see how it wasn’t necessary?)
The funny part of the list should be the list itself, not the set up to the concept. Sometimes, you might not even need an intro if the headline gives us an idea of the concept (hot tip: your headline should ALWAYS give us the idea of the concept).
If your list does need a smidge of intro to set up the funny, it should be short and sweet (and ideally also on the funny side — put a joke in there).
Get to the funny right away! Don’t make us wait for it! Nobody likes antici…
…pation. If the list doesn’t speak for itself, your piece might work better in a different form.
What’s the #1 pop culture moment from 2021 that you can’t get out of your head?
Ashley Chen: That whole John Mulaney thing.
Emily Kapp: The day Britney was freed. I love you queen.
Alice H. Lahoda: It’s a tie between the Shahrrest and Lisa Barlow’s “Hi, baby gorgeous!” The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City reigns supreme.
Heidi Lux: When Meghan Markle had a parallel thought moment with my Reductress article by calling herself The Little Mermaid.
Kristen Mulrooney: When Ben Affleck threw a cardboard cutout of Ana de Armas in the dumpster.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We put together The Belladonna Gift Guide!!! This holiday season, surprise someone with a book by a Belladonna author!
Follow The Belladonna on Twitter and Instagram!
And if you’ve been published in The Belladonna before, you can join our Slack Writers’ Room — just email us at thebelladonnacomedy@gmail.com and we’ll add you!
Thanks for reading, and keep being your amazing selves!
— The Belladonna Editors
(Brooke, Fiona, Ashley, Emily, Alice, Heidi, and Kristen)
