Write Us

SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY HERE

The Shorts are conversational style essays that explore the stories and themes of life (think friendship, change, healing, ridiculous encounters) through the lens of the outdoors. They are written by you. Together, we turn your essay into a 10-15 minute long episode on The Dirtbag Diaries.

We typically receive over 100 submissions and select 10 essays. We work with each writer to develop their story into an audio experience, which includes several rounds of edits and revisions, as well as recording the Short. Submit your essay today.

Please read through the guidelines to help us say, “Yes!” to your essay.

• Story should include an experience (preferably outdoors), and a takeaway about how that experience shifted your perspective or gave you new insight. The tone might be serious, funny, contemplative, heartfelt, or likely, it’s a mix.
• Your story needs a beginning, middle and end.
• Think about the take away from your piece.
• We like details. Stories should show, not tell. More “wind raked over the lake, creating frothy ripples,” less “the lake was pretty.” Plus it helps activate the writing voice.
• We prefer pieces written in the past-tense and in chronological order to create a better listening experience.
• Bonus material (video): Anecdote + Reflection = Story
• Ideal length: 2,000 words. We will not accept submissions over 2,500 words.

We are encourage essay submissions from diverse perspectives, especially those from historically underrepresented groups in the outdoors. We offer compensation for each selected essay.

Examples:

• Sleeping Bag Metamorphosis does a great job of illustrating the anecdote + action + reflection structure we look for.
• I Poo: A Love Story is a humorous take on the ingredients for an awesome relationship.
• The Great White Book takes a single experience and how it reverberated through his life for many years.

Deadline: January 19, 2025

We can’t wait to hear from you!

We are interested in stories where people move beyond their comfort zone, whether intentional or not, and can tell us why it mattered. We focus on stories that are rooted in the outdoors, though it doesn’t have to be about or take place in the outdoors. Feature episodes have a narrative arc or plot- with a beginning, middle and end– that are told from the first person perspective. These stories begin with detailed interviews and our team shapes them into 30-40 minute episodes.

Have a story you think would make a great feature episode for the Diaries? Please send us a pitch in a few paragraphs. Incorporating the following into your pitch is helpful:

• Main character and plot or synopsis of the story.
• Why do you think this story would make a great Dirtbag Diaries episode?
• Is this a story you want us to consider or one you want to produce?
  • If you’d like to produce the piece, please tell us about your experience with audio production and include a link to at least one work sample.

Examples:

• The Underdog: Alexandera Houchin has become a force in the world of ultra endurance mountain bike racing. In 2023, she set out to complete the Triple Crown Challenge–  racing the Tour Divide, the Colorado Trail, and the Arizona Trail–  all on a single gear. 
• Mr. Hodges: In the summer of 1975, public school teacher Mr. Hodges took 22 of his students on an unforgettable bike trip that would impact the rest of their lives. Grab your cut-off shorts, a 10-speed bike, and a sense of humor, and you’ll be along for the ride.
• Endangered Spaces: Cochamó: The soaring unclimbed granite walls of Valle Cochamó instilled dreams of first ascents in climbers. Industrialists eyed its free flowing rivers with their potential for hydroelectric power. Conservationists hoped it could provide a final puzzle piece of an incredible protected wildlife corridor. How do you make the next Yosemite? You start by buying it.