Craft Advice?

I made a promise to myself when I started the blog.: I’ll not offer much in the way of craft advice. There’s plenty out there, some good, some meh. From time to time, I’ll mention ta resource that I’ve found particularly helpful, and when learning to write publishable short stories, try Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing. https://tinyurl.com/mr3a7aza

Once I stopped writing for caproate America, I started writing short stories to prove that Bradbury was wrong when he suggested writing fifty-two stories in a year. His theory is you can’t write fifty-two bad short stories. I aimed to prove him wrong. I didn’t believe I could write a decent short story. because my stories needed space (lots of words) to breathe.

Beginner’s Luck

Oddly enough, the first short story I wrote, Finding Spring, was snatched up immediately by an editor who happily (for me) was unable to follow through with publication. Disappointed at the time, I then ran into an online course called Write Stories that Sell. I got about a third of the way through the course and then… disaster struck. Our house was infested with pantry moths. And I don’t mean a few fluttering here and there. The ceiling was covered with them. They are not lovely at all, so here’s a lovely butterfly instead.

A Fortuitous Reaching Out

Having totally forgotten about the online course in the chaos of ridding my house of pantry moths, I was surprised to get an email from the course author, the inimitable Anna Yeatts, who encouraged me in an automatically generated email to complete the course.

I emailed a reply that said, “But pantry moths…” and was amazed when she emailed back with “Pantry moths. The worst.”

That was the start of a wonderful mentorship that is still ongoing. And I can’t recommend too highly the advantages of finding a mentor, and if one-on-one help isn’t possible, the next best is a writing critique group, whether online or in person.

Anna asked me what my biggest fear was about pantry moths, which led to Fluttering, a short horror story about pantry moths and the worst that can happen. The story has been published twice, and you can still find the reprint in the Last Girls Club, Issue 9

Adventures in Slush

Serenditipity strikes again! I applied to an online publication to read “slush",” becoming a first reader of submissions. The guidelines for this publication called for flash fiction (five hundred to one-thousand words),. The task seemed easy and not overly time consuming.

I read for three years, usually handling between fifty and one hundred stories a month. From their editors, I learned what worked (for that particular publication), but I learned a whole lot more about what didn’t work. Like many magazines and anthologies, this publication accepted about two percent of submissions. The competition is real .

Submission Guidelines

My best advice is to read the submission guidelines, then read them again. About ten percent of submissions (at this publication) were declined unread due to not following directions.

Yes, the short fiction market is tough. Learning the ins and outs of how submissions are selected is a great way to improve your own work. Many publications look for first (or slush) readers. If you have the time, grab this chance., while understanding it’s a real time commitment.

Read, Read, and Read Some More

Finally, the more you read short stories and flash fiction, the more you’ll learn how to take your great premise and mold it into something that will make editors say yes. This means reading while wearing your editor’s hat. and answering the question: Why was this story selected?

Coming in May

What makes a story work is mostly about craft. In May, I’ll offer three important craft considerations to keep in mind. before hitting send on a submission.

How I Learned to Write Short Fiction for Publication