I was asked by a woman's magazine in the UK if I would like to contribute a serial, which is a longer short story appearing over three issues. I've contributed to the magazine before; two short stories of 1000 words and 2000 words. We're not talking a literary journal here but its a writing gig (and a competitive one at that, so I'm told) and it pays, so I think it is worth it. Besides, I work best if I have a deadline to work to so it gives me a goal. I've decided I will take up the challenge while I'm waiting for feedback on my WIP from my reader.
Writing short stories is very different from writing a novel. You have only a few thousand words to build worlds, create memorable characters, and convey plot and conflict. Every word has a big job to do. You still have to have a beginning, middle and end, but short stories do allow you to write a snapshot of a story or world that couldn't be sustained over 80,000 words. For instance, my story "Spa Break" is about a middle-aged woman who turns to a life of crime to support her spa habit. Makes for interesting reading (I hope) for 2000 words, but there isn't enough there for a novel. I love short stories because I have a million ideas and I know that 999,994 of them won't work for a novel, but would work in a short story.
So I went into this serial idea feeling pretty confident, but the reality of it is a bit more daunting. Each segment of the story is around 3,800 words. Once you get the story idea sorted (and this must appeal to the magazine's very specific readership), you must meet the structure requirements. In particular, you must end each segment on a cliffhanger note, something that makes the reader want to read on. We have experience with this in novels with chapters, but this is much more critical here. Whereas in a novel the reader only has to turn a page, in a serial, the plot point has to be so interesting that the reader is willing to wait a week and then buy the next issue of the magazine.
With this project, I find myself caught between the two worlds of novel structure and short story structure. I have to plot this serial, just as I do my novels. I have three acts (segments), with plot points occuring at the end of act one and act two. The climax, catharsis and wrap up scenes all have to occur in act three. And I have only 3800 words per act to do it -- and do it well. I'm used to having that many words for one chapter!
I'm sure I will learn from this excercise. But at the moment, I'm wondering if this serial filler is going to be the death of me!
What about you? Any experience with short stories or serials? Do you like to read short stories?
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
100 Stories for Haiti call for submissions
100 Stories for Haiti is a collection of short stories being sold to raise money for relief efforts in disaster-striken Haiti. All proceeds go to the Red Cross. This worthwhile cause is the project of Greg McQueen, a British writer who wanted to do something for the unfortunate people of Haiti. They are still looking for short stories of 1000 words or less in all genres and have extended the deadline to Wednesday. Here are the details:
We want short story submissions to help raise money for disaster-stricken Haiti. Out of the submissions, 100 pieces of fiction will be chosen to appear in an e-book and paperback, the proceeds of which will go to the Red Cross.
If you want to send a short story, please follow these guidelines:
• Do not exceed 1,000 words.
• No stories containing graphic violence, death or destruction.
• We want stories with a lot of HEART, a dash of COMPASSION, and unmeasurable amounts of HOPE. Stories that anyone can read. Stories that leave you feeling as though life really is worth living.
Send all stories in the body of an email to: 100storiesforhaiti@gmail.com.
Stories sent as attachments will *not* be opened. Write “Submission” in the subject of the email.
Please follow the above guidelines carefully, and include your full contact details.
Nick Harkaway, author of ‘The Gone Away World’, will be editing a story for the book as well as penning the introduction.
The e-book will be sold on www.smashwords.com. The paperback will be published and sold by Unbound Press, and will be available online about a week after the release of the e-book
The website:
http://www.100storiesforhaiti.org/
Maybe you already have a story that word work, or maybe you are great under pressure and can bang one out in a day. Or maybe you or someone you know would love to buy the book and support this fantastic cause.
Another way to help would be to mention 100 Stories for Haiti or set up a link on your own blog. But please do it today because the deadline is Wednesday!
Thank you!
We want short story submissions to help raise money for disaster-stricken Haiti. Out of the submissions, 100 pieces of fiction will be chosen to appear in an e-book and paperback, the proceeds of which will go to the Red Cross.
If you want to send a short story, please follow these guidelines:
• Do not exceed 1,000 words.
• No stories containing graphic violence, death or destruction.
• We want stories with a lot of HEART, a dash of COMPASSION, and unmeasurable amounts of HOPE. Stories that anyone can read. Stories that leave you feeling as though life really is worth living.
Send all stories in the body of an email to: 100storiesforhaiti@gmail.com.
Stories sent as attachments will *not* be opened. Write “Submission” in the subject of the email.
Please follow the above guidelines carefully, and include your full contact details.
Nick Harkaway, author of ‘The Gone Away World’, will be editing a story for the book as well as penning the introduction.
The e-book will be sold on www.smashwords.com. The paperback will be published and sold by Unbound Press, and will be available online about a week after the release of the e-book
The website:
http://www.100storiesforhaiti.org/
Maybe you already have a story that word work, or maybe you are great under pressure and can bang one out in a day. Or maybe you or someone you know would love to buy the book and support this fantastic cause.
Another way to help would be to mention 100 Stories for Haiti or set up a link on your own blog. But please do it today because the deadline is Wednesday!
Thank you!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A way to do something for Haiti...
If you are like me, you have been reading the stories about Haiti and wishing you could do something. And maybe you are like me and finding yourself unable to give as much financially as you would like to and would like some other way to contribute. Some fantastic people have established "100 Stories for Haiti," a short story anthology with proceeds going to the Red Cross.
The information for their site:
We want short story submissions to help raise money for disaster-stricken Haiti. Out of the submissions, 100 pieces of fiction will be chosen to appear in an e-book and paperback, the proceeds of which will go to the Red Cross.
If you want to send a short story, please follow these guidelines:
• Do not exceed 1,000 words.
• No stories containing graphic violence, death or destruction.
• We want stories with a lot of HEART, a dash of COMPASSION, and unmeasurable amounts of HOPE. Stories that anyone can read. Stories that leave you feeling as though life really is worth living.
Send all stories in the body of an email to: 100storiesforhaiti@gmail.com.
Stories sent as attachments will *not* be opened. Write “Submission” in the subject of the email.
Please follow the above guidelines carefully, and include your full contact details.
Stories must be received by Midnight, Monday 25 January, 2010. (Jenna's Note: this is midnight GMT, so check your time difference!)
Nick Harkaway, author of ‘The Gone Away World’, will be editing a story for the book as well as penning the introduction.
The e-book will be sold on www.smashwords.com. The paperback will be published and sold by Unbound Press, and will be available online about a week after the release of the e-book
The website:
http://www.100storiesforhaiti.org/
Maybe you have a story tucked away that might work for this. Or maybe you already a story of hope, yet unwritten, that is burning to be free. Or maybe you aren't able to contribute words, but could buy one of these great books when they are available. A way to give and get at the same time.
Thank you.
The information for their site:
We want short story submissions to help raise money for disaster-stricken Haiti. Out of the submissions, 100 pieces of fiction will be chosen to appear in an e-book and paperback, the proceeds of which will go to the Red Cross.
If you want to send a short story, please follow these guidelines:
• Do not exceed 1,000 words.
• No stories containing graphic violence, death or destruction.
• We want stories with a lot of HEART, a dash of COMPASSION, and unmeasurable amounts of HOPE. Stories that anyone can read. Stories that leave you feeling as though life really is worth living.
Send all stories in the body of an email to: 100storiesforhaiti@gmail.com.
Stories sent as attachments will *not* be opened. Write “Submission” in the subject of the email.
Please follow the above guidelines carefully, and include your full contact details.
Stories must be received by Midnight, Monday 25 January, 2010. (Jenna's Note: this is midnight GMT, so check your time difference!)
Nick Harkaway, author of ‘The Gone Away World’, will be editing a story for the book as well as penning the introduction.
The e-book will be sold on www.smashwords.com. The paperback will be published and sold by Unbound Press, and will be available online about a week after the release of the e-book
The website:
http://www.100storiesforhaiti.org/
Maybe you have a story tucked away that might work for this. Or maybe you already a story of hope, yet unwritten, that is burning to be free. Or maybe you aren't able to contribute words, but could buy one of these great books when they are available. A way to give and get at the same time.
Thank you.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What the Dickens?
In the course researching some new passages for my WIP, I've been reading the letters from Charles Dickens. While I can recite the majority of Jane Austen's books backwards and forwards and know her life story by heart, I know relatively little about Charles Dickens. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've actually never read a Dickens novel in full. I'm not sure why that is. I think I've always assumed they would be dry or boring or hard to read. I think that might be the assessment of the average person when presented with a novel by an author in Victorian England. (I should clarify that I'm sure no one reading this blog would consider themselves an 'average reader'.)
As I've read the letters, they bring to mind.... television. Soap operas or programs like The OC actually. The drama! The gossip! The romance and break ups!
Here's the story in brief: Our friend Charles Dickens is dating Maria. Maria and Charles have a mutual friend named Marianne, who has somehow come between them. Here are a few brief passages from the letters from Charles to Maria:
"...you certainly totally and entriely misunderstand my feeling with regard to her...That she (Marianne) has for some reason thrown herself in my way I could plainly see...for instance on the night of the play I could not get rid of her; God knows that I have no pleasure in speaking to her..."
"I have often said before and I say again I have borne more from you than I do believe any creature breathing ever bore from a woman before."
"I never have loved and I never can love any human creature breathing but yourself."
Has The Hills or Days of Our Lives ever had such a plot? How truly exciting! And it gets better...
Charles and Maria made up, but her parents decide Dickens was too poor for their little girl and sent her off to finishing school in France. So despite his promises that he would never love anyone else, he met and married Catherine Hogarth, who bore him ten (10!!) children. To reward this, he went off and shacked up with an actress, Nelly Ternen, who was almost thirty years his junior. In fact, there are rumors that they had a child (who died in infancy) and that he actually died at Nelly's place but was secretly transported somewhere else so no one knew.
See?!? Drama! Sex! Intrigue!
Do you think that the Classics could shake off their staid reputations and enjoy more popularity if the 'average' reader knew of their exciting roots? Is that why we are seeing so many books that are fictionalized accounts of real people that were once consider boring (particularly Austen, Dickens, the Tudors, and so on)?
As I've read the letters, they bring to mind.... television. Soap operas or programs like The OC actually. The drama! The gossip! The romance and break ups!
Here's the story in brief: Our friend Charles Dickens is dating Maria. Maria and Charles have a mutual friend named Marianne, who has somehow come between them. Here are a few brief passages from the letters from Charles to Maria:
"...you certainly totally and entriely misunderstand my feeling with regard to her...That she (Marianne) has for some reason thrown herself in my way I could plainly see...for instance on the night of the play I could not get rid of her; God knows that I have no pleasure in speaking to her..."
"I have often said before and I say again I have borne more from you than I do believe any creature breathing ever bore from a woman before."
"I never have loved and I never can love any human creature breathing but yourself."
Has The Hills or Days of Our Lives ever had such a plot? How truly exciting! And it gets better...
Charles and Maria made up, but her parents decide Dickens was too poor for their little girl and sent her off to finishing school in France. So despite his promises that he would never love anyone else, he met and married Catherine Hogarth, who bore him ten (10!!) children. To reward this, he went off and shacked up with an actress, Nelly Ternen, who was almost thirty years his junior. In fact, there are rumors that they had a child (who died in infancy) and that he actually died at Nelly's place but was secretly transported somewhere else so no one knew.
See?!? Drama! Sex! Intrigue!
Do you think that the Classics could shake off their staid reputations and enjoy more popularity if the 'average' reader knew of their exciting roots? Is that why we are seeing so many books that are fictionalized accounts of real people that were once consider boring (particularly Austen, Dickens, the Tudors, and so on)?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Writing for a living
I had one of those head in the hands moments yesterday, where I was overwhelmed by the desperation to have the whole novel-writing situation turn into something real. I have those moments regularly but what set me off on this one was is the state of my house. It really needs to be cleaned. And I'm not talking the Martha-Stewart-I-really-must-dust-the-baskets kind of cleaning, but more like I-can't-see-through-the-shower-door-for-all-the-soap-scum kind of cleaning.
My house used to be cleaner than this, for those six glorious months that my full-time job was writing. Every day, I would write for four or five hours while my children were at school, leaving an hour or two before they got home for real life stuff, like cleaning and cooking and laundry. Which meant that I could focus on my family and myself (hobbies and reading and more writing) on the evenings and weekends. I've never been happier than that time.
I know I was extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity, and it was only because we had just moved from England to Texas. My husband had a job that paid enough to make it on his salary for a while (we have rarely had two incomes due to college, maternity, etc. and as a result, are very good at living within our means). And I had such a specialized field (Food Research & Development) that I knew it was unlikely the crappy economy would cough up a job for me in my new city. It made sense for me to finally put my fingers where my mouth was and write the novel I've been talking about for almost two decades. So I did.
But it was too good to last. Ballet lessons and rising food costs and children who keep outgrowing shoes meant that I needed to get a job. Now that I work about four days a week (including Saturdays), something has to give. And it isn't going to be the writing. Result: dirty house. And empty fridge. And thank you notes that are a month overdue. And abandoned craft projects. And dead plants.
I think every writer has the dream that they could give up the day job and write for a living. But I think everyone's definition of that is different, dependent on their lifestyle. Honestly, if I could make ten or twenty thousand a year, I could write for a living. There is a lot I'm willing give up to be able to do my dream job.
So hear that, Universe? I don't have big wants. It doesn't have to be a six-figure deal (not that I would turn it down, of course). Anything you want to send my way would be great. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
What about you? Knowing the reality of the publishing world and what it pays, how likely is it that you could give up the day job if you got a book deal?
My house used to be cleaner than this, for those six glorious months that my full-time job was writing. Every day, I would write for four or five hours while my children were at school, leaving an hour or two before they got home for real life stuff, like cleaning and cooking and laundry. Which meant that I could focus on my family and myself (hobbies and reading and more writing) on the evenings and weekends. I've never been happier than that time.
I know I was extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity, and it was only because we had just moved from England to Texas. My husband had a job that paid enough to make it on his salary for a while (we have rarely had two incomes due to college, maternity, etc. and as a result, are very good at living within our means). And I had such a specialized field (Food Research & Development) that I knew it was unlikely the crappy economy would cough up a job for me in my new city. It made sense for me to finally put my fingers where my mouth was and write the novel I've been talking about for almost two decades. So I did.
But it was too good to last. Ballet lessons and rising food costs and children who keep outgrowing shoes meant that I needed to get a job. Now that I work about four days a week (including Saturdays), something has to give. And it isn't going to be the writing. Result: dirty house. And empty fridge. And thank you notes that are a month overdue. And abandoned craft projects. And dead plants.
I think every writer has the dream that they could give up the day job and write for a living. But I think everyone's definition of that is different, dependent on their lifestyle. Honestly, if I could make ten or twenty thousand a year, I could write for a living. There is a lot I'm willing give up to be able to do my dream job.
So hear that, Universe? I don't have big wants. It doesn't have to be a six-figure deal (not that I would turn it down, of course). Anything you want to send my way would be great. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
What about you? Knowing the reality of the publishing world and what it pays, how likely is it that you could give up the day job if you got a book deal?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Someone get me a hammer!
Platform is getting to be a dirty word in my house. My husband, because he doesn't pore over the (seeming) millions of agent and writer blogs and sites that I do every day, just does not get the concept of platform. He can't understand the shameless self-promotion that a writer must engage in to be successful. Everytime I mention the word, he shrugs and gives me the 'whatever' look.
I must admit, I've been sweating this. I'm so busy revising my WIP for the three (yes three - squeee!) agents that want to see it that I just haven't had time to blog. I don't Twitter and I use Facebook only for keeping in touch with friends and family. I've moved twelve times in twenty years which means that I have a very large, geographically diverse network of friends and colleagues, but I've not developed it as a tool for promotion. And truthfully, I don't like the idea of doing something just because I should, particulary if it doesn't feel natural.
So it was with great relief that I read Nathan Bransford's blog on the subject (I also saw it on Shelli's fantastic blog).
A few days ago, I was contacted by the fiction editor at the magazine that has published a few of my short stories. She wanted to know if I was interested in writing a three-part serial for them (about 12,000 words), or maybe just submitting a few more short stories. As this is a well-known woman's magazine in the UK with a high circulation (350,000), it would be great exposure. And I started to think, maybe I should just focus on writing to build my platform, at least for now.
I must admit, I've been sweating this. I'm so busy revising my WIP for the three (yes three - squeee!) agents that want to see it that I just haven't had time to blog. I don't Twitter and I use Facebook only for keeping in touch with friends and family. I've moved twelve times in twenty years which means that I have a very large, geographically diverse network of friends and colleagues, but I've not developed it as a tool for promotion. And truthfully, I don't like the idea of doing something just because I should, particulary if it doesn't feel natural.
So it was with great relief that I read Nathan Bransford's blog on the subject (I also saw it on Shelli's fantastic blog).
A few days ago, I was contacted by the fiction editor at the magazine that has published a few of my short stories. She wanted to know if I was interested in writing a three-part serial for them (about 12,000 words), or maybe just submitting a few more short stories. As this is a well-known woman's magazine in the UK with a high circulation (350,000), it would be great exposure. And I started to think, maybe I should just focus on writing to build my platform, at least for now.
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