My epitaph

[pjthompson]

An anthology editor recently told me, "While you do have a distinctive voice, the pacing is too slow and the story is bogged down by exposition."

Another anthology editor said of the same story, "Both editors felt it was a very strong story, but [it didn't quite fit our specifications]. We do feel it's a story that should easily sell to the appropriate market."

And so it goes.

While the contradictory nature of these statements leaves me in something of a quandary (and it is so not the first time with this story—the reactions have been all over the map), and ultimately I have to follow my instincts, I appreciate without reservation when editors take the time to give me feedback. They are busy folks and do not generally have time for it, so it is not something I ever take lightly. And as for those instincts? This is not the first time I have been told I bog stories down with exposition. I am inclined to take this latest piece of advice quite seriously.

I often find myself doubting my instincts more than I trust them when it comes to short stories. Short stories mostly leave me in a state of deep bewilderment, sure that I just don't get the mystical secret of writing them. Have I cut too much? Have I cut too little? Will the reader get the subtle layering? Or is that a luxury I can't afford in such tight space? They're all mini-novels to me—and the one thing I'm sure of is that short stories are not mini-novels. The last time I read this particular story (well over a year ago) I thought it as tight as I could possibly make it. Recently, when I read it again I thought, "There's definitely some loose skin here." But in the rush to send it, I foolishly decided to ignore my instincts. Because why should I? I don't know "the secret."

Thus endeth the lesson.

Time is the one sure friend a writer can count on. Time to write and make mistakes and learn from them and write some more and time (oh most important of all) to put something away and gain perspective on it. If I fail to heed the lessons that time gives, I am a foolish poppet indeed, doomed to repeat the same mistakes ad nauseam and never progress beyond my latest flat plateau. That's no way to learn the secret—which is, of course, no secret at all. It's called "a learning curve."

Comments

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

I think of lot of it is about personal taste, marketing ideas, trying to anticipate what the public wants and how to give it to them.

You haven't said this, but I hear it often enough that I think of it when people talk about the struggles in getting published. It really isn't enough to 'want it' or to even polish your work. There are a ton of factors that influence this industry that are out of your control.

Which is why you get contradictory feedback.

Or, at least, that's what I tell myself.

[pjthompson]

Oh, I know that. I would put all this down to wrong time/wrong editor if I hadn't read the story and thought I could slim it down some more then ignored my own instincts.

There really are too many variables outside the writer's control. Which is why standing pat on a story you believe in (rather than trying to rewrite it for every market) is not necessarily a foolish thing to do. It might not be right for a given editor/agent, it might not be right for the current market, but that doesn't mean that it's wrong. Just out of phase. So you move on to the next thing and the next...

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

It's like you are in my head movies.

[pjthompson]

Which must be terribly scary for both of us.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think this. You get a story as good as you think it can be, and then you leave it--unless someone tells you something that feels really right and makes you *want* to tweak the story more. Because, once it gets to a point of feeling really right, there's no point in trying to change it to please others. You have to wait and hope that somewhere out there, there is an editor or an agent who will like it too.

Fingers crossed for you.

[pjthompson]

Thank you. I'm fairly sanguine about this story. It is what it is and I won't change it materially. I've been fiddling with it for a long time and suspect it may be part of a novel, but I still retain hope that I can find a home for it. I will take care of the loose skin first, though. :-)

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Time is a help on a personal level, but as you said in your later post, I'm not sure it's a help on a societal one. At least, that's definitely not the direction we're heading in right now. Maybe we'll all eventually tap out in that regard, and look to start slowing things down, but until we get to that point, I'm not sure what to say for slow, character-developing stories.

[pjthompson]

Yeah, I think slow, character-developing stories have a tough time of it in the current market. I understand and I guess I'm okay. The ones that I'm willing to stand firm on, like "A Tale of Two Moons," may have a future in a novel, so I'm not devastated that the magazines and anthologies won't take them. I do think it's a shame we as a society don't seem to have the patience for those kinds of stories anymore.

And so it goes.