Have you deleted every unnecessary word?
Does that last line resonate with readers?
Does the title pull the audience into the prose?
“Sometimes a story or an essay can meander along for several paragraphs or even pages before landing somewhere dynamic. Make sure your opening pages aren’t a form of ‘throat-clearing.’ Sometimes the story begins on page 3. This is often clear when you read it after putting it aside for some time. Trust your instincts.”
—LISA FUGARD
Titles
Write this down: Essay and short-story titles matter. They are the gateway to your prose. Don’t settle for a lazy or boring title. You want to entice readers to stay a while and see what you have to offer in the following pages.
When selecting a title, be purposeful and specific. I like to dig through my work for a sentence or phrase that stands out. You can also pick a specific item from your work, something that has meaning in your story. Maybe you state your theme as a title. For inspiration, flip through the pages of any literary magazine and read the titles you see there. What you won’t find: boring titles.
Editors see your file name when you submit your prose, so it’s best to have that file name reflect your title in some way (or be your exact title, in my opinion, even if it’s long). Many writers change their story title more than once during the revision process. When your story is complete and you’ve settled on the perfect title, remember to go back and change your file name, too.
“I have often found that the title of a piece changed with every draft and that when I land on the final title, it usually signals that I’m on the final draft. It’s not as sacred as changing your name or the name of your child. Titles can change as your theme evolves. That’s good. That shows progress, not disloyalty.”
—STUART HORWITZ
Read Your Work Aloud
One of the best ways to find fixable moments in your prose is to read your draft aloud. You don’t need anyone to sit and listen. Just talk to your computer screen or your dog, if he’s nearby. You’ll hear the places where you stumble, and you’ll find some typos.
Try listening for those areas where you speed up your speech and the places where you slow down. What you have on the page should convey that same cadence. When you speed up, ensure that the sentences in that section are short and tight so that readers will speed up, too. When you slow your speech, check whether the phrasing would compel the reader to slow down and look more intently at the action. If not, can you revise it?
For an even more enlightening experience, have someone else read your work aloud to you. When she trips over a word combination or a garbled sentence, make a note on your copy but don’t interrupt her. Let her get to the end as smoothly as she can. Take notes about her cadence. Where did she speed up? Is there something that made her laugh? Was she supposed to laugh? Did she read your last line with confidence or confusion?
When to Show Your Work to Someone Else
If you really like a piece of your writing but you’re not absolutely sure that it’s ready for an editor’s eyes, my advice is this: Don’t submit it yet. Instead, find someone else to read your story. Other writers, critique group members, and writing instructors are all your partners in polishing your prose. You can find many potential helpers in online groups like WordTango, Scribophile, and Zoetrope Virtual Studio, among others. Share your work, and let people help direct you to your final draft. Ask them where they think you can improve your prose, and then make any changes you agree are necessary.
You don’t want someone else rewriting your work, of course, but writing is an act of communication. We need to know that our stories make sense to our readers. We need to know which part of our essay punches readers in the gut and which part needs a tweak. We need to see the story the way a fresh reader sees the story, warts and all.
Critique partners are colleagues who are working on projects they’d like to see published too, so they understand your goal, and they know how to help. Writing instructors can provide terrific help with editing, too.
“You may have heard all good writing requires a bit of thievery—sometimes we learn from the greats by stealing from them. The same goes for creating a critique group. In most cities, you can find free (or low-cost) writing groups on websites like Meetup or Craigslist … and then steal the good eggs. I did this for years: Every time I moved to a new city, I would find a fiction group on Meetup, go to one or two events, dislike 80–90 percent of the writing being workshopped (a preponderance of bird poems), and then find the one or two writers whose work I really connected with. I didn’t even feel a smidgen of guilt when I spirited these gems away to create our own awesome critique group.”
—BREE BARTON
Critique Groups
We could all use a supportive tribe of writers in our lives. Sharing pages with two or three other writers each month is all you really need to grow as a writer. Let’s look at the who, what, when, where, and why of critique groups:
WHO: A productive critique group consists of anywhere between two and six writers. The ideal number of partners is really up to you, but if you invite more than five, then you’ll need to schedule a large block of time for each session.
Feel free to mix genres and writing styles. Welcome any creative writer who is working on short prose; essayists and poets can give you valuable feedback on a short story. They work with language every day. Any writer is a skillful reader and part of your target audience.
You can meet potential critique partners at libraries, writing classes, and conferences. I met one of my own critique partners through a class, and she brought in two more writers she’d met through other avenues. Sometimes you’ll even meet a writer at a non-writerly event, like a cocktail party. Writers are everywhere.
WHAT: A critique group gathers so that each participant has the opportunity to receive quality feedback about his prose. Typically, each writer will submit an essay or story to the group a few days ahead of time via e-mail. Every participant then reads each submission and brings notes about it to the group meeting.
You’re going to want to establish some rules for giving feedback. A common structure looks like this: Each reader must provide you with three things he admires about your prose and three things he thinks can be improved. Writers do not like being told how to fix their stories, so don’t be one of those people. Instead, give your partners very specific information that will help them make choices about improvements.
For instance, saying “I didn’t get it” doesn’t help a writer because it doesn’t give her enough information to make an informed edit. Instead, saying “The ending felt unfinished” is a tangible clue for the writer to explore. She might even ask you to clarify.
It’s up to you to evaluate the feedback you receive. Take what feels right to your story, and leave the rest. You don’t have to make all of the changes your readers suggest. Tip: If you hear similar comments from a number of readers, then you know that a piece is worth reexamining.
WHEN: Meet regularly. Sharing your work every other week or even once a month is enough to help you improve your writing skills and polish your prose. When all critique partners participate regularly, everyone benefits.
WHERE: Meeting around someone’s dining room table is a fantastic way to get together, but you can use large tables found at most coffee shops and libraries, too. You don’t need to live in the same city, either. You can share work through e-mail any day of the week.
My three critique partners live in three other states. We share our work via Google Drive, in a document section reserved specifically for the four of us. We make notes on each other’s manuscripts, then e-mail each other with any further questions or clarifications.
Google Drive is easy to use and allows us to see notes from all participants at the same time. I’d recommend it for any group that isn’t able to meet in person. Other great choices for sharing documents include Dropbox, iCloud, and MediaFire.
WHY: Criti
que groups have deadlines, which keep you productive. You receive helpful feedback at the meetings so that you are able to improve your prose during your next revision.
Your critique partners will get to know your writing habits, good and bad. They will high-five you when you nail a sentence and challenge you when you’ve become lazy on the page.
Here is some sound advice from writer/editor Dr. Michelle Lee about getting the most out of critique sessions:
Sharing your work can be a frightening, challenging, and disappointing experience that leaves you confused and deflated. Over the years, I’ve walked away from “workshop” or one-on-one exchange sessions feeling like I need to gut everything in my story to the studs. I’ve walked away with ten different opinions on how to revise and no clue which one is right.
However, because of these moments of creative paralysis, I’ve figured out three key strategies to harvest specific and helpful feedback from critique partners, suggestions that will inspire, rather than overwhelm:
1. Only share with people you can trust to give you ideas in ways you can handle. Your best writer-friend may be the perfect person to chat about a recent Writer’s Digest article on the technical ups and downs of plot, but he may be abrasive or aggressive when pointing out the particular flaws in yours. Be honest with yourself: Do you need a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down? Or can you take it straight out of the bottle, sour as can be?
2. Direct the working session. When you send your draft to your partner, attach a list of purposeful, meaningful questions or issues you want addressed. For example, never just simply say, “Tell me what you think!” You will get either a cheering squad or firing squad in return. Focus the reader’s keen eye. Maybe you want to ask, “Does the protagonist seem flat in the poker scene?” or “I’m worried that I am repeating myself. Does it seem that way to you?” Or maybe you write, “The backstory seems to slow the pace—should I add dialogue to make it go faster?”
3. Only share your work when it has “legs.” Try to wait until your story has a solid frame before giving it to a reader for feedback. This way, you can have a confident conversation about your intentions as a writer and the motivations/actions/journey of your characters. You will also be less likely to buckle under the “crowd idea” if the group-think begins to take your story in directions you don’t want.
Hiring an Editor
If you’d like, you can hire an editor to help you polish your short prose. The role of an independent editor varies depending on the type of editing you seek. When you reach out to editors with your short prose, make sure you’re working with someone who is familiar with short stories and essays. Also, you’ll need to know what kind of help to ask for. You have a choice between developmental editing and copyediting.
Developmental editing includes feedback on big-picture items like pacing, structure, transitions, and dialogue. A good developmental editor for short prose will be someone who understands the expectations of today’s short-story or essay markets and reads this type of writing regularly. If she writes short stories or essays regularly, too, then that’s even better.
Copyediting is the process of reading your prose and making line-by-line edits for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure. The right editor for this kind of work is someone who owns a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style or The Elements of Style and knows how to whip your sentences into clean and clear, magazine-perfect shape.
EXERCISE: REVISE VIA THEME
One of the most effective ways to enhance your personal essay or short story during revision is to focus on what you’re trying to say and then say it better. For this exercise, you’ll need to have a solid first draft in hand.
First, study your prose and choose three possible themes for your short story or essay. Write them down on a separate sheet of paper. For each theme you select, write out three sentences that begin with “I.” For example: “I want to show the relationship changes that happen when a daughter becomes a mother.”
Next, study your sentences and decide which theme best sums up the idea you’d like to convey in this piece of writing. Revise your work with that theme in mind. Give your readers at least three subtle examples of this theme in your prose.
If you have to alter or throw out most of the original piece to accomplish this, so be it. Let your story become a better version of your original idea. As you make editing choices, keep coming back to your theme again and again. Amplify your theme through the dialogue, setting, and the details you choose.
Part Two
SELLING SHORT STORIES & PERSONAL ESSAYS
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FIVE STEPS TO PUBLISHING SUCCESS
Whether or not you have a final draft completed or are just starting, you may be wondering, Who wants to publish my writing?
This can be a tough question, but I’m here to help you figure that out. In the second part of this book, you’ll learn how to analyze your finished creative work and match it to a market. You’ll understand the difference between genre stories and literary fiction. You’ll know if your essay is a piece of creative nonfiction or a different kind of essay and which outlets to query based on that answer. You will create a list of publications that match your written work, and you’ll have the tools in place to find homes for every new piece of short writing you create in the future.
Let’s take a look at the task ahead. You have a polished piece of writing that needs a good home. You’re confident that it’s ready to be seen by editors, and you’re itching to submit your work. It’s time to send out that piece.
You want to get published, though, so let’s not rush through the process. There are a few things to take care of before you press that “send” button. There’s a cover letter to write and formatting to adjust, magazines to research, and guidelines to read. You’ll need to decide about submission options and which rights you’re willing to sell.
Over the years I’ve perfected a five-step system for submitting short writing. This method has landed me nearly eighty bylines in literary, regional, and trade magazines across the United States and Canada. I’ve been teaching the core of this five-point program for eight years through a class I call Market Coaching for Creative Writers.
Here are the five steps we’ll cover:
Categorize your work.
Find potential markets.
Write a cover letter.
Format your manuscript.
Submit like a pro.
This entire five-step process falls under the umbrella of marketing, and if that doesn’t feel very creative to you, you’re right. It isn’t. Marketing your writing is the business side of this creative life. It’s a necessary bridge between your finished work and a publishing contract.
When you’re prewriting (journaling, reading, taking writing classes, and engaged in your various other interests), you’re opening the doors to writing well. Then while writing your first draft, you’re allowing your artistic self a chance to explore an idea, capturing whatever magic manifests itself during the creative process. And when you’re editing that draft (three or twelve or maybe fifteen times), you’re shaping your creative vision to provide your readers with an experience, a unique, visceral journey.
But while you’re marketing your work, you must rein in that creative brilliance and think like a business professional. Luckily, writers don’t need to be boring to get published, so keep your personality intact (as long as you have a nice one). Consider every submission a handshake—the first impression of what can become a wonderful publishing partnership.
MARKETING MONDAY
How much time does it take to market your work? More than you might think. It’s something you’ll need to make room for in your schedule. I market my finished work every Monday morning. I like to call it Marketing Monday.
Each Marketing Monday I review any unsold pieces of writing on my desk. Some have already been submitted (and have logged a few rejections), and others are brand-new stories. Each Monday I review the
se pieces and make a plan for them. I study potential markets, make new matches, and send that work out the door to viable editors. Choosing even one day a month to tackle your marketing tasks will keep you moving toward your publishing goals.
MEET A FEW OF MY FRIENDS
I’d like to introduce you to three writer friends of mine: Joan, Samantha, and Hershel.
Joan has been writing short pieces about her life for the last two years. Sometimes she writes about her childhood in Alabama or her life as a single parent, but most of her finished essays are attempts to process her mother’s death. She finally feels confident enough to send a few of them out the door, but she has no idea where to start.
Samantha knows all about personal writing. She survived a life-changing trip to Madagascar as a teenager, and now she’s writing a memoir about her experience. She completed her MFA degree three years ago and is nearing the last draft of her book. Samantha knows she’ll need to land a literary agent to get her book into the hands of one of the big publishers, so she’s working to build her platform. To accomplish that, she blogs regularly about traveling as a young woman and has prepared a few travel essays that she’d like to see published in magazines. Some of her pieces are serious, and some are funny. One of her essays gives tips on backpacking through Paris while wearing a full leg cast; another essay is a survival guide to using the airplane toilet during a turbulent flight.
Hershel writes for one hour every day, even on holidays. He isn’t a fast writer, but he’s nearly finished with a novel about a guy who—much like himself—works in the music industry as a sound technician. Hershel writes short stories, too. One of them earned second place in a contest he heard about from a friend. He thinks some of the other short stories he’s written are even better than that one, good enough to get published. Two of his short stories take place in a fictional town Hershel calls “Tillview,” so he’s thinking he might have the beginnings of a short-story collection. He’s not sure if he should save those stories for a collection or send them out to literary magazines.
Writing & Selling Short Stories & Personal Essays Page 12
