Publishing Short Stories
Posted by on December 19, 2012
Not easy, not easy at all. And you know what? It’s not even the quality of the story that matters most.
This is honestly the most frustrating thing in my life. Not university, not studies, not obsessing about grades, scholarships and gaining actual experience. As you all know, my goal is to develop enough to actually be able to call myself a writer. For now, I’m in training – practicing points of views, getting inside the character, developing plots (which is my weakness really, I tend to focus on the people rather than the outer conflict), experimenting with genres. I still don’t know whether I’m most comfortable in scifi, fantasy or literary fiction.
The fact that I managed to publish a flash fiction is a huge encouragement. And it is much easier. Flash fictions are on the rise and since they publish new material daily, the acceptance rate is high. Magazines, however, publish just a handful of stories once a month or even more rarely. The story must truly stand out.
Another problem I stumbled upon is the market itself. Where in the world could I publish something that doesn’t completely fit in any genre? For example, Johnny-boy and I (I polished it up a bit more) might actually have a chance – it show how a person changes, the character’s struggle, the inner conflict (do you think it has a chance? be honest now). But where could I publish a story without any quote marks because it shows nothing but the character’s thoughts? Thoughts don’t have quote marks. Maybe I can’t pull this off just yet, but still a story about a bank robber in love and her partner’s decent into greed?
I have found some crime magazines, but again it doesn’t fit in their kind of stories.
Where does that fit in? Do you have any advice? Do you know of any magazines that publish stories that are neither here nor there, stories that are set in the real world, but…different?
Links to pubs and websites come by my way on a regular basis. If I see one that fits for you, I will be happy to send it your way.
Thank you!
I’m afraid I don’t have much advice. When it comes to writing, I tend to be sporadic. Sometimes there are those sudden flashes of brilliance (at least that’s what I think they are) and they take me places. I find that at times like that, my best writing comes out. Still very much experimenting myself but I write to please myself, writing gives me immense joy and amusement, I think self-satisfaction is a very important factor.
I do too, but I still want to be heard. I also want to improve my writing, that’s why I have daily goals – it teaches me to write even when I feel like utter bloody crap. On those days I tend to have a good idea, but poor execusion, which is not a problem. Editing and rewriting are always there if the idea is good enough
I know what you mean. I have several fragments of ideas in my drafts folder waiting for the words to paint them to life.
Hi Alice, you could try sending stories to competitions. I have some doing the rounds most of the year and I’ve had two stories published (see my blog) and it’s a way to get noticed and build your writing resumé.