Madge's Weblog

Writer's Guideline Pet Peeve -- From a Writer's Viewpoint

I'm looking for places to submit a new science fiction story.  The first two were a given for me, they are the two places I always submit my best short science fiction work -- Asimov's and Fantasy & Science Fiction.  My philosophy is that if I'm serious about my writing I always need to start at the top and work my way down the list of possible outlets based on reputation and payscale.

Here's where the pet peeve comes in.  In researching the next outlet I came across writers guideline from a publication that says:

" Unless you are convinced that your work is of a top-shelf, global standard – the sort of excellent fiction published by, for example, Asimov’s – please don’t bother."

Wait, I'm confused, if you're an author convinced that your short story is good enough for Asimov's shouldn't that be where you send it?  Why would you send it to this unknown publication instead?

Seriously people, it can't be that hard to write your guidelines that you have to resort to things like "Only take what should be published in 'World Renowned Publication XYZ'."   I've actually seen this sort of wording before and it has become a BIG pet peeve of mine.  I never send my work for consideration to any outlet that says stuff like this.  I'm positive that lack of my short stories to reject has never harmed one of these outlets :-)  but it makes me feel better to not support an outlet that resorts to lazy guidelines.

Resources for Character and Story Ideas

I have two resources that I use regularly for character and story ideas.  One is a fairly new resource, or rather its fairly new that it is free.  I use the archives of the New York Times for historical data points to make my fantasy stories more real.  This information was just freed up from behind a paywall.  I am beyond excited about having it as a free resource. 

I also use the Dear Abby and Dear Margo columns in the newspaper for inspiration.  For instance there was a great letter yesterday in Dear Abby where a woman was writing in to say that her husband wouldn't let her lock the doors to their house.  This is a great "why" and "what-if" scenario for a short story or even a novel. It is especially useful for me because the one area where I struggle is in the character arc.  I have trouble making my characters change by the end of the story.  The Dear Abby and Dear Margo letters set-up fabulous opportunities to build character arcs.

Drabble: Alektorophobia

Here's an odd little Drabble I wrote recently.  Caution: Not for those with a fear of chicken.

Stanley was a simple man with simple tastes.  Simple like fried chicken.  Mmmm, it was his favorite.  Not with mashed potatos or a side of coleslaw, he liked his Sunday fried chicken with a side of fried chicken.

That sleepy Sunday morning started the same as any other.  The pullets clucking in the yard, Stanley eating his breakfast.  Stanley walking out the door, the roosters.. wait.. the roosters sharpening their knives?

Too bad for Stanley that the chickens had simple tastes too.  For weeks now they had been looking forward to some fried Stanley with a side of mashed Stanley

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Field Guide to SF Muni -- Muni Karma

Muni Karma is a lot like parking karma.  It comes and goes on it's own whim.  If you don't have any Muni Karma built up you'll find yourself standing at the bus stop waiting for a 33 for half an hour only to find that as soon as you start to walk away one roars by without stopping.  One way to build up your Muni Karma is to thank your bus driver.  You put your life in their hands every day -- think about how many times you have crossed in front of a bus without thinking twice not to mention how many times you ride in one -- so saying thank you now and again isn't too much to ask.