BEING IRISH AND STORYTELLING
Some of my ancestors came from a tiny corner of Ireland and the adjoining part of Scotland. I am Scotch-Irish. Daddy used to say we were orange, not green. But whatever that little drop of blood is, I love the music and the literature and the lilting accents. I also know my ancestors were storytellers and I do feel I inherited that gene.
I have been telling stories since the age of ten. My first tale was about an Indian warrior who captures a young white woman and she falls in love with him--and he in return feels the same. At age ten, what did I know about love? For that matter, what did I know about Indians? All I knew about them was what I read about, heard on the radio shows I listened to on Saturday and Sunday night, and remembered from the tales of my Creek ancestors on the other side of the family. That was the beginning, however, of an ongoing love for writing fiction, especially short stories.
There isn't much market for those short stories now and we who love to write them find fewer and fewer markets for them. Luckily, there are small press who will publish our work, for no pay, or a copy of the publication. That way, if nothing else, we can see our stories in print.
On Monday and Wednesday next in my creative writing classes, I will be giving a short presentation on writing the short story. How can I encourage people to write something that is no longer truly appreciated? The major magazines who accept fiction can be counted on one hand and those are very picky. Actually, I never see any names of writers that I don't recognize--the John Updike's, Amy Tan's, etc--of the writing world seem to be the only ones who see the light of day. So what can a writer do in order to maybe get their story in print?
Hit the ground running was a suggestion I found in one article. Start off with a bang. Grab/hook the reader. Start with some sort of conflict or threat. Show the unexpected. Create tension. Do something that will make those readers (you do realize that some young person interning as a reader for the publishing company is probably the only person who will ever see your work, don't you?) sit up and take notice, want to see the ending, and pass it on to the editor.
A writer of short stories no longer has time to warm up the reader. The readers and busy editors will throw your work in the round file if you don't have a powerful beginning.
Hopefully, my students will understand that I am pushing them to do their best work--and not think I am discouraging them from submitting at all.
I have been telling stories since the age of ten. My first tale was about an Indian warrior who captures a young white woman and she falls in love with him--and he in return feels the same. At age ten, what did I know about love? For that matter, what did I know about Indians? All I knew about them was what I read about, heard on the radio shows I listened to on Saturday and Sunday night, and remembered from the tales of my Creek ancestors on the other side of the family. That was the beginning, however, of an ongoing love for writing fiction, especially short stories.
There isn't much market for those short stories now and we who love to write them find fewer and fewer markets for them. Luckily, there are small press who will publish our work, for no pay, or a copy of the publication. That way, if nothing else, we can see our stories in print.
On Monday and Wednesday next in my creative writing classes, I will be giving a short presentation on writing the short story. How can I encourage people to write something that is no longer truly appreciated? The major magazines who accept fiction can be counted on one hand and those are very picky. Actually, I never see any names of writers that I don't recognize--the John Updike's, Amy Tan's, etc--of the writing world seem to be the only ones who see the light of day. So what can a writer do in order to maybe get their story in print?
Hit the ground running was a suggestion I found in one article. Start off with a bang. Grab/hook the reader. Start with some sort of conflict or threat. Show the unexpected. Create tension. Do something that will make those readers (you do realize that some young person interning as a reader for the publishing company is probably the only person who will ever see your work, don't you?) sit up and take notice, want to see the ending, and pass it on to the editor.
A writer of short stories no longer has time to warm up the reader. The readers and busy editors will throw your work in the round file if you don't have a powerful beginning.
Hopefully, my students will understand that I am pushing them to do their best work--and not think I am discouraging them from submitting at all.
posted by Barb | 10:43 PM
2 Comments:
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I couldn't agree more! I just returned from the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and attended a workshop devoted only to beginnings of pieces. Barnaby Conrad, the instructor, would agree with you too -- he said, "You may have brilliant writing buried on page 20, or even page 10, but the reader will never get there if you don't have a compelling beginning that draws them in." Especially with so many entertainment distractions these days, from TV to movies to video games to the Internet, books need to start with a bang to keep the reader's attention. Your students are lucky to have you as a teacher! :)
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