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Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 03:42 am: | |
I'm beginning to think that my stories are more mainstream than literary, so I now have this problem... I don't know which magazines specialize in mainstream science fiction and fantasy. It's hard for me to tell from Ralan's website. Is mainstream the same as pulp? |
Patrick Samphire
| | Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 04:03 am: | |
I suspect you're asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking yourself is "which magazines publish the kind of things I write?" and you'll only find that out by reading a few issues of each. |
Bob Urell
| | Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 05:29 am: | |
Er. Really, why do you think your stuff isn't literary? What definition are you using? I know there's a movement or twelve out there that try to hoard the term literary based upon their aspirations and agendas, but the term only means that the writing has an introspection and thoughtful sensibility that otherwise puerile forms of expression lack. Literary v. 'mainstream' isn't even a dichotomy, it's a false dilemma at best. People who define 'literary' as narrowly as form over content or even, no elves, no magic, are only confiscating something that transcends ownership. I consider some (not all, by any means) of Howard's pulpy goodness literary. Conversely, Hemingway, the maven of all things literary, laid an egg or two in his respectable career. Literary isn't reserved for painful, pointless, experimental prose alone. Some of those 'literary' stories aren't even fucking legible they're so bad.
Something is literary, regardless of whatever mode of composition or consumption, when it engenders a sense of identity in the reader. Example, Native American literature was oral and inscrutable to most of us without a deep background in their history and culture, but to them it's a profound expression of who they are and where they came from, and therefore about as literary as you get. Same goes for the best stuff in our genre; it gives us, our multi-ethnic community, a sense of who we are and where we come from -- in fact, it forms the FOUNDATION of our community -- and therefore it is literature. The art isn't in the technical composition or the marketing label or the shelf placement at Borders. It's the organic component the artist brings to the work. Anyone can write a pulp story (see Lester Dent's Master Plot Formula). A truly good writer can make a pulp story 'literary' (Mike Moorcock, anyone?).
So I'd say, write what you write. Read the magazines until you find one that publishes your kind of stuff. Send your stories to them and let your readers and posterity judge whether what you write is literary or not. If you do it honestly, I think you'll find you're more literary than not. |
Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 03:39 pm: | |
I believe that the vast majority of my stuff is well-written and deserving of publication, but none of it is thought-provoking or introspective. I just had a short story rejected from Science Fiction and Fantasy. The judges at a professional writer's contest were really impressed with it, even though I didn't win the contest. Before sending the story to the magazine, I edited it and revised it and had another person review it for weak spots. When it was rejected, I figure the reason was that it was mainstream instead of literary. |
Vylar Kaftan
| | Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 11:39 pm: | |
There's a lot of reasons a story might be rejected. If nothing else, different editors have different tastes. Not to mention different needs for their publication.
Patrick Samphire gave you a great answer. Read a variety of publications, and see who's publishing stories that are like yours. If you're writing action-oriented sf/f, there are readers (and editors) who enjoy those stories. Look for publications that you enjoy reading and would feel proud to be published in. |
Bob Urell
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 08:57 am: | |
Yeah, that's kind of a weird jump you make there. It assumes that Gordon isn't a sucker for more blatant expressions of genre, which then leads to assuming he doesn't like, you know, selling copies of his magazines. There's lots of pulp-ish stuff in F&SF, as well as real highbrow, what the hell was that story about, I don't get it lit-rah-chaw. It's a good mix from month to month, so I rather doubt Gordon or JJA turned you away just because you weren't pretentious enough. |
E Thomas
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 12:54 pm: | |
Just a comment, the magazine is actually The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, or for short F & SF.
Unless there was a note on your rejection saying, "this wasn't literary enough for us" or "this was too mainstream," I highly doubt that that was the reason for your rejection. A rejection usually just means that the editors didn't like the story enough to publish it. If you see nothing wrong with the story, the key is to send it out to other editors and see if they have another opinion about it. If no one accepts it, start over and try with a new story. |
Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 05:21 pm: | |
Sometimes I just get frustrated with writing. I write a story that I'm certain will be accepted or will at least make it past the assistant editor. I even read the magazines and everything, but my story is still rejected. Sometimes I want to yell at the editors "what can I do to make you accept me?!" I hear about stories that have been rejected 80 times and were then accepted, but I don't know 80 different magazines. |
Vylar Kaftan
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 11:14 pm: | |
Don't confuse writing stories with selling stories.
You can control how many stories you write, how hard you work, how much of yourself you put into each one. You can't control whether editors will buy your stories. It helps to genuinely enjoy the process of writing--to love writing for its own sake, not for the sake of selling it.
Have you considered a writing workshop? There are several online workshops in which you can receive critiques on your stories. Maybe other writers can help you improve and fine-tune your work.
I've enjoyed the Online Writing Workshop, and others have told me that Critters is good too.
http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/
http://www.critters.org/ |
Bob Urell
| | Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 08:18 am: | |
Hey Aspiring, join the club, bruddah. It took me five long years -- mind you, with the personal attention and mentoring of dozens of people including Robert Sheckley, Matt Stover and Lucius Shepard pushing me along -- for me to make my first professional sale. Five years.
Just.
Keep.
Writing.
Do that and keep your eyes and ears open and you'll get there. I promise. |
Jill Elaine Hughes
| | Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 08:35 am: | |
For F&SF, I've managed to get past JJA to Gordon a couple times, but no sale there yet.
FWIW, I write in many genres (mainstream women's fiction, SF/F/H, stage plays, and nonfiction). All of these markets are very tough. I have made professional sales in some (mostly in stage plays and nonfiction) but still trying for my first one in others. 99% rejection rates are the norm. (i.e., for most markets, roughly 1% of what is submitted is accepted.) The only thing to do is keep trying, keep writing, keep improving.
I'm a member of Critters and recommend it highly. |
Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 08:51 pm: | |
Thanks. I'm thinking about joining Critters since it'll help me to write better and help me to get published. Writing is my entire life, and if I can't write, then I have nothing to life for. I would love to make writing my career and to get all the money I need from my stories. |
Aimee Poynter
| | Posted on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 06:49 am: | |
I second the recommendation of Critters. Getting crits helps improve the specific piece and giving crits helps your writing in general. |
Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 12:30 pm: | |
*nod* I've heard a lot of good things about that group. Here's a piece of strange irony here. Critter is the name of my dad's cat. Wasn't there a discussion about cats a while back? |
Stephen
| | Posted on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 12:46 pm: | |
Why is that strange irony? |
Stephen
| | Posted on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 12:50 pm: | |
And I'm not trying to be mean. You're probably even younger than me. But if you want to be a writer, irony is something you should become familiar with. |
Leonard J. Sidiski
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 09:20 am: | |
It's obviously a strange irony because Critter the cat is the one currently critiquing Aspiring Writer's stories. AW changes whatever the cat highlights or deletes in its perambulations across the keyboard. Or perhaps AW was thinking about how critiquing could unfog some mysteries of writing and fog, as Carl could tell you, creeps in on little cat's feet.
Aspiring, writing is very important to me as well, but it's a hard thing at which to make a living. You might be better off getting a day job and spending your free time working on your craft. Also, try not to be too discouraged. If you read the statistics in places like Writers' Market you'll see that the most elite markets end up buying around one percent of the submissions they receive. Not being in the top one or two percent in the subjective judgement of one poor harried individual reading scores of submissions is nothing of which to feel ashamed. JJA and GVG have said many times that they reject a great deal of publishable work. Good luck.
Stephen, I have a very insignigicant nitpick for you: If you want to advise someone on becoming a writer you should know when to use "me" and when to use "I". |
StephenB
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 10:56 am: | |
Well Leonard, wouldn't casual conversation be an appropriate place to use, me?
Or do you always speak as though you're a slave to grammer, with a large stick protruding from your anus? |
The Scatman
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 11:13 am: | |
That's not a stick, it's a very long dingleberry. |
Slave to Spelling
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 11:28 am: | |
Um, it's "grammar"...
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StephenB
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 11:48 am: | |
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Stephen
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 11:49 am: | |
I knew that. |
Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 02:23 pm: | |
Nah. If I go to any cat for advice, I would go to my kitty Luna. I say the names are ironic because as soon as I was reading that, Critter hopped onto the computer desk. |
Dave Truesdale
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 08:08 pm: | |
Don't know if this is what you originally meant, but it might help define some terms.
http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=529&Itemi d=284
Best,
Dave Truesdale |
Aspiring Writer
| | Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 11:13 am: | |
So, is the stuff mentioned in the article what the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction is looking for? |
Slave to Absolutism
| | Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 01:21 pm: | |
How to know what a magazine is looking for:
1. Read the magazine.
2. Read the guidelines.
All other advice is superfluous. All terms are so contingent and vulnerable to counterexamples that they are in the end virtually meaningless, and they don't matter anyway. Write the stories you write. If they sell somewhere, they sell somewhere. If they don't, write more. If you don't want to write more, don't. |
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