Editor's Notes Part Four

I know many writers want to keep their political thoughts to themselves for fear they may rile editors with contrary views. It is understandable. Many people in many walks of life are afraid to jump into the political arena for fear of losing work.

Understandable.

But the fact this country is spinning into stupidity is because of this. When you write you are writing truth so how can your work and product be valid if you deny truth and even deny truth from others. To bar writers, editors, actors and artists on the basis of a political belief rather than on the truth of their work harms all discussion and stains ones own work. Be true and not a follower.

Editor's Notes Part Three

There is a line from 'The Producers' where Max says emphatically and concurrently NEVER PUT YOUR OWN MONEY IN THE SHOW.

The same can be said for writing. Oh, it is okay to donate a token for a cause or help launch an anthology or magazine that you may be working on but NEVER and I mean NEVER EVER pay a read fee. Read fees are not industry recognized except as extortion.

NEVER PAY A READ FEE for a contest.
NEVER PAY A READ FEE for a publication.
NEVER PAY AN ENTRY FEE FOR A CONTEST.

You might as well wear a sign that says LOSER!

You are just setting yourself up for a heartache. Read fees are inherently and historically ... Oh Heck, if you are going to do that why not just send the money directly to me, I will send you my paypal address. At least I'm a nice guy and honest about the flushing of your money down the drain.

Don't pay to play.

Editor's Notes Part Two

Resist. You must resist assimilation.

You really should.

A relatively new phenomenon is to stoke up writers on social media with the lure of a place in an anthology. For editors this is a marvelous thing because floods of stories will naturally pore in.

But be wary. Be careful WHO is dangling the shiny baubles.

I recall a recent pitch, a couple of years ago, where scribes were pumped up with invitations; daily messages of the grand scope of the project; lucrative contract terms and visibility from space. Facebook was all a twitter and twitter was foaming at the beak; new writers, writers who barely dipped a toe in the ink of published works posted feverishly about their brushes with greatness only in the end to be dashed by cronyism.

I am not smart. I warned people as I warn today. Choose wisely who are willing to entrust with your work.

Editor's Notes Part One

This year we will start a new feature title EDITOR'S NOTES. As we prepare for the opening of class in February this a good tine to get a good jump on what editors look for in a story.

Today's word is 'disconnected'. When your story is disconnected it is random, disjointed, just a series of unconnected scenes with no unifying element. Let's use the word in a sentence: "The incoherent, delirious inmate whose incoherent ramblings frustrated the staff". Thank you Merriam Webster Dictionary. Editors look for a story line something simple to mark the line of action from Point A to Point B to Point C. Linear connections involving a unifying element such as a character is preferred.

Understand that literature is not always linear just as arithmetic is not always addition. When a character does unify each scene he does just that and as an editor that should be evident.

Editors and writers rarely see eye to eye; they are natural born enemies so while helpful hints may seem innocuous such, as the unity of a story missed, may seem derogatory.

 

Horrorus Interruptus

So an editor writes me that his editorial panel is disappointed with my horror story and they will not publish me because a character was killed. Yes, someone in my story was murdered. Yes someone's life-force was extinguished to further the tale along. (Before I continue I want to thank Monty Python for a good portion of this copy) True the character had ceased to be. The character was pushing up daisies. The character had gone to see the choir invisible. He was a dead character. (Please check out the Dead Parrot sketch of Monty Python, one of the most brilliant pieces of comedy ever written.) Even if I voomed with him with 50,000 volts he wouldn't budge... Okay. Enough of making light of this. What makes horror horror is the blurring of the line between life and death. It is the very existence of death that scares us; it is the dead who terrifying us. Skin crawls and cringe at the sight and smell of rotting putrid death. Without the element of death what do you have? Nothing. Please editors if you wish to spice up your pages and increase your readership with a dabble in horror understand this genre cannot be translated in 'politically correct'. Understand that death is a staple of horror just as it is a staple of life.