behind the scenes

Whew! We are busy behind the scenes at Electric Spec. We had so, so many great stories submitted for this issue. If there was a slump in creativity brought on by the pandemic, it seems to be over. Yay!
If you submitted to us, you should have received an email by now saying either 'Stay tuned,' or 'Sorry, not this time.' Somehow, it seems like one or two submissions get lost in cyberspace for each issue. Not sure how or why this happens. So, to be clear, if you did not hear from us, we did not get your story. (Bummer!) Please consider resubmitting (for the fabulous first 2022 issue).

What's next? All the editors are carefully considering the finalist stories and ranking them in order of preference. We have our production meeting coming up this weekend. No doubt, this will be a contentious knock-down, drag-out fight! Or not. :)

I'll let you know, next week.

Short Story Workshop

Over the weekend, I presented a short story workshop at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (rmfw.org) annual writer's conference. The workshop was a blast! The whole conference was a blast! :)
Consider joining, or creating, a local writer's group if you don't already belong to one.

It was called "Writing Short: Focus on Short Stories."
There are many excellent reasons to write short fiction. Short stories are a great way to hone your craft. Short stories are a great way to get your name out there and get new readers. Short fiction is great for giveaways on your website or newsletter or for deals/ads. Short storeis are a great way to make some money--or not.

The craft section included discussions of characterization, plot, setting, emotion, theme, symbols, voice, mood, and style. The middle section was about marketing. A short story is a marketing asset. The final section was about different fiction publishers and rewards that aren't necessarily cash.
The bottom line is: short stories are valuable on many levels.
Good luck writing short!

Savvy writers know we closed to submissions for the notable November 2021 issue of Electric Spec! But don't worry; we're accepting subs for the February 2022 issue. Get those stories in!

For those who did get their stories in, we are hard at work behind the scenes...
I'll tell you more next week.

To Flash Or Not To Flash?

The deadline for the awesome November 2021 issue of Electric Spec is coming up this week October 15, 2021. Get those stories in!

Over the last couple of years we have received more and more flash fiction.
What is flash fiction? Savvy writers know it is a short short story. Definitions vary, but in general, it's a story of less than 1000 words. There are actually a lot of different terms for this including dribble, mini-saga, micro-fiction, drabble, micro-story, sudden fiction and others. It doesn't matter what you call it.
It's important to note that even though the story is short, it still needs all the elments of a short story including character, plot, emotion, and setting.

The most famous flash fiction, a six-word story, is attributed to Ernest Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.
There is no doubt this is a story with a lot of emotion because the reader brings a lot to it...

However, flash fiction is more difficult than standard short fiction. It's challenging to get all the story elements into so few words. At Electric Spec we have rarely published flash fiction because of this.

But, if you care to accept the challenge, go ahead and flash!
Good luck!