Vonnegut's Rules

A fine writer I know recently expounded on Vonnegut's rules for writing. He's a novelist, so I thought I'd aim them at the short form.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

Make sure you actually have something important to say. Recently I waxed poetic, badly, about what Story means to me. Nicola Griffith, another fine writer, said something about the writer's goal and process. I think it applies here:

When I write, dear reader, I don't want to build a careful tale for you to discuss with a smile in a sunny place, I want to own you. I don't want to be The New TV Series, I want to be pornography: to thrill you so hard you're ashamed but can't help yourself crawling back for more.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

Some people call this sympathy; I call it empathy. I don't have to like your characters, but I should want them to get everything they deserve.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

Every character should want something, not just the protag and antag. This does two things: it layers and enriches a story, and it forces you to cut any characters that aren't tied into the main action by their goals. I write and read upwards of 10 hours per day (and night). I'm all for cutting.

If achieving the goal contains an ironic twist, all the better. Robert McKee says about irony:

...in story, irony plays between actions and results--the primary source of story energy, between appearance and reality--the primary source of truth and emotion.

I would expand upon that to include: irony plays between character and goal--the primary source of growth and development.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.

The delete key is your friend.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

I'd guess there's room for about a paragraph of backstory in the short form. The best way around excessive backstory is to employ characters and situations that your reader will instantly recognize and identify with emotionally.

6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

Your story is boot camp, your characters are pale new recruits, and you're the drill seargant. After all, a good story basically asks its readers to go to war with its characters.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

You can't please everyone all the time.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

This ties in with backstory, too. I just read a story last night in which the big reveal causes the characters to engage in a distinct "as you know, Bob" conversation. This was because the reveal was actually the premise, and an intriguing one. Had I known the "secret" that motivated the characters, I would have understood why they were doing what they were doing. As it was I floundered and gave up. Well, actually, I went and read the ending, realized it was structured poorly, and sent my Dear John letter.

This flawed structure of using the premise as the reveal is common. It also ties right back into the first rule: Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

Resist using your premise for suspense. A good story relies on action and reaction to the premise for suspense. The premise should drive the characters; the reveal, the suspense, should most often be what the characters will do about it. (I say most often, of course, because writers break this rule with great success all the time. Just not very often in my slush pile.) I'm a simple editor with simple needs. If you give me an intriguing premise that drives interesting characters to react in interesting, kick-ass ways, then you'll likely sell me a story.

Have faith in your premise. Trust that it will not waste the reader's time. Let it shine in the first paragraph; don't hide it behind a veil of vague dialogue, unmotivated action, and inconclusive narrative. In fact, often the best place for the premise is the first paragraph, or at least the first page. This is all about structuring, but it also may be about quality. If you feel you must hide your premise from the reader, then it may not be as strong a premise as you thought.

cover letter

More answers to some questions about Dave's post...

Here's your basic cover letter:

Dear Editors,

Please consider my story, ___, for Electric Spec. The story runs XX words and is/isn't a simultaneous submission.

Sincerely, thanks, cheers, whatever,
Betsy Dornbusch

(contact info)

Now for some notes on this and Dave's post:

Dave's really a super nice guy. That was written by an alter-ego editorial gremlin. :D

You can use our names instead of editor, but we assign stories randomly, so it really doesn't matter. It might at other magazines, so check with them.

Unless you tell us differently, we'll assume first rights are available. Incidently, we're not crazy about stories already published on blogs and websites.

Copyrighting a story is amatuerish. You actually own the story as soon as you write it, and I assume you have dated files on your hard drive to prove it. Stories really aren't getting stolen, so don't worry.

Um, synopses of stories--well, heck, if you tell me what the story is about, why should I read the story? It encourages us to be lazy, which is our nature anyway, so don't be an enabler!!

Title pages are for novels. I'm aware that our format link on our sub page isn't working and I need to make a new one. My bad. Basics:

Betsy Dornbusch 4100 words
address
phone
email

Lightning Strike

Most people who met Lucas McElroy would say “godlike” was a perfect way to describe him. But those same people would laugh out loud if he suggested he was a real god.

The joke would be on them.


Headers at the top of each page are nice, too, with cool stuff like your name, the story title, and page numbers.

I have credits to list, but sometimes I don't bother to put them in my cover letters. This is because, as an editor, I know other editors could really care less about my credits. They care about the story: this story. I mean, I'd always mention if I'd won a Hugo--that's good cover fodder and some names sell. But even at the top magazines, you'll hear the editors say that it's all about this particular story, not your past ones. Kudos if you've got a bunch of credits, but no worries here if you don't.

I love my dog. She's cute. Her name is Hannah. She keeps me company when I work. Her bed is right by my desk and she bugs me for walks every day. I walk her when I'm trying to sort out something about a story... Do you care? Didn't think so.

I'd add: use your real name and give us your first and last name. We're casual around the office, first name basis with our authors and sometimes "nicknames" with each other. But it's tough to do with initials or no name.

Don't snort like that. Sometimes I get stories with no name at all.

Most of all, keep 'em coming!

Advice Worth Repeating . . .

It surprises me how many stories we get that have a few strikes against them before I even get past the first page. The feeling you want to give an editor when you submit a story is that he or she is in good hands. With that in mind, here are a few "don'ts" (that I may have mentioned before):

1. Don't skip the cover letter completely. Writing nothing but "2000 words" says to me you don't much care about the submission.

2. Don't include details about any pets in the cover letter. I don't want to know about your cats, dogs, chickens, etc--even if sounds funny when you write it.

3. Don't include a synopsis of the story.

4. Don't include a title page.

5. Don't lie about the word count or "forget" about it when it is too long.

6. Don't include a "copyright" notice in your story. 

7. Don't use some huge font for your story title.

8. Don't waste your first few paragraphs. Show me it is a story I want to read right away. 

 

Writing on Reading: When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

James Patterson writes thrillers--at least that's what the book marketers say. However, When the Wind Blows is about a present-day world where children have been genetically engineered to have wings and fly. In fact, one of the POV characters is a winged girl.

So, my oft-asked question arises again: how do we draw the line between a thriller and speculative fiction? The fact is, When the Wind Blows IS science fiction--it has simply been marketed as a thriller. Apparently, this was an effective strategy, because the book make a number of best seller lists. 

When the Wind Blows is a mildly entertaining beach read. However, it does not meet the quality, thoughtfulness, or suspense that can be found in science fiction novels that explore the same or similar subjects. I encourage speculative fiction fans to read out of genre, but in this case, it probably isn't worth crossing over.

Why submit to Electric Spec?

As an author, it is hard to know where to submit your work, especially if you've already tried the pro-rate markets.  At Electric Spec, we encourage authors to do their market research before submitting work. Lots of great magazines are out there, but there are also lots of, well, not so great magazines. Electric Spec stands out from other markets because:

--We pay for stories and artwork
--We don't have slush readers. At least one of our editors looks at every story that comes in
--We've been around for over three years--and we've never missed an issue, deadline, or author payment
--We actually edit the stories we publish. Our experienced editors work with authors to make their stories the best they can possibly be. Many magazines out there don't do that--and it shows
--We have a quick turn around time. We turn send out rejections in 30-40 days. Acceptances take longer, but we will let you know if your story is in the running (i.e. held for voting) in that same 30-40 day time frame.

-- We have a very respectable circulation: around 11,000 views per issue
--We love authors because we're authors, too. All of the editors are published speculative fiction authors.

Obviously, we're not the right market for every story, but we might be the right market for you! 

Why?

Something Lesley said in our recent editor's meeting struck me. She spoke of our mission being to support up-and-coming authors. Thinking in terms of mission begs the deeper question: Why do we do what we do?

Much of an editor's job is thankless and focused on the negative. We send out far more alas-ograms* than hold-for-voting notes. We read some less than stellar stories. Each editor reads slush here at ElectricSpec, the equivalent of a few books worth over the course of a reading period, so it consumes time. We spend three hairy weeks a year in production. And we don't get paid. So why? Why stay on?

ElectricSpec was not my idea. I'm not a founding editor. I was invited on staff for V1I2, tried it as an experiment, and I've haunted these virtual hallowed halls ever since. We're deep into our third year and after our promotion efforts at WorldCon, we've spent some time thinking about where we'd like to go with the magazine. Our subs are up. We've got momentum. We're getting our name out there. I mean, even Sheila Williams of Asimovs approached a couple of us to find out what ElectricSpec is, and by the end of WorldCon, people were at least pretending they'd heard of us.

But, vague fame and recognition notwithstanding, why do I stay on? What part of our mission calls to me?

It's the STORY itself, humankind's time-honored method of making sense of the universe and our place in it, recognizing the heroes in our midst, seeking reassurance that despite every odd, all will come right in the end. Story brings us together in a way nothing else can. Story creates a beneficial tension between author and reader, a contract that says: we both bring all of ourselves to a Table and there we will meet and understand and empathize. Enduring that tension involves trust of the deepest sort, a sort of negotiation of the soul. All this from a few words of prose. And I have the honor of maintaining one of those tables. Editing is like laying out candles and a cloth, and maybe a glass of fine wine, to enlighten the experience for both reader and writer.

And that, friends, is why I do it.


*Shamelessly stolen from some author at WorldCon--she has brilliant red hair and is tall--that's the most credit I can give at the moment. One of my collegues might recall her name.

Issue deadline and visit stats posted

The October 31, 2008 issue story submission deadline is: September 15, 2008 midnight MDT. I also posted statistics on the number of visitors we've had in the past eleven months at www.electricspec.com. We decided to remove the hit counters; they weren't really giving us or our authors valuable statistics. Authors spoke, and we listened! What other changes/improvements would like to see us make? :)

World Fantasy Awards Nominations 2008

The World Fantasy Award Nominations are in.
For Short Story they are:

• "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham [Logorrhea, Bantam Spectra]
  
• "Singing of Mount Abora" by Theodora Goss [Logorrhea, Bantam Spectra]
  
• "The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change" by Kij Johnson [The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, Viking]
  
• "Damned if you Don't" by Robert Shearman [Tiny Deaths, Comma Press]
  
• "The Church on the Island" Simon Kurt Unsworth [At Ease with the Dead, Ash-Tree Press]

Read more about it (including the other nominees) at: World Fantasy Awards. Congrats to all the nominees!

WorldCon subjective wrapup

I've finally recovered somewhat from WorldCon and am feeling human again. :)

I've been trying to be positive in my daily posts, but to be honest, I was underwhelmed by WorldCon. It was just too big. The focus was all on the super-stars, such as Lois McMaster Bujold, Connie Willis and George RR Martin. If you wanted to go worship at their feet, it was a perfect opportunity, but that's not my scene. We were surrounded by other interesting authors, but there was no bio information about anyone--so how did you know? It was basically chaos.

My other main problem was the level of scientific expertise on the science panels was surprisingly low. I went to several where some of the panel "experts" knew virtually nothing about the scientific topic in question. At a world-class event, this type of thing should not be happening. To be clear, there were a few scientists, but they were outnumbered. :(

I could complain more but that wouldn't accomplish anything. I'm glad I went once to see what's what. And I found out about "siff-wah". :) Personally, I think regional Cons are much better for fans and authors/artists/media folk. See you at MileHiCon in October!

Hugos

I can't believe I forgot to post the Hugo winners! Jeesh! They were announced Saturday night, Aug. 9, in the Wells Fargo Theatre in the Denver Convention Center.

• Best Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins; Fourth Estate)
  
• Best Novella: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press)
  
• Best Novelette: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Press; F&SF Sept. 2007)
  
• Best Short Story: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)

Read more about it at: thehugoawards.org. Big congrats to all the winners!

WorldCon Day 5

I had a bit of a tough time settling on a panel first thing Sunday morning, but ended up at the Flying Pen Press Presentation. They had a whole slew of writers and books they were promoting. From what I can tell this publisher is fairly new and hungry for authors. Most of the authors met the publisher at MileHiCon and several gave the publisher pages at the Con (totally against accepted wisdom!). I do NOT think this publisher is for everyone, but it might be for you--consider checking them out.

The Making a Living Telling Lies panel with Bill Mayhew, Connie Willis, Jake Lake, and Jo Walton was quite intriguing. They got into a whole discussion of the SF big picture. Consensus seemed to be that literature in general is a simplification/concentration of real life. We like stories because the nonessential elements have been discarded. SF is unique though in that it lets you think about things in a flexible way beyond your ideologies. It can build artificial constructs to closely examine real-life issues. SF readers and writers are constantly taking in new data and thinking about it.

The Coming Thing--What's Next and Newest in SF featuring Lou Anders and Walter Jon Williams was also interesting. Short stories are at the forefront of new trends. SF is a dialog between authors. But by the time anthologies are in bookstores usually the trend is over. SF also suffers from reality catching up to it. The panelists were hoping the Urban Fantasy trend was over. Some core SF sub-genres will always be around such as military SF and space opera. A new trend seems to be remixing multiple old trends. Feel free to send Electric Spec any of this stuff. :)

Phew! WorldCon wore me out. I may post some more subjective observations later in the week.

Interesting People I Met at Denvention

The panels, readings, speeches, and other "official" events at WorldCon were certainly interesting and, for the most part, rewarding. However, maybe the best part of this year's Denvention was the many interesting people I met. I'm not talking about the big name "stars" (I met my share of those, too) but rather the dedicated people who help make up the backbone of the speculative fiction community. (And who may one day be the "stars"). I can't list all of the people like that I met, but I thought I'd mention a few:

• M.M. (Mary) Buckner -- I met Mary while we were both getting our morning caffeine fix. Little did I know what an accomplished sci-fi author she was! 
• Brenda Cooper -- Brenda is an up-and-coming sci-fi author who I met at the "Rising Stars" reception.  She has several books out from Tor, including one she wrote with Larry Niven. (one of the "stars" I met at the con).
• I also met Ken Scholes, who was sitting next to Branda at the Rising Stars reception. Ken has a new novel called Lamentation coming out soon, which lots of folks are talking about.
• Corie Ralston was kind enough tell me more about the Speculative Literature Foundation. They do great work with aspiring spec fic writers and small publications. Corie said they may also look into helping out online publications like Electric Spec.
• Mike Brotherton is not only a hard sf writer but also an astronomy professor. He's working on an interesting project using sf to educate kids about space.
• I ran into Holly McDowell who is a former member of my critique group and a talented fantasy writer. (She also claims to read this blog--how about a comment, Holly!) Holly introduced me to another writer named Kelly Swails. She writes mostly YA fantasy, but says she has some stories for us. 
• I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my excellent Kaffeeklatschs with Geoffry Landis and David Levine. Both of these authors made great company for an hour and were very approachable despite their many accomplishments. 

WorldCon Day 4

I started off day 4 at What SF Editors Are Looking for featuring David Summers, Ginjer Buchanan, and Stanley Schmidt. In terms of what specific markets are looking for, the editors strongly suggested authors do their market research. For example, Electric Spec Submissions.
In terms of quality, editors are looking for what you'd expect...strong beginnings, good story, strong voice, don't follow fads, do use new ideas, correct grammar/spelling, etc. I couldn't disagree with their comments, but based on what they said, suspect they are more quick to reject stories than we are. An interesting point: you don't need an agent to sell novel-length genre fiction; agents just get it in front of editors quicker.

Another highlight of the day was the SFWA Business Meeting. Probably the most important thing I've learned at WorldCon is SFWA is pronounced: "siff-wah". Anyway, the good folks of SFWA are working hard on behalf of spec fic authors. Please consider joining if you are elgible.

Probably the most interesting WorldCon panel that I went to was The Bad Guy in the White Hat: Changing Images of Heroes and Villains, with James Morrow, John Moore, Mario Acevedo, and Rob Gates. This one was interesting because there was a lot of audience participation. We talked about all kinds of images of villains and heroes in literature and media throughout history, from Shakespeare to Frankenstein to Casablanca to Godzilla to Dexter. For some reason we had more fun talking about villains. ;) Personally, I think the whole concept of heroes and villains is interesting. Heroes and Villains are artificial constructs; in real-life we are all mixtures of heroes and villains. Why do we enjoy them so much in literature/media?

WorldCon Day 3

I started day 3 with SF Magazine Publication and Market Share with Bradford Lyau, Scott Edelman, Sheila Williams, and Stanley Schmidt. They assured us SF p-zines are alive and well, with loyal subscribers. Also, the p-zines have a larger market share than the average novel. Interesting!

Then I went to Quantum Mechanics, Future Technologies, and Parallel Worlds with Kay Kenyon, Todd Brun, and Will McCarthy. This was a free-ranging discussion of some cutting-edge physics. The audience was very enthusiastic about the topic.

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch claim The Secret of Being a Published Fiction Writer is: write, finish, don't rewrite, submit, repeat. They said you should write a short story or novel chapter every week! Based on their advice, I anticipate a slew of submissions. :)

Fabulous fantasy author Carol Berg gave a very nice Reading of her new project Unholy Alliance.

The Electric Spec happy hour party went very well. Thank you very much to everyone that came! We met lots of new prospective writers and readers. And then, the partying continued...

The Analog/Asimov's party in the SFWA suite was particularly nice, with fancy cakes featuring cover art!

Late Night at WorldCon

You aren't actually "doing" WorldCon, apparently, unless you're doing the parties. So, in the interest of research, I headed over alone. A bit awkward, to say the least, but the DAW party at the SFWA suite was worth the price of admission (a 3 block walk from my hotel). Once there, I met quite a few agents and editors, lots of writers, and lots of fans. I ended up talking to, and getting adopted by, being alone as I was, an author called John Moore. John writes funny romps through fairy tale fantasy and is well-connected in the WorldCon, er, world. I also met Joshua Bilmes, his agent, who writes an interesting film blog over here. I chatted with WorldCon's Toastmaster, Wil McCarthy, who is as funny in person as he is on stage, and much taller.

Almost the highlight of my night (eclipsed only by getting to tell David) I had a short chat with George RR Martin late in the evening. The most accessible of the Big Names in Fantasy, he was standing in the hall, looking a little lonely and a very much hot, just like the rest of us. (The party hotel is apparently not thrilled with being the party hotel, so they're trying to sweat us out, I guess.) I'd heard his reading earlier in the day, and if a man was ever meant to read his own writing aloud, it's Mr. Martin.

The folks from the local sci fi groups (sheesh, can't recall the name. I suck) were partying it up in our own suite, and I met the woman in charge of programming at MileHiCon. Nice to finally put faces to email addresses.

Okay, tomorrow's another day (and night). Tuning out.

Denvention Day 2 -- David's Additions

I wanted piggyback on Lesley's post regarding the short fiction panel. One author on the panel said that she feels more people read her stories that are published in (free) ezines than in big circulation print mags like Asimov's. Why? She said it is much easier for people to access web stories than those in print mags. The hits on her website go way up the day she publishes a story in an electronic mag, but not much change for print.

Also, the panel seemed to agree that two or three great stories--wherever they are published--can really launch an author's career. A great story on a small webzine can create a huge buzz on the web and in the blogosphere.

Finally, Sheila Williams, Asimov's editor, said that publication credits at a respected e-zine do make her more optimistic about a story that comes her way. Obviously, the story itself matters the most, but sales to an e-zine indicate that the author knows what he or she is doing.

So, get those stories in to Electric Spec! It could be a launching pad for your career. (Just remember us when your famous).

Party Update Friday

For those of you at Denvention... This just in: the Electric Spec party will be in the Sheraton Room 2237 from 5:00-7:00pm Friday (tomorrow!). We hope to see you there! (Betsy feel free to add more if you like.)

WorldCon Day 2

Day 2 started with a bang; the Short Fiction: On Its Way Out or a Way to Break into the Market? with David Levine, Ellen Datlow, James Patrick Kelly, Lisa Mantchev, and Sheila Williams was very interesting. These folks include famous editors and up-and-coming writers. The panel agreed that short fiction is a way to break into the market. Moreover, short fiction is an opportunity for experimentation for writers and readers. The editors said they are always looking for new authors but beginning/newer authors tend to write stories that are too long. The published authors said even though they have track records, they still get rejected sometimes. So, prospective Electric Spec authors, take heart and keep on trying!

The other really interesting panel I went to was Trends in New SF: Where are We Going and Why? with Ken Scholes, Sheila Willimas, Jim Minz, Charles Brown, and Gary Wolfe (sp?). They said cross-genre stuff is hot, YA stuff is hot, and adding more layers to classic/traditional SF is hot. Additionally, the focus is on more female protags, multicultural characters and cultures, alternative sexuality, environmental issues, and also more literate writing. I would love to see all that stuff in our Electric Spec inbox!

Reporting from WorldCon...

As so often happens, we ElectricSpec editors found each other almost by accident within the giant swell of humanity that is WorldCon. The earlybird line for pre-registration was 35 minutes long. The Colorado Convention Center is, in a word, HUGE. Crazy big. It suits WorldCon, as there are no less than ten things to do at any hour of the day and night, especially if you're counting parties.

We saw Connie Willis and George RR Martin discuss books they liked. Yes, as in past tense. We would have preferred to hear more about current books they like, but we heard about that from some editors/writers at Locus later--irritating in that there was obvious bias against ezines. They did make the valid point that few online magazines actually edit their writers; we at ElectricSpec couldn't think of even a very good story that we hadn't tweaked in some way. And our authors are remarkably accepting and even happy with our edits. Intriguing enough, one of our editors' stories for Analog was printed as is. It would have been a good counter-point, if only we'd thought of it earlier. :D

We tried the writing track panel for "Rising Stars" to drum up business for the magazine and maybe promote our own work; it was all "This is an agent. This is a query letter." so two of us bailed and went to a small press panel. Interesting in that we heard two varied concepts. Red Jack press has print runs of 1000; Flying Pen does POD. Both seem to be going along at a decent clip.

As for parties, it was a quiet night tonight, hanging in the SFWA suite. Everyone seems a bit tired. Maybe tomorrow might be more exciting, and Friday we are booked up, including throwing one of our own.

WorldCon Day 1

My first day of WorldCon is over. Phew! It was busy, starting with the ginormous crowd at check-in, end ending with the SFWA pizza & beer party. Too much went on to really do it justice here. But, some brief highlights follow.

The Writers as Readers panel featuring Connie Willis, George RR Martin, Lois McMaster Bujold and moderator Mary Morman. Suffice to say, writers ARE readers.

2008 The Year in SF panel, featuring Charles Brown, David Hartwell, and Jonathan Strahan gave us lots of reading suggestions. All the editors seemed to think a strong voice is terrific. (Haven't I been saying that all along?) They also mentioned that an editor's job is important and involves more than just selecting. Here at Electric Spec we totally agree, as our authors know! Something the editors said that surprised me was: editors want more short novels. Who knew?

Survival Tips for Beginning Writers featuring authors Darlene Marshall, David Coe, and Mary Robinette Kowal had a lot of good basic advice. This group let the audience ask questions, which was nice. The gist of this panel was authors should keep at it and don't give up. I couldn't agree more. :)

That's it for now. I have to rest up for tomorrow...

partypartypartypartypartyparty

Party with ElectricSpec at WorldCon

Friday August 8

5-7 pm

MileHiCon Suite*

22nd floor

Sheraton Hotel

1550 Court Place

Denver

Rejection Letters

Apparently, a debate exists in the blogosphere about whether it is appropriate for a writer to post a rejection letter he or she received from a magazine. From my prospective, once a writer gets a rejection letter, it is his property. He can post it, use it as wallpaper, file it away, use it for kindling, whatever.  

Here at Electric Spec, we do use a "form" rejection letter, which we modify in certain circumstances. From time to time, I also include specific comments about the submission. If an author wants to share my comments with the world, fine with me. 

The issue of additional comments an author might make about the rejection gets a bit trickier. If an author has a legitimate commentary, fine. I'm a big boy--I can take it. On the other hand, if an author uses it to take unwarranted cheap shots . . . well, lets just say I probably won't be very interested in anything else the author submits in the future. 

SF editors and history

Interesting posts and comments lately. Thanks for kicking off the conversation, Dave. I think SF is unique in that its editors and publishers have played a significant role in the evolution of the field. As everyone knows, WorldCon starts this week and we will be awarding the Hugos. But does everyone know these most-celebrated awards are named after editor and published Hugo Gernsback? Among other things, Hugo Gernsback established the first notion of SF, i.e. adventurous science lessons. IMHO, Stanley Schmidt over at Analog very much continues this tradition; he wants complicated hard SF stories.

I've been a subscriber of both Analog and Asimov's for over a quarter century, so I must admit I'm part of their 'graying' audience. The quality of these p-zines remains excellent, but frankly I prefer Electric Spec. I think our stuff is fresher, more original, and more diverse. I guess the p-zines have a lot of inertia linked with all that history. To be honest, I also suspect the editors and authors of the p-zines, including Locus, are not really part of the computer generation even though we've been imagining it since way back when. The e-zines are the wave of the future, especially if we can utilize more emerging technologies. Hhm... Electric Spec on Twitter/IM/Facebook/MySpace? We may have some work to do. :)

Electronic v. Print

Warren Ellis recently posted a blog entry on the ongoing debate about print v. electronic speculative fiction mags. His premise is that the circulation of print mags are declining because the print mags are not delivering what readers these days want. Instead, he believes, these mags continue to publish stories that appeal to a greying, diminishing readership.

He also asks a very interesting question about why electronic mags continue to get a bad wrap:

 

"That’s why so many people still look askance at the online scene as "not proper magazines." . . .  [There is a] bias, unspoken or otherwise, that a print magazine is a job of work and an online magazine can be thrown up by any drooling lunatic with access to the net and a credit card. A fanzine by any other name."

My take on this falls somewhere in the middle. Admittedly, lots of fly-by-night online spec fic mags come and go, leading to a broad brush negative image of all electronic zines. Whenever I talk to authors about this subject, I ask them to look at the zine's track record before submitting. Has the mag been around for a while? Has it consistently posted issues on deadline? Are the stories printed in the issues professionally presented and well edited, free of (most) typos and other errors? In short, it only takes a little digging to determine if a online mag is of the "drooling lunatic" variety or something that can fairly be compared to pro zines.

Still, I do find it frustrating that quality ezines get ignored while some print mags that publish infrequently and sporadically get recognized. As a personal example, I can't get the two reviewers at Locus to look at issue of Electric Spec even though they frequently review print mags that are difficult to find anywhere and few have heard of. If fact, those reviewers will not even respond to my e-mail requests. At Electric Spec, we respond to every e-mail we get, not just those we deem worthy. 

At Wordcon this week, we are going to be promoting Electric Spec, trying to get the word out about our great little zine. It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction we get. I'll let you know . . .

Writing on Reading: Twilight

She's a hot best selling YA novelist. Her horde of fans eagerly await the next book in her series. Midnight parties are planned at bookstores on the dates of her new releases. Who is this popular author? Stephanie Meyer, of course.

I don't read a lot of YA, but I figured I'd better see what all the fuss was about, so I picked up her first novel, Twilight. The plot of the novel is pretty simple, teen girl falls in love with vampire. As it turns out, its not a fatal combination, since the vampire she falls for happens to be a sort of vegetarian--he doesn't drink human blood, only the blood from wild animals. 

Meyer is certainly a talented writer. She does a great job capturing the voice and angst of a love- struck teenaged protagonist.  She manages to fully explore the nuances of this strange forbidden love and the problems that arise from it. I would certainly recommend this book to any YA girl I know--but nobody else. Twilight is tightly focused on its audience, and, unlike J.K. Rowling's work, is unlikely capture a large adult following. Meyer's protagonist is unique and interesting, but not somone everyone can relate to. Her problems impact her world, not the world as a whole. And there's lots of romance in the book--too much for most speculative fiction readers I know.

science and expectations in SF

Betsy's comment yesterday makes me want to revisit this issue...

Re. science: One of the authors in my critique group recently wrote an SF story that prompted a lot of discussion. The gist of the discussion was this:

1. Science in SF doesn't have to be correct, but
   
2. it does have to be internally consistent.

I have thought about this quite a bit and IMHO virtually NO science in SF is correct. Many of the classic elements of the SF paradigm are wrong. For example, as far as we know there are no such things as intelligent extraterrestrials but if there were, they couldn't visit us because there's no such thing as faster-than-light travel.
So, basically anything goes except contradicting yourself. However...

Re. expectations: According to convention, one thing that differentiates SF from fantasy is SF authors are supposed to explain the events/whatever using 'scientific' terms. In fantasy, the whatever-events are not explained other than to invoke the concept of 'magic'.

Authors are free to write whatever they like as far as I'm concerned. Nonetheless, reader (and editor!) expectations can impact the success of such a story. In particular, if the protagonist of a story is a scientist, one expects some scientific explanations. How did the wormhole portal open up? How is the alien traveling back in time? How is the electrically-neutral particle being affected by electromagnetic fields? How do we have negative absolute temperatures?

The "hows" are the science, but the "whys" are the plot. We need those, too. :)

Some Don't's and Do's...

I've been working through my submissions box. First of all, thank you all so much for submitting. Electric Spec really appreciates it. I have been impressed with the quality of the submissions. However, I do have some general constructive criticisms...

• Watch out for non "said" dialog tags, e.g. "You suck," she sniffed.
  
• Watch out for protagonist self-description, e.g. running fingers through "red" hair and casting "brown" eyes about.
  
• Watch out for super-overdone cliches, e.g. a female monster/alien/ghost/vampire/werewolf/etc. kills her husband/lover/one-night-stand/etc.
  
• Please make sense. If you read the first page of your story to your husband/lover/one-night-stand are they going to say "Huh?" or "What happens next?"
  
• Please be aware of the laws of physics and do not violate them--especially if you're writing science fiction (unless you have a good reason).

Personally, I advocate stories with original ideas at our production meetings. What would I love to see? I'd love to see more stories with unique voice.

Keep those stories coming!

ElectricSpec Happy Hour at WorldCon

At Electric Spec we are starting to get geared up for WorldCon next week in Denver. Here's a newsflash for blog readers (you!): ElectricSpec is hosting a happy hour from 5:00-7:00 on Friday Aug 8 in the MileHiCon suite. Editor Betsy, in particular, is jazzed about this event, so I'll let her blog about it later. I'm hoping to blog about WorldCon (almost) real-time next week during the event. Stay tuned...

At WorldCon, ElectricSpec editors will be wearing ElectricSpec t-shirts, so feel free to come up and say "Hi".

Hhm...I should probably clear out my submissions box before then. I better get to it.

Cut it to the bone/everyone needs critique/step back/...

Editor Betsy touched on this in her recent post but it is worth repeating: cut out all extra bits in your short stories. Cut, cut, cut!

I freely admit this is tricky. In a story I've been working on for like a year, my critique group said recently, 'you know, you don't need this scene'. I looked at it, and they were totally right! So, perhaps I'm changing my point to: critique groups are vital.

I could summarize the whole 300-word-ish scene with one sentence! Jeesh! You'd think an editor could see this on her own. But no. It is difficult to truly see your own writing. All authors need to be able to step back from their work and try to see it objectively. So, wait, that's my point: step back from your writing. :)

Okay, I'm rambling a bit. That's okay on a blog, but NOT in a story. Maybe that's my point: don't ramble.

I'll stop now. :) But please continue to send Electric Spec your excellent (succinct/non-ramble-y) stories. Thanks!

Another reading session

This weekend I read half the stories in my inbox and I did hold a couple. My favorite? One in which unrelated elements all came together at the end, building the character and world into a cohesive whole. In other words, I never saw it coming.

Based on yesterday's reading session, I would also suggest writers take a close look at lengths. We are well aware we accept stories longer than comparable zines, and heck, we like 'em. Many markets prefer to cap at 5000. Remember, though, to only use the words it takes to tell your story. In my experience, many rejected longer stories are so long not because more events fill the space between A and Z, but because of narrative and exposition that does not further the plot. We have, and will continue, to accept longer stories. But remember you do have to hold my interest longer.

I think our response times are longer this summer, for a few reasons. First, it's summer. Everyone moves slower. Also, submissions are better in quantity and quality, which is exciting because it only makes for a better magazine. Thirdly, we're entering Conference Season here in Colorado. First up, World Science Fiction Convention, fondly known locally as Denvention, held in Denver 6-10 August. The Electric Spec staff will be there every day promoting the magazine, so if you want to meet any of us, keep an eye on this space and the main Electric Spec site for forthcoming details.

Next up is Colorado Gold, 11-14 September. It's a great conference, well worth attending. A bit more intimate, and the agents and editors are always top notch and generally available for smoozing (including yours truly). I'll be speaking, so come on and see me.

Then MileHiCon, our local SciFi Con, held 24-26 October. There's always a great writing track, and the Electric Spec staff are still working out details of our participation.

To tell or not to tell...

Advanced writers have had drilled into them "show, don't tell"--but is this a hard and fast rule? In the July/August 2008 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact there's a very interesting article "Hook, Lure, and Narrative: The Art of Writing Story Leads" by Richard A. Lovett. There's a lot of good information here, but I'm going to focus on only one of the rules: "Rule 2: Know when to show and when to tell." The gist of the rule is "showing isn't always better", and he gives some excellent examples, e.g. A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.", Stranger in a Strange Land: "Once upon a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith." Can you come up with some other good examples?

A survey of first sentences from The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction shows the MAJORITY of the first sentences are telling, e.g. (quotation marks mine), "There is a principle in nature I don't think anyone has pointed out before.", "I awoke this morning to discover that bioengineering had made demands upon me during the night.", "I live in the oldest city in the world.", "Everything felt like a dream.", etc., etc.

Thus, if you want to submit a story with some telling to Electric Spec, this editor says, "Go for it!"

Sexism in spec fic lit?

Author Nicola Griffith posted a provocative blog entry yesterday "fainting, shame, and obviousness", which begins by comparing the relative number of male and female authors who've been awarded Hugos and Nebulas. Do you think more women or more men have won spec fic awards? I think we all know the answer to that question! Nicola goes on at some length, even quoting Lisa Tuttle from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Check it out if you're interested in such things.

At Electric Spec, I must admit I don't pay any attention to the gender of an author. Glancing at the current issue, I see we have 75% female authors. Hhm... You might think since this is influenced by the fact we have more female editors than male. But, since our male editor is in touch with his feminine side, and since one of our female editors loves weapons/gore and general darkness/mayhem...I'm gonna say gender is totally immaterial at Electric Spec. :)

Do YOU think there's sexism in spec fic lit? If so, why?

Writing on Reading: We Can Remember It for You Wholesale

I recently reread "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", 1966, by Philip K. Dick and watched the movie based on it, "Total Recall", 1990. This short story is excellent and I recommend it. Briefly, the plot is: an ordinary guy wants to go to Mars but can't afford it, so he decides to go to a company that offers to implant secret-agent memories of Mars. When they attempt this, however, things go wrong, and it appears the fellow really is an undercover agent with suppressed memories. The government then tries to kill him because his 'cover' is blown but he makes a deal to have his Martian secret-agent memories suppressed and in compensation, will get some other false memories implanted. When they go to implant the new false memories...real memories of THOSE events are also already there! I admit I'm being vague, but I don't want to ruin it for you. The point is, there's a twist and then there's another twist! Wow! :) Rarely do you read a short story with well-executed multiple twists.

IMHO, the movie "Total Recall" is only superficially like the story, dealing with a seemingly ordinary fellow who wants to go to Mars, can't, and tries to get memory implants but all kinds of trouble ensues. Personally, I really enjoy this movie because it is very ambiguous. Did the protag experience the adventures or were they implanted memories? Was it real? Or was it Rekall? :) I have it on good authority that the director Paul Verhoeven was ambiguous on purpose.

Upon careful review, however, I have a new interpretation: I think the entire movie is a dream. Why? Because of Melina. The protag, Quaid, dreams of Melina in the first scene...what if he never wakes up? I don't see any other way for the SAME woman to appear in Quaid's dream, on Rekall's computer, and on Mars. If Melina is a real woman, Quaid could dream about her and interact with her on Mars--in this case the events are not implanted memories--but then how would she be on Rekall's computer? On the other hand, if Melina is an implanted memory, she would be on the Rekall computer and in the fake Mars events--but in that case how would she be in his dream before the protag goes to Rekall? Moreover, at the end of the movie, Quaid asks 'What if this is all a dream?' and Melina says, 'Kiss me quick before you wake up.'

What do you think?

sad news: Thomas M. Disch

I was sorry to hear we lost Thomas M. Disch, an award-winning science fiction author and poet over the weekend. Thomas won the Hugo Award for best related book in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, a Rhysling Award, and two Seiun Awards, among others. According to Locus Online Thomas committed suicide on July 4.

What is your guide?

I am noodling a new short story right now. In the midst of some heavy novel revisions, I feel the need to draft something. I actually like the white page after staring at the same 85,000 words for awhile. I have a world with a couple of values primary to the story, a vague sense of character (that's the part that seems to write itself), and some semblence of a plot. But right now I can't start writing because the plot just isn't there. I haven't pounded out a thoughtful enough synopsis. Worst of all, I don't have an ending.

I have to see the end before I can start writing. Otherwise I end up with half a story languishing on my hard drive. Do you? If not I envy you. But I actually know very few published writers who don't know where they're headed when they start. This is not to say that they don't sometimes end up somewhere unexpected. I just mean that most published writers I know have a synopsis somewhere, be it in their head or a notecard, before they start to write. I can't find my direction within 2-5000 words without such a compass.

Do you like the stars, a compass, GPS, Mapquest? What's your guide from Point A to Point Z when writing a short story?

The Nebsite

Outgoing SFWA President Michael Capobianco tells me there's a new Nebula Awards website open for beta testing. Michael says it will be focused around frequently-updated blogs and interviews and its goal is to encourage public interest in and appreciation for science fiction and fantasy literature. Electric Spec is all about those goals too! So, check out The Nebsite.

We're Live!

And we're live! Check out the new issue of Electric Spec! Thank you authors and editors for your hard work!

The Setting Leg

Regular readers know I espouse resting my stories on a three-legged stool of plot, character, and setting. I didn't invent the notion, and I'd give credit, but I have no idea who did. : ) Anyway, there's been some discussion in various internet quarters about plot v character and which should come first in your consideration. I've been surprised to see setting so neglected in these discussions. For spec fic purposes, I believe grounding readers in the story's world is essential, because spec fic always takes place in another world or a variation of this one. In fact, if I had to pick one aspect that draws spec fic readers, I'd say they come to visit new places where extraordinary things happen.

Dave spoke recently about developing ideas to their fullest, and sometimes in short stories, world-building gets short thrift, because we don't have a lot of words to spend. I see this most in urban fantasies where the writer assumes the reader is grounded because it takes place on this planet--even if it is a planet inhabited by werewolves (which are apparently in, if our inbox is any indication). But there are ways to show this strange new world your characters inhabit that don't take up a lot of real estate on the page.

--Dialogue. How do your characters relate to each other? Not like you and I would in ordinary conversation, I hope! How do they show respect; what constitutes an insult? What does their slang sound like? What are the little shortcuts or accents or usage that sets them firmly inside their world?

--Focus on the most important elements that make your world different. You should know of several, but what are the two or three that inform the reader they're not in Kansas anymore?

-- Attraction. What makes for a physically attractive "person" in your world and why? What are valued qualities based on world conditions? (Clue: use them in characters you want the reader to admire).

--Speaking of values: how does your world condition affect personal values? I'm reading DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? right now. In the Real World most everyone I know has a dog or a cat. We all value our pets, of course. But Dick elevates the rather common phenomenon of domesticated animal to status symbol and it says things about his world without exposition.

--When your character is confronted with a crisis, what is the one thing he or she might do that ties her to her world? A Christian might cross himself, a sailor might curse. What does your character do that sets him firmly in his world?

--And while we're on the topic of crisis, is yours intrinsic to your world? The most interesting crises can only happen in the world where they're set.

These are just a few ideas of many; I'm sure you can come up with more. A final note: don't explain. Just show your characters behaving as they should in their world and the reader will catch on.

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror...

I just read about "The Saturn Awards". (They have nothing to do with the car company.) These are annual awards given out by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, a nonprofit organization founded in 1972. I must admit, I've never heard of this organization... Have you? (If so, please comment. What's the scoop?)
Our next issue of Electric Spec has an article about their Best Fantasy Movie pick (good job, Marty)! Check it out on June 30! :)

Five More Days...

Savvy Electric Spec readers and writers know that the next issue goes live in only five more days! Check it out on June 30, 2008!

Writing on Reading: Art and Physics

I don't normally post reviews of my nonfiction reading, but I couldn't resist talking about Art and Physics by Leonard Schlain. This book is a huge undertaking, basically going through the entire history of physics and art (mostly painting). It took me more than a month to get through it, which is a lot for me (I can usually finish a novel in about a week). The time was well spent, however. Schlain is a physician by training, so he does a great job talking about complex topics in an accessible way. I learned a great deal about both subjects, especially in the areas of modern art and quantum physics. It was also interesting following Schlain's premise: cutting edge artists expressed new developments in physics before they occurred. 

For those of you who write science fiction, books like Schlain's can be enlightening and inspiring. In fact, I've already written one story based on an idea from the book. So, for those of you who want some heavy summer reading, I highly recommend Art and Physics.

Chat with Kevin J. Anderson

Dune prequel author Kevin J. Anderson will be chatting with people at the Writers of the Future forum tomorrow (June 24). Kevin will discuss topics such as work habits, characterization in spec fic, submitting to the Writers of the Future Contest (he's a judge), and building a plot. Should be an interesting discussion!

Locus Award winners

Winners of this year's Locus Awards, voted by readers of Locus Magazine in the annual Locus Poll, were were announced June 21, 2008, at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Seattle, at an event led by Master of Ceremonies Connie Willis. The winner for short story was:
"A Small Room in Koboldtown", Michael Swanwick (Asimov's Apr/May 2007). Read more about it at www.locusmag.com. Congratulations to all the nominees and all the winners!

A Final Trim . . .

One of the most common changes I make as I edit stories at Electric Spec are what can be described as "final trims." Even the best stories can often be made just a little tighter by cutting unnecessary sentences, clauses, and words. Authors sometimes have blind spots about these until they are pointed out by someone else, but it's worth trying to find them before you submit to a magazine. Some of the most common areas where trimming is necessary are:

• Info. repetition. In a short story, information about plot, character, world-building, or setting should only be given once. Also, information that can be inferred from the story should not be "told" by the author--trust your reader and assume he or she will "get it." If you tell or show us on page one that sprites live in the clouds and only come out at night, don't remind us again on page 6.
  
• "Walk the dog" actions. Sometimes authors include details that are not critical to the story and only serve to slow things down. For example, if a character is taking his dog for a walk, we probably don't need to know that he called the dog, got out the collar, put the collar on the the dog, clipped the leash to the collar, opened the door, stepped outside, closed the door behind him, etc, etc. Yawn!
• Unnecessary or distracting detail. In the above example, if you include a long description for the leash, i.e. "the leash was covered with pink and purple swirls of color that flashed in the sun as dog and master walked down the street," then there should be a reason why that description is there. If we never hear about the leash again, why did we need to know so much about it? I see this a lot with eye colors of minor characters. Who cares if the waiter in the restaurant has blue eyes? This is a tougher one to spot than the previous two bullets, but I do see it a lot.
• Adjective overkill. "The dark disk floated in the blue sky. It was as black as night against the azure backdrop, like a lapis boat floating on an aquamarine lake." Okay, this is an exaggeration, but you get the picture. Pick your best adjective and move on. 

So, before you sent off you story ask yourself--"What can I trim?"

AFI's #1 sci-fi movie is 2001

At the beginning of the month, I blogged about 2001: A Space Odyssey. I thought I'd give you an update, namely, the American Film Institute declared this movie the best sci-fi movie of all time. Maybe you saw this on TV last night? If not, read more: here.
It's a difficult job to compare movies from different times; the historical context of a movie is important when judging it. Nonetheless, I don't agree with AFI's choice. What do you think? What's the best sci-fi movie of all time? (My fave is Star Wars: Ep IV)

Speaking of movies...our next issue of Electric Spec has another intriguing "Spec Fic in Flicks" article. This time, Marty will be discussing a recent fantasy movie. Check it out on June 30!

I Love Working with Pros

As an editor at Electric Spec, I've worked with authors from around the world and in a huge variety of subgenres and voices. You know who my favs are? The professionals. How do I define a professional? Not the same way SFFWA does. No, I don't care how many sales an author had or to whom. Instead, I consider a professional author one who can understand and accept editorial changes and feedback, one who understands working with a deadline and therefore responds quickly, and, most of all, one who is kind and courteous in his or her interactions with the editor.

We've been lucky at Electric Spec. The vast majority of our authors are pros. The rest? Well, they have an important lesson to learn before they are truly successful.

SFWA contest=fraud

There's been some buzz about a writing contest supposedly sponsored by SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.). This contest is bogus, hence the buzz. SFWA says it "never runs writing contests of this sort". Read more about it.

I find this whole thing rather odd, don't you? The perp was asking for a $10 fee--how are they going to get rich with that? And how did said perp think they could get away with it?

There's a good story in here somewhere...

WaterStone's postcards

I can't resist linking to the Waterstone (British bookstore chain) postcards. They say "To celebrate the National Year of Reading, 13 world-class authors including JK Rowling, Doris Lessing, Neil Gaiman and Irvine Welsh have told us their story, and we'd love you to tell us yours." Personally, I loved the Rowling and Gaiman stories! Click them all out here. Which is your favorite? :)

ooh..Friday the 13th. Spooky.

The next issue of Electric Spec will go live on Jun 30! It looks great! We have six awesome stories and some fabulous features! Be sure to check it out. :)

An Editor's job is never done, however, and we are starting to think about the next issue which will go live on October 31, 2008. Thus, it seems appropriate to say today, Friday the 13th (Boo!), that we would LOVE to get some fantastic horror and macabre for that issue. Writers, start your muses!

Sturgeon Award finalists

Finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Award have been announced by the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. The Sturgeon Award is for the best short science fiction of the previous year. The juried awards will be presented on July 11th. And the finalists are (drum roll, please):

• Laird Barron "The Forest"
  
• Elizabeth Bear "Tideline"
  
• Ted Chiang "The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate"
  
• Jeffrey Ford, "The Dreaming Wind"
  
• Karen Joy Fowler "Always"
  
• Kij Johnson "The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change"
  
• Gwynneth Jones "The Tomb Wife"
  
• John Kessel "The Last American"
  
• Ian R. McLeod "The Master Miller's Wife"
  
• David Moles "Finistera"
  
• Johanna Sinisalo "Baby Doll"
  
• Gene Wolfe "Memorare"

Congratulations to all the nominees!

And read more about the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas in my 2007 Electric Spec Interview of James E. Gunn. :)

of vampires and werewolves, part II

Lesley asked the question in an earlier post, what makes vampires and werewolves so popular these days? I think this type of urban fantasy straddles the edge of what can be read by someone without feeling he or she must bear the stigma of being a "geek" or "nerd." Many readers love speculative elements in their fiction, but (subconsciously or not) avoid the fantasy and sci-fi shelves because "only geeks read that stuff." On the other hand, it is somehow okay to read horror (aka supernatural dark suspense) or sci-fi that has been labeled as a techno-thriller (can you say Jurassic Park?).

Beginning with Anne Rice, the idea of "serious" popular fiction having speculative elements started to become "cool." Steven King has also helped nudge the fantasy envelope with this Dark Tower series. Let's hope that the vampires and werewolves continue to bring readers to speculative fiction, and that sci-fi and fantasy become "cool"--or more people don't give a damn about what's cool, so long as they enjoy what they are reading.

keyhole

I would call both stories I'm editing for the next issue perfect examples of "keyhole stories" . And it's worth noting both came in around 3000 words.

I steal the notion from Barth Anderson, author of PATRON SAINT OF PLAGUES and THE MAGICIAN AND THE FOOL. (He's also appeared in our pages.) He said in our interview:

...every sentence is like another incremental dilation of a camera lens, letting in a little more light, information, or field of vision of what we're looking at. To me that explained what short stories can do. They're like peeking through a keyhole ... more often than not, novels are the whole room. A novel rifles through the drawers and reads the diary under the bed, but a short story is just a tiny viewing through one small aperture, and that's all.

This sounds like world building, and to an extent it is, but it also refers neatly to plot, as well. We only get to see those pivotal events, short and dirty, that directly affect the outcome of the story. All else is ruthlessly thrown in the hamper (to keep the painful metaphor going).

As editors, we're learning that shorter is often better, not because we have short attention spans, but because those shorter works often show a mastery of the form, of storytelling. And really, how many pages will your reader kneel there, eye pressed to the keyhole, before he gets a crick in his neck?

How Far Can You Take It?

As always, the editors at Electric Spec had lots of interesting discussions as we decided on the final stories for our next issue. One topic that came up quite a bit was stories falling short of their potential. Lots of times, authors introduce a great world-building idea, some device or twist that we have not seen before. Nonetheless, the story falls a little short. Why? The author does not think through all of the implications of the idea. It is one thing to introduce a concept, it is another to explore it in some depth. For example, if a story involves time travel, it should address--or at least hint at--how that time travel is going change the word, not just one or two characters. 

Anyhow, we were able to agree on six great stories for our next issue. Thank you, authors, for making our job of deciding which stories to pick so tough!

Writing on Reading: 2001 A Space Odyssey & Intelligent Design

I recently reread Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968. Haven't read it? Get thee to a library! This is a story in three parts: 1.) three million year B.C. when a monolith inspires the hominid ancestors of human beings to conceive of tools thereby awakening intelligence and leading to us; 2.) 2001 when humans on the moon have discovered a monolith--which sends a transmission to outer space; 3.) 18 months later, on a mission to Saturn, HAL-the-computer goes crazy, David Bowman enters a monolith and becomes the star child. This is classic SF at its best, full of gadgets, geeky old white men, and wonder.I also read "The Sentinel" by Clarke from 1948--which he wrote for a BBC competition and lost! (Take heart authors!) This story is basically part 2 of 2001 above. I enjoyed it more than 2001 because the first-person pov makes it much easier to identify with the protag. I also recently watched the 1968 movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which follows the novel closely. I would have to say while there is a lot of 'wonder' in this film, it does not hold up for modern audiences (it is s-l-o-w).

Anyway, I find the central theme of these works, i.e. aliens are responsible for the evolution of homo sapiens rather disappointing. In fact, this could be considered to a form of Intelligent Design!

Purely by chance, I read another book lately that supports Intelligent Design, albeit of a quite different kind, Black Order, 2005, by James Rollins. Dave blogged about this in May. This is a rollicking thriller set primarily in Europe with Nazis, spy-types, and bizarre science experiments. It really reminded me of Dan Brown's stuff--but better. Anyway, the main idea here is "quantum evolution": human minds via quantum mechanics actually cause the beneficial mutations that lead to evolution! I had never heard of this idea, but it is also clearly a type of Intelligent Design.

Who knew there were so many Intelligent Design versions out there!

Do you know of any others? (Besides the obvious!)

of vampires and werewolves...

We have a number of finalist stories this time featuring vampires or werewolves (or vampires AND werewolves). Since they are finalists, they are well-written. Kudos, authors! I must admit however, I am a bit surprised by the influx of vamps and were. Have we published a lot of these stories in the past? No. Have we published ANY of these in Electric Spec? I'm having trouble thinking of any...

Personally, I find the vamp/were thing somewhat mystifying. They are SO popular now, especially in novels. I wonder why that is. Do they symbolize/represent the wild animal/evil inside humans? Or is it something else? What do you guys think?

Wow. Excellent hold stories

For those of you waiting to hear back about your story 'On Hold', we have our big Electric Spec production meeting on Friday (6/6), so hang in there! I have to say all the stories on hold are very good. Congratulations authors! We feel honored to get so many good submissions! If your story did not get held for voting, don't despair: competition was very fierce.

We try to be fair and quantitative with our final decisions and assign each story on hold a numerical score. This time around, we editors have quite different rankings. Dave thinks it's because all the stories are so good.

Perusing the rankings, I can see some patterns... I guess I'll just talk about my own rankings --I wouldn't want to make my fellow editors cranky! :) One thing I appreciated was beautiful writing. This is writing that flows lyrically, writing that makes you feel like you ARE in the head of the unique protagonist. Another thing I always enjoy is a unique idea. This time we had some strange and wonderful problems with human culture and extrapolations of human society. I ranked those story highly.

Our next issue is live on June 30, 2008 and whatever stories we choose, it looks excellent!

model homes, model stories

I put my finger on something recently. Good stories let the readers fill in most of the blanks.

Wow. Sounds easy huh? Yeah, well, think about it. While you do, I'll provide an analogy that, after your thinking, might confuse you even more.

Empty houses don't sell well. It's a known fact. That's why there are furnished model homes. Most folks can't visualize worth a damn, so they need some help.
The bed goes here. See, how pretty a picture looks here...

However, houses that are too stacked with the homeowners' junk don't sell well, either. People can't mentally remove the junk and put themselves and their things in that space. They see clutter, even in a big room, and think: Gaaa! There's no room for my stuff in here! The eye might fill in gaps; it does not like to create them.

So it is with writing. Too much information leaves no blanks for readers to fill in with thier own experiences, their own stuff. Too few, too spare on the details, and readers just wander through the story, feeling lost and echoey. Where does the balance lie? It's likely different for everybody. But the stories in our hold for voting box do tend to leave room for readers to actively participate in the telling of it by inserting their own perspective.

Rising Above the Rest

I've been looking at the stories that the Electric Spec editors have held for voting. This is one of my favorite parts of the job because all of the stories have something that caught an editor's eye. Now we begin culling the best of the best.

Why are these stories so good? The truth is, there's no easy answer. All of the stories have solid writing. Beyond that, they have something extra like a great plot idea, interesting world, or unique characters. Some are stronger in one area than another. It's the stories that have the most going for them that end up making the final cut.  

Submission Dos and Don'ts

I've just gotten through my share of the submissions for our next issue of Electric Spec. If your story didn't make it past the first cut, keep in mind this list for next time:

Do:

•  Trim, trim, trim. Is your story as tight as it can be? Just because we have a 7000 word limit does not mean your story should be 6098 words. Too much unncessary exposition or plotting is one of the most common problems I see. Even for may of the stories we end up publishing, the editors end up cutting out the extra.
  
• Follow the guidelines. Remember to include a word count in the cover letter. You won't get rejected if you forget, but stuff like that puts the editor in a bad mood before he or she starts reading the story
• Hook me in the opening line, opening paragraph, or opening page. If I have no idea what your story is about, where it is going, or what's interesting about it after the first page, I may decide not to read much more of it.
• Personalize your cover letter. If we've met you at a conference, workshop, or convention, remind us. If you've ACTUALLY READ our 'zine, tell us what you read and why you think your story fits. All of this will not guarantee that we'll publish your story, but a personalized touch does add a spark of sunlight to the hours we spend in a dark room in front of a computer.

Don't:

• Include information about your family, pets, day job, etc. in the cover letter. It's not that we don't care about these things . . . well, actually it is. 
  
• Include information about the plot or theme of your story in the cover letter. Hopefully, we will be able to figure that out when we read the story. If not, we won't end up publishing it anyhow.
• Use a cover/title page. It makes your story look like it was written for 10th grade creative writing class, and it makes us scroll down the screen more than we have to. Yes, we're that lazy.
• Include as a credit in your bio that you have a "novel coming out this fall." That doesn't mean anything. I have a couple of novels that I wrote sitting on my hard drive, but that does not mean they are publication credits. If you want to impress us (and it's true) say this: "My novel, The Vanquishing Sword of Death is coming out this summer and is being published by Tor." (The "published by" part is key).

demonstrate don't recount

In the Electric Spec submissions pile, I've found a few stories recently in which the author recounts the story events. This is not as effective as demonstrating the events! Our life experiences of "telling" stories may work against us when it comes time to write a story.
IMHO, what we need in a modern publishable story is something you can act out. In fact, one of my critique partners is prone to acting out scenes at critique group! Of course, your stories should also include beautiful descriptions, intriguing flawed characters, and whatever else you like. :)

Authors, ask yourselves: does your story contain stuff you can act out? If not, try writing it more in-the-moment. Demonstrate what happens!

physical description and pov

We've started working furiously on the June 30 issue of Electric Spec. This means we've been working extra hard to get through the submissions. I have some advice for authors: keep in mind pov when you're doing physical descriptions. The modern style in short stories is NOT to describe the physical characteristics of your protagonist. However, if you insist on doing so, please do not have the protag see him/herself in a mirror or glass door or similar and describe him/herself. Also please do not have your protag run his/her fingers through their auburn/blonde/gray/brown/etc. hair. Generally this introduces a pov problem because, for example, people don't sit around thinking "I brush my fingers through my purple hair", right?

Of course, now, the rest of the day, I will be thinking this, but generally people don't. :)

The deadline for submissions for the June 30 issue is today (midnight U.S. MDT)!

A day in the life of an editor

Or: Why I Take 4-6 Weeks To Read Your Story.

6 am NPR starts shouting at me about various disasters around the world, the least of which is the Democratic race for President.
6:30 shower
6:45 (dripping) Wake kids up, lay out two sets of wee clothes
7 Beg husband to boil water for tea. His answer is a blank stare.
7:26 (hair drying funny) Insist kid quits playing drums and get upstairs to breakfast. I blowdry, but it's too late.
7:52 Drop kids at school
8:15 Receive email response about a story (another zine, my story). A little back and forth.
8:20 Various other emails and visit blogs. Write a quick post since it's been a week.
10 Remember I should get a chapter out to crit group. Read over chapter so I don't make a complete idiot of myself.
11 Remind myself to read stories. Take a gander at cover art instead and lose myself in artist websites.
12 Lunch. While munching a salad I write exactly two sentences on the chapter I was supposed to finish yesterday.
1 A low buzz of panic sets in. The kids come home in an hour-and-a-half. In a classic display of Avoidance Tendancy, I put another load of laundry in.
1:30 Finally bang out some pages on the WIP, completing yesterday's goal of finishing the chapter.
2:35 (late, as usual) Pick up kids from school. Snack. Homework. Whining. Drum practice. Repeat.
3:17 Finally open story box. Read stories. One lacks commas. One starts well, but doesn't complete its own arc. Microsoft word count clocks two stories at well over seven thousand words. As this is our upper limit, I'm willing to slash if the story is grand. They aren't. One story is intriguing; I save that for voting. The last uses passive voice in the first sentence.
4 (yeah, I know, I'm a fast reader) Off to kid's drum lesson
5:30 Try to make hair look like something.
6 PTA meeting.
10 Fall into bed. Read The Tempest for a class I'm taking. Note extensive use of backstory. Realize I've retained something of my year of college Shakespeare. The Bard still makes sense.
11 Fall asleep, dreaming of Ariel and commas...

Lessing: Nobel win a 'disaster'

I reported Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize in Literature here a while back. It's apparently time for an update. Now, according to BBC News, she says "...winning the prestigious award in 2007 had been a 'bloody disaster'. The increased media interest in her has meant that writing a full novel was next to impossible... Since her Nobel win she has been constantly in demand, she said. 'All I do is give interviews and spend time being photographed.' Speaking about her writing, she said: 'It has stopped, I don't have any energy any more.'" Read more.

I'm sorry to hear about her troubles. :(
I guess the lesson for authors is: don't get distracted from writing!

Deadline looming!

The deadline for our next issue (June 30) is looming! It is May 15. Send Electric Spec those stories ASAP. Our submission instructions are here.

Writing on Reading: Magic for Beginners

I recently reread Kelly Link's short story collection, Magic for Beginners. Link is one of my favorite contemporary genre short story writers, and Magic for Beginners shows why. Although these days "fresh" and "original" are so overused they've become cliched, Link shows what it means to create a voice and a style that stand out from everyone else out there. The originality of her characters and description blows me away.  Even though the theme of some of her stories seems beyond my grasp, all of her stories reward me with the unexpected, if not the understood.

Some to think of it, Kelly Link would be a very interesting person to interview for Electric Spec. Hmmm . . .  

Writing on Reading: Anansi Boys

I recently read Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman says it is a "funny, scary, romantic comedy, thriller about Gods and the Supernatural and the power of stories and so on. I guess it's about how to survive families".

I say, "Wow, this was excellent! I highly recommend it." The prose, characterizations and plot are excellent.

Very briefly, Anansi Boys is the story of Fat Charlie (who isn't actually fat) a timid accountant living in London, whose wedding preparations are interrupted by his father's death in Florida. At the funeral, Fat Charlie learns he has a hitherto unknown brother AND his father was an incarnation of the West African spider god, Anansi. Antics ensue. :)

Interestingly, Gaiman withdrew Anansi Boys from consideration for the Hugo Award. He said in August 2006, "I suppose partly I did it because I have three Hugos already, and I felt it was better to get more names on the ballot that weren't mine, and partly because I think I feel more comfortable when the things of mine that get Hugo nominations are marginally closer to SF than to pure fantasy, but mostly because when they told me Anansi Boys was nominated it just felt right to say no thank you, this time. Obviously I'm grateful to everyone who voted for it, and happy for the other awards that it's won and is nominated for, but on this one, well, it just felt right to say no. So I did."

Wow!

Dark Fiction

There was some discussion about the Internet last week on dark fiction, its definition and boundaries. Dark fiction, especially dark fantasy and dark urban fantasy, is mostly defined in the marketplace by publishers. There's an idea, a valid one, that folks likes their urban fantasy dark. Sometimes, I have trouble figuring out what makes such work dark. To me, this means dark themes left in the wake of grim plot events; perhaps to other publishers it means that the whole story happens at night.

For instance, I've never heard George RR Martin's work called dark in marketing copy, but he tortures his characters so violently and permanently, I fail to see how it could be considered anything but. He eloquently deprives each character of that which they most covet (for instance, a bastard loses his father, a romantic never finds love, a warrior loses his hand, a rambunctious child loses the use of his legs) leading to an overarching theme best stated as: It's not darkest before dawn, but right before your worst nightmare.

For Electric Spec's purposes, we like our dark themes truly dark. I rarely see stories in my slush that push the boundaries of dark fiction. Usually it has to do with under-developed internal conflict. So many writers fail to discover that which drives their protagonist, what makes him feel alive and who he is, and then steal it within the context of external conflict. If we can identify with the protag in real crisis, then the veil of suspended disbelief starts to fall over our eyes. How the protag strives to get it back makes for the plot events that build themes. This might include horror, macabre, even tragedy, but above all, it requires deprivation. Deprivation, often with permanent consequences, is at the heart of every good dark story.

Drink out of the fire hose?

I've been following a discussion slightly related to Dave's yesterday post over at agent Nathan Bransford's blog, in which he says the publishing industry "somehow manages to be seen as being in decline while growing at 3%, and where 400,000 books were published in the last year but (seemingly) fewer of them are published by mainstream houses who are (seemingly) focus on a narrowing slate of blockbusters." This has the corollary: "As the spigot of publishing opens up wide, we're going to have to find a way to drink out of that fire hose." and "what is going to take for the good books to stand out?"

As a reader, I must admit I'm not concerned about the fire hose at all. I just discovered a fabulous new-to-me author this week (I'll blog about it next week).

As an author, I must admit I'm VERY concerned. How can authors make a living in this market where you can download stuff for free and the traditional publishers are going away?

Maybe it's time to give up the old author paradigm? It is a dinosaur? Maybe we should all publish our stories and books for free on the web and make our livings off of ads or other-idea-yet-to-be-invented?

What do you all think?

Reproduction 101

Let's skip the birds and the bees and go directly to flowers--dandelions in particular. A dandelion may produce 2,000 seeds per year. Lots of those seeds may end up in places where they can't grow, but even if only two end up sprouting, that's another 4000 seeds.

This information goes a long way toward explaining the state of my front lawn, but it also has some use to authors, says Cory Doctorow in the May issue of Locus. 

"If you blow your works into the net like a dandelion clock on the breeze, . . .  the winds of the Internet will toss your works to every corner of the globe, seeking out every fertile home that they may have--given enough time and the right work, your stuff could someday find its way over the transom of every reader who would find it good and pleasing."

In case you're wondering, Mr. Doctorow thinks that, in the right circumstances, such reproduction is a good thing. No, you may not make a buck or two off the story, but you may hit a home run with an agent or editor who reads your work, likes it (or hears how many others like it), calls you up, and says "do you have anything else"?

Submission deadline May 15!

This just in...
The Electric Spec submission deadline for our June 30, 2008 issue is midnight (U.S. MDT) May 15, 2008! I just posted it on the webpages. We will, of course, accept submissions after that for our next issue, Oct 31, 2008. :)
Send those stories in!

Future Ain't What It Used To Be?

There's a funny/interesting post by spec fic author Mario Acevedo over at Eos Books blog, in which he states "The Future Ain't What It Used To Be". Mario refers mostly to pulp SF visions of the future including floating bubble cities, unisex silver overalls, rocket packs, etc.

IMHO, speculative fiction has come a long way since the pulps. Reading their 'gee-whiz' naivete is a charming form of time-travel in which the authors believe in the best of human beings. It was never realistic. Today's spec fic authors have embraced the full gamut of human qualities from evil to, yes, naivete. :) I like that better, personally. In fact, the best authors extrapolate the realistic problems of technology (aerial rocket pack jams?) in addition to showing their 'gee whiz' qualities. Send Electric Spec some stories like that!

What do you think? We are living in yesterday's future. Is the future what it used to be? :)

Rock On, Orson!

In the new Tor/Forge newsletter, Orson Scott Card wrote an interesting article on why he still  writes short stories even though they don't pay the bills. He also pointed out something we strongly believe in at Electric Spec. He said:

"But I hope you’ll also remember that there are new writers out there, trying to be part of the conversation. Look for magazines — online or in print — and anthologies and collections. Give them a try. I can promise you that now and then — more often than you might suppose — you’ll find something and somebody wonderful. Because if sci-fi is to survive as a genre, it won’t be because readers stick to books with familiar names on the cover. . . .  And if a new generation is to take flight, it will fledge in the nest of short fiction."

Welcome to our nest!

Writing on Reading: The Tempest

I recently read The Tempest by William Shakespeare, dated 1610-11, generally accepted to be his last play. (You're wondering what the heck this has to do with spec fiction--but I'll get to that). A very brief plot is: A sorcerer/Duke, Prospero, and his daughter, Miranda, are stranded on an island. Prospero has magic powers and is served by a spirit, Ariel, who he rescued from a witch's imprisonment, and the witch's son Caliban, a deformed monster. Prospero raises a storm to crash his brother Antonio's ship (which just happens to be passing by), and using spells separates the survivors of the wreck into several groups. Then three plots run in parallel: Caliban falls in with 2 drunken crew members and they try to rebel against Prospero, Prospero fosters a romantic affair between Miranda and a young man from the ship (Ferdinand), and Antonio and a buddy conspire to kill the king so the buddy can be king. In the end, Prospero foils all the plots and succeeds with the Mirando-Ferdinand love affair, and they all go back to Italy, happy, and Prospero gives up his powers.

Clearly, this is fantasy, i.e. speculative fiction, with all the magic, the witch, the spirit, etc! Who know spec fic was so old? Not I. :)

Supposedly, the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet was a film adaptation of The Tempest. I recently watched this, too. Instead of a magical island, it's set on the planet Altair-IV, but there is a 'magic' scientist father and a beautiful daughter, a helpful spirit: Ariel/Robbie-the-Robot, a ship of men who crash one of whom has a romance with the daughter, and a monster: Caliban/the scientist's id. ...Okay. I must admit there are some similarities.

Supposedly, Star Trek is also based on The Tempest. Hhm...there's a ship and they have various adventures. I'm not sure I see it, but I'll keep you posted if I get any additional info.

However, a very obvious spec fic TV shows comes to mind...Isn't the plot of The Tempest basically the TV show Lost? I think so! What do you think?

New Sawyer Short Story Collection

FYI Electric Spec readers: there's a new short story collection out from Robert J. Sawyer. Red Deer Press, a division of Canadian publisher Fitzhenry & Whiteside, has just released Robert J. Sawyer's second short-story collection, Identity Theft and Other Stories. The title story was a Nebula and Hugo Award finalist. The collection also includes the Hugo finalist "Shed Skin" (which was the basis for Sawyer's John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winning 2005 novel Mindscan), the Aurora Award winners "Ineluctable" and "Biding Time," and 13 more. The book has an introduction by Hugo winner Robert Charles Wilson, and each story is accompanied by Sawyer's own commentary.
Looks intriguing!

What's Hot in Genre Fiction?

There's been an interesting discussion on the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's loop, responding the the question: "What's hot in Genre Fiction?"

Here's what Carol Berg, high fantasy author extraordinaire and Electric Spec interviewee had to say about it:

"In fantasy, urban fantasy (contemporary world with "extras" like
vampires, werewolves, and so forth) is still hot, despite frequent
reports of "vampire fatigue." My editor says that they can put a new
author in urban fantasy and the books will still be snapped up. Times
are tougher for new authors in traditional/heroic/epic fantasy, and yet
two of the most acclaimed new authors in fantasy are traditional fantasy
writers - Naomi Novik, who already has a Peter Jackson movie deal for
Temeraire, and Patrick Rothfuss."

Rothfuss has one book out, called The Name of the Wind. I read it when it first came out and I thought it was excellent. I know a lot of non-genre readers who loved the book as well. I'll have to head to the library and pick up a Novik book now.

Got Plot?

Today I saw a play called "The Last Five Years." It was an excellent musical about a man an a woman who fall in love, get married, fall out of love, and get divorced. So, how could such a standard plot be made original? The man's story went from the beginning of the relationship to the end, but the woman's went from the end to the beginning. All the songs were solos, except for one duet right in the middle of the play. Pretty cool, huh?

If the plot of a story you're working on feels tired, why not see if you can tell the story in a new way--like forwards and backwards at the same time!

Friday Fun: PhD Comics

Okay, this is only marginally related to Electric Spec, but I recently found a hilarious website: PhD Comics by Jorge Cham. If you've been to grad school or have ever thought of going to grad school, you'll get a kick out of these. Happy Friday!

Writing on Reading: The Black Order

James Rollins' The Black Order is science fiction . . . or a thriller . . . or a science fiction thriller, depending on who you ask. I found my copy in the Fantasy and Science Fiction section of the Boulder Book Store, but I don't think it belonged there. The Black Order is about a secret U.S. military group that tries to stop a neo-Nazi villain who has developed new, dangerous technology. While the science it somewhat "out there" it is based on sound scientific theories that are explained in the novel. (In fact, Lesley will be interested to know that there is a lengthy explanation of the famous double slit experiment). I find the premise to be no different that other thrillers that are not categorized as science fiction, basically following the spy-novel formula. So, why was it shelved with the science fiction books? Too much explanation of the the science? Too much far-out technology? Don't ask me. It's a good read--why not try to decide for yourself?