Archive for the 'Short Stories' Category

Short Fiction #36 Peter

No Comments »4th March, 2007; Category: Short Fiction, Short Stories

Peter was puzzled.

He was not used to his commands being refused. His sharp, authoritative voice usually brought instant obedience. If that failed â€“ and it rarely did â€“ his glaring eyes and his lowered black eyebrows intimidated to the point of quick compliance. This time it didnâ€™t work. He tried several different commands, his barking voice becoming more and more strident with each attempt.

There was no reaction.

The target of his wrath merely stood there staring with great interest at a beetle scampering across the lawn. Peter, not known for patience, suddenly snapped. He yelled a stream of commands that neighbours two streets away surely heard. The subject of this tirade turned from him and wandered aimlessly across the lawn. Peter stood there dumbfounded. For the first time in his life he experienced defeat. It was a new sensation for him and he didnâ€™t know how to handle this rejection.

Emily came out of the house to see what all the yelling was about.

â€˜Peter,â€™ she said softly. â€˜Itâ€™s no use using your parade ground voice on poor little Butch. Puppies need to be trained to obey commands.â€™

Submitting poetry or fiction to magazines

2 Comments »1st March, 2007; Category: Fiction, Magazines, Poetry, Short Stories, Writing Hints

Yesterday I wrote about the huge number of poetry and fiction e-zines on the internet. These now number in the thousands and more are being added daily. Before this trend on the internet began there were already many thousands of print magazines that accepted poetry and fiction for possible publication. This creates a dilemma for the writer just starting out.

Where do I send my work?

For the inexperienced this can be daunting task indeed. There is so much to chose from. How do I go about it and how do I decide where to send my precious writing? Let me suggest some simple steps to follow. I acknowledge Graham Catt’s article (click here) for many of these ideas.

How to Submit to E-Zines

Research: do your research first. Find or make a list of e-zines and study the list for potential markets for your writing. Make a short list.
Read: read several issues of the e-zines which interest you. This is relatively easy as most are available free on-line.
Check: the credentials of the editors; are they qualified to be editing a magazine or are they just enthusiasts doing this as a hobby?
Analyse: be really objective about the style of the e-zine. Would you feel comfortable having your writing in that magazine? Does the style match your style of writing? Does it have a particular theme or aim? As a silly example, it is useless sending your lovely poem about a cat to a SF magazine (unless the cat is from an alien world).
Frequency: how often does the magazine appear? It may be hard to have your work accepted if there is only one issue per year.
Guidelines: Before sending off your wonderful writing (which you’ve spent many hours rewriting, editing and checking) the last step is to check the Submission Guidelines. These vary from magazine to magazine. If you can’t find the guidelines on the web site, send an email to the editor requesting a copy. Follow the guidelines carefully; ignoring them is a sure way to have your writing rejected.

Submitting to print magazines:

The process outlined above is largely applicable to print magazines as well. It is harder to find back copies of these online so you may have to raid your local library to read them or even subscribe to a few to get a feel for their style. My local Writers’ Centre also has back copies of a wide range of magazines.

It has been said that if everyone who submits their writing to magazines in Australia subscribed to just three magazines, most editors would be able to pay their contributors. I subscribe to nine that are directly related to writing.

Poetry and Fiction on the Internet

3 Comments »28th February, 2007; Category: Articles, Poetry, Short Stories

Have you ever thought of publishing your own poetry or fiction on your blog or on the internet?

I was reading through some articles that have appeared over recent years in Southern Write, newsletter of the South Australian Writers’ Centre of which I am a longstanding member.

One article caught my attention. “Poetry and Short Stories on the Internet” written by South Australian poet Graham Catt. This article appeared in March 2003, almost exactly four years ago. He did a Google search for poetry e-zines and fiction e-zines. He found 96 entries for poetry and 114 for fiction.

Times have changed:

How the times have changed in four years. Today a similar search (using quotes around the words) returns over 1600 for poetry and 2000 for fiction. This means that there are many hundreds of potential markets for your poetry or fiction on the internet. Mind you, only a handful are paying markets, but that is the case with print magazines too.
The Poetry Kit

One useful resource mentioned by the author is still very active. It can be overpowering and time consuming getting a list of thousands of sites to check out. The beauty of The Poetry Kit site is that all the searching has been done for you.

Publishing on your blog:

I read a variety of blogs in the course of week. It surprises me that so few writers actually publish their own fiction or poetry on their blogs. I have been doing this for some time now (see the links below or go to the Contents section of the sidebar). I also have inspired and encouraged at least one person to do the same (Rick on Shards of Consciousness). I think that it is something writers should seriously consider.

Links:

The Poetry Kit – lists of on-line and print magazines

South Australian Writers’ Centre – I recommend belonging to a writers’ group as there are many benefits. Check out my links section for more organisations.

Poetry blogs – some of the sites on this list may be worth checking out – I’ve only checked a handful and they looked interesting if you have the time to browse.

My poetry – read some of my poetry

My fiction – read some of my fiction.

Short Fiction #34 Emily

No Comments »25th February, 2007; Category: Short Fiction, Short Stories

Emily strolled along the riverbank. The breeze teased her golden hair, covering her face and tickling her nose. She brushed it aside. Finding a sunny spot she sat on the grass. It felt as soft as her woollen blanket at home. Rolling on to her stomach she cupped her chin in her hands. Two ducks swam closer. They softly quacked an enquiry of her, but they quickly realised that no food scraps would be coming, so they just flopped down on the sand nearby.

The warm sun on her back was soothing. Her eyelids drooped. Soon her head was cradled on her arm. Sleep drifted in stealthily.

An hour passed.

Emily woke groggily.

Something was wrong.

As she tried to sit up she realised the problem. All feeling had disappeared in her hand, her arm. The sudden rush of blood brought a painful prickling throughout her arm. She rolled over letting the circulation bring and end to her discomfort. A passing cloud shrouded the sunlight from her face. The air chilled quickly and she shivered.

Splat!

She sat up. Her hand felt her forehead. The creamy white substance now covered her fingers. She screwed up her face in disgust as she looked skywards.

â€œYou dirty, filthy sea gull!â€ she yelled.

Silver Gull

Short Fiction #33 Phillip

No Comments »18th February, 2007; Category: Short Fiction, Short Stories

Phillip pulled the old rugged coat closer to him. The howling wind whipped around the meagre shelter. Sudden gusts of air chilled his face and exposed fingers. The icy block in his feet and shins numbed any feeling. He stood up and tried to get the circulation going again.

Phillip cautiously peeped around the edge of the old tin shed. Dark clouds were scudding in his direction. A sudden blast of air brought a limb of a tree to the ground nearby. He tried in vain to hug the threadbare coat even closer. A loose sheet of iron rattled on the roof. A squall of rain drummed on the roof and walls followed by the hammering of hail.

Phillip reached into his pocket. He brought out his only box of matches. Four left. He would have to be very careful lighting a fire to keep warm tonight. He guarded his small cache of dry wood in the corner of the shed. As he crouched on the freezing ground he huddled into a ball and wrapped his coat around his legs. The pounding hail vibrated through the wall and rattled his teeth.

He tried to sleep.