For the record, we are Sudden Flash.
There is some confusion because of the "your" prefixed to our email address and URL. The reason is simple: suddenflash was already taken as a Google account name. We added "your" because that seemed friendlier than appending some random numbers.
That's it.
Showing posts with label Essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essay. Show all posts
Aarggh!
by Wynter Stone
I used to be annoyed by editors whose submission guidelines included long lists of stern warnings.
After being an editor for only a few months, I now empathize with them.
First, too many authors fail to read and comprehend the submission guidelines. As a writer, I sometimes feel frustrated because it seems that every publication has a different set of basic requirements. Even so, most are not particularly difficult. They are generally designed to make things a little easier for the editors, who are likely overwhelmed by the flood of submissions that arrive every day. They just want every piece to be in a predictable and manageable format, one that will help simplify the process of getting an item published.
Next, it seems that many authors just submit the first draft of whatever they happened to write that morning. No matter how talented you are -- even if you are Margaret Atwood or Stephen King -- first drafts are rarely finished works. Editing and rewriting are nearly always necessary. Some writers don't even bother to proofread their work for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. If you don't care about your story, why should I? Yes, I know how hard it can be to proof one's own work. The brain tends to see what we meant to write rather than what we actually wrote. One simple rule that really helps, both for proofreading and for the overall quality of a story, is to read it aloud. Better yet, get someone else to read it to you.
Some other common problems: changing a character's name halfway through the story; too many different characters crowded into a very short piece; flipping between past and present tense; confusing dialog that does not make clear who is speaking to whom; stories that stop suddenly without an ending; author bio is longer than the story.
Having said all that, I want to tell you that I am always grateful for all the authors, whether well-established or just starting out, who send us their work. We receive a lot of really good material, and we are proud of the stories and essays we publish every week. Any gripes we have are balanced by our appreciation for what these writers have accomplished.
━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
Wynter Stone is a co-editor of Sudden Flash.
I used to be annoyed by editors whose submission guidelines included long lists of stern warnings.
After being an editor for only a few months, I now empathize with them.
First, too many authors fail to read and comprehend the submission guidelines. As a writer, I sometimes feel frustrated because it seems that every publication has a different set of basic requirements. Even so, most are not particularly difficult. They are generally designed to make things a little easier for the editors, who are likely overwhelmed by the flood of submissions that arrive every day. They just want every piece to be in a predictable and manageable format, one that will help simplify the process of getting an item published.
Next, it seems that many authors just submit the first draft of whatever they happened to write that morning. No matter how talented you are -- even if you are Margaret Atwood or Stephen King -- first drafts are rarely finished works. Editing and rewriting are nearly always necessary. Some writers don't even bother to proofread their work for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. If you don't care about your story, why should I? Yes, I know how hard it can be to proof one's own work. The brain tends to see what we meant to write rather than what we actually wrote. One simple rule that really helps, both for proofreading and for the overall quality of a story, is to read it aloud. Better yet, get someone else to read it to you.
Some other common problems: changing a character's name halfway through the story; too many different characters crowded into a very short piece; flipping between past and present tense; confusing dialog that does not make clear who is speaking to whom; stories that stop suddenly without an ending; author bio is longer than the story.
Having said all that, I want to tell you that I am always grateful for all the authors, whether well-established or just starting out, who send us their work. We receive a lot of really good material, and we are proud of the stories and essays we publish every week. Any gripes we have are balanced by our appreciation for what these writers have accomplished.
Wynter Stone is a co-editor of Sudden Flash.
Flash Challenges
In the past, we've written about "Gimmicks" among publishers of flash fiction. These are special challenges to the author, such as writing a story with a specific word count, or embedding certain words in the story.
We have put together another list of sites that use restrictions and requirements to bring challenge and discipline to the craft of microprose.
Gooseberry Pie publishes pieces of exactly six sentences and no more than 400 words.
Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words
The Last Line is the companion to The First Line. There, all stories start with the same sentence. Here, they all end the same. Story length is 300-5000 words.
100 Word Story publishes stories of exactly 100 words.
A Story in 100 Words - guess what?
Flash Flood accepts submissions (up to 300 words) one week per year and then publishes a flood of stories on National Flash Fiction Day in June.
50 Word Stories are really short, but sometimes that's all it takes.
Backwards Trajectory publishes poetry and prose, up to 200 words.
Blink-Ink has been publishing stories of approximately 50 words since 2009.
Aster Lit publishes stories from writers aged 13-25. They publish prose up to 3,000 words.
Bloom publishes pieces of no more than 2,500 words by authors age 40 and older.
Persimmon Tree includes prose pieces under 3,500 words, and "short takes" of 250-500 words, all written by women over sixty.
Centaur publishes a small number of stories, up to 400 words, in quarterly issues.
The Citron Review publishes short prose, up to 1000 words, and micros, up to 100 words.
Paranoid Tree publishes pieces up to 400 words, online and on paper.
We have put together another list of sites that use restrictions and requirements to bring challenge and discipline to the craft of microprose.
Gooseberry Pie publishes pieces of exactly six sentences and no more than 400 words.
Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words
The Last Line is the companion to The First Line. There, all stories start with the same sentence. Here, they all end the same. Story length is 300-5000 words.
100 Word Story publishes stories of exactly 100 words.
A Story in 100 Words - guess what?
Flash Flood accepts submissions (up to 300 words) one week per year and then publishes a flood of stories on National Flash Fiction Day in June.
50 Word Stories are really short, but sometimes that's all it takes.
Backwards Trajectory publishes poetry and prose, up to 200 words.
Blink-Ink has been publishing stories of approximately 50 words since 2009.
Aster Lit publishes stories from writers aged 13-25. They publish prose up to 3,000 words.
Bloom publishes pieces of no more than 2,500 words by authors age 40 and older.
Persimmon Tree includes prose pieces under 3,500 words, and "short takes" of 250-500 words, all written by women over sixty.
Centaur publishes a small number of stories, up to 400 words, in quarterly issues.
The Citron Review publishes short prose, up to 1000 words, and micros, up to 100 words.
Paranoid Tree publishes pieces up to 400 words, online and on paper.
Flash Gimmicks
"You Gotta Get a Gimmick" is a song from the 1959 musical comedy Gypsy. In the song three experienced burlesque performers explain to a newcomer that, in order to be successful, it's important to have a "gimmick," some special attention-getting device that stands out from what everyone else is doing.
I think of that song sometimes when I'm exploring the venues for flash fiction. Many of them have very specific requirements for the pieces they publish, rules that might be seen as "gimmicks," that present writers with special challenges.
Often the challenge is one of length: a precise word count, or a number of sentences.
For example, Six Sentences asks for pieces of exactly six sentences. Since 2006, the editor has posted these pieces with varying frequency, sometimes daily, sometimes several per day, sometimes less than daily. There are writers who manage to tell surprisingly complex stories, while others offer terse comments. Overall, these are great examples of what can be done by applying a little imagination to sentence structure and punctuation.
Paragraph Planet publishes a 75-word paragraph every day. This has been going on since 2008.
Complete Sentence publishes single-sentence prose. There is no minimum or maximum length, but it seems as though most of the authors are trying to set a record. There are some very entertaining pieces here, and it wouldn't be much of a surprise to find that someone has managed to compose an entire single-sentence novel.
The First Line publishes stories between 300 and 5,000 words, but length is not the focus. Every story starts with the same first line, chosen by the editors months in advance. While this might sound repetitive, every writer takes that first line in a completely different direction.
Another publication with prescribed content is 3Elements. The editors provide three "elements" - words or short phrases - that must be included in every short (under 3500 words) prose piece.
101 Words began in 2005, posting flash stories of exactly 101 words. They publish seven stories per week.
The Dribble Drabble Review publishes "dribbles" (50 words) and "drabbles" (100 words). Once again, it is fascinating to see the creativity of writers who are able to convey entire plots and memorable characters within those limits.
Any publication featuring flash prose and poetry will have a word limit, since it is brevity that defines the flash genre. There is no universal agreement on how long or short a piece must be to be considered flash. Some say it can be up to 5000 words, but most go lower. A maximum of 1000-1500 words seems typical. Oddly, some require a minimum, often as high as 500 words. Most flash publications do not impose strict limits. The "gimmick" publishers challenge their authors to apply extra discipline to the craft.
I think of that song sometimes when I'm exploring the venues for flash fiction. Many of them have very specific requirements for the pieces they publish, rules that might be seen as "gimmicks," that present writers with special challenges.
Often the challenge is one of length: a precise word count, or a number of sentences.
For example, Six Sentences asks for pieces of exactly six sentences. Since 2006, the editor has posted these pieces with varying frequency, sometimes daily, sometimes several per day, sometimes less than daily. There are writers who manage to tell surprisingly complex stories, while others offer terse comments. Overall, these are great examples of what can be done by applying a little imagination to sentence structure and punctuation.
Paragraph Planet publishes a 75-word paragraph every day. This has been going on since 2008.
Complete Sentence publishes single-sentence prose. There is no minimum or maximum length, but it seems as though most of the authors are trying to set a record. There are some very entertaining pieces here, and it wouldn't be much of a surprise to find that someone has managed to compose an entire single-sentence novel.
The First Line publishes stories between 300 and 5,000 words, but length is not the focus. Every story starts with the same first line, chosen by the editors months in advance. While this might sound repetitive, every writer takes that first line in a completely different direction.
Another publication with prescribed content is 3Elements. The editors provide three "elements" - words or short phrases - that must be included in every short (under 3500 words) prose piece.
101 Words began in 2005, posting flash stories of exactly 101 words. They publish seven stories per week.
The Dribble Drabble Review publishes "dribbles" (50 words) and "drabbles" (100 words). Once again, it is fascinating to see the creativity of writers who are able to convey entire plots and memorable characters within those limits.
Any publication featuring flash prose and poetry will have a word limit, since it is brevity that defines the flash genre. There is no universal agreement on how long or short a piece must be to be considered flash. Some say it can be up to 5000 words, but most go lower. A maximum of 1000-1500 words seems typical. Oddly, some require a minimum, often as high as 500 words. Most flash publications do not impose strict limits. The "gimmick" publishers challenge their authors to apply extra discipline to the craft.
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