I read this tonight in the submission guidelines for a new, small press magazine publisher.
The bulk of our editorial staff and slush readers are products of writer workshops. We suggest it is a fundamental part of the process of producing great fiction.
Fundamental, eh? I don’t think there’s much need for me to comment, except to ask what I suppose is an unanswerable question:
How many of the writers of what is widely accepted to be ‘great fiction’ ever attended a writers’ workshop? Unanswerable maybe, but I think we could make a pretty good guess.
I considered revealing the name of this new publication, but decided against it. It’s pretty dire but I have no wish to mock. No doubt the editors mean well.
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...until death do re-unite or the Priestess return to Avalon.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
The moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on. Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self .
This character appears in one of my short stories, and also in the novel. He's sadder than he looks, poor thing.
About Me
- JJ
- Ashbourne, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
- I've never had money because I've never been driven by money. I received little formal education beyond the age of sixteen, which isn't such a bad thing since you get a different angle on life that way. Learning what you want and need to learn often reveals things that the system's road keeps hidden.
BOOKS
Anyone interested in viewing the availablity of my novel Odyssey or novella The Gift Horse can do so here.
To Be Retained...
...until death do re-unite or the Priestess return to Avalon.
Khalil Gibran on Children.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
OMAR KAYYAM ON REGRET.
The moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on. Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it.
Herman Hess on Nobility
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self .
Free Fiction
I have another blog called A Handful of Stories on which I've posted some of my short fiction. Most of it has been published by a variety of independent small press publishers, so somebody other than me must have thought it worth reading.
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An Inhabitant of the Hungry Ghost Realm
This character appears in one of my short stories, and also in the novel. He's sadder than he looks, poor thing.
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When everything that is illusion is removed, all that remains is consciousness.
5 comments:
Fair point good sir. When I think of "great" authors (or ones I favour), I don't exactly imagine them sitting in a writers' workshop. But I suppose, "who knows"
Emily Bronte couldn't even spend three months at school without coming close to despair. I suppose you know she was half Irish.
I'm sure the editor here meant well, as they mean well all over the internet advising on how to get published. There's so much (crippling) advice on how to write a "good query" letter for example, that you will surely stifle all your individuality if you try and follow it. What a breath of fresh air to imagine how Emily would take such advice.
It was the phrase 'a fundamental part of the process' that bothered me, because it effectively says 'this is the only right way.' And then they went on to push the whole beta reader thing. 'Have you had your work read by at least two other people...' etc, etc. Writing by committee is what I call it. How about 'Say what you want to say and back your own judgment, and then don't care if everybody else thinks it's crap.' I just don't know any other way to be.
Yes, I agree. The "writing by committee" idea is part of the commercialization of absolutely everything which is plaguing us. I suppose once in a while an individual manages to get through, so we should be happy about that :):(
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