Tips for Fiction Writers

My main tip for would-be writers is to read a lot of good stuff. And of course, to write regularly.  If you write contemporary fiction, you can't go wrong in checking out the Provo Canyon Review, whose editorial guidelines are revealing:

They seek short fiction that is "deeply moving without being sentimental," tender, with a mix of grace, vulnerability and compassion. And that shows attention to style and language.

These qualities and more are abundantly present in the recently published volume of short stories, Fine People, by the Review's co-editor, Chris McClelland, whom I have known for some years, starting from his graduate work at the University of Central Florida.

Chris is a master of the short story, having read and absorbed what he has read; as a result, his readers who also write can learn some valuable lessons from his work. For example, about how to have a strong opening sentence that propels you on to the narrative that follows; characters that wrestle with complicated emotional issues and become believable because of what they say; and narratives that are concise, with carefully crafted sentences.

Consider the title story, "Fine People," about the grief and anger of a couple traveling in Mexico sharing their grief unexpectedly with the owner of a cantina. This is the kind of powerful story that makes us want to read the other stories in the collection, which do not disappoint.

Chris McClelland, in his deeply felt and well-crafted fiction, has much to teach the reader about how the short story works.  He experiments with various points of view, uses various locales, and never flinches from hard truths about the human heart.

His book would make a fine holiday gift for someone: only $9 on Amazon for the paperback, only $4 for the Kindle edition.  Just a suggestion.

And if you're a writer of short fiction, consider submitting your work to www.theprovocanyonreview.net after you have seen what work they are looking for.

Being Published

For every writer, news of an acceptance is a major event. To be published after months of labor, usually alone and without any recognition, is a welcome and necessary validation for any writer, who now becomes an author, given the authorization of publication.

No matter how much I have published over the years--from short reviews and articles to books--I still get a special thrill when a publisher says, "Yes." Or as happened yesterday, when the editor of the Provo Canyon Review wrote to me, "we love your story and would be very pleased to publish it in our next issue."

If they are pleased, I am very pleased because I am new to fiction writing, and the story in question, "Losing It," is a comic piece loosely modeled on the work of James Thurber. It concerns an absent-minded high school history teacher, who has a conflict with his principal--and by extension the state of education in America today. I never knew, even from the three seasoned readers who critiqued it, if it was really good, genuinely amusing and believable.

Now the self-doubt can fade and I can happily anticipate seeing the article appear in the Review, probably next week online at www.theprovocanyonreview.net.

Yet, for me, getting the acceptance is what matters, the actual publication being almost secondary. Almost.

Here, to whet your appetite, is the opening sentence, which I worked on for some time (maybe it will motivate you to look up the Provo Canyon Review and read the whole story and have some laughs):

    On a  sparkling Florida afternoon in winter, as George Eliot Craine was stirring his spaghetti sauce, with his back to the open window over the kitchen sink, his pants fell down, along with his shorts, and it took it took him a full minute to put down his wooden spoon, wipe his hands, and retrieve his clothes from the floor--time enough for his wife, Martha, who was unloading groceries from the car, to see, beneath his apron strings, his naked butt.

  

Opening Doors

I have had my first piece of fiction published in the first issue of a new journal, The Provo Canyon Review, based in Utah, and I am amazed.

The article, "Opening Doors," about the life of a New York City doorman, is available at: www.theprovocanyonreview.net.

I find it hard to believe that, after years of insisting that I only write non-fiction (my poetry has never been sent out for publication and my numerous attempts at fiction have gone unfinished), I have completed a longish short story and got it published, all in about two years.

Although I have never lived in Manhattan, my wife grew up there, and we have visited the city, including the Upper East Side, where the story takes place, many times. I have long been intrigued by the city's doormen, who see a lot but say little. This point was made in an article thirty or more years ago by Gay Talese, and it got filed somewhere in the recesses of my brain as an idea that I wanted to explore some day.

Then, about two years ago, I happened to see a documentary about an elderly fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham, of the New York Times
and was moved by the contrast between his humble, ascetic lifestyle and his glamorous job. Somehow, the idea of writing something about doormen merged with the story of Bill; the rest of my story--including the narrator's relationship to the doorman he has known for forty years--came quickly.

I don't know if this is to be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement, or whether I will do more fiction. This story idea percolated for more than thirty years, so time is not on my side.  Non-fiction writing comes easier for me, seems to require less stamina and courage, and has many rewards.  I have a lot of experience in this genre, and as a teacher find that explaining things comes naturally.

It is a pleasure to see my experimental and creative side now get a bit of attention and to have in Chris McClelland a fine editor, who was able to prune my story by a thousand words while losing nothing. And, as with so much publishing, luck was on my side: Chris, a former student of mine, began a new journal with his wife, Erin, just as I completed my story.

I wish all the writers who may read this good fortune as well as the gift of patience as they revise, polish, and submit their work.  It is encouraging to know that, with online journals, the chance of being published has increased in recent years.

A new literary journal

After years of claiming that I write only non-fiction, I completed a long short story last year, "Opening Doors," which will appear in the first issue of new literary magazine, The Provo Canyon Review.

It is edited by Chris and Erin McClelland, Chris being an old Florida friend and ex-student, an assistant editor of Narrative magazine and a skilled fiction writer.  They moved to Utah and hope to have some printed copies of their new journal for the Sundance crowd, even though most readers will access the Review electronically.

I wish them the very best.

And, with their blessing, I am happy to invite writers of fiction and non-fiction, who may wish to submit something to a new review that is looking for talented writers, to visit www.theprovocanyonreview.net and see what happens.

It's an interesting coincidence that I finished editing "Opening Doors" on the very afternoon when the media were abuzz with news of a papal election that may well open some new doors in the Catholic Church. At least, with a man named Francis, it is hopeful.