The web-based conversation regarding the short fiction market continues, and I find myself desperately hoping that we can save this faltering genre.

The practice of writing short stories has been tremendously valuable to my own learning curve. A good speculative short contains all the same elements as a speculative novel: world building, character development, plot arcs, action, description, dialog... and of course tight writing.

Writing short fiction is the relatively easy way to learn that you can't afford to skimp on any of these.

I say 'easy' not because writing short fiction is easier than writing a longer work. Writing a strong short story is hard. But the mistakes come more quickly, and they cost less in the process of making them.

If your outline wasn't strong enough, you've learned that in thirty pages, not three hundred. If your opening isn't grabbing the reader's interest, you've learned that in thirteen lines, not an entire chapter.

Even if you don't know when to stop writing, if your biggest problem is trying to include the whole kit and kaboodle and the kitchen sink for good measure, you'll discover it when your story grows past ten or maybe twenty thousand words. You won't end up with an eight-hundred page fly swatter.

Just this past week I finished my shortest work yet, at only 3,400 words, and it feels just as rich as the 10,000-word stories I started out with. Over the past four months, working almost exclusively on short stories, I have cut my writing time in half and my volume by two thirds.

But the best reason for a writer to love the short fiction market isn't even the learning curve. It's the marketing outlet.

I write for the love of writing, but I fully intend to be a working author, making a living in the craft. And that takes readers. You don't find readers by putting your book on the shelf next to R.A. Salvatore and hoping for the best. You go out and find them.

Writing short fiction is a fantastic way to build reader interest in your work--even better if your stories are based on the worlds of your novels, or at the very least if they target the same audience. I discovered Anne McCaffrey, Ray Bradbury, and hosts of others through their short fiction. I discovered Geoff Ryman that way this past year.

On top of Mr. Cohen's subscription drive, I would make another recommendation toward saving the short fiction genre:

1. If you are an author, use the short fiction market intelligently, as a terrific way to build your readership.


2. If you are a reader, encourage the practice by buying the books of the many wonderful authors you discover in the pages of your favorite magazine.

Writers everywhere, consider this: magazines are paid publicity. Until you're as famous as J.K. Rowling, where else are you going to find a deal like that?

The July edition of Rapid Fire Learning has been moved to the Joyful Jubilant Learning Network. These folks are chomping at the bit to collect 777 learning links by 07/07/07. (Cool, right?)

They're looking for 7 links from each of 111 people, minimum. So if you have seven learning links to add, pop on over to this post, and add your links to the comments. Hey, it's some free link love, right? Can't beat that!

7 Wonders of Joyful Jubilant Learning

Thanks to the magic of my DVR, I just watched Front Street Pictures' Meltdown: Days of Destruction, aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. ROFL! Meltdown is right...

If you ever want to feel really, really good about your writing, just nuke yourself some popcorn and sit down to this one for a two-hour ego boost. I laughed my butt off and loved every minute of it. The acting was perfectly respectable given what the actors had to work with, but the writing. My God, the writing.

I should mention that the actual movie is nothing like the blurb on the Front Street website, hinting that someone indulged in a major rewrite. Not a wise move, resulting in yet more proof that Hollywood--and its television derivatives--ought to consider leaving the writing in the hands of the original writers.

Just watch it. You'll see. That is, if you can find it on the air anywhere. If not, try writing to Front Street Pictures. I'm betting you could buy it for a song.

I must apologize for my unexplained absence these past few days. As it happens, I was up in New Hampshire visiting family and celebrating my father's eightieth birthday. That's right, his eightieth, and still going strong--so strong, in fact, that his party consisted of a morning of canoeing and an afternoon of tennis.

Official canoeing results: Dad is the loon-spotting grand champion of the family, having seen one (alleged) loon to everyone else's none.

Official tennis results: my brother, Jonathan, is the tennis grand champion of the family, a dubious award but an award nonetheless; my father can still hold his own at eighty, despite having undergone surgery that removed much of the musculature in his right shoulder; and I got thoroughly and shamelessly trounced by the both of them. Fortunately, this did not knock down my considerable ego even one whit...

But while I was touring the New England countryside, the month of May came to a close and the first of the month has rolled around again, which means that the June newsletter went out today, including a review of Goblin Hero and several new releases in speculative fiction for the upcoming month. (If you have not yet signed up for the newsletter, you can e-mail me to request a copy of this month's issue.)

The first of the month also means that it's time for Rapid Fire Learning again, hosted by JJL. Here's my short list for this past month:

• Most responsive market for short speculative fiction: Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. This pulpy sci-fi/fantasy magazine is published in Australia in both print and electronic forms. The pay is only semi-pro at the moment, but the response time and feedback levels are fantastic. Writers can watch their stories' progress through the slush pile on the submission tracker, updated several times each week, and the slush process is explained in significant detail. Like most other reputable markets, ASIM buys stories up to 18 months in advance, so you won't get into print any sooner than you will with anyone else, but you will get that initial "no" or "maybe" sooner than with other magazines. And you'll have the added benefit of knowing just how far your story made it in the submission process.
  


• Worst reality check regarding the fiction market: even if my current submission at ASIM is published, I will get paid at most $80 and might not be in print for up to a year and a half. Breaking into the writing business is a slow process, and in the beginning the rewards are few and far between. Stories may be purchased over a year in advance, which means a whole lot of waiting for that first thrill of seeing your name in print, and the pay for novices ranges from mediocre to lousy. Books and royalties are the only decent pay-off in the long run, and these also take up to two years to start paying off. If you want to be a career author, be prepared for a long road ahead.
  


• The good news for prospective authors: there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and a clear path to reach it. Short stories, as little as they pay financially for a relatively unpublished writer, build a writer's reputation and publishing credits, which in turn helps pave the way for that first novel. Getting published in a reputable magazine proves several things to an agent and/or book publisher: it proves that you can write, that you can put together a coherent story, that you can present yourself in a professional manner, that you can persevere through the grueling lag times inherent to the publishing industry, and that you are serious about being a career author. Despite the low pay and the long wait times, getting those short stories published will ultimately help you sell that first book, which will launch you into a career that will ultimately pay off in a respectable salary as long as you keep producing decent work.

Long story short, don't give up. Don't be discouraged by the time it takes to get where you want to go. If you keep at it, you will get there.

A brilliantly talented composer friend of mine (currently working on a website of her own) helped me get unstuck today on several projects all at once. The sticking point she discovered? Characters I don't care enough about.

It's not a matter of liking or disliking the characters, per se. But I have to like writing them. When I don't connect well enough with a character--and I mean any character with more than two or three lines--the entire story grinds to a halt. But as long as I enjoy writing the characters, the stories write themselves.

This has always been true about my writing, but I have never been so starkly conscious of the fact until today.

Good guys or bad guys, or too complex to call, I still have to like them. Sometimes the villains have redeeming qualities, so I like them for their potential. Sometimes they don't, and I enjoy giving them what for--not to mention making fun of them as I go. Either way, the writing is a breeze.

It's like spending an afternoon with good friends, hearing about their day. If it happens to be a day spent trapped in a dungeon or lost at sea or settling a frontier planet, all the better. But when push comes to shove, it's not the action that keeps me writing. It's the characters.

So getting unstuck becomes a simple matter of rewriting any character I'm not connecting to. Sometimes this requires a tangible change--maybe lightening up an angry streak or giving an insensitive lout just a little more compassion. And sometimes it's a matter of exploring motivations--explaining why they're so angry or insensitive in a way that makes their faults forgivable.

Whoever they are, I have to get caught up in them. I have to care what happens to them. And that's a very good thing, because in my opinion, it's also the one thing that makes a story worth reading.

I've declared May the "Month of Short Fiction" here in the world of EM. (You'll notice that this month's highlighted new release is an anthology. Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy is released today, an auspicious start to an illustrious month.)

But the Month of Short Fiction isn't just about reading. It's also about writing! (Isn't everything?) So I'll be working throughout the month of May on making some real headway into the short fiction market. I've started by sending the short I wrote for Sword & Sorceress back out again. I'll also be polishing two pieces I wrote over the last few months and embarking on some new projects. My goal is to have a minimum of four stories out at once, editorial response times being what they are. (Enough said...)

Today being the first of the month, it's also time for Rapid Fire Learning, hosted by JJL. So continuing in our Month of Short Fiction theme, I have the following to report:

• A little research goes a long way. In writing for short fiction markets, I've discovered the value of researching the prospective buyer and writing specifically for the market at hand. You can't sell a piece to an editor if you don't know what he or she wants. In the case of magazines or annual anthologies, read prior issues. And always, always, always take a look at the market's website. A good editor will tell you what he or she is looking for. (And following the submission guidelines precisely doesn't hurt either.)
  


• Suspense sells. The quickest way to draw a reader--or an editor--into your story is to make them care about your character right from the beginning. Which means you need a likeable hero with a real problem. The problem can be either internal or external, but it has to be believable, serious, and captivating. (I'll have a hard time caring whether or not Sally Do-right has enough cheese dip for her Christmas party, but I'll care whether or not she can save her marriage--at least I will if I like her.)
  


• The ending is the best beginning. I can't even begin to write a story unless I know at least three things: 1) who my main character is; 2) what his or her problem is; and 3) how it's going to be resolved. As a reader, I hate knowing the ending before I get there, but as a writer, the situation is reversed. I can't write a good story unless I know how it ends. Otherwise I end up with too much drivel in the middle. So figure out your ending, and then make sure your whole story builds in that direction. You'll keep the reader on his or her toes until the very end. And if the ending leaves them satisfied, you have a winner!

And to round it all out, here are a couple of links to short fiction markets that I've found to be useful:

• SFWA's magazine list. It's far from exhaustive--Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, for example, isn't even on there--but it does include some interesting entries. The list includes a short blurb about each market and a link to each magazine.
  


• Duotrope. This one's terrific. It includes a searchable database of all kinds of short fiction markets. Look them up by genre, length of stories published, pay scale, publication medium (print vs. electronic) and even submission type (i.e. being able to submit electronically). Whatever you're looking for, Duotrope will find it.

When creating fictional characters, it's important to remember that genuine human beings rarely know themselves. We don't know our own minds, we don't know why we do what we do, and we have no idea what the subconscious mind is up to in any given moment. If your characters are coming out flat, ask yourself this: are you attributing them with more self-knowledge than they ought to have?

I've been watching the new show 3 lbs.; if you haven’t seen it, you might want to check it out. You can learn a lot about the human mind--and how we really work--while picking up some good tips on solid dialog at the same time.

On last week's episode, a woman was refusing treatment for her brain tumor in order to protect her unborn child. While her left brain was busy protecting the baby, her right brain was expressing anger and resentment over her own predicament. The nature of the show--and the woman's unusual condition of being able to access her brain hemispheres separately--allowed the viewer a rare perspective into a phenomenon that usually takes place well below the level of conscious thought.

Malcolm Gladwell's Blink is another excellent source of insight into the mechanisms of subconscious processing. The book presents many examples of how we "think without thinking." We discover solutions without knowing how, we make decisions without knowing why, and when we try to justify our reasoning, we're usually wrong.

Have you ever started humming or singing without even knowing it? Do you have any unconscious gestures or habits? Actually, we all do. Recently I filled out a standard dental form that asked me whether or not I grind my teeth. I was sure I didn't. Until I noticed over the next two weeks that in fact I do grind my teeth--all the time. I just didn't know it until someone asked the question.

So if you want to create believable characters, make sure you give them a few gaping holes in their self-awareness. Even if your character is profoundly introspective, make sure they're wrong once in a while. They don't know the half of what you know about their own motivations. For that matter, leave a few surprises for the reader too. A little mystery keeps life interesting.

So you want to write a book. Terrific! What now?

If you're a reclusive "conceptual" type--the kind of person who is more interested in ideas than in other people--well then, just sit down and start and see what happens. I wish you the best. (Watch out for those characters, though. Idea people have a terrible tendency to write flat characters. I'm just saying.)

But if you're anything like me, you're going to need to get a few more people involved right from the beginning. I know for a fact that I need human input injected into my writing routine at least once a week--bare minimum--or I plummet into a pit of solitude so dark and depressing that it rivals a black hole. Should you happen to find yourself in the same boat, climb on up out of there (I said it rivals a black hole--sheesh), and round up some amigos to share the journey.

My personal recommendations for your writing Dream Team:

1. The Rock/Cheerleader. I've named this one twice because men don't necessarily appreciate being called a "cheerleader" and women don't always respond well to the "rock" imagery, but either way, the job is the same. Just pick the appropriate title and sell it.

The role is simple: the rock/cheerleader is the person who always believes in you (against any and all odds), who thinks everything you write is brilliant (even when it isn't), and who enthusiastically supports and encourages your dream even on your very worst day.

It's not an easy job, but it's an important one. And since no one is this perfect, it's very important that the person you pick thoroughly understands the role you need them to play. The good news is, this individual gets to be your personal hero every time. He or she always wears the shining armor, always rides the white horse, always appears in the nick of time to save the day, and never, ever plays the devil's advocate. Never.

The rock/cheerleader is like a poorly developed character--a one-dimensional being, at least when it comes to your writing. You are wonderful, your work is brilliant, and every publisher who ever turned you down is a complete idiot, no matter how many Pulitzer Prize winners they happen to have the bizarre fortune of representing.

2. The Personal Trainer. This is the person who keeps your work on track. They help you figure out what you need to do next, and they help you stick to a schedule for getting it done. They push you. They stretch your limits. Not to the point of steroid pumping--let's not go overboard--but the personal trainer does make sure that you don't slack off. He or she keeps you writing, even when you're stuck.

This is not the "creative type" with whom you bounce ideas around over coffee. As a general rule, creative types don't make good task masters. This person is more organized, more stable, and more routine-oriented than that. You don't call him or her up in the middle of the night complaining of writer's block.

If you try to tell this person that you didn't get much done this week because you didn't "feel inspired," you are likely to get a series of rapid blinks or a puzzled stare. They won't laugh kindly and tell you that they understand--because they don't understand. Not even remotely. They'll just point at the schedule and say something like, "But it says right here, 'full character sketches and completed outline' by today. So where are they?"

It might not sound like fun, but personal trainers aren't about coddling you. They're about turning you from the proverbial lazy blob into an Olympic athlete, a writing machine, a force to be reckoned with, a finely-tuned instrument of... well, you get the idea. Just go get one.

3. The Umpire. This is the clear eye--the unbiased viewpoint that tells you when your writing is hitting the mark, and quite frankly, when it isn't. There are a few qualifications that define a good umpire in the world of sports, and these are just as critical in the world of writing.

First, they know their stuff. The Major Leagues don't just pull bystanders out of the stadium to call the game, and neither should you. An umpire is a professional. This person is an editor, a writing instructor, or a highly accomplished author whose opinion you trust beyond measure.

Second, their opinion is fair and unbiased. The umpire reads your drafts with a fresh perspective. If he or she becomes embroiled in the writing process from the beginning--more of a colleague than an umpire--fantastic! By all means, keep them on the team. But then hire another umpire. In the end, you need a fresh eye to help you find those pesky non sequiturs and continuity flaws that the writing team will never catch.

Third, they have the authority to make the call. This can be a bit tricky because ultimately your work always remains your own--no one can force you to make changes you don't want to make. But if you aren't going to take their advice--at least most of the time--then you aren't getting what you paid for. So choose someone you trust and then listen to them. Their advice is not criticism. It's good marketing, and that's money in the bank.

So if you find yourself feeling isolated or getting stuck in your writing, you might not be the sort of loner who can simply hole themselves up in a cave and write a novel from start to finish. But you can still be a writer--and a wildly successful one at that. Just find the Dream Team that works for you, and keep writing. In the end, that's all that matters.

I'm on a new writing routine. The whole "get up earlier" thing is going quite smoothly, thank you very much. I'm finally up at 8:00 AM every day, which I don't exactly consider "early" but do at least consider respectable for a city girl. Not that I'm a city girl, mind you, but if I were, my alarm clock would have a solid reputation. In the country, of course, an 8:00 AM alarm clock is a virtual slacker...

But I don't mind having a slacker alarm clock, or being considered a slacker myself for that matter, as long as I'm getting the job done, which I am these days. I wrote over a thousand words today--good words, edited words--on a short story I'll be sending out in about two weeks. Not sure where it's going yet--one of the sci-fi magazines. I'll let you know where it lands.

In other news, I have a "coach" now, and it's already making a difference. Except I don't think I'd call him a coach, really. If together we're an executive board, I'd say he's the "Structure and Deadlines Officer." I'm terrible at setting deadlines. Great at meeting them, but terrible at setting them. Jim keeps me on track without letting me get overwhelmed, which makes Jim an invaluable member of Team EM. Thanks, Jim! (I also happen to be a member of Team Jim, but that's a different team, of course.)

Who's on your team?

I really love Yann Martel's writing. My reader's journal racked up quite a few entries from his Life of Pi. Mr. Martel commands a formidable vocabulary, and he uses it well--which is to say sparingly, but to great effect.

Far too many of the "great" literati use their vocabulary more as an ego boost than an art form, but Martel's writing encompasses a highly effective blend of the esoteric and the mundane, making his work oh so delightfully readable. Take a look at this beautifully descriptive passage from page one:

I had the great luck one summer of studying the three-toed sloth in situ in the equatorial jungles of Brazil. It is a highly intriguing creature. Its only real habit is indolence. ... The sloth is at its busiest at sunset, using the word busy here in the most relaxed sense. It moves along the bough of a tree in its characteristic upside-down position at the speed of roughly 400 metres an hour. On the ground, it crawls to its next tree at the rate of 250 metres an hour, when motivated, which is 440 times slower than a motivated cheetah. Unmotivated, it covers four to five metres in an hour.

I love this passage not only for its obvious descriptive talent but also for its ability to tell the reader so much about the narrator while ostensibly talking about sloths. There's so much personality packed into less than half a page.

I feel obliged to mention the fact that the book is not for the squeamish. I have no interest in divulging the plot, so enough said. But if you're interested in some wonderful writing (and a fascinating story), pick up Life of Pi and read the first few pages. I was hooked in two paragraphs.