Have you considered submitting a short story to
a writing contest, anthology, or magazine? Below are some of the common
criteria used by publications and contests when evaluating short story
submissions.
Editors, publishers, and judges are swamped with submissions and understandably don’t have time to give detailed advice for improvement to all the authors whose stories they turn down. Here’s a checklist a friend received back from a publication who’d rejected their short story submission, with a few points checked off specific to her story. I’ve added some clarification below each of the “bare-bones” points.
Checklist from a Publisher/Editor/Publication in
Response to Short Story Submissions
- Your submission doesn't fit our guidelines
Be sure to carefully read the website's guidelines for work count, subject matter, submission deadline, and exactly how to submit it. Also, many contests only want your name and contact info on a cover page, not on the story pages, to ensure "blind" judging.
– Content inappropriate for… (publisher / publication / anthology / magazine)
Check their submission guidelines and read other stories they’ve accepted to get an idea of the genre, style, tone, and content they seem to prefer. If it's for an anthology, make sure your story fits the overall theme of the collection. And literary magazines often have themes as well. Contests might offer entries for several different genres, so make sure you don't submit your story under the wrong category.
– Stylistic and grammatical errors; too
many typos
Be sure to use spell-check and get someone with strong skills in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure to check it over carefully for you. Perhaps you need to break up longer sentences into shorter ones, and vary your sentence structure. Read it out loud for flow. Where you pause briefly, put in a comma. Where you pause a little longer, put in a period. You could also try using editing software or submit it to a professional freelance editor. This last choice has the most likelihood of helping you hone your fiction-writing skills.
- Stilted language, too-formal tone, inauthentic voice
Read your story out loud to make sure the tone, phrasing, and word choices are casual enough for fiction; the narrative voice suits the genre; each character's voice (words and thoughts) is unique and suits their age, gender, background, education, etc.; and your dialogue sounds natural and authentic.
– Structure problems
For a novel, this could mean some chapters could be rearranged, shortened, or taken out. For a short story, it could mean the time sequencing is strange; you’ve started too early, too late, or in the middle; there’s no obvious conflict or dilemma; or perhaps you have too many characters or too many plot lines. Or perhaps your opening is flat, with too much "telling" or you’ve interrupted the story by dumping in a lot of backstory or explanations.
– Formatting problems made reading
frustrating
Be sure your story is in a common font, like Times New Roman, 12-point, and double-
– Characters
were problematic/unbelievable/unlikeable
Your
characters’ decisions, actions, and motivations need to fit their goals,
personality, background, and character. Also, make sure your protagonist is
likeable, someone readers can identify with and want to root for.
– Content
and/or style too well-worn or obvious
This
likely refers to a plot that’s been done a million times, with cookie-cutter
characters and a predictable ending.
– Word
choice needs refinement
This
one could cover the gamut from tired, generic verbs like walked, ran, saw,
looked or overused adjectives like nice, good, bad, old, big, small,
tall, short; to inadvertently inserting light-hearted words at a tense time
or vice-versa; to using overly formal, technical, or esoteric words where a
concrete, vivid, immediately understandable one would be more effective; and
more.
– Overbearing
or heavy-handed
This
probably refers to a story where the author’s agenda is too obvious, too
hard-hitting, maybe even a bit “preachy,” rather than subtle, allowing the
reader to draw their own conclusions.
– Nothing
seems to have happened
This
likely indicates no critical problem or dilemma for the protagonist, not enough
meaningful action and change, and insufficient conflict and tension.
– Strong
beginning, then peters out
This
is an indicator that your plot needs amping up and you need to add rising
tension, suspense, and intrigue to keep readers avidly turning the pages. Also,
flesh out your characters to make them more complex. Give your protagonist
secrets, regrets, inner conflict, and a strong desire that is being thwarted.
– Needs
overall development and polish
This indicates you likely need to roll up your sleeves and hone your writing skills. Read some writing guides, like my award-winning editor's guides to writing compelling fiction, Captivate Your Readers, Fire up Your Fiction, or Writing a Killer Thriller. Also, read lots of highly rated published short stories, paying close attention to the writers’ techniques. Here’s where a critique group of experienced fiction writers or some savvy beta readers or a professional edit could help.
– We
didn’t get it.
This
is a catch-all category that means the story didn’t work for a number of
reasons. This could be an indicator to put this story aside and hone your
craft, critically read other highly rated stories in your genre, then, using
your new skills, create a fresh story.
“While
all of these criticisms open doors to further questions, we regret that we
cannot be more constructive….”
That’s
understandable. They just don’t have time to critique or mentor every writer
who contacts them. But I hope the above list and my comments below each point provide
you with some useful tips for taking a fresh look at your short story and revising
it so it will get accepted for a publication or even win a contest. Good luck!
Elsewhere on this blog, I posted a detailed list of points to consider that will help make your story stronger and more likely to win contests. Here’s the link to that article:
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TIPS FOR CREATING A SHORT STORY WORTHY OF CONTESTS, MAGAZINES, AND ANTHOLOGIES
Do
you have any other tips to add? Helpful comments you've received back from editors, judges, or publishers?
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