Marketable or just depressing?

Clifton Hill · May 29, 2009

I'd like your opinion on a short story I'm writing, probably end up around 7.5k words. It is basically the origin story of an antagonist from another short but epic fantasy story I'm writing. I'm doing it mostly for fun and to develop the character better in my mind. But would it also sell and if so where?

Basic premise is child is apprehended from village with others and put into slavery. Story arc involves him losing his innocence of youth through a series of trials that basically break him down, so there can be a fair amount of depressing bits. He ends up discovering through a pretty viscious scene that he has magical powers, and is effectively turned to the "dark side". The ending is rewarding in that he finally discovers power, something he had been bereft of for essentially as long as he could recall. But over all it can be a depressing, though I think interesting read.

I liken it in some aspects to Star Wars Episode III which was obiously financially succesfull. In the movie there is certainly no happy ending, unless you consider having the main star lose most of his limbs, his wife, his children, his friend, all because of his own actions.

So given that info what do you think? Is my story something that could do well on its own? Or only as part of a larger piece to be told later to eager fans? I'd certainly release it later, but it is closer to being done (as it is much shorter), so it might be nice to get it out and then try to finish up the others.

Libbie · May 29, 2009

There are markets out there for short fantasy that look for stuff on the darker side. I'm sure it could be published if it's well written. However, the way you've described it doesn't make it sound like there's much of a struggle going on. He is born into crap circumstances, he gets kicked around, and then at the end he's a dick. Does he try to resist "the dark side?" If so, that would make a really cool dimension, and would give his decision to become a "bad guy" a lot of flavor.

Clifton Hill · May 29, 2009

Well there is a lot more that goes on than what I mentioned. You'll have to judge for yourself when its done. There is ample reason and back story for how he becomes what he is. Insofar as a resisting element. I don't know if it would really fit with this story. But we'll see what people say when its done.

Izz · May 30, 2009

Anything can sell if it's written well enough.

Stijn Hommes · May 30, 2009

I think it can be sold. Based on the background you give, the antagonist finding power could actually be an uplifting ending. If you don't sell it, at least you have a better understanding of the character. Go for it!

Clifton Hill · May 31, 2009

Isaac Espriu said:
Anything can sell if it's written well enough.

Well, granted. 'Course it has to be well positioned. Which might prove challenging.

It has a diabolical bent to the ending that will hopefully be rewarding for the reader. We'll see...

Libbie · May 31, 2009

Clifton Hill said:
Well there is a lot more that goes on than what I mentioned. You'll have to judge for yourself when its done. There is ample reason and back story for how he becomes what he is. Insofar as a resisting element. I don't know if it would really fit with this story. But we'll see what people say when its done.

There doesn't necessarily need to be an element of him resisting evil per se. But unless a character is struggling against something--internal changes, external forces--you don't really have a story. You just have an examination of somebody's life. Even with the best prose, it's rather clinical and not very compelling for most readers. If your character has bad things happen to him while he's trying to accomplish something else, then that's story stuff. If it's just a series of shit happening to him and he just mopes about it but doesn't do anything to fight against it, it's just a slice of life. And while "slice of life" writing can sell, it's not bought as often as works that have actual story.

This isn't to say that a struggle has to have a "happy" ending, of course. Plenty of great stories exist in which the protagonist fights against the forces he's engaged with and loses. These are still compelling stories because the story is all about the struggle.

blacbird · May 31, 2009

Isaac Espriu said:
Anything can sell if it's written well enough.

The most depressingly circular reasoning ever.

caw

MumblingSage · Jun 1, 2009

I have a short story with a similar idea--very depressing, somewhat linear fantasy, though much shorter at around twenty-five hundred words. It's not selling. Your story still sounds like a good idea to write, because if nothing else you will get a better understanding of the character as S. Hommes said, but know you'll be up against a lot if the plot isn't strong.

Clifton Hill · Jun 1, 2009

Libbie: Ahh, right, the struggle. He is a somewhat pampered child, small for his age, has a few friends, but not many and is picked on a bit. This leads to self-loathing that builds and builds with every encounter. Until he hates himself so much for being weak and pathetic the rage explodes and he finds himself ripping through mental barriers and space-time to harness and channel powerful magic to rend his captors asunder. So his struggle would be against his own weakness and inferiority, finally breaking through to discover a hidden talent that makes him stronger than anyone else.

Blacbird: That's so poetic I don't even know what you said ;-)

MumblingSage: Best of luck on your continued tries, and thanks for the warning. I didn't figure it would be easy, but it's something I needed to write anyways.

Izz · Jun 1, 2009

blacbird said:
The most depressingly circular reasoning ever.

caw

*grins cheesily*

William Haskins · Jun 1, 2009

it seems as though your description goes beyond the scope of the short story. i realize this is a debatable and often contentious topic, but just wanted to throw it out there.

Clifton Hill · Jun 1, 2009

I'm not sure I get the contentious aspect, but it's all in the story. Granted not all at once, just peppered around as it fits in contextually to tell some of the necessary backstory bits.

Ok I'm assuming the whole "circular reasoning" thing is either beyond me, so simple I'm overthinking it, or an inside joke? Care to elaborate before I am driven mad wondering?

Barry Napier · Jun 2, 2009

It's been my experience that if you look around long enough, you'll find a market that firs just about anything.

Good luck finding a home for your story!

Euan H. · Jun 2, 2009

Clifton Hill said:
Ok I'm assuming the whole "circular reasoning" thing is either beyond me, so simple I'm overthinking it, or an inside joke? Care to elaborate before I am driven mad wondering?

Why does a story sell? Because it's "written well."

What does "written well" mean? It sells.

Clifton Hill · Jun 2, 2009

Ahh so it goes in the "overly obviously" category. I guess I kept thinking maybe it was an AW inside joke I just wasn't getting (I'm not on here all that often).

Katrina S. Forest · Jun 3, 2009

Dark fiction can do well, as long as there's some sort of point to it. I have a bad habit of when I don't know what else to do in a story, I throw in a suffering/dying little kid. So far only one of those stories actually kept the scene. The others I realized I was just trying to add drama. ^_^;;

Clifton Hill · Jun 3, 2009

yeah gotta keep it relevant and keep pushing the story forward.

blacbird · Jun 3, 2009

Euan H. said:
Why does a story sell? Because it's "written well."

What does "written well" mean? It sells.

Corollaries being: Why does a story not sell? Because it's not "written well". How do we know it isn't "written well?" It didn't sell.

caw

Clifton Hill · Aug 27, 2009

Well to update this thread I ended up with 11k words and sent it off to Fantasy & Science Fiction. Dreaming big.

Libbie · Aug 27, 2009

Great! Good luck to you. Let us know if they (or somebody else) picks it up. I'm interested in seeing what you did with this character.

astonwest · Aug 27, 2009

Barry Napier said:
It's been my experience that if you look around long enough, you'll find a market that firs just about anything.

And sometimes, even the markets that don't want to see your work will still like a story. I had that happen, when I missed a *second* submission guideline page for a magazine who ended up accepting a piece that violated those guidelines.

Go figure...

Clifton Hill · Aug 27, 2009

Libbie: you bet, I'm interested in sharing, however I'm still a little paranoid, give me a little time and I'll get a little better...maybe. ;-)

astonwest: Thanks for the encouraging words, I'm not going to get my hopes up too much, they only accept (per Duotrope) about 0.24% of submissions, so that's pretty small (hopefully they decide I'm small enough to fit in there).

myrmidon · Aug 29, 2009

I don't write much sci-fi/fantasy short fiction, but a friend of mine that does sent me a pretty good website that compiles a lot of sci-fi/fantasy markets. Maybe one of them will be a good fit for your piece.

http://www.ralan.com/index-f.htm

The markets are broken up into pro, semi-pro, pay, etc. It's a lot to wade through, but might help get you started. My personal favorites are Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, and Fantasy Magazine. All three are pretty respectable and have decent pay rates. Good luck!

Clifton Hill · Aug 29, 2009

Thanks for the heads up, I'll add that to the Duotrope and Preditor/Editors site in my bookmarks.

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