Does size matter?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Lee G.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
84
Reaction score
10
Location
Charleston, SC
Does story length matter?

I have a short story culled from an old draft of a novel. The story is about 6,500 words long, which is allowable under the writing guidelines of many lit magazines. However, my common sense tells me that as the length of the story goes up (after a certain point), the chances of it being accepted probably go down.

This short story is, in my opinion, worthy of being published. It is, however, an older piece of work, and is not up to the level that I'm currently working at. Not to say I've mastered the realm of fiction, but I've certainly gotten better in the last couple of years! I'm wondering if it's even worth bothering with traditional print lit magazines. I'm thinking of submitting only to online magazines, so I'm curious if anyone has an opinion as to their worthiness. Are they worth having as a writing credit? Also, do you think I should try submitting to print magazines first?


By the way, the first part of this story is posted in the literary section of Share Your Work. I haven't gotten any critiques yet (although it's only been four days), so if you have time, you could check out the piece itself and decide whether you can better imagine it on paper, or on your screen.
 
Last edited:

Mike Coombes

Guru
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
774
Reaction score
58
Location
UK
Website
writers.ktf-design.com
If it's not up to the level you're currently writing at, rewrite it. Your chances of publication decrease if you submit second-rate work.

My preference is always for print. They tend to discriminate more, and are more likely to pay. Set your targets high.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Story

If the story isn't written as well as you can possibly write it, don't submit it anywhere, print or online. Why on earth would you want to let anyone see it. Rewrite it first, bring it up to whatever your best writing now is, or forget all about it. In such a case, rewriting isn't an option, it's your duty.

As for length, each and every magazine has a preferred length for short stories. You story fits teh length some magazines prefer, and is way too long for others. This is where you have to do your own research.
 

BlueBadger

Knows notebooks can kill.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
485
Reaction score
26
Location
Toronto
I'm trying very hard to break into the world of print fiction (I have a story up for critique, too, it's in the "other" section). I've had fiction printed in webzines, and I've had non-fiction in print, but I want to see myself in a short story magazine. :(

On my journey, I've learned that word counts are strange beasts. By all means, work within that count, especially if you're submitting to a magazine for the first time. It costs a lot to print and ship a magazine, so the limits are there for a reason.

On the other hand, they can be a bit deceptive. I submitted a story to a magazine that was within the word count, but the editor said it was "too long" ... that is to say, it didn't need to be as long as it was, even though it was within the count. But the same magazine also published a story that was far beyond their usual word limit. I personally didn't care for the story (though I liked others by the same author), but it was by a recognised author and went on to win several awards. So if you have something super-fanastic, magazines are a little more willing to bend the rules.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Words

Mike Coombes said:
I like that. I wish I'd said it.

Give me a couple of weeks and I probably will.

What is it they say? Never use someone else's words until you forget who said them.
 

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
2,653
Reaction score
722
Location
Scotland
Or as one of Oscar Wilde's friends replied when he said: 'I wish I'd said that.'

'You will, Oscar. You will.'
 

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 20, 2005
Messages
3,951
Reaction score
849
Location
San Antonio, TX
Website
jmmcdermott.blogspot.com
I had a magazine tell me too long for a story that was clearly within the limits, and pretty darn good...


I followed-up with them on that question, and they had made a mistake and are publishing it.

The author that crept over the limits probably asked the editor permission before submitting anything.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
badducky said:
I had a magazine tell me too long for a story that was clearly within the limits, and pretty darn good...


I followed-up with them on that question, and they had made a mistake and are publishing it.

The author that crept over the limits probably asked the editor permission before submitting anything.

If it was a famous writer, he probably didn't have to ask. They probably asked him, and said "However long you want to make it. You write the story, and we'll find room for it."
 

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
2,428
Reaction score
741
Location
Home. Work. Home. You know the drill.
Website
www.spikeo.bravejournal.com
Absolutely. Everything I've read has told me that not only do editors adhere to word counts (they only have so much room for print) but also to the style/ genre of they enjoy printing. You might submit a sci-fi piece to a magazine that regularly prints sci-fi but if your story doesn't fit their magazine's style (hard, space opera, cyberpunk, etc.) or their favored way of telling a story, they won't take it. The best thing to do is read their magazines, get a feel for what they commonly print until you find one that your piece is similiar with and as James said, make it the best damned story you can. Then submit it and you should at least get a decent rejection, hand written and explaining "why not", if not an acceptance.
 

mburrell

Does Size Matter?

Don't worry about word length unless you're working on assignment. The real questions to ask yourself are: 1. have I told the whole story? 2. have I written as well as I can? and have I trimmed away all the fat?



Jeanne Leiby, editor of The Florida Review suggested at a recent conference that if a word, sentence or paragraph is questionable, you should cut it. If it doesn’t bleed, leave it out.



If you have told an intriguing, well written story, do your research on journals. Concentrate on those that handle stories within the length of your piece. Many of them have some special editorial agenda. If your piece doesn’t fit that agenda, they won’t accept it no matter how good it is or how short or long it is. Keep reading until you find journals that contain stories comparable to yours and submit. Go on to the next story and keep on submitting and revising until you succeed.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
mburrell said:
Don't worry about word length unless you're working on assignment. The real questions to ask yourself are: 1. have I told the whole story? 2. have I written as well as I can? and have I trimmed away all the fat?



Jeanne Leiby, editor of The Florida Review suggested at a recent conference that if a word, sentence or paragraph is questionable, you should cut it. If it doesn’t bleed, leave it out.



If you have told an intriguing, well written story, do your research on journals. Concentrate on those that handle stories within the length of your piece. Many of them have some special editorial agenda. If your piece doesn’t fit that agenda, they won’t accept it no matter how good it is or how short or long it is. Keep reading until you find journals that contain stories comparable to yours and submit. Go on to the next story and keep on submitting and revising until you succeed.

You'd better worry about word count. Magazines are serious when it comes to the length of stories that want, and teh guidelines seldom reflect reality. When a amagzine says, "We want fiction from 2,000 to 8,000 words," they usually mean we want this, but we only want famous writer for anyting over 6,000 words, and we almost never publish anyting under 3,000, but we'll at least take a look.

You have to read the magazines to see how long they really want most short stories to be, and unless your initials are Stephen King, anything you submit that doesn't meet the word count requirements probably won;t even be read, let alone bought.

An awful lot of new writers sabotage themselves by not paying strict attention to word count. Stories shouldn't dictate length to the writer, the writer should dictate length to the story. A story is always as long or as short as the writer wants to make it.
 

mburrell

I didn't mean to ignore the journal's submission guidlines. If your story is 6500 words long, find a journal that accepts stories of that length. But worry about writing and polishing the thing first before you go marketing it.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
mburrell said:
I didn't mean to ignore the journal's submission guidlines. If your story is 6500 words long, find a journal that accepts stories of that length. But worry about writing and polishing the thing first before you go marketing it.

Find a journal that prefers stories of that length from all writers. Just because a magazine says it accepts stories of 6,500 words very rarely means they accept such stories very often, or that they accept them from new writers at all.

You have to read the magazines. No matter what the guidelines say, you may read a hundred issues without finding more than one or two stories of this length, and odds are both of thee will be written by well-known writers.

It isn't a magazines length limits you need to know, it's what length of story they buy most often, and what length they buy from new writers. The only way to know these things is to read several issues of the magazine, and pay strict attention to how long all the published stories are, and which ones are by writers with names.

Just about the only way to have a real chance of success in short stories is to write and submit stories of the length a magazine publishes most often, and this is pretty much never the upper or lower limits the guidelines give, nor is it usually right at the midpoint.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.