The Little Story That Could
A few years ago I wrote a regular short story for a themed anthology, but it didn't make the cut. Neither did the anthology, but that's another story.
The story was about a woman named Avery Carson. It was a procedural. I thought it had merit and kept tinkering with it, kept sending it out. No one liked it. I was liking it more and more. And I wanted to mark it off my list :)
After months of tinkering, submitting, rejection again and again, I put it away. I was involved with another project and didn't want to think about it any more.
Months later I pulled it out again. Ah, I knew the answer. I added a whole other layer to it, made it longer with a more complex plot. Instead of 3000 words or so, it grew to 5000-6000 words. Had a different title. Again tinker, submit, rejection. The same pattern. I put it away again.
Many months passed before I pulled it out again. I couldn't let go of Avery. And it was Avery, not the story. I chopped all the plot. What I had left was the core of Avery. I knew exactly who she was. And a 500-word flash story was born. With a new title. This was Avery's story, in a nutshell.
Again I sent it out. Again it came back. More than once. But I didn't put it away. And I didn't tinker. This was her story, and I had finally told it.
Every month or so I checked flash markets to see if I could find a fit. Nothing. I didn't believe the story really fit any genre. It definitely wasn't fantasy, scifi, historical, horror, slipstream, or romance. It was dark. There was crime. I tried all sorts of markets - mystery, flash only, even literary. I kept looking.
Last year, a new market opened - Dark Valentine Magazine. They were looking for dark fiction. They didn't care about genre as long as the story was dark. And they were open to flash fiction. Off it went.
They loved it. "Blues in the Night" was included in the premier issue last May.
And last week it was nominated for a Derringer Award for Best Flash Story by the Short Mystery Fiction Society.
So the little story that no one liked for years has gone on to be short-listed for an award in its category.
The moral to this little story is:
Never Give Up
Write the Best Story You Can
Believe In Your Work
Believe In Yourself
The story was about a woman named Avery Carson. It was a procedural. I thought it had merit and kept tinkering with it, kept sending it out. No one liked it. I was liking it more and more. And I wanted to mark it off my list :)
After months of tinkering, submitting, rejection again and again, I put it away. I was involved with another project and didn't want to think about it any more.
Months later I pulled it out again. Ah, I knew the answer. I added a whole other layer to it, made it longer with a more complex plot. Instead of 3000 words or so, it grew to 5000-6000 words. Had a different title. Again tinker, submit, rejection. The same pattern. I put it away again.
Many months passed before I pulled it out again. I couldn't let go of Avery. And it was Avery, not the story. I chopped all the plot. What I had left was the core of Avery. I knew exactly who she was. And a 500-word flash story was born. With a new title. This was Avery's story, in a nutshell.
Again I sent it out. Again it came back. More than once. But I didn't put it away. And I didn't tinker. This was her story, and I had finally told it.
Every month or so I checked flash markets to see if I could find a fit. Nothing. I didn't believe the story really fit any genre. It definitely wasn't fantasy, scifi, historical, horror, slipstream, or romance. It was dark. There was crime. I tried all sorts of markets - mystery, flash only, even literary. I kept looking.
Last year, a new market opened - Dark Valentine Magazine. They were looking for dark fiction. They didn't care about genre as long as the story was dark. And they were open to flash fiction. Off it went.
They loved it. "Blues in the Night" was included in the premier issue last May.
And last week it was nominated for a Derringer Award for Best Flash Story by the Short Mystery Fiction Society.
So the little story that no one liked for years has gone on to be short-listed for an award in its category.
The moral to this little story is:
Never Give Up
Write the Best Story You Can
Believe In Your Work
Believe In Yourself
Comments
Mega congrats!!
Colette - I have plenty of that.
Laura - Thanks.
VR - Gotta hang tough.
Jennifer - Kind words always appreciated :)
Cat - Thanks.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium
Hart - It's nice for things to pay off from time to time.
Nancy - Publishing is changing. Who knows what will be the norm even a year from now.
Becky - Happy to have started your week off right :)
Maryann - Avery was one of those.
lbdiamond - Thanks.
Alex - This was one of those times.
I'm surprised it was rejected (some people have no taste). :)
I have one that keeps coming back too, but now you've inspired me to persist and send it again.
I love hearing stories like this, because it proves that writing is about hard work and determination -- not just inspiration.
Massive congrats!
Congratulations on the nomination! Keep us updated.
Elizabeth - Nah. A Derringer is a tiny little gun :)
Lydia - Yes. Fresh eyes are wonderful.
Summer - Ooh, cool. I'll be over.
Talli - Exactly so about hard work and determination.
Anne - Now wouldn't that be neat!
Holly - Once I chopped out all the plot, the lightbulb came on. All I had to do was tie the pieces of Avery together as minimally as possible.
What a great story.
Now I've just read this exciting post. That's awesome about the nomination! This kind of thing perks one up!! Congratulations!!!
It's so true. Never give up, write, and believe. Hooray for you!!
Blogger isn't very versatile, but at least the Page does work for awards.
BTW, I finally went over to your website, after reading your comment on Holly Ruggiero's post about the fact that you have your name on your website. I love your site! It's beautiful and looks informative. I've bookmarked it to come back to when I have more time.
Have a great week!!
Congrats on the award.
......dhole
Life 101 - I can with a good dictionary :)
Theresa - Not all my stories have a story, but this one sure did.
Ann - I'll go over and check last week's post. Thanks for visiting my website. I'm glad you'll go back. The beauty part goes to my web guru.
Jane - Thanks for the good wishes.
Lisa - And thank you, too.
Donna - It certainly does. Never give up.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Happy Whisk - Trusting myself has turned into quite a journey.
I love your moral too. Now you need that picture of the bird trying to swallow the frog and the frog holding onto the bird's neck!
Linda - Love confetti! Oh yeah...I like that picture.
Michelle - Thanks. I'm happy you're here!
Clarissa - Well, I changed it a lot over a few years, but once it reached the flash story, I didn't change it.