Don’t Forget the Human Being 30 August 2009
Posted by Camille in Editor's Opinion.add a comment
There’s a human being behind every story and poem you read — it’s called an author.
Oh, you knew that? Good.
You thought everyone knew that? Hmm. If everyone knows that, then why do we see words like “silly” in the reader comments under stories published online? Would you tell someone to his face that his story you just read was silly and the ending sucked? Would you tell someone to her face that her story was pointless and a waste of time?
Oh? You’d say that the story was a bit light for your taste and you were disappointed by the ending, that you prefer stories with more of a theme or purpose than you got from what you just read? Even saying that would take a fair bit of courage, eyeball-to-eyeball. I’d be willing to bet that most people would glance away and mutter, “Oh, er, yeah, great story… I, uh, I liked the dialogue…” Even in a writing critique group among trusted friends where you’re supposed to be brutally honest and all that, it isn’t easy to tell anyone that their precious work isn’t working — watching someone pretend not to be hurt isn’t fun.
So why do people behind the safety of a keyboard and screen feel free to drop their party manners and fling about all sorts of rudeness about other people’s published work? Honestly, I think it’s because they forget there’s a real person, a human being, waiting behind another computer screen to read those comments.
Those comments can hurt.
And that’s why I’m asking everyone who reads this to do just one thing: when you set out to post a comment on a story or poem you’ve read online, pretend you’re sitting at a table with the author. Tell it like it is, yes — I’m not asking anyone to sugarcoat anything — but tell it the way you would face-to-face. Because the author is out there behind his or her computer screen, putting on a brave face, pretending not to be hurt.
Brace Yourselves for Sunset Romance in September 29 August 2009
Posted by Camille in Random Thoughts.add a comment
Coming soon to an ezine on your screen…
Looking at Every Day Fiction’s calendar for September, it suddenly struck me that we have rather a wealth of sweetness and romance featuring older people coming up. Of course, when I say “wealth”, I mean three – but ordinarily we go months without publishing even one of those. We’ve also got plenty of humour and sci-fi, but we’re a bit short of serious literary fiction.
At the end of last month, putting together August’s calendar, we were scraping around for light humour pieces and swimming in dark suspense and horror.
These things have a way of coming in waves, in bunches – not just genre, but something more specific, like romances between seniors. Sometimes I wonder whether they’re connected by some prompt or writing group exercise; maybe when I notice a pattern, there really is a pattern.
Or maybe it’s just coincidence.
Record Keeping — It’s A Pro Thing 28 August 2009
Posted by Camille in Advice For Writers.add a comment
I am reminded once again of how important it is for writers to keep clear and precise records of their submissions, including pertinent details such as the date submitted and the title of the piece. It’s part of being a professional, of being serious about your work. A nice spreadsheet does the job quite well.
Writers, you do not want to be querying editors with phrases such as “I think I know which ones I might have submitted to you” and “this would go back 3-4 weeks ago”.
Accurate record-keeping also prevents inadvertent resubmissions of pieces that have already been rejected, simultaneous submissions where they’re not welcome, and querying before a publication’s specified timeframe has elapsed.
You may also want to back your records up. You’d be surprised at the number of queries we get where a dead computer is blamed for the author’s lack of specific information about his or her own submissions.
How Much Does Flash Fiction Need To Spell Out, Anyway? 27 August 2009
Posted by Camille in Editor's Opinion.Tags: Beth Cato, Every Day Fiction, flash fiction
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Today’s story at EDF is “Nipped in the Bud” by Beth Cato. (Spoiler alert! If you haven’t already done so, go and read the story now, before you keep reading here.)
Apparently I Am Quotable 26 August 2009
Posted by Camille in News & Announcements.Tags: flash fiction, Nicholas Ozment, The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008
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In a recent interview with Frederic S. Durbin, writer and editor Nicholas Ozment was asked to define flash fiction, and he quoted from my introductory essay “Reading Flash Fiction” in The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008, saying “I really couldn’t define it better than Camille Gooderham Campbell does…”
Given that he teaches English Composition at Winona State University, I am feeling immensely flattered.
A Blog At Last 25 August 2009
Posted by Camille in Random Thoughts.add a comment
I’ve been meaning to do this for a while.
Not that I don’t already have a blog — I do! — two, in fact, though I hardly ever update them. But one of them is about reading and book reviews, and the other is about writing, and neither seemed to be the place to write about being an editor and all the fun and drama that comes with the job.
I doubt I’ll have much to say about copywriting, except to gasp now and then, “They actually pay me to do this?!” (Anyone accustomed to the penny-or-two-a-word of the fiction world will no doubt share my ongoing goggle-eyes and slack jaw at the thought of twenty cents a word – yes, really!) You may, however, be treated to the occasional rant about proofreading.
