Cone Zero Review: The Pros of Critical Reading

From the writer's point of view, why purchase a magazine or ongoing anthology that you're planning to submit to? After all, for most writers, our resources are limited. Sometimes we just don't got the money.

Or so I believe we all think sometimes. Yes, sure all writers want to support publications, especially the ones we enjoy submitting to, but when it comes down to choosing what to buy and when...but in reading the anthology Cone Zero Nemonymous for a review, I discovered a number of advantages to critically reading a publication.

What did I notice first when reading Cone Zero Nemonymous? First, I ended up reading more than one story twice. I kept getting caught up in the stories and forgetting that I was supposed to be critically reading. So I asked myself "Why?" In re-reading, I realized that the stories, while over a wide variety of unique styles all contained one defining element. (This anthology perhaps might be described as horror or fantasy or even magical realism. The editor DF Lewis has wide open doors for his anthologies. Witness the guidelines for Cern Zoo.)

The element? All the stories, whether humorous and fun, such as in the story "The Point of Oswald Masters" or the eerie haunting horror of "An Oddly Quiet Street" center on the characters and their emotional conflict. Although this is in some ways a "genre" anthology, none of the stories are truly plot driven. This supports a trend or shift in the way readers read and what they want to read overall. I've noticed fewer and fewer short stories and novels, no matter what the genre, to be plot driven. It's all about characters now. This is important for any writer to know.

Part of the phenomenon I've noticed and noticed in Cone Zero: short stories now seem to fall into two categories, either short-short (1000 words or less) or longer than we used to read, sometimes novellas. Used to be difficult to sell a story over 2000 words, now many markets request 3000 to 6000 words or more. I believe this is because readers want developed characters and it just takes more words.

All editor/publishers have different styles, approach and premises for their various publications. One important thing I learned from reading Cone Zero is that not only do I enjoy DF Lewis' tastes in writing, but that I was impressed with the quality of the stories. It moved any anothology edited by Lewis high up on my list of markets to submit to. Writing for such a market is a challenge and a learning experience.

Have you bought a magazine or anthology for critical reading? For reading as a market? If so, what did you learn from the experience?

Self Congratulations & Celebrations

My celebratory chocolate with the cat wondering if he likes chocolate.

The cat has decided he doesn't like chocolate.

Self congratulations are in order. As I posted earlier, I prioritized and set my intentions to finish my rough draft by a certain time--and succeeded! Thanks in part to great support and encouragement by fellow blogger Kathy McIntosh of Well Placed Words. Thanks, Kathy!

Now, the next step, is, as Margie Lawson points out, is to congratulate and celebrate. Why? Because if we don't enjoy the small victories along the way, if we just slog along, where will we get the renewing refreshment of success. Why not celebrate the small victories? It takes time and effort to complete a rough draft--why do we ignore and dismiss the accomplishment?

So, part of my celebration, thanks to my s.o.'s delightful mom, Dorothy, is a bit of Valentine's chocolate. Another part is a congratulatory dinner my delightful significant other is taking me to this Saturday. And then, renewed, refreshed and invigorated--onto the next draft!

Do you take the time to celebrate the small victories? If not, why not? If so, what do you do?

Happy Valentines Day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

To all creative people. Remember, today is a day of love, so indulge your passion, embrace your bliss!

Friday the 13th and Priorities

Happy Friday the 13th!

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. I decided to follow my own advice and prioritize. I'm finishing the rough draft of my w.i.p. by February 16th, my own personal intention. I'm two-and-a-half big scenes away.

Meanwhile, I've got new exercise classes to set up and teach. Plus fighting off a cold and struggling with allergies. Meanwhile, I've read all my favorite fellow blogger's great entries, but haven't had a breath to comment. But I'm getting 'er done and will be back soon!

Anyone superstitious about Friday the 13th? I often have GOOD luck--how about you?

Cross Marketing, Part One

Two Views of the same thing different times, different days.

Swubird of Swubird's Nest asked me in his comments recently if I used my father's life stories in my writing. And Jim of The Truth About Lies had a recent post about inspiration and getting ideas. John Scalia in his book You're not fooling anyone when you take your laptop to a coffee shop mentions how most writers must do more than fiction writing to make a living. Helen Ginger of Straight From Hel had as a guest blogger Joan Upton Hall in a post about trademarks. My friend Kathy McIntosh of Well Placed Words often posts about her editing and has done so in her most recent post Word Use Watch.

Finally, my article The Sideline Syndrome is published in the January edition of Treasure Valley Family Magazine and in February my article Fit-For-Teens Gyms is coming out in Treasure Valley Teen.com.

So what do two photos, several different blogs and two articles from a fiction writer have to do with cross marketing? Plenty. As the photos above illustrate, the same thing can change a great deal from moment to moment, yet still be the same. This can be said of writing that is cross-marketing.

The answer to Swu's question is a yelled "Yes!" Dad is a character and a subject of non-fiction articles. He's an inspiration for myriad things, not just writing, and a deep well of where I get ideas. I'm an exercise instructor as my "other" job and now often sell articles on fitness, as well as using my knowledge in my fiction. Selling the articles promotes my exercise biz and also helps establish a trademark or "known" name as a writer. I try, whenever possible, to do as Kathy does so well, and provide "cross-content" in my blog and fiction and articles.

Around it goes, use and re-use and re-cycle, one aspect feeding into another, all of them creating success.

What do you do to cross market? Or have you even considered it? Or have you been doing it unconsciously (as was the case with me in many ways until my fellow bloggers started me thinking)?

Next post, a review and what a writer can learn from reviewing other work.

Freedom of Speech

Martin Luther King's birthday was this Thursday. Martin Luther King's Day is this Monday. This seemed a perfect mid-way point.

Martin Luther King's Day is the perfect time to celebrate one of our most precious freedoms, the freedom of speech. Without our freedom of speech (and thereby all creative endeavors) where would we writer, painters, musicians, etc. be? I've lived in a "benevolent dictatorship" and the constrictions on expression are destructive to the creative spirit.

So celebrate freedom of speech by creating!

Processes are messy and difficult

Beginning of the process of taking down the Christmas tree.

The process mid-way.

Done.

What does three photos of the process of taking down the Christmas tree illustrate? As the title of this entry indicates, all process are messy and difficult. Tis their nature. Things must be in what looks like and can seem like disarray during any process. Think about different processes and how messy they are, cooking, working, taking down a Christmas tree. The level of difficulty varies of course, with the task, but there is an inherent toughness to any process. (Remember back to the first time you did anything, even taking down a tree. It gets easy, but never easy.)

How does this apply to creative endeavors? Whether you're writing a novel or painting a picture or making jewelry, no matter what the creative project, it is a process. But, and here's the rub, for some obscure reason, many of us creative folks believe that creating should be easy and somehow well-organized. It should have "flow" and not be like the rest of human experience. Chaotic. Hard to do. Challenging and sometimes confusing.

With that belief, a writer can get caught endlessly "planning" a novel, a photographer forever trying to figure out how to control conditions or have the right settings or camera or..., and the musician always practicing and never performing. We can beat up on ourselves for not going through the process in a clean, straightforward, no mistakes manner to the point where all creativity dies.

So forgive yourself! Realize and accept that mistakes, wrong turns, dead ends are only part of the process. Doing so is freeing for the mind, spirit and that all important creative juice.

How do you deal with the mess and difficulties of a creative process? Do you fight against it? Or even embrace it as a delightful part of creativity?