Elliott Turner's Blog - Posts Tagged "curtain-pulled-back"
Short Story Story
Here is the long story behind the short story. I wrote "The Sicario's Daughter" back in 2011. I had been getting a spike in freelance nonfiction work, but, after going a bit crazy reading litfic novels, I really wanted to take a stab at fiction.
The very first draft was waayyyy too clearly influenced by Junot Diaz. The narrator's voice was not me. The pacing was off. There were not enough sensory details to really show Brownsville. Also, the main character's feelings and doubts were not clearly spelled out.
In sum, it was a disaster of a story, aside from its nucleo. But, it was a start.
I penned a handful of other stories, also bad, edited them a wee bit, sent them to some literary magazines (by paper and snail mail), got polite form rejection postcards, and went back to nonfiction writing.
After writing NOTV in 2014, at least the first draft, while confined to a recliner in my living room due to medical reasons for a month, I disregarded Bob Dylan and looked back: not only at The Sicario's Daughter, but some of the other tales. I promised myself I would try to edit and improve them if I ever got a moment.
Then, of course, NOTV went through the publishing ringer of lotsa query emails and rejections by agents, landed Corey, then lotsa pitch emails and rejections from publishers, but, hey, flash forward, NOTV finally came to life.
I toured Texas in the summer, my grandmother passed away (somewhat expectedly but still sadly), I toured more of Texas, my wife came within a hair's breath of miscarrying our third child, and, then, exhausted, I was kinda elated to see the Fall of 2017 and a calendar free of obligations.
And, after going through the galley revision ringer for NOTV, I was able to focus and really get The Sicario's Daughter in good shape. Submittable shape, you could say.
Instead of multi-submitting all over, like most recommend, I searched for proper homes and surgically submitted to Transect and one other quite prestigious lit mag. Once I got an email from Transect, though, within five minutes I had clicked on the "withdraw" option for the other spot. Sorry, Kenyon. Another time, dear.
Of course, I am super happy with the edits, original artwork, and how it turned out at Transect. Check it out here.
Also, a version of the story had been slated for a literary magazine in the RGV back in the summer of 2016, but due to financial difficulties the first issue never got printed.
Thus, my scribe friends and readers, the story behind the creation and birth of a short story is a winding river indeed. When you see that LitHub article about 100 submissions for 2 publications, that sounds optimistic to be honest.
The slush pile is tough to climb up and out of, but, if you submit to the right place and get a greenlight, is definitely worth it.
The very first draft was waayyyy too clearly influenced by Junot Diaz. The narrator's voice was not me. The pacing was off. There were not enough sensory details to really show Brownsville. Also, the main character's feelings and doubts were not clearly spelled out.
In sum, it was a disaster of a story, aside from its nucleo. But, it was a start.
I penned a handful of other stories, also bad, edited them a wee bit, sent them to some literary magazines (by paper and snail mail), got polite form rejection postcards, and went back to nonfiction writing.
After writing NOTV in 2014, at least the first draft, while confined to a recliner in my living room due to medical reasons for a month, I disregarded Bob Dylan and looked back: not only at The Sicario's Daughter, but some of the other tales. I promised myself I would try to edit and improve them if I ever got a moment.
Then, of course, NOTV went through the publishing ringer of lotsa query emails and rejections by agents, landed Corey, then lotsa pitch emails and rejections from publishers, but, hey, flash forward, NOTV finally came to life.
I toured Texas in the summer, my grandmother passed away (somewhat expectedly but still sadly), I toured more of Texas, my wife came within a hair's breath of miscarrying our third child, and, then, exhausted, I was kinda elated to see the Fall of 2017 and a calendar free of obligations.
And, after going through the galley revision ringer for NOTV, I was able to focus and really get The Sicario's Daughter in good shape. Submittable shape, you could say.
Instead of multi-submitting all over, like most recommend, I searched for proper homes and surgically submitted to Transect and one other quite prestigious lit mag. Once I got an email from Transect, though, within five minutes I had clicked on the "withdraw" option for the other spot. Sorry, Kenyon. Another time, dear.
Of course, I am super happy with the edits, original artwork, and how it turned out at Transect. Check it out here.
Also, a version of the story had been slated for a literary magazine in the RGV back in the summer of 2016, but due to financial difficulties the first issue never got printed.
Thus, my scribe friends and readers, the story behind the creation and birth of a short story is a winding river indeed. When you see that LitHub article about 100 submissions for 2 publications, that sounds optimistic to be honest.
The slush pile is tough to climb up and out of, but, if you submit to the right place and get a greenlight, is definitely worth it.
