everyone has opinions about stories, everyone is clamoring about what a story should or should not contain, and I see quite often a confusion between what is produced singularly and what is produced for the thrill of the average reader; in their assessments other readers are looking for keywords to check off on their rubrics, their pre-assembled requirements which, like a glass box, expect every story that meets the definition of āgoodā to fit perfectly inside; people are looking for ātension,ā people are looking for conflict and resolution, people are looking for action, for excitement, people are looking for something that makes sense to them, something tied up neatly, something explicitly resolved. Iām seeing a decrease in the number of readers who are willing to engage with whatās on the page more than they are willing to interact with who they are as a reader; is workshop pedagogy to blame for this āstory by committeeā attitude of the contemporary reader, who demands a story be what they want it to be, and if it fails to, deem this some failure; why canāt we look at what is on the page, why canāt we take it for what it is, why do stories need to hit these keywords like tension or resolution, and whatās more, why isnāt anybody able to slow down, why canāt anyone stay with a slow story, a story that builds through dialogue or exposition, a story that meanders, a story that pulls strings together lithely to come to an emotionally smart ending? a lot of these stories Iām reading are far from perfect, but Iām disturbed by other readers being unable to grasp things that arenāt explicitly enumerated on the page, Iām disturbed by this desire for a story to be loud, Iām disturbed by these other readersā lack of criticism of characters, especially women, that fall into well-worn roles, into women that are pitted against each other for their beauty or their ālackā of it, Iām disturbed by the number of pieces coming in written by men about some ethnic woman who induces a sexual and spiritual awakening in the male narrator and Iām disturbed that these narrators think this is love, Iām disturbed that other people working in the publishing industry arenāt able to read all these different kinds of stories equally, that thereās an explicit bias in all their decisions, that theyāll pass along a story up the chain because it ticks all the genre conventionās boxes, Iām disturbed that they send stories up the chain that completely strip women characters bare of any personality or characterization other than their relationships to men. Iām disturbed that everyone has opinions about what a story should be but so few have the patience to actually read what is on the page in front of them, especially, and really only, when that story is quiet, when that story is operating on nuance, when that story is about women and their emotional connections, when that story makes you patient. like Willa Cather said, we have to first distinguish between whatās produced for the masses and what is produced as art. the masses want change, they want to be shocked and they always want something new. i think literature as art is all of these things, but in a timeless way, in a purposefully crafted way, in a patient way. and i think literature as art shows up on the page. everyone who thinks Hemingwayās philosophy of the iceberg in fiction is the way to go has probably only ever read hills like white elephants. theyāve never read big two-hearted river. this man waxes on. people think they get to have an idea for a story, write that idea down on the paper, and then submit it to a literary magazine and itās going to get published. whereās the part where you waxed on? whereās the part where you crafted this story with your own two hands? whereās the part where you made this something? i always write in my comments for stories that arenāt cutting it, āthe writing isnāt doing that much work.ā what i mean is that the writer had the idea but didnāt put it on the page. we sometimes have to be explicit, we sometimes canāt rely on implying everything, we canāt sprinkle clues through the pages like breadcrumbs and expect the readers to do all the work. why write the story if youāre not even going to say what it is you have to say? why dance around the themes and the impact? PUT IT ON THE PAGE. and make it interesting, give it texture, give it energy. do everything on purpose. and EDIT. go back and read it and if itās not doing anything, take it out. if itās not doing enough, write more. donāt rely on a surprise ending; a thoughtful and perceptive reader has seen it coming. and just because youāve written it doesnāt mean itās ready to be published. there are some things you have to finish a draft of and then put it in the bottom drawer for a while, to draw back out again when theyāre ready. you know how your first love is something you want to keep more than you can express but you donāt have the skills yet to keep it? you donāt have the relationship experience or the maturity to make it last? i think as writers we have to let ourselves mature enough to be ready for certain stories. you need to write. get it on the paper. but have enough discernment to know when something is bigger than you, to know when something is more powerful than you can handle right now. and then go back to it later. we can blame my mars in taurus for this, maybe, or my cancer sun, but you have to be patient. if youāve finished a piece, youāve edited it and worked on it, share it with someone you trust, and then wait a couple weeks before you decide what to do with it. and you have to keep reading. as someone working in the publishing industry i canāt tell you how many submissions i read where i can spot the TV tropes from the first paragraph. the media you consume will inevitably show up on the page. if you want to write literary fiction, you canāt spend all your time watching TV. read a goddamn book. read the book that your writing professor wrote. read first novels and most recent novels. read short stories, contemporary ones and not that raymond carver shit. read what is new and contemporary. and journal. write your own life and your own lived experience. donāt try to copy what someone else has already done. i can tell you the industry is looking for the fresh, fresh takes on old stories and characters is fine, but something iāve completely never seen before, that is more stunning, that is a piece iām going to pass on right away and even email the editors about. you have a story in you that nobody else can write. why would you write an imitation when you can write something new? it might not be in the form you always thought of yourself writing in. i thought iād publish short fiction for the longest time, and iām just now figuring out that auto-fiction works a lot better for me. go to therapy. i mean it. learn about yourself, put time towards yourself, find out what drives you and what matters to you. your writing will only gain from any effort you put into your own self-care. be patient and know that when you start a story, youāre going into it for the long haul. youāre going into it for the firstĀ draft, that pulse of adrenaline and pride as you hold the first printed copy hot off your home printer in your hands, youāre going into it for the several revisions after that ,youāre going into it for the inevitable overhaul at some point down the line, and youāre going into it for the waiting, for the time itāll spend in the bottom drawer as you mature and become ready for it. youāre going into it for that moment, months or years from now, when youāre holding the latest copy in your hands, hot off your home printer, and you just know that itās ready, and complete, and even perhaps the very thing you were born to write. what makes you a great writer is what makes you you. if you can learn to accept this, then i believe youāll become a better reader, too. what if we looked at every story that came across our workshop table with the same respect we paid every idea we took the time to write down ourselves? weād have a lot fewer rubrics, a lot more patience, a lot more curiosity, a lot more willingness to set aside our own desires and expectations for othersā work, a less entitled eye, a kinder and gentler perspective, and perhaps a return to the essentials: good writing takes numberless forms and tells numberless stories. if we had the patience and discipline, we might even be good enough readers to recognize whatever kernels of skill and goodness are in the manuscripts we come across and to build up from those, whatever they might be. if we were patient and disciplined enough, weād stop producing imitations, weād stop writing āstockā or cliche or stereotype. weād get out of this mindset of āeverything has to be what i want it to beā and āwhat can i learn from the best possible version of this story?ā being a discerning and patient reader will also teach us when to abandon certain ideas and when to go for others. i see so many stories that lack focus and in the end, end up saying nothing at all, or end up saying something that other authors have said many times before. read outside of your comfort zone, push yourself to be patient, dedicated, and open. and slow down and actually read the manuscript in front of you. sit on your hands if youāre tempted to go after it in red penāmarkups are a second-read privilege. SLOW DOWN AND READ THE STORY. SLOW DOWN AND WRITE THE STORY, PUT THE STORY ON THE PAGE, DONāT TAKE SHORTCUTS, DO THE HARD WORK, FOLLOW THROUGH.Ā
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