And of course, the initial reaction to a title like this one is, "Well, why don't you make me care about what you're saying, first?"
So I'll cut straight to the chase: When submitting a short story, or even a poem for publication in a literary magazine, keep in mind that the editors receive hundreds of submissions a day, which means that they don't have time to read every last one of them. This is why it is incredibly important to hook them in your first few sentences, other than start slow and verbosely build up to why they should care. Therefore, this will be a succinct explanation of why and how you should get other people interested in what you have to say.
Lesson One: Everyone Judges Books By Their Covers
When you're looking to purchase a book in a store, there are several things that a publisher does in order to get you to buy their book over everyone else's. The most important of these is the cover. It's unfair, and completely against that popular proverb, but a cover is the first thing that a person sees when examining a book. Indeed, a cover can even convince you to pull the book off the shelf for further examination. That's hook one-- you've caught they're interest, and now you have to keep them on the line.
But how do you initially hook a reader when you're just turning in a manuscript? You don't have a fancy cover to catch their eye, and it's unwise to tweak the font and draw pretty flowers in the margins in order to make your work stand out more. What will catch the eye of your publisher is your title. If it's one they haven't heard before, and it's clever, it will convince them to read the first few sentences. So the first most important thing you can do to get your publisher's attention is inventing a catchy title. If your title is dull and does not invoke anything in your reader, than that's it, you're done. Your manuscript, however awesome it may be, will not get read. So great titles are paramount.
Lesson Two: Summarizing Genius
The second thing a potential book-buyer looks at when browsing for a book is the summary on the back of it. If the summarized plot sounds intriguing, odds are the book shopper will begin to seriously consider purchasing the book. I'm sure that you've bought books before, so you know how important a good summary can be.
When submitting a manuscript for publication, you don't have the luxury of providing a professionally crafted summary for them to read first. Sometimes you might get lucky and be asked to provide an "abstract" for the piece, but not always. So what's the important thing about a manuscript? The first paragraph. The first paragraph, normally exposition (though not always), is the first thing that tells your reader what your story is all about. You don't have to sacrifice exposition, though, in order to make it action-packed. If the writing is clever, you can make the most boring of exposition interesting and mysterious. It's always good to pose a question to the reader in the first paragraph that's answered later in the piece, because the reader will actively search for that answer. Mystery is a great hook, so don't give everything away in your exposition.
Consider this famous beginning: "Marley was dead: to begin with."
In that single sentence we know that: A) someone has died and B) that fact might change in the future. This raises several questions like "How did he die?" "Who's Marley?" and "To begin with?" You see how one sentence can easily begin to create the world your reader will eventually be sucked into?
Lesson Three: Buzz
Authors, be they well-established or not, often have other writers and journalists write blurbs for their books. This is the third thing a reader looks at just before she decides which one of the three books she's picked out based on cover and summary she wants to buy. A blurb written by an established author, or a respected periodical could be the final point that seals the deal. If the reader doesn't trust those words, she always has the sage advice of her friends to depend on.
Unfortunately, it's the publisher who contacts the other literati in order to obtain blurbs for your story. That means then that you have to convince the publisher that your story is worthy of superfluous praise. So how do you do that? You have a catchy title, a great beginning... How do you seal the deal?
It's simple: If the publisher has read the complete first page of your story, it is far more likely that he will read until the end of it. That means that in order to seal the deal, you have to have-- you guessed it-- an incredible story! Or, at least, a marketable story (there is a difference between quality and marketability, but that's another article). This means that you have to have rising conflict, a climax, and a clever conclusion. Or, if you're an avant-guarde writer, at least something startlingly unique, even if it doesn't follow the usual format of a successful story.
The Point
I know what you're thinking. Basically, I've told you that in order to get people to care about what you have to say, you have to say something worthwhile, and you know what, that is exactly what I'm saying. I'm going to be honest with you guys-- When I see articles uploaded to this spot or the Creative Outlet spot, if the title doesn't interest me, I don't even look at it. If I do look at it, the first line/paragraph has to keep my interest. By that point, it's far more likely I'll read to the end, because I've already invested a good amount of time into the story.
Generic writing and poetry about love, hate, angst, death, beauty and destruction are a dime a dozen. That doesn't mean you can't write about these things, just do so creatively. Use your poetic talents to transform the mundane into a singularity. Work on editing and revising your poetry and short stories to make them more effective. Think of the point you're trying to get across and reread your work a few weeks later to see if it had the effect you were going for. If not, it needs to be revised. Take constructive criticism to heart. If someone takes the time to critique, they aren't doing it to be mean, they're trying to help you. No one gets it perfect in the first draft, not even the late great Charles Dickens. And everyone needs some tips on how to improve their work.
So keep these three things in mind: Good title, effective beginning, and unique story. If you remember these, getting published will be significantly less difficult. Good luck on your future submissions, and I hope this was helpful.
So I'll cut straight to the chase: When submitting a short story, or even a poem for publication in a literary magazine, keep in mind that the editors receive hundreds of submissions a day, which means that they don't have time to read every last one of them. This is why it is incredibly important to hook them in your first few sentences, other than start slow and verbosely build up to why they should care. Therefore, this will be a succinct explanation of why and how you should get other people interested in what you have to say.
Lesson One: Everyone Judges Books By Their Covers
When you're looking to purchase a book in a store, there are several things that a publisher does in order to get you to buy their book over everyone else's. The most important of these is the cover. It's unfair, and completely against that popular proverb, but a cover is the first thing that a person sees when examining a book. Indeed, a cover can even convince you to pull the book off the shelf for further examination. That's hook one-- you've caught they're interest, and now you have to keep them on the line.
But how do you initially hook a reader when you're just turning in a manuscript? You don't have a fancy cover to catch their eye, and it's unwise to tweak the font and draw pretty flowers in the margins in order to make your work stand out more. What will catch the eye of your publisher is your title. If it's one they haven't heard before, and it's clever, it will convince them to read the first few sentences. So the first most important thing you can do to get your publisher's attention is inventing a catchy title. If your title is dull and does not invoke anything in your reader, than that's it, you're done. Your manuscript, however awesome it may be, will not get read. So great titles are paramount.
Lesson Two: Summarizing Genius
The second thing a potential book-buyer looks at when browsing for a book is the summary on the back of it. If the summarized plot sounds intriguing, odds are the book shopper will begin to seriously consider purchasing the book. I'm sure that you've bought books before, so you know how important a good summary can be.
When submitting a manuscript for publication, you don't have the luxury of providing a professionally crafted summary for them to read first. Sometimes you might get lucky and be asked to provide an "abstract" for the piece, but not always. So what's the important thing about a manuscript? The first paragraph. The first paragraph, normally exposition (though not always), is the first thing that tells your reader what your story is all about. You don't have to sacrifice exposition, though, in order to make it action-packed. If the writing is clever, you can make the most boring of exposition interesting and mysterious. It's always good to pose a question to the reader in the first paragraph that's answered later in the piece, because the reader will actively search for that answer. Mystery is a great hook, so don't give everything away in your exposition.
Consider this famous beginning: "Marley was dead: to begin with."
In that single sentence we know that: A) someone has died and B) that fact might change in the future. This raises several questions like "How did he die?" "Who's Marley?" and "To begin with?" You see how one sentence can easily begin to create the world your reader will eventually be sucked into?
Lesson Three: Buzz
Authors, be they well-established or not, often have other writers and journalists write blurbs for their books. This is the third thing a reader looks at just before she decides which one of the three books she's picked out based on cover and summary she wants to buy. A blurb written by an established author, or a respected periodical could be the final point that seals the deal. If the reader doesn't trust those words, she always has the sage advice of her friends to depend on.
Unfortunately, it's the publisher who contacts the other literati in order to obtain blurbs for your story. That means then that you have to convince the publisher that your story is worthy of superfluous praise. So how do you do that? You have a catchy title, a great beginning... How do you seal the deal?
It's simple: If the publisher has read the complete first page of your story, it is far more likely that he will read until the end of it. That means that in order to seal the deal, you have to have-- you guessed it-- an incredible story! Or, at least, a marketable story (there is a difference between quality and marketability, but that's another article). This means that you have to have rising conflict, a climax, and a clever conclusion. Or, if you're an avant-guarde writer, at least something startlingly unique, even if it doesn't follow the usual format of a successful story.
The Point
I know what you're thinking. Basically, I've told you that in order to get people to care about what you have to say, you have to say something worthwhile, and you know what, that is exactly what I'm saying. I'm going to be honest with you guys-- When I see articles uploaded to this spot or the Creative Outlet spot, if the title doesn't interest me, I don't even look at it. If I do look at it, the first line/paragraph has to keep my interest. By that point, it's far more likely I'll read to the end, because I've already invested a good amount of time into the story.
Generic writing and poetry about love, hate, angst, death, beauty and destruction are a dime a dozen. That doesn't mean you can't write about these things, just do so creatively. Use your poetic talents to transform the mundane into a singularity. Work on editing and revising your poetry and short stories to make them more effective. Think of the point you're trying to get across and reread your work a few weeks later to see if it had the effect you were going for. If not, it needs to be revised. Take constructive criticism to heart. If someone takes the time to critique, they aren't doing it to be mean, they're trying to help you. No one gets it perfect in the first draft, not even the late great Charles Dickens. And everyone needs some tips on how to improve their work.
So keep these three things in mind: Good title, effective beginning, and unique story. If you remember these, getting published will be significantly less difficult. Good luck on your future submissions, and I hope this was helpful.
Hope you mates will like it =3
Feel free to comment
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I'm looking at the black ceiling, in this empty room I sit.
I'm leaning my back on cold wall where light of the sun can't reach me.
I don't have any peace, same pictures are repeating in my head.
The grey clouds rise above and I'm goin out for the rain.
Let the cold drops from the skies give me peace and break my sadness.
But even hard rain can't clear thoughts of you.
And feels like I'm falling in deep abyss, dark water swallowing me as I close my eyes and turn my head up to sky.
It's eating my mind, taking away my dreams.
Oh please pull me out, stay with me.
Today I'm not goin out, I'll reamin in the dark waiting for you.
I'll defy to all my desires cause I can't ask anymore from you.
I'll be singing only for you my angel.
Oh please pull me out, stay with me.
Feel free to comment
------------
I'm looking at the black ceiling, in this empty room I sit.
I'm leaning my back on cold wall where light of the sun can't reach me.
I don't have any peace, same pictures are repeating in my head.
The grey clouds rise above and I'm goin out for the rain.
Let the cold drops from the skies give me peace and break my sadness.
But even hard rain can't clear thoughts of you.
And feels like I'm falling in deep abyss, dark water swallowing me as I close my eyes and turn my head up to sky.
It's eating my mind, taking away my dreams.
Oh please pull me out, stay with me.
Today I'm not goin out, I'll reamin in the dark waiting for you.
I'll defy to all my desires cause I can't ask anymore from you.
I'll be singing only for you my angel.
Oh please pull me out, stay with me.
I have this image in my head of a girl who spent the first 17 years of her life being loved. Loved by her parents, her brother and sister, and everyone in school. She doesn't know the meaning of hate. Then this mysterious guy come to her school. He doesn't say much and the only person he notices is her. But he is different then the other guys at her school he is too sexy to be real. They fall madly in love but what she doesn't know is that he has been alive for the last 268 years. He is no vampire but something that can scare the helll out of you. And he has a immortal enemy, and that enemy is the boy who is filled with so much hate all the immortals call him...The deffinition of hate(his real name being Marcus) And the girl so finds out that Marcus will stop at nothing to take her away from him and show her what it's like to be hated
“You can’t!” I screeched, griping the thick grass beneath my paws.
“The whole forest will belong to the Pack of Shadows!” the dark wolf exclaimed enthusiastically, his fur flickering like shadows, “No wolf will stop us!”
I have to do something! I couldn’t let it end like this! Not with the alpha in this state! Not with the pack split in four!
“Out of my way pup!” he tossed me aside like a tiny mouse.
“No!” I leaped at him, biting and clawing with all my strength.
“This is pointless! You cannot defeat me she-wolf!” I felt him bite me and fling me away again. I was too tired to move now, after traveling this far without resting, I can no longer breathe enough to live.
I’m over; this is the end of the Pack of Ice! I lay winded and defeated, awaiting death’s arrival patiently.
~Let You Go~
1: On and on ~ the days go by
Without a sight of you or my sanity
I'm lost not found ~ I wanted to show you , I wanted to tell you...
Chorus: If I say I'm sorry will you believe me?
If I love you again will you never leave me?
I made a mistake when I said no
I never should have let you go...
2: I ring your phone but no one answers, I'm alone
Days are spent reading your old letters, but with a groan,
I'd put them away, In the draw they'd lay until tomorrow...
Tomorrow...
Chorus-
3: This moping, not coping is killing me
My soul is not at rest when I long for it to be
I wish you'd come back or my fears may come true
When I left you, I still loved you and I think you knew
Chorus-
Darlin' don't forget me
I'm locked and you're the only key...
1: On and on ~ the days go by
Without a sight of you or my sanity
I'm lost not found ~ I wanted to show you , I wanted to tell you...
Chorus: If I say I'm sorry will you believe me?
If I love you again will you never leave me?
I made a mistake when I said no
I never should have let you go...
2: I ring your phone but no one answers, I'm alone
Days are spent reading your old letters, but with a groan,
I'd put them away, In the draw they'd lay until tomorrow...
Tomorrow...
Chorus-
3: This moping, not coping is killing me
My soul is not at rest when I long for it to be
I wish you'd come back or my fears may come true
When I left you, I still loved you and I think you knew
Chorus-
Darlin' don't forget me
I'm locked and you're the only key...
Another poem by me. This one came out kinda lame,but I'll let the rating be the judge (assuming there will be any).
That Girl
Have you seen that girl,
That goes around here and there?
Nobody knows where she’s going,
Is she even going somewhere?
Pretty face, pretty hair,
Nobody knows her name,
She seems sad, what a coincidence,
I’ve been feeling the same.
She seems lost,
Doesn’t even know where she’s from,
I’m a nice guy so I invite her,
To stay in my home.
She seats in the couch,
My, is she pretty?
I wonder what I can say,
To comfort that girl , so dreamy.
Sarah,
She tells me it’s her name,
She feels sad,
Funny,
Because I’ve been feeling the same
That Girl
Have you seen that girl,
That goes around here and there?
Nobody knows where she’s going,
Is she even going somewhere?
Pretty face, pretty hair,
Nobody knows her name,
She seems sad, what a coincidence,
I’ve been feeling the same.
She seems lost,
Doesn’t even know where she’s from,
I’m a nice guy so I invite her,
To stay in my home.
She seats in the couch,
My, is she pretty?
I wonder what I can say,
To comfort that girl , so dreamy.
Sarah,
She tells me it’s her name,
She feels sad,
Funny,
Because I’ve been feeling the same
Only in my dreams
You're missing, but you're always
a heartbeat from me
I'm lost now without you
I don't know where you are
I keep watching
I keep hoping
but time keeps us apart
Is there a way I can find you?
Is there a sign I should know?
Is there a road I could follow
to bring you back home?
Winter lies before me
Now you're so far away
In the darkness of my dreaming
The light of you will stay
If I could be close beside you
If I could be where you are
If I could reach out and touch you
And bring you back home
Is there a way I can find you?
Is there a sign I should know?
Is there a road I could follow
to bring you back home?
To me...
* * * * * * * * * *
LivHILuvAlwaiz♥jj9