Hi Mr. Díaz, I was wondering if you had any advice about submitting to literary journals. In your view, what are the most important considerations to an editor of a literary magazine/publication? How does one know if a journal is right to submit to? Thank you.
alonzo, thank you for your kind question. when i was submitting my fiction in grad school i learned from my already-published peers that I needed to establish a strong ground game. which is to say i had to familiarize myself with places that published fiction along the lines of the kind of work i was doing. i didnt start with the new yorker - i prefered hitting up smaller (but still very prestigious) venues like STORY (now shuttered) and TRIQUARTERLY and THE GEORGIA REVIEW and PLOUGHSHARES and GRAND STREET and PARIS REVIEW. i went to them not only because they were big names at the time but because after reading a couple years of their fiction i decided my work might have a chance there. and that's what guided me throughout my submission process - my reading. im sure now there are lists online and other shortcuts and theyre probably just as effective but ive always trusted my sensibility, my "instincts" in this respect. the reading was always a joy and instructive. the hard part was the endless rejection and the patience and heart needed to withstand them.
Hello! I was curious if you’ve read The Apartment by Ana Menendéz? I was in her creative writing class at FIU when she sold this book, I tell everyone to read it—it’s so excellent! Have an excellent June!
hey junot! do you have any memoir recs? i recently devoured hua hsu’s stay true and loved it; currently flowing through patti smith’s just kids. cheers :)
that's a wonderful memoir. i also enjoyed Marcelo Hernandez Castillo's Children of the Land and Prachi Gupta's They Called Us Exceptional. but in all honesty i don't read enough poetry or enough memoir. never enough time...
Just submitting a question here for office hours. I really enjoyed your recent posts about conflict types, and wanted to dive a little deeper. Do you have any tips for balancing different layers of conflict esp. how they play off of one another? I'm currently working on a literary thriller and my biggest stumbling block is keeping the mystery moving forward while also handling the ripples/impacts this has for character. I'm really seeking to explore how the protagonist's search for her missing friend changes her relationships with a few key characters; however, I'm trying to avoid outlining strictly and making a bunch of decisions I know I will inevitably change. I'm really struggling to find a landing place between a draft that's just focused on the mechanics of the mystery versus one that drags and gets too into the weeds on character/relationships.
Would love to hear your thoughts and would welcome any lesser known recommendations of comps in this vein i.e. literary thriller that is quite character-focused.
sadly im not sure there is any ready-made formula. balance, as you noted, is the absolute key. but the only way ive been able to figure out conflict balance is by trial and error.
this is one of those things where the more you read and study what works in published books the better your "instincts" will end up being.
last month few months ive been reading a lot of mysteries and one thing that ive noticed is that the authors im studying (sansom, mosley) tend to use the main mystery to structure / limit how much time the narrator / protagonist has to deal with secondary conflicts. the. main mystery is the driver, sets the page and all the other conflicts have to exist within the gaps and the breaks.
Thanks for the reply, Junot! All helpful points, especially thinking about a main driver and other conflicts as filling in the gaps. At this point, I think the only way out is through the draft and know that there are others to come!
I've been working on short stories that are 8,000+ words and have also been applying to workshops and conferences that want to see 6,000 words or less. (I apply with excerpts which isn't great but was blessed enough to get into two summer conferences this year). I love going to these things, I find them inspiring and helpful. And I desperately want to write a short story that's actually short (not just for submissions but for the reading pleasure). I'm not yet the brutal editor I will be one day, I don't kill darlings like I should at most I dismember them and keep them on life support. Which also isn’t working for me.
Should I be chopping down my stories to meet word limits for these opportunities? But what if I'm just a long story writer (says a voice in my head) — is that a thing to be or am I blowing smoke up my ass? Some of my heroes write or have written long. By writing long, am I honoring who I am or am I ossifying bad habits, I can’t tell which it is. Sometimes it feels like my editing choices aren't helping and I cut what should remain.
Blurting this as I struggle to chop 1500 words from a thing to meet a workshop word limit. Any advice?
Hi Mr. Díaz, I was wondering if you had any advice about submitting to literary journals. In your view, what are the most important considerations to an editor of a literary magazine/publication? How does one know if a journal is right to submit to? Thank you.
alonzo, thank you for your kind question. when i was submitting my fiction in grad school i learned from my already-published peers that I needed to establish a strong ground game. which is to say i had to familiarize myself with places that published fiction along the lines of the kind of work i was doing. i didnt start with the new yorker - i prefered hitting up smaller (but still very prestigious) venues like STORY (now shuttered) and TRIQUARTERLY and THE GEORGIA REVIEW and PLOUGHSHARES and GRAND STREET and PARIS REVIEW. i went to them not only because they were big names at the time but because after reading a couple years of their fiction i decided my work might have a chance there. and that's what guided me throughout my submission process - my reading. im sure now there are lists online and other shortcuts and theyre probably just as effective but ive always trusted my sensibility, my "instincts" in this respect. the reading was always a joy and instructive. the hard part was the endless rejection and the patience and heart needed to withstand them.
good luck, alonzo
It’s always a nice reminder from someone as prolific that even you had to endure seemingly ceaseless rejection. Thank you very much sir!!
Hello! I was curious if you’ve read The Apartment by Ana Menendéz? I was in her creative writing class at FIU when she sold this book, I tell everyone to read it—it’s so excellent! Have an excellent June!
Ana's book is right here next to me. Now you've bumped it up to next. Thank you, Dakota!
Thanks for the recs! I've been on the hunt for new SS collections, so I'll definitely check out Tobias's.
hey junot! do you have any memoir recs? i recently devoured hua hsu’s stay true and loved it; currently flowing through patti smith’s just kids. cheers :)
that's a wonderful memoir. i also enjoyed Marcelo Hernandez Castillo's Children of the Land and Prachi Gupta's They Called Us Exceptional. but in all honesty i don't read enough poetry or enough memoir. never enough time...
We knew each other once. At least on the periphery of high school social circles.
Hi Junot,
Just submitting a question here for office hours. I really enjoyed your recent posts about conflict types, and wanted to dive a little deeper. Do you have any tips for balancing different layers of conflict esp. how they play off of one another? I'm currently working on a literary thriller and my biggest stumbling block is keeping the mystery moving forward while also handling the ripples/impacts this has for character. I'm really seeking to explore how the protagonist's search for her missing friend changes her relationships with a few key characters; however, I'm trying to avoid outlining strictly and making a bunch of decisions I know I will inevitably change. I'm really struggling to find a landing place between a draft that's just focused on the mechanics of the mystery versus one that drags and gets too into the weeds on character/relationships.
Would love to hear your thoughts and would welcome any lesser known recommendations of comps in this vein i.e. literary thriller that is quite character-focused.
Thanks for the help!
Jackie
sadly im not sure there is any ready-made formula. balance, as you noted, is the absolute key. but the only way ive been able to figure out conflict balance is by trial and error.
this is one of those things where the more you read and study what works in published books the better your "instincts" will end up being.
last month few months ive been reading a lot of mysteries and one thing that ive noticed is that the authors im studying (sansom, mosley) tend to use the main mystery to structure / limit how much time the narrator / protagonist has to deal with secondary conflicts. the. main mystery is the driver, sets the page and all the other conflicts have to exist within the gaps and the breaks.
Thanks for the reply, Junot! All helpful points, especially thinking about a main driver and other conflicts as filling in the gaps. At this point, I think the only way out is through the draft and know that there are others to come!
My creative writing students read "The Money" almost every year as part of our beginning-of-the-year unit. The questions that always come up are:
A.) How much of this is true? and
B.) Does he still play D&D?
Also, they (and I) greatly enjoy your work!
you are kind. A) all of it. B) i do. we've been playing a campaign that will turn four years old in august. best of luck, john!
A long question about writing short.
I've been working on short stories that are 8,000+ words and have also been applying to workshops and conferences that want to see 6,000 words or less. (I apply with excerpts which isn't great but was blessed enough to get into two summer conferences this year). I love going to these things, I find them inspiring and helpful. And I desperately want to write a short story that's actually short (not just for submissions but for the reading pleasure). I'm not yet the brutal editor I will be one day, I don't kill darlings like I should at most I dismember them and keep them on life support. Which also isn’t working for me.
Should I be chopping down my stories to meet word limits for these opportunities? But what if I'm just a long story writer (says a voice in my head) — is that a thing to be or am I blowing smoke up my ass? Some of my heroes write or have written long. By writing long, am I honoring who I am or am I ossifying bad habits, I can’t tell which it is. Sometimes it feels like my editing choices aren't helping and I cut what should remain.
Blurting this as I struggle to chop 1500 words from a thing to meet a workshop word limit. Any advice?