Writing Tips 1.

A few tips from the short fiction workshop given by writer Michael Neff. Michael is the founder of webdelsol. com and director of the Algonquin workshops for writers.

People in marketing want short fiction credentials They want to put your short fiction publishing credentials on the flap of your first book. They will be more likely to look seriously at your work if you have published in the well known literary journals such as (in the U.S.) Quarterly West, Barcelona Review, and Prairie Schooner. (Note the Canadian equivalent would be The New Quarterly, Prairie Fire and Room.)

• He recommends aspiring short fiction writers to look at the stories and literary journals listed at webdelsol.com.
• Don't send anything to the New Yorker. They seldom take stories from unknown writers.
• He recommends keeping the stories short. One idea is to create four postcard stories of 500 words or less and send them out two at a time.
• Aim for a snappy title with a good hook.
• Add in a good first paragraph that the editor will love.

Joan's Notes. webdelsol is such a rich site for writers, I would suggest starting with http://webdelsol.com/LITARTS/Writers_Edge/ for the best writing tips.