Jeffersonville, IN.
Wat is de beruchte slushpile nou precies? Ik beantwoord veelgestelde vragen over de slushpile en ongevraagde manuscripten aanbieden bij uitgeverijen.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
Jeffersonville, IN.
I've been editor-in-chief for 5 or 6 years now. The worst part of my job? The submission guidelines. Why? 1. Too many authors choose simply to ignore them. 2. Too many authors don't understand them. 3. No matter how I tweak the guidelines there will always be someone to complain about them. Before I wax poetic about submission guidelines, let me address these three reasons for my dread. We receive over 8000 submission a year. That's a lot of submissions. I personally sort through every one of those submissions. No, I don't read them all. I check the submissions for glaring errors and 'Noob' mistakes. Guess what happens to the stories with errors and mistakes? They are unceremoniously marked for rejection and dumped into the trash. No, I will not give your story another chance. No, I will not tell you why I rejected your story. Remember that 8000 stories? I don't have time to pay the price for your mistake. The lesson here? Don't make a mistake. Carefully read the guidelines and make sure you understand them. Double and triple check your submission before you hit "Submit." Make sure you know submission etiquette. Don't EVER feel your name and credentials will earn you a golden ticket to the editor's "Magic Inbox." If you're new to submitting, don't ask me about submission etiquette. Google it. Join writing groups and forums and learn from others who've been doing it before you. But learn about it on your own. 8000 stories. I don't have time to teach you things you should be learning on your own from one of, literally, hundreds of sources. BUT, here I am, writing a post on the very thing you should have learned before you ever submitted a story. I'm going to share with you some nuggets of slushpile wisdom, and guide you through a typical set of submission guidelines to make sure you understand not only what they mean, but why they're there. THE WORLD OF SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Submission guidelines can vary widely. Some markets seem to have no guidelines. Others have guidelines that consist of, quite honestly, more flaming hoops than it's worth an author's time to jump through. I've often erred on the side of more extensive guidelines, and it's PURELY an effort to save myself time and aggravation. I'm inherently lazy. I think most humans are. Hence the invention of the dishwasher, the telephone, the safety razor. I like to make things easier for myself. If I see a problem occurring regularly in the slushpile I address it with greater force in the guidelines. But I'm discovering my efforts are useless. I've tweaked and toned and added, I've underlined and capitalized and bolded. Still 20% of authors choose to disregard those guidelines. I even have a button in our submission form that requires authors to indicate whether they've read the guidelines. The only available answer is 'yes.' Which means every time an author indicates that they have, indeed, read the guidelines but show, very clearly, that they have NOT actually read the guidelines, I gleefully tag that story with a neat little "Reject." So I'm trying something new. I'm streamlining the guidelines. I'm not including explanations or definitions. I'm not giving you all that extra information that other editors don't give you, because they assume (as I should) that authors have done their homework and already know these things. They don't give you the benefit of the doubt. They don't give you a second chance. They don't forgive little errors. They don't care if your story is rejected because your ignorance keeps you from properly submitting. So I'm going to demystify the submission guidelines for you. What is stated and what is meant, what you should know, what glaring errors make sirens go off--and those sirens scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB!" 1. "We Accept Original, Unpublished Fiction" ORIGINAL: Original fiction means YOU actually wrote it. It means your story is NOT a riff on someone else's copyrighted fiction. It is not fanfiction. It means you haven't stolen it from someone else and slapped your name on it. It also means your story is NOT a translation of someone else's work, living or dead, public domain or not. The story is yours and only yours. Can it have themes, even characters, borrowed from the public domain? Absolutely. But I want it to be more than just an updated retelling. I want it to have an original twist that makes it a new and unique story. Your story. UNPUBLISHED: That seems pretty self-explanatory. At least it should. But in today's world of easy access to instant audiences, publication means something a bit different. Once upon a time we could say, 'please don't send me your story if it has been published elsewhere,' and it meant that you had not sold your story to another magazine. Let me take a moment to explain why we don't want your previously published story: I'm going to let you in on a little secret. The purpose of a magazine is NOT to throw money around. It's not our purpose to stick stories on the internet with no reason other than a charitable goal to boost author egos. FIRST, we do this because we LOVE great fiction (or poetry, or non-fiction, or artwork, or essays, or articles). But WHY we do it doesn't pay the bills. Very few literary magazines make money, by the way. But that's the ultimate goal for most. The goal is to grow and to, hopefully, attract income sources. Those sources include advertising, magazine sales, fundraising, and sale of promotional items. In order for those sources to have any impact on our income growth, people need to see them. How do we attract viewers and potential contributors? By having them come to our website or buy one of our magazines. How do we attract them? We dangle great stories in front of their noses. Let's say you sell me a story. If I'm lucky you have a couple of hundred friends who are going to be so excited for your publication success that they're going to visit our site or buy one of our magazines so they can read your story. After that, maybe a few will be so impressed with us they'll buy a subscription. Or maybe they'll take advantage of our advertisers' great deals by clicking the ads on the site. If most of your friends have already read your story on your personal blog, they're MUCH less likely to read it on our website or in our magazine. That's not good for us. We need money so we can pay authors. I won't even talk about paying our staff. No. I will. VERY few fiction magazines run with paid staff. VERY few fiction magazines bring in enough money to even pay their authors. They're money pits. The only magazines who pay authors AND staff are magazines with BIG MONEY backing--magazines who are part of a larger publishing conglomerate, or who have public funding. The rest of us do this for the love. So in today's world, 'publication' means that your story has appeared ANYWHERE publicly available on the internet, including your personal blog, a public writer's forum (membership and sign-in not required to view the site), Amazon, or anywhere on the internet or in print. If your story was published in your neighborhood paper or family newsletter, we consider it previously published. FICTION (or non-fiction, or poetry, or ...) Most submission guidelines will state what, exactly, the market accepts for consideration. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, art. Unless the guidelines state your particular literary or artistic form, don't send it to them. If they don't specifically say "we accept artwork," don't send your photograph--even if it's relevant to your story. If they don't specifically say "we accept poetry," don't send your poems. And if they say "we accept fiction," don't send your non-fiction articles or essays. Fiction is not non-fiction. 2. "Story Length" This should be self-explanatory. Each market will indicate the length of story they will accept in 'words.' I'm old enough to have taken an actual typing class on a manual typewriter. Not even an electric typewriter. (Only the really eager kids got to use one of the half-dozen electric typewriters that graced the front row of our classroom.) A typewriter with the little arm that you had to swing from right to left when a mechanical bell dinged. Like this: We were taught to count words by actually counting the words on the page. Every word. The idea was that all the words together would average to around 5 characters per word, which is, essentially, how words are still counted today. But with amazing word processing software, it's much easier to count words. If you don't know how to count words in your word processor, Google it. (In fact, if you don't have a proficient grasp of using the features in your word processor, take a class. There are even free classes online, like this one for Microsoft Office: GCFLearning: Microsoft Office Lessons This site even lets you choose the version of Office you're using, and lets you take classes for any of Office's software options.) Be aware that not all word processors are the same. Some will be different by 30 or 40 words in count. Usually that doesn't make any difference. A publication that publishes stories up to 7500 words isn't going to care much if your story is 7528 words. In fact, most short story markets expect you to round your word count to the nearest 50 or 100. However, a publication that publishes very short stories may have much more stringent requirements for word count. They may even ask you to use a specific software to count words--Usually Microsoft Word, which is the industry standard word processor. Fortunately, you don't need to have Word in order to get an accurate and exact word count. There are a number of free sites that will count words for you. Here are a couple of accurate ones that I've personally tested against Word: http://easywordcount.com/ https://wordcounter.io/ Why does it matter with shorter stories? A few reasons. First, some publishers of short stories publish ONLY stories of exact word count. 69 words, or 100 words, 50 words, 6 words, and so on. For my magazine, we have specific requirements in order to maintain our qualification for membership in certain writers' guilds. We are required to pay at a certain rate, and only a certain window of word count allows us to meet that criteria. Stories submitted with us MUST be submitted with exact and accurate word counts in order for us to honestly determine whether your story and, by consequence, our magazine passes. If the guidelines do not specifically say otherwise, you may expect to be able to round word count. 3. "Simultaneous Submissions" Definition: simultaneous submission: An author submits a story with more than one market, magazine, contest, anthology, etc., at the same time. What's the alternative? Exclusive submission in which you submit your story exclusively to a single market and wait to receive their decision before submitting to another market. Many markets will allow simultaneous submissions. Others will not. If the guidelines do not specifically say otherwise, assume they allow it. What's the big deal? The big deal is that once your story lands on my desk I am going to begin expending my time and resources on it. Let's say I've looked at the 700 or so stories I've received in January and I've narrowed that 700 down to 15 or so. I've spent hours reaching this point. I've read, and sometimes reread stories. I've made notes. I've sent rejections to the unlucky 685. I sit down at my desk, open my email, and see a letter from you stating that your story (one of those final 15) has been accepted elsewhere. Some editors are okay with that. Many editors would rather not spend their time and resources on a good story that might be snatched from under their noses. They prefer to have exclusive consideration. What's your responsibility? To those markets who allow simultaneous submissions, you have a solemn responsibility to inform them immediately of acceptance of the story elsewhere. You also have a solemn responsibility to avoid sending simultaneous submissions to markets that do not allow it. As I've said, if they do NOT allow it, they will say so. Otherwise, you may assume they do. 4. "Multiple Submissions" Definition: multiple submission: An author submits more than one story at a time to one market, magazine, contest, anthology, etc. Many markets accept multiple submissions. Most of those will put a limit on the number of stories you may submit at one time. But be aware: unspoken submission etiquette says you should never submit more than three stories at any one time, and it is infinitely more polite to submit only one at a time. Still, if the market states that they allow multiple submissions, you may assume they will be fine with you submitting up to three. If they do not say whether they accept multiple submissions, you should assume that they do NOT. From my perspective as an editor, I'm not particularly keen on multiple submissions, though we do allow them. Often, authors who submit 2 or 3 stories at one time either make submission mistakes on all their submissions, forcing me to reject them all, or all the stories are equally bad (or good). If they're equally bad, the author receives multiple rejections, often at the same time. I don't care who you are. That hurts. And, believe it or not, I don't like sending rejections. I empathize with receiving rejections because I've been there. It's much easier to send one rejection per author than 2 or 3. Sure, I understand the desire to run your story through as many slush piles as possible. You're in a hurry to get published. But publication isn't a race. It's a refining fire. And you should let the heat do its work. Submit, wait, receive, review. Submit, wait, receive, review. Especially if you're an unpublished author, you have a great deal to learn about the mechanics of writing and the ins and outs of the marketplace. That's better done slowly at first. Pace yourself. 5. "Standard Manuscript Formatting" If you haven't been to college, you may not know what Standard Manuscript Formatting is. Here's a good checklist: https://letswriteashortstory.com/short-story-standard-format/ And a good visual example: IF a market wants stories submitted in a modified manuscript format they will clearly indicate the changes they require. For example, many short story markets require 'blind' submissions these days, which gives them the opportunity to judge a story based solely on the merits of the story. This method puts new writers on equal ground with seasoned and even professional writers. A blind submission is a submission in which all author-identifying information is removed from the manuscript. Be sure you've removed it from the three places it appears on the Standard Manuscript Example: The Byline (your name beneath the title), the Header and/or Footer (appears at the top or bottom of every page), and the Address (appears in the top left hand corner of the first page only and usually includes name, address, phone number, etc.). From my perspective, I actually hate Courier. I'd much rather you submit in Times New Roman, and I state so in my submission guidelines. If you want to know why I hate Courier: Courier Must Die I also REALLY want submitters to know how important it is to use some kind of mark to indicate scene breaks. So I include that, too, even though I should be able to take it for granted. 6. Bits and Pieces "We Accept Reprints" Sometimes magazines will republish a previously published story, or Reprint. If they do so, they will likely pay considerably less for that story. Why do they do this? Remember, a magazine likes readers, and if I can attract more readers with more content that I don't have to pay as much for (and free is even BETTER, which is why we used to publish a PUBLIC DOMAIN story each month) then I'm going to take advantage of that boon. The other benefit is that I am able to forge a relationship with a seasoned and published author and, hopefully, entice that author to submit original works as well. Any method I can use to pad my slushpile with great stories, I'll take advantage of that, too. "I've Received a Rejection. Now what?" If you receive a rejection from a publisher you can assume that they do not want to see that same story again. Sorry. You are certainly welcome to submit other stories. So please do not ask the editor if you can revise and resubmit. If she wanted you to do so she would have asked. Please do not revise and resubmit without permission. It just wastes my time and isn't likely to get you any further. After you've received the rejection you should review the work, maybe revise, and submit (as our rejection letter says) elsewhere. The Look of Your Story Big bad NOOB errors include making adjustments to the manuscript to make it 'stand out' in the slush pile. NEVER do anything to make your story stand out. WalMartians. You know what I'm talking about. The drug addict in drag. The 90-year-old dressed like a hooker. The black thong under white see-through leggings. I guarantee you that any alterations you make to your story to make it stand out will be bringing you the WRONG kind of attention. DO NOT use anything but black typeface. DO NOT use any font but a generally accepted font type. In the industry, you're pretty much relegated to Courier (but remember, I hate it), or Times New Roman. DO NOT include graphics of any kind. DO NOT 'color' your background or print on colored paper. DO NOT try to come up with any other clever way to draw attention to your submission. IT'S A BIG RED NOOB FLAG!! And I'll forever think of you as a WalMartian Along with this, please don't submit your own art with your story. Even if you think it's important. Cover Letters Short story cover letters are NOT the same as novel cover letters. Let me explain the difference. The purpose of a novel cover letter is to entice the first reader (a publisher's slush reader) to want to read the first three chapters of your novel, and then--hopefully--the rest of your book. It always includes a one-paragraph story synopsis and a one-paragraph self-introduction. They are longer than short story cover letters, but only slightly. The purpose of a short story cover letter is to show you're not a NOOB. That's all. Here's what the pros do, every time: Pros actually INCLUDE a cover letter. Not to do so is just lazy. Don't give me the impression that you're lazy. I'm not impressed by that. Don't give me any reason not to be impressed. Pros NEVER tell their life story in a cover letter. I'm sorry, but I just don't care about your trek along the Silk Road, or the fact that you were raised in Hoboken. Not even if it's relevant to your story. The only thing I want to know about you is if you have previous publications, maybe if you've attended a well-respected writing workshop, maybe if you have a degree in creative writing. If you don't have any of the above, don't say anything. If your story is about a boy jumping on a trampoline I don't need to know you have a degree in rocket science--unless that boy rockets into space. THEN that degree in rocket science might prove relevant! Pros NEVER include a story synopsis in their short story cover letter. Short stories are SHORT! It doesn't take much effort on my part to determine if a story is worth my time to consider. All I have to do is read the first few paragraphs. If I like those, I'll read more. At most I've spent an hour of my time reading a great story, which is always time well spent. Let the story speak for itself. Never summarize it in your cover letter. What does the perfect New-writer cover letter look like? Dear Editor (If you know the editor's last name, say "Dear Ms. Vincent." Do not use the editor's first name. He is not your friend. Unless, of course, he IS your close and personal friend, OR if you've been published by that magazine before. The keyword is R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I'm totally channeling Aretha!!) I respectfully submit my story, "Title of My Story," for your consideration. (If you have relevant credentials, insert them in a separate, short paragraph here. If you don't, leave this space blank.) Sincerely, Your Name That's it. Easy. Simple. Respectful. PROFESSIONAL! Good Advice Often a magazine will include some good advice on the guidelines page. Stories we see too often, links to useful articles (like THIS one!), or our amazing YouTube channel, etc. Take a look at those. They're often highly useful and can improve your chances of getting published. Often the information is specifically relevant to that magazine. And the more you get to know a magazine the more likely you are to understand what they want and whether your story might be a good fit. Here's some good advice: If a magazine wants you to jump through flaming hoops and sell your first child to submit, AND they don't pay for publication, run the other way. SO not worth it. But, if they DO pay, and pay WELL, jump through those flaming hoops, Sister!
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
Jeffersonville, IN.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
Being a now-defunct random compendium of Jeffrey Scott Holland's photographic effluvia dumped to a blog with neither rhyme nor reason.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
If you are thinking of having your book published, you should know what the slush pile is. Here are a few things writers should know about the slush pile.
I've always been fascinated by this super-Steampunk bridge, and this morning I walked right up to it on the Louisville Loop trail to get some close-up pictures.
NOTE: Readers may understand this article more easily by first reading Part One , published June 21, 2010. The paintings of Juan Fermin Go...
De kans dat je manuscript uit de 'slushpile' wordt opgepikt door een uitgeverij is minuscuul. Daarom deel ik vandaag mijn tips om je kansen te vergroten.
Finally made it into this place in Germantown - just one block away from Eiderdown - that I'd been meaning to visit since it opened in November. The verdict: stunning. The beer cheese/pretzel platter was superb, the beers were top-notch, and the crew was friendly as all get out. I can't stress strongly enough to you, dear reader, get peggy wit it.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
Esau embraces his brother Jacob while Jacob's wives and young sons watch their unexpected rendez-vous. THE ZODIAC AND THE SONS OF JACOB Were the Twelve Tribes of Israel evenly distributed among the twelve signs of the Zodiac? Lore outside of the Bible suggests that Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather, may have interacted with or even lived near the Chaldeans for a period of time. The Chaldeans were said to be a small tribe known for ancient astrological wisdom. Theoretically, Abraham and his immediate descendents could have had some exposure to Chaldean methods, and at least one chapter in Genesis gives clear hints of this(although the evidence is fragmentary). GENESIS 49 JACOB BLESSES HIS SONS The title is significant. Jacob isn’t “blessing” his sons so much as prophesying the future of their descendents, but prophesy was often described as “blessing” when an important Biblical figure like Jacob engaged in it. Some of Jacob’s “blessings” are downright negative and seem more like judgments or curses. More than half the “blessings” strongly suggest that Jacob used astrological archetypes to describe his sons and, in some cases, their descendents. Some of the blessings are ambiguous, however, and a couple of them don’t seem to have much to do with a recognizable western astrology. But taken together, his “blessings” form one of the most enigmatic and intriguing chapters in the Book of Genesis. Even more irony is attached to the title when one considers that a younger Jacob wrestled earlier with the Angel and would not give up until the Angel had given Jacob his blessing. The back story is that Jacob had treated his brother Esau in a wretched manner, and was now afraid of him, so he needed the Angel’s blessing. When it becomes his own turn to confer blessings upon his sons as an old man, Jacob appears to forget that some of his sons may also feel a strong need for his blessing. (Interestingly, there is a parallel tradition of double-tongued “blessings” in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad was said to have offered the blessings of Paradise to many of his key associates before major battles, and they knew that this meant Muhammad had already accurately anticipated their imminent death and martyrdom.) EXAMINING JACOB’S BLESSINGS, SON BY SON, STARTING WITH HIS FIRSTBORN, REUBEN Jacob calls his sons to him, saying. “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.” He starts with his oldest son, Reuben. Unfortunately, Jacob is still furious with him because Reuben intruded on his sexual privacy, and his “blessing” turns into a curse which focuses sorely on an incident that occurred many years before. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the water(indecisive), you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it. –Gen 49:3 There is a very slight suggestion of an Aries/Libra polarity in this description. As I see it, “the first sign of my strength” points to Aries, and “turbulent as the water” suggests Libran indecisiveness. It is not much to go on, and it doesn’t associate Reuben with a specific zodiac sign. However, when viewed alongside descriptions of his other sons that do seem to delineate particular signs, this verse does seem to possess an astrological core. It is almost as if Jacob is trying to figure out where Reuben’s nativity lies in the zodiac, as he pronounces his “best guess”. DOUBLE TROUBLE – SIMON AND LEVI, JACOB’S MOST EVIL SONS Jacob curses his next two sons, Simon and Levi, in no uncertain terms. Simeon and Levi were the children of Leah, and they killed all the males of Shechem, because their sister Dinah had unmarried sex with a man known only as “Shechem” after falling in love with him. Their revenge was totally outside the bounds of what was considered normal in this culture, and the impression is that Simeon and Levi were sociopaths. Their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger…cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel. -Gen 49:5 In the verse above, note that Jacob describes his territory by his own name “Jacob” and also by the name “Israel”. Joseph’s name was changed to Israel when he wrestled with the divine visitor at Peniel. In this painting by Paul Gauguin, Jacob wrestles the angel while pretty girls watch. There is little obvious astrology in this verse, but to some observers, there is still a “shadow” of Gemini lurking beneath Jacob’s depiction. He describes them as brothers (sharing the traits of brutality, anger, and cruelty). He doesn’t do this for any of his other sons, even though four of them were full brothers of this pair. Modern astrologers have also described Gemini as capable of great cruelty. Once again, this isn’t much to go on. Here, the reader who seeks a one-on-one association between the sons and the zodiac signs is deconstructing some very slim clues. We do know that the people of Levi were not included among the tribes given land allotments following the conquest of Canaan. Moses designated the Levites apart for priestly duty as belonging to the Lord (Nu 3:1-4, 49). Joshua awarded them 48 towns scattered throughout Israel (Jos 21: 1-45) THE LION OF JUDAH Jacob’s blessings are mostly short and to the point. He gives only two of his sons a somewhat lengthier blessing, Judah and Joseph, both of whom are fire signs and natural leaders. With Judah’s blessing, the reader doesn’t have to “stretch” very far to see that Jacob is talking about a Leo. You are a lion’s cub, O Judah, you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness – who dares to rouse him? -Gen 49:9 Jacob describes his lion son as a predator, and also at rest. In modern astrology, Leo is described by the core attributes of the Sun, which both rises and sets. The rising sun is said to be active and life-giving, while the setting sun is thought to recuperate its energy “offstage” in preparation for a time when it will once again hopefully be the center of attention (see Endnote). The lion and the sun share this quality of vibrant activity alternating with quiet withdrawal. *** The next line in this verse simultaneously describes Judah and his descendents, and is widely considered to be one of the most controversial statements in the entire Old Testament. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff, until Shiloh comes, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. -Gen 49:10 The scepter and the ruler’s staff are the symbols of kingship. Jesus will be descended from the lineage of Judah, and this is what all Christians are intended to recall when they read this prediction of Jacob’s. Shiloh is a shadowy figure in the Old Testament, and there is probably good reason for this. Shiloh as a place-name is described several times in later books of the Old Testament. As with other place-names in the Old Testament, the name is often intended to refer to both a place and a person. There is more than one translation of this verse, since the Old Testament available to us today has been transcribed across many languages. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, unto whom tribute belongs. -Gen 49:10 So who was Shiloh? Was it Jesus, the distant descendant of Judah? Or could Joseph have been predicting a later prophet and law-giver to whom the Jews would (and did) actually have to pay tribute to, in other words, the prophet Muhammed? Shiloh is not synonymous with the territory that the Prophet Muhammad emerges from. Nor was Muhammad descended from Judah, but rather from his great-uncle, Ishmael. Nevertheless, the parsing of this spare description about the nearly invisible and forgotten Shiloh has given rise to more speculation in modern times than any of Jacob’s other blessings. ZEBULON WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY A CANCER OR A PISCES Zebulon is described very suggestively as a water sign in a single line of verse. Zebulon will live by the seashore, and become a haven for ships. -Gen 49:13 Pisces is clearly symbolized by the sea and ships, but Alan Oken leans toward the association with Cancer because Jacob’s use of the word “haven” also describes a nurturing man who protects his descendents. (Jacob blesses his sons as an old man, and it is presumed that all of his sons were adults who very likely had sons of their own.) Moon-ruled Cancer is also associated with the sea, and the descendents of Zebulon were close enough to the Mediterranean to “feast on the abundance of the seas”. Dt 33:19 ISSACHAR IS ANYBODY’S GUESS… Jacob bluntly tells poor Issachar that his descendents will end up as slaves because he is so lazy! Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. -Gen49:14-15 Issachar was probably born under a Saturn-ruled sign (sigh), but the description of his brother Naphtali fits Capricorn more closely. The more critical Jacob is of his sons, the less obvious is any evidence of his astrological judgment regarding them. In my opinion, Issachar is anybody’s guess… DAN THE JUDGE Jacob sums up his son Dan with praise, but the two verses suggest two different signs (Could Dan’s nativity have been on the cusp?) Dan will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Gen 49:16 In the line above, Dan personifies the highest manifestation of justice-loving Libra. If I had to bet, I’d wager that Jacob is telling us Dan’s sign in the first verse. Yet the following verse has strong Scorpio overtones. Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horses heels, so that its rider tumbles backwards. -Gen 49:17 The verse above is a prediction for a celebrated hero destined to be born in Dan’s lineage. Samson, from the tribe of Dan, would single-handedly keep the Philistines at bay. Simultaneously, the serpent imagery is strongly suggestive of Scorpio, although another one of Jacob’s sons will fit the Scorpio archetype more closely, as we shall see. FOR GAD, “A TROOP COMETH” Alan Oken is spot-on about Jacob’s description of Gad as a Scorpio. Oken points out that when Gad was born, Leah cried out, “A troop cometh”. (Mars was the classical ruler of Scorpio.) When Jacob was an old man, he said of Gad: “A troop shall overcome him; but he shall overcome at the last.” Gen 49:19 (An allusion to the great recuperative powers of this sign, usually associated with the modern ruler, Pluto.) ASHER TURNS GRAIN INTO FOOD FIT FOR A KING There couldn’t be a more generous description of Virgo, and we suspect that Jacob must have really cherished his son Asher. Asher’s bread will be fat; he will provide delicacies fit for a king. Gen49:20 THE MYSTERIOUS NAPHTALI Jacob’s praise of Naphtali comes down to us in at least two very different versions. The first translation is one that I associate strongly with Capricorn, being one myself. Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth good words.” -Gen 49:21 (In other words, Capricorn can be fucking nuts and not especially chaste, but he may make a good writer.) Naphtali depicted as a goat in The Tribe of Naphtali, from the Twelve Maquettes of Stained Glass Windows for Jerusalem (1964) by Marc Chagall. Think of Capricorn, and one thinks of the Greek god Pan. Pan had a body with a lower half like a goat, plus he was wild and erotic, like a “hind let loose”. Capricorn is also known for its dry, understated humor, and Jacob expresses this idea with understated praise, “he giveth good words”. Overtones of Saturn are admittedly more characteristic of Jacob’s description of his slave son, Iccashar. Capricorn is not an easy zodiac sign to live under. Yet with Naphtali, we see the fun-loving, sly-tongued reaction to living under all these Saturnine obstacles. A very different translation of this brief verse is more enigmatic: Naphtali is a graceful doe that gives birth to beautiful fawns. -Gen49:21 In this interpretation, Jacob appears more focused on predicting a handsome tribe of descendents for Naphtali. Interestingly, there is a Vedic asterism called Mrigashira that is symbolized by a deer, and those born under this cluster of stars are also said to be very clever with words. There is no evidence that Jacob would have had any knowledge of Vedic astrology, even from sources of lore outside the Bible, but I did find it fascinating that Jacob’s carefully chosen words of praise could possibly be interpreted in a Vedic context. JOSEPH THE HERO Jacob’s son Joseph became prime minister and lawgiver to the Egyptian pharaoh. This is James Patterson's painting of Joseph and his Coat of Many Colors. Jacob gives Joseph one of the lengthier blessings, and as with most of his other ones, it combines astrological imagery with a prediction for Joseph’s descendents. Joseph is a fruitful bough (bow) by a well, whose branches run over the wall (an allusion to the limitless expanse of the Sagittarian mind). The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the mighty God. -Gen 49:22-24 The bow as a symbol of the Sagittarian archer is pretty hard to miss. Joseph is also “fruitful” and his “branches run over the wall” – his numerous descendents are everywhere in Israel. Joseph is described as king-like, a strong bow “made strong by the mighty God”, which fits the Sagittarian archetype very well. BENJAMIN, THE “SON OF MY SORROW” The final blessing for Jacob’s youngest son, Benjamin, is more than a little intriging. The blessing is ominous, and does not use an image from recognizable western astrology. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder. -Gen 49:27 What is known about Benjamin is that his mother Rachel died soon after giving birth, and knowing that she would die of his delivery, she gave him the name “Benoni”, which means “son of my sorrow”. When Jacob predicts the future of his lineage as an old man, he is referring to a series of horrible incidents involving his descendents (the Benjamites). Most of them were slaughtered by the Israelites after an incident where they were responsible for raping a Levite’s concubine to death in Judges 19. In retaliation, the Israelites (mostly descendents of Judah) kill almost all of the Benjamite men, women, and children, with the exception of an unspecified number of men and four hundred young girls who had never slept with a man. These girls were given to the remaining Benjamite men, so that the tribe could be “reseeded”. Apparently, there are still not enough women left to propagate a new tribe, and it is decided that the remaining Benjamite survivors must have heirs, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. The Israelites couldn’t give them their own daughters as wives because they had already taken an oath to the Lord to abstain from doing so. So they instructed the Benjamites to hide in the vineyards of Shiloh, and seize the girls who came out to join in the dancing. Western astrology doesn’t speak to this image, but the wolf seems cursed, and it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to call him demonic. For some reason, it brought to mind the demon-like qualities of Vedic Rahu, who is said to be a forest-dweller, among other attributes. The day that I wrote this article, I was looking over my notes on Norse runes. The tradition of Norse runes extends far back into the past, although it is impossible to know if it was ever contemporary with the events of the Old Testament. Nonetheless, I was more than a little surprised to find this Norwegian rune fragment for Fehu (note the linguistic similarity with Rahu). Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen; the wolf lives in the forest. SOURCES Oken, Alan. Alan Oken’s Complete Astrology: The Classic Guide to Modern Astrology, Nicolas Hays, Inc., 2006. (Much of this book was originally published as three separate titles in the 1970’s.) Lings, Martin. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Inner Traditions; Revised edition, 2006. Originally published 1983. (The new edition of this classic title was approved by the author in 2005 before his death at the age of ninety-six.) The blessings are quoted from various translations of the Bible. Some of these versions are far more amenable to astrological interpretation than others. ENDNOTE 1 For an excellent article on Leo in its alternating phases of activity and withdrawn repose, see “The Offstage Leo” by Moll Frothingham in the Dec 2009/Jan 2010 issue of TMA.
Next month I will be teaching a workshop on writing flash fiction. I edit flash fiction, I write flash fiction, I love flash fiction. But it's a fact that flash fiction is one of the hardest fiction forms to write. Why? One word: Economy. And discipline. And a keen understanding of characterization, setting and scene, conflict... That's more than one word. Actually, that's a lot of words. But they apply to more than just flash fiction. The length of any story can be very accurately predicted based upon these elements. Let me explain. Economy: An economical writer (IMO the most enjoyable type of writer to read) doesn't waste words, doesn't repeat what's already been said, chooses the 'less is more' path to revealing information to the reader. As a very simplistic example, one of the most familiar sentences in the English language is, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." In its context, this sentence has purpose, and every word is necessary, because the purpose of this sentence is to use every letter in the English alphabet at least once. But in terms of story, this sentence is far too long, with 1/3 its words completely unneccessary. We can get the gist of the sentence perfectly well with "The fox jumps over the dog." If we want to add to characterization we might say "The fox jumps over the lazy dog." But the point is, a writer who is capable of managing his use of the words within the language can come to an accurate self-measure of story length before he's written the first word. And he does this by carefully disciplined management of characters/characterization, scene and setting, and conflict. It's almost a mathematical formula: #CH X SET + #SC X CON = #WORDS That's a purely arbitrary formula. If I ever figure out an exact one I'll let you know, but don't hold your breath. I'm no mathematician. But let's put it into the context of story construction: Number and Complexity of Characters: Characters are 'people' (even if they're not human) who by their very existence deserve acknowledgment. Think of them in terms of yourself. You want people to know your name, and you want people to know some information about you--especially information that is relevant to current circumstances. For example, you won't talk about your childhood memories at a job interview. You WILL talk about High School memories at a High School reunion. So, when you introduce a character, you want your reader to know her name and to know something about her that is relevant to the story. For example, the first sentence of Stefanie Freele's delightful "James Brown Is Alive and Doing Laundry in South Lake Tahoe" (Flash Fiction Online January, 2008) reads: Stu is driving to South Lake Tahoe to take his post-partum-strained woman to the snow, to take his nine-week-old infant through a storm, to take his neglected dog on a five hour car ride, and to take himself into his woman’s good graces. In one sentence we know everything we need to know about Stu in order to let the story progress. We know he's married, he has a child, he is experiencing some strong emotions concerning both of them, we know he's contemporary with us. (We also know the source of conflict, and the setting, but we'll discuss that later.) All in one sentence and using a stark economy of carefully and brilliantly chosen words--a few words to express worlds of meaning. So one point to make in discussing characterization and story length is the complexity of the character. A simple character is one who needs little description. (I had a clear and vivid image in my mind of what Stu might look like after only one sentence.) A simple characters is one whose conflict can be resolved within the context of a very small arena of his life. (I don't need to know Stu's entire life history to make the story work. All I need to know is that he's dealing with a post-partum wife the best he knows how. That's enough to endear the reader to him.) A complex character may have his entire life story told within the framework of the story. A complex character has traits--either physical or emotional or concerning his character, or a combination of these--that are integral to the conflict and the resolution thereof. A complex character will make profound discoveries and changes during the course of the story. A simple character needs very few words to 'flesh out,' to make REAL to your readers; but a complex character will require numerous paragraphs, chapters even, to become a whole person to the reader. Obviously, a simple character isn't going to fill a novel; a complex character isn't going to fit in a flash fiction story. The second aspect of character that affects story length is simply number. The number of characters. Every named, acting character takes space in a story. Each one deserves the same amount of attention any other character deserves. If you want your reader to feel deeply for a character (love or hate or somewhere in between) that character needs time (translation: words) in your story. A novel can support a broad range of named, acting characters, and can support shifts in POV between several characters. At the other end of the spectrum, a flash fiction story can only support 1 to 3 named, acting characters and generally only 1 POV character. In the context of the novel, a single scene can't very successfully support more than a few characters, and generally a POV shift signals the end of a scene. I guess that's a plug for the study of flash fiction. ;-) Setting and Scene: Setting is where a story takes place; a scene is an interval of time in which a specific action takes place within a particular setting. Both have an impact on story length. It comes down again to complexity and number, just as with characterization--managing the complexity of the setting and the number of settings and scenes within those settings. As an example, from "Just Before Recess" by James Van Pelt (Flash Fiction Online March, 2008): Parker kept a sun in his desk. He fed it gravel and twigs, and once his gum when it lost its flavor. The warm varnished desktop felt good against his forearms, and the desk’s toasty metal bottom kept the chill off his legs. Today Mr. Earl was grading papers at the front of the class, every once in a while glancing up at the 3rd graders to make sure none of them were talking or passing notes or looking out the window. Four sentences this time. The setting is a third grade classroom. You can see it in your head. I know you can. It's an image burned into the collective Western brain, even if you've never stepped inside the doors of a school. We've seen this place in countless films and television shows. It takes very little physical description to put the reader into the middle of this story. We don't need to see the maps on the walls or the pull-down blinds or the industrial berber carpet or the shelves of books and cubbies to know they're there. That's a simple setting, because it's a familiar one. The less familiar a setting is to the collective human experience, the more description it requires. You can do the math yourself by now. The more complex a setting, the more description it will require. So, complex settings are not suitable for flash fiction. But are complex settings required for novels? No. Because a novel has scenes to work with. A story is a series of 'this happeneds.' It also just so happens that the 'this happened's occur in 'this places.' James Van Pelt's story is something that happens in one place. One setting. And with one 'this happened.' One scene. Very Short Story. A novel can occur in any number of settings, with any number of scenes in which 'this happeneds' take place. A novel may have one setting, but numerous scenes, or numerous settings AND scenes. I don't know of the existence of a novel that relies on one scene. Correct me if I'm wrong. Is there such a thing out there? I hope not. Who would want to read it? I swoon at the thought. At any rate, management of the complexity of settings and the NUMBER of settings and scenes will steer the length of the story as well. Which leads right into... Conflict: Your setting creates a stage on which the action takes place. Your scenes are frameworks in which that action occurs. Your conflict happens within your setting and is resolved within a series of scenes. What is conflict? In a nutshell, conflict is the impetus for action. It is the thing that causes your main character to want to do something to change what's wrong with his world (resolution). As an example, from Patrick Lundrigan's "How High the Moon" (Flash Fiction Online, September, 2009): “You’re a robot, you know. I made you.” “I’ve heard that before,” Nomie said. She put the tea tray down and settled into the lawn chair. “But I don’t think I’m a robot.” “Programming,” Manny said, “I programmed you not to know.” He blew on his tea and sipped. Just the right amount of sugar and cinnamon. “Dear, I have news for you. You’re the robot. I made you.” In a few short lines we are exposed to the conflict of the story--a couple's argument about exactly who is the robot in the family. It's a simple and subtle and sweet conflict--at least you'll discover it to be so when you read the story. Will it take much to resolve the conflict? It could, I suppose. But the simplicity of the setting and the characters combine with this simple conflict to hint to the reader that the resolution will be a fairly simple one as well. None of these require a great number of words to accomplish. This is a nicely done story within the framework of 1000 words or less. So how do we make the conflict more complex in order to flesh it out to novel length? The answer is secondary conflicts. Let's say the conflict over who is actually the robot evolves, in the context of the argument, into a discussion of the factory where she/he was made, or the man who invented them? Perhaps the truth of the matter is paramount to a matter of national security? As conflicts breed other conflicts, the space required to a) explain them and b) resolve them all increases exponentially. A disciplined writer of short fiction will carefully rein in the tendency of the creative mind to include additional problems that will lengthen the story. In "How High the Moon," Mr. Lundrigan shows remarkable restraint in avoiding any secondary conflicts and focusing the conflict on the relationship between this man and his wife to make a lovely story that is less about robots than it is about love and loyalty. On the converse, a novelist can let the imagination run wild, restraining himself only with the knowledge that every conflict he introduces MUST be resolved. Even novelists must exercise a certain amount of restraint, otherwise he'll be writing the novel that never ends. In conclusion, it's a combination of the above that determine story length. The longer the story the less one must exercise discipline. That's the beauty of practicing the craft of very short fiction, however. All writers could benefit from the exercise of discipline, no matter what length fiction they write. Flash Fiction. Try it. You may not like it, but you just might learn something from it.
Being a now-defunct random compendium of Jeffrey Scott Holland's photographic effluvia dumped to a blog with neither rhyme nor reason.
I've always been fascinated by the Rothko-like blocks and shapes left behind when people try to cover up graffiti by hastily painting over it. In fact, I like it better than most graffiti. But isn't throwing your own paint over someone else's paint on a wall just another form of graffiti? The end result of whitewashing over it is still wide-scale defacement of property via paint, so why bother? In many cases, a property owner's inept attempt at a cover-up is even more of an eyesore than the tagging they tried to obliterate. It's almost become a childish game in which the property owner knows they're making an even bigger mess of it themselves, but ruining the work of the anonymous "artist" is the only recourse they have for revenge. The real question is, what if this had been the graffiti to start with? What if graffiti artists deliberately started painting these very same kind of blocks and shapes in the first place? Would someone come out and cover them up with an even bigger set of blocks and shapes, just for tit-for-tat's sake? Probably.
View from the 5th floor of the Elsby Building, New Albany, IN.
How to write a biography
A team blog about getting published and staying there.
