Thursday 16 October 2008

Autopsy of a submission

This has been around for a while but it's still good stuff. What did your last rejected story die of? I think mine suffered from terminally low Intent Antibodies.

Behler's Blog, part 1 & 2.

Extract follows.

"Fluff is the little inconsequential stuff that, when properly done, can round out a chapter or a character very nicely but has nothing to do with the plot. For example, it’s the quick sidebar to explain that the hopelessly rich Margarita Von Aldenbald was nicknamed Lampie during a inebriated foray into a trucker bar where she commenced to dancing on the tables wearing nothing but a lampshade while singing “I’m An Oscar Meyer Wiener.” It goes to development and adding richness to the story. "

2 comments:

Gay Degani said...

Thank you, Ms. Sarah. Love the blog you sent me too. I think most stories suffer from "failure to conflict."

Sarah Hilary said...

Yep, that's a good one, Gay. Failure to connect (with the reader). Failure to conflict.