Comments on: Call for Submissions: Water

By: Katherine Durham Oldmixon

Katherine Durham Oldmixon — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:22:48 +0000

Beth and Darcy have touched on and touched off my thoughts on this question, which I also thank Christina for raising. One of the things I like most about qarrtsiluni–and there are many–is the unique emphasis on generation. We are waiting in [our own individual and collective] dark for something to happen. Gathering beautiful work that the theme we chose nets is certainly part of that, but inspiring creation, composition of good work is also important. In that aspect, constraints (though ours aren’t terribly constraining) are like nets–we will miss some beautiful catches, but we will get what fits, and the limitations might nudge some new work to fit the vessel (to stretch the metaphor.) So, for now, let’s see if those limits will be like mandalas. We do hope for a variety of genres and media, as a broad–one might say, a fluid–theme could allow.

By: beth

beth — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:22:56 +0000

Christina and Darcy, thanks for starting this discussion. You both bring up good points for Dave and me to think about, and the guest editors as well. You’re right that we ideally want people to think about the theme and create new work for it — but one reason we get so many poetry submissions, as opposed to prose, may be that a) people have already written poems that they hope will fit the theme and b) writing new short prose is a challenge for people who aren’t used to writing that way– for blogs for example. However, that’s exactly what we’re trying to encourage. For people like Dave and me, who’ve been blogging creative writing for five years now, a theme or a question is like a big gift – you get pretty tired coming up with stuff yourself!

The short blog form lends itself to creative short prose, but to polish it into very good work is the exception. Qarrtsiluni has always aimed at publishing and celebrating excellent writing from experienced online and traditional writers alike, and to show that online writing and publishing is every bit as good as writing in traditional journals. Rather than submitting already-completed work the traditional way – to a number of journals who might take it – we hope authors will write specifically for the themes here, being inspired by both by the theme and by the work of other contributors.

By: Darcy

Darcy — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:58:00 +0000

In response to Christina- I would assume that part of the challenge of the theme for the site is that you are creating work inspired by the theme. When you submit to online magazines you might find that more often than not they are looking for work that has been created with their preferences in mind, rather that previously written material that happens to fit into their guidelines. While this might not be true in all cases, (for instance if you have read most of the work they’ve published and have a good understanding of what they are looking for, and just so happen to have a piece that fits, than you might want to try it,) it often shows that you’ve put the effort into reading what they’ve put together, and taken that into consideration. 1000 words or less typically falls into the ‘flash’ fiction category. It’s a lot of fun to write, you might want to give it a try :-)

By: Christina Pacosz

Christina Pacosz — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:49:47 +0000

Glad to have a poem accepted. Haven’t heard about my short story, but that’s OK. I have other short stories I would submit but they are more than 1000 words – 1300, 1500. The one I did submit, “The Battery”, was the only short story I have with a water theme that was just under the limit you’ve set. Maybe more fiction would be sent if you would consider expanding the limit? Maybe there are space restrictions I am not aware of, but I thought to suggest this to you.