Short Story Publishing Rights & Do Short Stories Need a Theme? | Short Fiction Q&A

[@ShaelinWrites]

Hey everyone! I just want to add one thing as a note here: in my question about deciding which magazines are a good fit for your story, I said that I primarily submit to the same magazines over and over. But, I realize this is a very Canadian perspective haha! We don't have many magazines here, so everyone kind of just submits to the same small group of magazines, unless the story is too much of an outlier to appeal to any of them. But, I know that in the US, you have so many more magazines, so if you live in the US or another country with a lot more magazines (I don't know much about the literary magazine community outside Canada and the US, sorry!) you might do more research to find more specific magazines for each story. That doesn't really make sense in Canada because we have so few magazines to begin with, and most of them aren't very niche in what they are looking for, so it's possible to submit every story you write to the same 10 magazines in most cases. That said, in most cases it is okay to submit to magazines that run outside of your country, I just primarily submit within the Canadian market because it's what I'm familiar with and there are some extra opportunities that can come from being published in those magazines since I am Canadian, such as being nominated for prizes, grant money, etc. But, you don't have to submit within the country you live in, as long as the magazine says in their guidelines that they accept international submissions, which most do. Also I didn't mention this in the video, but RE the question about copyright: read your contracts carefully!! What I said about rights is not universal, it's just standard form for most reputable magazines, but there are sketchy magazines out there so make sure you're okay with the terms of the publication contract and don't sign anything that seems iffy to you or might infringe your ability to publish the story in a collection at some point.

[@mickeyzeckendorf3886]

I am LIVING for this look. The earrings, the tropical pastels, look at you being my enby style icon ~~

[@Persimmonyyy]

I've watched a lot of these writing videos lately, and I've always felt like I was incapable of writing short stories. My main talents are in world building and my characters are often very complicated, so condensing my ideas into 4,000 words has always felt impossible. I write novels, and I've only ever finished one (I still wasn't happy with it though), so that feeling of accomplishment? Practically unattainable. But for some reason, this was the video that changed my mind? I don't know. Suddenly I feel like I could do this if I wanted to, and I do want to. I'm going to try and finish something for once. Thanks I guess! : )

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

Good luck :)

[@rotflolawlmao]

First because one does not simply miss a Shaelin video

[@zero15388]

Thanks your discussions about short story writing on KZbin is so appreciated !

[@LeoMafraArt]

Your videos are always so condensed and full of useful tips. They always get me excited to write!

[@wrigleyextra11]

I M A G E R Y!! This is such a game changer for me! The novel editing is just the same images over and over so I need to switch it up! Thank you so much for answering my weird long question (idk if you'd get the "voice" thing but my heart is so full that it got answered and it resonated so much!) Slogging away is hard and this has made my year - I'm getting my second wind for writing to the end of 2021 and it's thanks to this video. You are appreciated in ways you do not know Shaelin! You are adored! EDIT: Just wrote LINGUISTIC PLAYGROUND on a post-it and putting it up on my workboard

[@ShaelinWrites]

Ahhh I'm so happy it helped! I've had the exact same problem you described in your question!

[@sumayyahkhan8897]

Bro I'm first! Not surprised tho. Hahahha. Great vid. Havent watched it yt tho. Gonna start now

[@maya-gur695]

I'm currently working with an editor on a story, so this video is super helpful! Thanks!

[@somekid3893]

I've written several fantasy and sci-fi flash fiction stories. It's not exactly easy per se, but you talk about specificity and efficiency of language a lot and that's pretty much my go-to tip if you're looking to write a short piece with enough world-building to make a cohesive story. That said, a number of my tiny sci-fi/fantasy stories ended up as series of little stories, some of which now have in the thousands of words worth of story in them. Having those extra words to reference really helps flesh out the world and lets me shortcut the whole "how do I explain this super confusing concept in five words" issue that comes with writing stories less than 400 words.

[@bluefireplayz7102]

Hey shaelin I just wanted to say thank you i love writing and you help me so much with my book also i binge watch your videos as i write

[@jackjohnhameld6401]

*The short story is the form that deals with the individual when there is no longer a society to absorb her, and when she is compelled to exist, as it were, by her own light.* Frank O'Connor. The Complete Stories of James Purdy (2013 Livewright) are filled with people who must walk in their own light.

[@Space_Writer]

I appreciate this video. All this time I felt like poetry was made for and written by intellectuals, a high art that was something to only include in my reading repertoire if I was planning to impress someone. I'll check out some poetry books the next time I visit the library.

[@nazmul9609]

Thanks a lot, I was struggling to write a novel for 2 years But after watching Your vidieo's about short stories i realised Short stories are best for me. Thank you very very very much.

[@ShaelinWrites]

Short stories are such a fun form (my favourite!) so I'm so happy you've found them!

[@imaginativebibliophile549]

Shaelin, I wrote a poem, North Hills yesterday. Often, I write short stories to experiment with a certain story and develop the material into a novel. Writing a historical fiction novel requires planning and research, which is not always the case for a historical fiction short story. Once I immerse myself in my fictional world with my character’s journeys, the story simply plunges out of my fingers. I love you

[@kristaldow1145]

Would love a list of your favorite/recommended magazines!

[@AgricultureSpecialists]

Lol the first magazine to publish Karen Russell was The New Yorker. Whenever she brings it up she says she "got very lucky." May we all have that luck lol.

[@ShaelinWrites]

wow can you imagine first being published by TNY😭😭😭 the power of that.

[@writingvsprogramming3387]

About loosing the voice while editing - I like to write a short story (or just a random scene) about my characters from the novel, to get their specific voice back. I don't write the story to be in the novel or to be published anywhere, it is just an exercise for me to get back the feeling/flow for that character before going back to editing.

[@mario5139]

Editing out the voice in my work is big boy problem I experience. I actually usually write poetry to get it back. When I write poetry its almost raw voice, no confusion, no wordplay to editing- so its incredibly freeing.

[@yonathanasefaw9001]

I got a question Shaelin, outside of writing do you play any video games? Online games? Final Fantasy XI in particular?

[@ShaelinWrites]

Nope, not really my thing!

[@rajashekharnarayan4717]

A Very Good Morning Shaelin 😊

[@heleneo4870]

yay, thank you for this vid!

[@maeva4406]

Do you read manga?

[@artie5o6]

😃👍

[@rajashekharnarayan4717]

Hi Shaelin How Are You 😊