This is courtesy of the Willesden Herald (and Kully, who posted it in the members forum):

Common faults in short stories submitted Some people have expressed interest in knowing why entries are eliminated or advanced, so I offer the following notes on why all but the last few are eliminated....

http://willesdenherald.blogspot.com/2008/02/common-faults-in-short-stories.html




- NaomiM

Am I allowed to post the whole thing? Well here goes:


[Edited by david bruce at 07:38:00 on 26 February 2008
Reason: no full quotes, sorry!]

6. Throwaway endings. The story has been going along fairly well, showing signs of life and suddenly the writer must have thought, “Oh I can’t be bothered, I’m just going to put a twist here and finish it.”

- makes me worder if these are actually abortive novels which were started and them abandoned, before being hurriedly turned into short stories prior to submission to a comp. ?

<Added>

oops, wonder

Wow, Naomi. I found myself getting angrier and angrier as I read this pretentious person's monologue. I don't argue with the content, but the style... How dare they be so pompous, self-aggrandising and plain RUDE. I'm actually lost for words. Is this really the same competition posted on the thread about Zadie? This person sums up, for me, all that's rotten in the state of literature.
Susiex

Really Susie? I thought it was quite informative, and pretty comprehensive; nothing that I haven't read in bits and pieces elsewhere.
Yes, it is the same competition - probably best to comment on the other thread in the privacy of the Members forum if you have a specific point to make about the competition.

- NaomiM

<Added>

Sounds quite Stephen King-ish, but without being littered with the F-word. We may not agree with it, but it's nice to have it laid bare for a change.

What I object to is that it's such a downer on people's attempts to write. As if this person knows everything
about writing that there is to know. It's the tone I dislike, not, as I say, the content.
Seems to me it's an exercise in self-justification.
Susiex

Well it does have a very unapologietic tone, but then he has had to put up with a lot of negative posts on the blog recently, so I suppose he's not feeling particularly 'touchy feely' right now. Can't really blame him; I got to give him points for honesty.

<Added>

- and I have truncated it a little; he is more positive in the summary.

I think this is an excellent list of pointers. Okay, so it might strike some people as somewhat brutally honest, but there are times when brutal honesty is useful.

If no-one is ever allowed to say why some people's writing isn't up to scratch in case it steps on someone's sensitivities, then no-one will ever gain an idea of why they're not getting the success they dream of.

I didn’t find any fault with his, ‘Common faults in short stories submitted.’ Reading hundreds of short story entries (slush pile) would put anyone in a bad mood. I’m sure I (or you) would approach the first twenty-five submissions with a fair balance attitude, but upon reading the 300th entry, I (or you) would start holding the manuscripts with one hand, and our nose with the other. Personally, I applaud anyone who can read short story entries. I couldn’t do it.

Azel

I found this rundown extremely useful and to the point. The tone is perhaps a little bracing, but I think it's humorously rather than maliciously intended - albeit somewhat waspish humour.

The only problem with this kind of list is that it tends to make you approach writing in terms of what to avoid rather than what to achieve, which is a little inhibiting. In fact, just thinking about it paralyses me with fear. I'll get the first couple of sentences of a little something or other down & immediately start wondering how many of the rules I've already broken, how many more I'm likely to break before before the thing's finished & whether it might not be better to give it up as a bad job.

In fact, just thinking about it paralyses me with fear. I'll get the first couple of sentences of a little something or other down & immediately start wondering how many of the rules I've already broken, how many more I'm likely to break before before the thing's finished & whether it might not be better to give it up as a bad job.

This is exactly why I disliked it. It doesn't encourage. And here are some more:
Using words (over and over) like Yawn, yawn, and boring and dreary and Banal. Same old, same old - this person is being totally subjective.

A lot of stories about elderly people living in squalor. A particularly English phenomenon. A lot of stories about dying relatives. Ok, but they better be good.

Nice, no?

Even if you are a shining genius (as you all think you are)

Is this treating aspiring writers with respect?

In this competition, at least, you are writing for/playing your music for people who can say in all modesty that they are not tone deaf.

- but who display no sensitivity towards people whatsoever.

Weird spastic prose

Now they're going into really iffy territory.

But I don't want to be overly negative and turn critique into a despicable blood sport,

Seems to me that this is exactly what they are doing.
Susiex

I do know what you mean, but at the same time I think the very over-the-topness of the bits you've quoted signal to the reader that, although there is a serious point being made, they are also more than a little tongue-in-cheek. At least, that's how I read it.

Can't see anything wrong with the advice or the style. The writer has just tried write interestingly about each individual point - don't see why anyone would object to that.

Oh well. I've made my point and will stop now.
Susiex

I thought this was hilarious! And sometimes, I think you have to be brutal. Some people never learn otherwise.

I liked this too. I think it's pretty funny - and very useful.

It's interesting that number 4 is something Susan Hill has commented on in the past too - there must be a lot of it about.