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Jeopardy!, and what new experiences bring to writing

When I became pregnant with my daughter, I realized that not only was I, in essence, giving life to another person, but I would also be giving this person their first however many firsts. There are a lot of things that we do so often, even unthinkingly, that we may forget that there was once a time that we were trying it for the first time. My first breath, my first experience of the sun, my first step, my first wound, my first haircut, and the list goes on and on.

The older I become, there seem to be fewer moments of experiencing things for the first time. So, I made a promise to myself that every year, I would deliberately set out to try at least one fun/good/interesting thing for the first time.

Since then, I have experienced my first rodeo, my first drive-through car wash, my first taste of Lebanese breakfast, among others. To be fair, I also experienced some not-so-fun firsts such as my first ride in an ambulance.

At the beginning of 2020, my husband and I both took the Jeopardy! online test. It was the last of their scheduled tests (right before they launched the Jeopardy! Anytime test). I only took it because my husband said he wouldn’t take it otherwise, and I really wanted him to be on Jeopardy. We’d been fans of the show for a very long time (my daughter loves the Jeopardy! final question music), so it was also something fun to do together, a date night of sorts.

Months later, I get an email inviting me back for an audition, and long story short, I was able to add “being a Jeopardy! contestant” to my list of firsts for 2020. The whole process was a really interesting experience (especially in the midst of the COVID pandemic).

What does any of this have to do with writing? It’s not like you’re only allowed to write what you know, right? Yes, however, instead of breadth, I would say that new experiences give more depth to my writing in the following ways:

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Writers Toolbox: 10 Tips for Submitting to Literary Journals

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Writing for literary magazines is a good way to hone your craft and, with luck and a lot of hard work, get those valuable publishing credits. With over 160 submissions and counting under my belt over the last 3 years, plus a few acceptances to boot, I’ve learned some things about submitting to literary magazines which I’d like to share with you today in the hopes that it helps you to pursue your writing dreams.

1. Read all instructions carefully.

This is the first piece of advice you’re going to get, and, arguably, the most important. The top literary magazines get thousands of submissions every month, while only being able to accept about 5 stories & maybe about the same number of poems on average. You do the math. So, if you don’t follow their instructions on how to format & send your submission, you’re making the editors’ job so much easier. They can just toss out your work in an effort to diminish their slush pile. Generally, there are five main things to watch out for in the instructions.

–Formatting: This is the type & size of font the editors want, information they want on the first page,

–Length: What is the minimum and maximum length of stories they’ll accept.

–Method of submissions: I’ll talk more about this in my next point, but follow these to a T. Don’t email, if they want it mailed. Don’t mail, if they prefer electronic submissions. It seems kind of obvious, but better safe than sorry.

–Blind submissions: If the instructions specify that they read “blind”, this means that all identifying information should be deleted off your submission. Double-check this thoroughly. I once forgot to take my name off my header. Thankfully, the editor kindly informed me and allowed me to resubmit. Other editors may not be so merciful.

–Cover letter & biography: I’ll also cover this in more detail. I personally feel you should always thank the editors for taking the time to read your work. Beyond that, some want you to include a bio or specific information in your cover letter. Some will want your bio. Some don’t care unless you’re accepted.

Sometimes, the instructions will be very short or vague. When in doubt, I follow these default manuscript guidelines. They make my submission look professional. It’s always smart to make a good first impression.
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Writers Toolbox: 5 Fiction Mistakes that Spell Rejection by Moira Allen

**The Writer’s Toolbox series are resources I’ve found that have helped me in developing my writing and my writing career.  I hope you will find them as useful as I do.  All copyright is retained by the original writer. 

Original article found here.

 

Ask most fiction editors how to avoid rejection, and you’ll hear the same thing: Read the guidelines. Review the publication. Don’t send a science fiction story to a literary magazine, and vice versa. Don’t send a 10,000-word manuscript to a magazine that never publishes anything longer than 5,000 words. Spell check. Proofread. Check your grammar. Format your manuscript correctly. Be professional. Failure to observe these basics, many editors say, accounts for more than 80% of all short fiction rejections.

But what if you’ve done all that, and your stories are still coming back with polite, form rejection letters? I asked nearly 50 fiction editors — from traditional literary publications to flash fiction ezines — what types of problems resulted in the other 20% of rejections. These are the problems that plague stories that meet all the basic requirements, but still don’t quite "make the grade."

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