In a short story collection what story goes where? In my last blog I mentioned that I was putting together a science fiction short story collection for publication, and I reviewed some guidelines on placement of stories. There were strategies like: your best story should be first, your worse should be in the middle, and your longest should be last.
I’ve gone over my stories and I have two that I think are my best. One entitled, Before Your Very Eyes, tells a poignant tale of jealousy and revenge while the other, Memory Criterion, is a story that asks the question: how much of who we are is made up of our memories? A third one that I recently wrote and am still editing is a quirky love story set in a sleepy snowed-in New England village. I’ve tentatively titled it, A Curious Entanglement (that may change). I think it’s my third best.
It may be a coin toss as to which of the three I lead with. If anyone is interested in reading any or all of the aforementioned stories and giving feedback, please contact me.
My weakest story is one I wrote many years ago, entitled Unseen Enemy. It’s about a squad of futuristic soldiers attempting to thwart the government’s use of a doomsday weapon to stop an alien invasion. It’s not a necessarily badly written story (I still find it entertaining). It’s just that my writing has improved over the years. I could leave it out, but I think it still has something to say.
My longest of the collection is a human-alien love story of the boy-meets-girl type. It’s also in the editing stage. I’ve tentatively titled it, Becoming. At just over 12,000 words, I suppose it could be classified as a novelette.
Well, that’s it for now. As I delve further into getting the book out, I’ll blog more about the experience. Stay tuned.
I’ve gone over my stories and I have two that I think are my best. One entitled, Before Your Very Eyes, tells a poignant tale of jealousy and revenge while the other, Memory Criterion, is a story that asks the question: how much of who we are is made up of our memories? A third one that I recently wrote and am still editing is a quirky love story set in a sleepy snowed-in New England village. I’ve tentatively titled it, A Curious Entanglement (that may change). I think it’s my third best.
It may be a coin toss as to which of the three I lead with. If anyone is interested in reading any or all of the aforementioned stories and giving feedback, please contact me.
My weakest story is one I wrote many years ago, entitled Unseen Enemy. It’s about a squad of futuristic soldiers attempting to thwart the government’s use of a doomsday weapon to stop an alien invasion. It’s not a necessarily badly written story (I still find it entertaining). It’s just that my writing has improved over the years. I could leave it out, but I think it still has something to say.
My longest of the collection is a human-alien love story of the boy-meets-girl type. It’s also in the editing stage. I’ve tentatively titled it, Becoming. At just over 12,000 words, I suppose it could be classified as a novelette.
Well, that’s it for now. As I delve further into getting the book out, I’ll blog more about the experience. Stay tuned.
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