![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Stop.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nI see semi-regular comments on Twitter about writers who argue with editors. The overwhelming majority of opinion on this subject from writers who actually get published is this: DON\u2019T.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I agree. A magazine\u2019s editor certainly knows better than any of its writers (or potential contributors) what is best for its particular market. That said, I do want to point something out.<\/p>\n
Not every rejection is about the quality of your work. On occasion, it may happen simply because that editor is not your audience.<\/p>\n
Let me back up a bit.<\/p>\n
Years ago, I submitted a poem entitled \u201cBreakthrough\u201d to one of my creative writing classes. The version I submitted at the time was:<\/p>\n
Feel the power igniting
\nFeel it burning in your veins
\nTouch the flowing fire \u201cDesire\u201d
\nDrench your body in the flames.<\/p>\n
Follow where the flickers lead you
\nThough they\u2019ll rake you through the night
\nBrand your soul with conquered madness
\nThen plunge headlong into Light.<\/p>\n
Rock your Self atop the embers
\nCool your face within the heat
\nQuench your thirsting body\u2019s emptiness
\nWith warmth and peace complete!<\/p>\n
What do you think the poem is about? Give it a little thought. We\u2019ll come back to it in a minute.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week I submitted a short fiction piece called \u201cMuzi\u2019s Boon\u201d to an online spec fic publication. The story takes place in an unspecified fantasy world where nature spirits interact with the people of the land on a limited, but personal level. Muzi, the main character, tells the story in first person POV. During the tale, she comes face-to-face with a choice between what\u2019s best for herself or what\u2019s best for someone else. Both options carry a heavy price. I intended the story to provoke dialogue about balance between want and need, between the individual and the world around them. Beta readers and critique partners in my fiction class saw this and understood its point.<\/p>\n
The editor at the zine, however, rejected Muzi in part because it was too similar to Ursula Le Guin\u2019s \u201cThe Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read \u201cOmelas\u201d several years ago. (Excellent<\/strong><\/em> story. If you haven\u2019t read it, I encourage you to do so.) So, on the one hand, this is a complement. Yay! An editor thought my story was similar to a Le Guin classic! But even though I do see parallels and reminiscent elements between \u201cOmelas\u201d and \u201cMuzi,\u201d the stories are not the same. Their messages are not the same. Their endings (which is where the editor mostly said it was similar) are not the same. Quite the opposite, in fact.<\/p>\n In addition, my critique partners and beta readers commented on the \u201cbeautiful prose\u201d in Muzi\u2019s story. One even said it brought tears to her eyes. The editor, on the other hand, rated my prose functional, but average.<\/p>\n So was this editor wrong?<\/p>\n No. The zine is their responsibility. Their baby. They have a very specific idea about what they are looking for and Muzi wasn\u2019t it. I absolutely respect their decision. My point is that different people can read the exact same thing and see very different things.<\/p>\n Back to my poem. Think you know what it\u2019s about?<\/p>\n It was a number of years, during which I kept making the same effort to please every reader, before I really learned that lesson. Now, I accept (more or less) that if ten people read one of my stories\/poems\/what-have-you and nine like it, that\u2019s a pretty good success rate. Even better, if even seven of the ten really grok<\/em> the message I intended, I\u2019m happy. Every reader interprets my words based on their own life experience, their own beliefs. I can\u2019t control that. Even if I could, I wouldn\u2019t want to. That diversity is a big part of what makes our world so beautiful. So colorful. So vastly interesting.<\/p>\n I admit I\u2019ve gotten some rejections because I sent a piece out before it was ready. But there have been times, like Muzi, when I\u2019m convinced the story is good. I know it\u2019s well-written. I just haven\u2019t found the right audience. It\u2019s still hard, sometimes, to just nod and say \u201cThanks for the opportunity,\u201d and move on. I angst sometimes for days over rejections like this one. If you\u2019re a writer, especially one who\u2019s struggling to make a name for yourself in The Industry, you probably know full well how that feels.<\/p>\n In the meantime, I keep trying to find The Right Audience for each and every one of my stories. Muzi is still looking for a home, and that\u2019s okay with me.<\/p>\n \u201cStop\u201d photo by Isaiah Rustad<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSurprised Face\u201d photo by Robin Higgins<\/a> on pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I see semi-regular comments on Twitter about writers who argue with editors. The overwhelming majority of opinion on this subject from writers who actually get published is this: DON\u2019T. I agree. A magazine\u2019s editor certainly knows better than any of its writers (or potential contributors) what is best for its particular market. That said, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-on-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-iK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1264,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/21\/five-tips-to-nail-your-public-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":0},"title":"Five Tips to Nail Your Public Reading","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One thing I see a lot of in our local writing community is public readings, where a writer stands before an audience and reads a segment of their work. If you\u2019re a writer, but you\u2019ve never attended a public reading, you should consider it. It\u2019s a great way to get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ApproachTheMic.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ApproachTheMic.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ApproachTheMic.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ApproachTheMic.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ApproachTheMic.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":875,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/25\/the-long-long-wait\/","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":1},"title":"The Long, Long Wait","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"June 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"So you submitted your work to a magazine or agent or publisher, and now the long, long wait begins. Every day, you check your e-mail (maybe multiple times) or dash to answer the phone. The time drags out, passing so slowly it feels like it\u2019ll take forever for that editor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/laptop-3087585_1920-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":636,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/13\/story-beginnings\/","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":2},"title":"Story Beginnings","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"March 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last January, a friend sent me a link to a short-story contest through the American Philosophical Association. The story had to have a philosophical element, and winning entries would be published in Sci-Phi Online Magazine. I read their content, really liked what I saw, and wrote my first ever short\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":79,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/05\/going-with-the-flow\/","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":3},"title":"Going with the Flow","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As I said last week, my initial foray into writing fiction was flawed. In the science fiction market, the genre for my first novel, acceptable manuscript word count tops out at around 120K as a maximum for a first-time author; mine was greater than 800K and still going with no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1059,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/24\/helpful-ways-to-best-your-worst-enemy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":4},"title":"Helpful Ways to Best Your Worst Enemy","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"You\u2019ve written a novel, a handful (or a boatload) of short stories, flash pieces or essays. You\u2019ve queried, suffered rejection, and maybe been published. You\u2019ve enlisted beta readers and participated in critique workshops. Others (not just your mom) have complimented your work. So why do you still sometimes feel like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DogDisguise.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DogDisguise.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DogDisguise.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DogDisguise.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DogDisguise.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":573,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/29\/going-it-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":5},"title":"Going It Alone","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I have to admit I\u2019m old-fashioned, to some degree. For the past however many years I\u2019ve been writing, I\u2019ve declared I would only seek traditional publishing routes for my work. I believed that self-publishing was only useful for those who couldn\u2019t get published any other way. But I have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Stop.jpg?fit=3948%2C2637&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1162"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1165,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions\/1165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/surprised-3355958_1920.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\")
My classmates\u2014every last one\u2014thought it was about sex. Surprise! It was not<\/em>. When I wrote \u201cBreakthrough,\u201d I was trying to describe a spiritual awakening, that feeling of communion with God\/The Divine\/The All\/The Universe\/Insert Name Here. For weeks after that class, I struggled to imagine how I could revise the poem to make my readers see my actual intent. I finally gave up because each attempt diminished the message. In trying to make the poem one-size-fits-all, the meaning was reduced to unrecognizable pablum. Its significance to me, personally, got lost in the process.<\/p>\n