I am the co-editor of the literary journal The Talking Stick. I have been the co-editor and sole layout designer (and cover designer) of this Minnesota book (published by the Jackpine Writers’ Bloc) for almost ten years now. My aunt Sharon Harris and I took over the Jackpine Writers’ Bloc and The Talking Stick seconds before it all disapeared. There was just no one left with the time to devote to such a large task. So we took over. Right now I’ve designed, co-edited and been on the editorial board for eight different Talking Sticks. They’ve gradually grown every year and every year we’ve been bombarded by more submissions and more writers submitting. Our books have grown so big in fact that we have had to cut back to a smaller book this year. In the years since Sharon and I took over this is the first year our book did not get bigger but smaller by choice. And because of the limited page count, as well as so many submissions, we’re declining far more writers than we’re publishing. The Jackpine Writers’ Bloc is a non profit organization devoted to giving Minnesota writers a place to get published: so we still try to publish as many Minnesota writers as we can. On top of that the more writers we publish, the more books we sell, so it’s a win-win situation.
This does not mean that we ever decide to publish a poorer quality piece just to get more work in the book. We are proud to say we always publish for quality not quantity. But in the situation where we could publish three decent works by one writer or two instead and sneak another good writer into the book, than that’s what we’ll do.
The Editorial board is given two weeks to read all of the submissions and then we meet to decide what will get published. We have a good system and always make sure we have an odd number of people voting (usually five). At first you would think it was simple; we’ll all vote for the best stuff and we’ll all agree etc. Of course that is never the case. Regardless of how I believe personal preference should not be involved that is the deciding factor for most people. Some people prefer poetry, some people prefer fiction, some people hate dogs, hate cats, whatever, it happens. And it is personal preference of editors that gets all books published, regardless of quality writing. Sucks huh? Well I sure as hell think it really sucks.
I believe the deciding factor should be quality not on whether the subject is something I can relate to. If I want to read about a subject I can relate to, I’ll buy the book, right now I’m an editor and I will only vote to include quality writing. My other main factor is, “how well did they follow our submission guidelines?” You know, it might be one hell of an essay but we have no category for essays in The Talking Stick. Our categories are fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. I swear to god if I read one more essay that should not have been submitted in the first place I’m going to puke.
Don’t writers read submission guidelines?!
From what I can tell most writers seem to think that their incredible opinion about the democracy of Spain is so shockingly good that it belong in a literary journal asking for creative nonfiction. Are you kidding me? If you don’t follow submission guidelines, trust me, whatever the hell you submitted will be thrown away without consideration. That is exactly what a writer who does not follow the guidelines deserves and that is what you can expect from all publications.
Creative Nonfiction – fact or fiction?
That moves us on to the point of this post. Who is to say that an essay does not qualify as creative nonfiction? This is Wiki’s answer to what Creative Nonfiction is:
<<Creative nonfiction (also known as literary or narrative nonfiction) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service to its craft. As a genre, creative nonfiction is still relatively young, and is only beginning to be scrutinized with the same critical analysis given to fiction and poetry.>>
Helpful huh? If you check out wikipedia.com and do the same search (creative nonfiction) you will find lots of quotes and opinions on the subject, non of which are considered the absolute definition of creative nonfiction. Many people think an essay belongs in creative nonfiction. Hell, I know people that call all written prose an essay unless its over several thousand words in length. So, where do we stand? The best I can do is give you, right now, our definition for The Talking Stick on what creative nonfiction is.
Creative Nonfiction
A creative narrative based on fact. A prose piece that is written to read like fiction but relatively based on some facts. The facts do not have to be absolutely accurate, we really don’t give a rat’s ass on whether or not your mother’s dress was actually blue. In fact, a writer writing creative fiction should consider making the damn dress red if it means a better read. Creative nonfiction, in my opinion, should be interesting, riveting and, most of all, should keep my interest. Trust me, I don’t care whether your mother’s dress was blue all we care about is that it reads like fiction. MAKE IT INTERESTING!
Tips on writing Creative nonfiction
Write in third person. Why? Because every writer I know has found it easier to step away from absolute fact (a memoir) and make the peice more interesting by writing it in third person perspective. If you’re going to write creative nonfiction (that is make the effort to create a factual story that reads like fiction) you need to consider changing some details. It is the same work a fiction writer goes through. Should I explain that she’s exciting and interesting or describe that she wore a fabulous, gigantic hat and a red dress to the funeral? Whether or not she wore a red dress to the funeral, trust me, as a reader, that is how I would rather find out about who she is than your long description on who you think she is. Frankly, as a reader, I have no reason to trust your opinion. As a writer, you need to earn my trust, good description is the way to go. And good description starts with the undying quote from the book The Elements of Style “Omit needless words”. You must trust the images you give people and never repeat yourself. Trust me, you can do that in one sentence what you just did with five.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have started crossing out sentences (often whole paragraphs) while reading the submissions for the Talking Stick. Often, the submissions I cut the most from are never fiction but always creative nonfiction. That detail might be important to your little ten year old self when you lived through the big flood of sixty but I just don’t care. All I care about is, “Does it support the story? Does it add dimension or depth to the story? Is it neccesary for that fact to be in there to get this story from start to finish?” We have a 1500 word count for creative nonfiction in the book, I have never read a creative nonfiction piece that was the full 1500 words long that could not have literally been CUT IN HALF and improved ten fold.
