by Elizabeth Graham from the January 28, 2013 issueTagline: Karen's daughter was happy about the new kid on the block...and Karen was happy about the new kid's dad...
In a Nutshell: Karen is a divorced single mom and her six-year-old daughter is the only child who lives on their street, so she's excited when a new family moves in. It's a divorced dad and son. The kids hit it off and so do the parents.
Observations: This story shows the realism that Woman's World likes. Sometimes you'll get stories that ask you to accept the improbable, like The Locket. (Emily notices a man staring at the locket she's wearing. He asks if it might be the one his grandmother lost before she died. It contained a picture of his grandfather. It is. What are the odds of that???) But this week's story is nothing but plain old ordinary happenings. No strange coincidences or unusual settings. Cute story.
17 comments:
Yes, Kate, what's to say about an ordinary little story? My question: Do people really want to read about themselves? Evidently, Elizabeth Graham thought so and she is now $800 better off.
I thought it was a cute story. WW loves chocolate chip cookies and kids. My only suggestion is that WW knock it off with the exclamation points!!! It looks very 'high school'. There are nine of them in this story. Of course, that's just a pet peeve of mine.
I find it interesting what WW thinks is cute or important enough to pull out of the story and highight in blue. "His smile made the corners of his eyes crinkle." That is the hook to this story according to WW. An insight into their thinking...
Yes, Jody, I can sometimes predict what they'll pull out as -- I forget the term for those blurbs -- does anyone know what they call them? Your pet peeve is exclamation points; I dislike them, too, and I dislike quote marks even more -- they seem pretentious to me (not when they're actually quotes, but used to emphasize things). Anyway, the story was nice.
I thought this story was sweet. The lesson I take from it is that I might be trying too hard -- I always try to cram in some back-story and info about the characters. We know almost nothing about these characters at the end of the story, except that they like each other. And Johnene is apparently fine with that.
Jody, if you see any exclamation points in a story I've written, I didn't put them there!!!
It occurred to me that the editor might have added them. And, Betsy, I just sent in a story that I had to revise because I realized that I hadn't indicated that the female character was single. It meant I had to take out words someplace else. It's difficult, with the short word count, to expound on their lives.
Tamara, I assume the editors put the exclamation points there -- the entire magazine is riddled with them, which annoys me no end.
I HATE using my word count to explain that the characters are single. In some I've just let the reader assume that they are . . . but then again, those might all have been rejections.
Betsi, excuse the misspelling of your name. Not sure I always indicte marital status either. It just struck me on this one, which happens to be one that I think they'll reject anyway. I fooled around with it for weeks and finally slapped an ending on it and sent it off to NJ with my fingers crossed. Sometimes I just can't think of a cute ending.
The ending is the hardest part for me too. I ALWAYS have to set it aside for at least a few days and hope that something comes to me. But then again, Johnene has changed my endings more than once.
I hear you all on the exclamation point thing. I NEVER write with !!!...yet, my story had them. arrrrgghh. It must be a Johnene thing. Oh, well...let her do whatever she wants. When we're editors of a major magazine..haha...we'll cut them all out! (note exclamation point)
Does WW ever print stories of nice married couples? Seems everyone is single. I'll have to research Kate's archive. Bless you, Kate, for having that reference material.
They, the Royal They, say that the ending should come from some comment towards the beginning. If you start with a tree swing, end with a tree swing comment. That sort of thing.
I never have trouble with the titles or the ends...they do get changed though... my problem is word count. I always have too many and have to cut what I feel are interesting bits of info.
Mary Jo, personally, I don't necessarily want to read about someone exactly like myself. I like to live vicariously through someone else via romantic fiction, and so I prefer to read about someone who's got it (or is about to get it) better than I have. That's why I love reading about rich men sweeping women off their feet, so I can imagine myself being that woman. :)
Endings are always super hard for me too.
As for tying the ending into the beginning, that might have come from my class materials. And it's an OBSERVATION that many stories do that and it's an easy way to bring things full circle. That is not something that comes from WW as a guideline, just to be clear. :)
Yes, they do print stories about nice married couples. 1. "Rules are Rules" - The lady cop and the husband truck company owner. 2. "The Glow of Love" - The wife who wanted lights on the house at Christmas.
I called the subscription department of Woman's World to see why they had stopped sending the magazine to me. The woman said it had been returned to them as undeliverable. Huh? The family has lived at this address for at least 75 years, I have subscribed to WW for a year or two, and I easily get every catalog known to womankind in the mail. It will take at least a couple of weeks to see if the situation is corrected.
In the meantime, I buy the WW magazine at the grocery and it costs me more there. Then I will vote on your story, Kate. That is your story, isn't it?
My story is "Two from Column B." :)
That's the one I meant. It isn't in the grocery store yet, is it?
I got a copy with Kate's story yesterday.
And voted.
Mary Jo, it was at my grocery store today.
I will look for it tomorrow. Thanks, Kate.
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