TrickyBuddha Studios

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Occasionally (very rarely), I look at some of the stuff I’ve written, think it’s not so bad, and get curious about publishing.

When I’ve spoken to someone in the past about the topic, I’ve been told to find magazines and books similar to my writing, find out who publishes them, and then find out how to submit content to those publishers. Perfect advice for 98% of the writers out there. But that’s where my advance is halted.

I’ve never seen publications of similar writings or writing style. Tonight, I tried searching around on the web and found some sites that publish surrealist writing, but they’re generally very small productions (like, posted on a web site with a tiny readership) and/or the content really doesn’t look anything like mine.

You’d think it might be easier to find stuff like mine, but surrealism is not exactly a genre; it’s more a filter on top of the genre. That is, you can have surrealist dramas or surrealist comedies. It makes it tricky to figure out where to even start.

And this is the part where I ask myself what the appeal of publication is.

Money? No. I mean, sure. Money is nice. But how much does an amateur writer make for a short story? $20? Is it having a physical copy? No, that’s never interested me. I prefer electronic copies. What’s left? I guess it’s the idea of coming across like-minded people — reading their writings, critiquing mine, learning and growing, and getting introduced to related items. Maybe I need to start digging around for surrealist book clubs or something, instead of looking for surrealist publishers. Maybe I need to start my own club. Haha.

Anyone out there have any ideas?

I just finished writing up a new “short” story (it’s kind of long). If you’ve read anything I’ve written, you know I have a fondness for surrealism. I’d *suggest* my latest story is less surreal than anything else I’ve written, but you’ll probably strongly disagree. In my defense, there are no talking bunnies or fantasy lands or random shifts in this one. Personally, I think, because there is so much focus on the character’s thoughts that — well, to be honest, you’ll have to tell me. I don’t want to over-explain or direct your experience.

But I do want to help you out. I’ll give you a head start: a guy (me) is held for murder. A detective is asking him questions about suspected crimes. The accused is thinking back on the events of his past, the crimes.

Everyone who speaks gets quotation marks — except me. I wanted there to be some ambiguity between my thoughts and my actions and my statements. But hopefully it works without being too confusing.

There’s a third, recurring character — and his lines are italicized. This character might best be described as an angel, or maybe it’s just a conscience. It may even be something else entirely. I’ll leave that interpretation up to you.

It’s a darker story but I don’t think it obsesses on that darkness. There is a bit of indifference to the — well, again. I don’t want to over-explain.

The average person reads about 200-250 words per minute. This story is 9,940 words. That means you need about an hour to get through it.

Because of how long it is, and how intense it is, for me, it’s been a difficult writing & editing process. What I mean is that I need to get into a specific mind frame to write & edit this kind of stuff, and maintaining that for a 10,000 word story is difficult. I really feel mentally drained right now. I need some puppy dogs and sunshine and ice cream. Haha.

I don’t think the story is done. I’m not sure where it works and where it doesn’t. I know some parts feel like they’ve got a great flow and others — well, I’ve been chopping chunks out right-and-left, too. But as my focus becomes harder to capture, I’ve decided it’s probably better for me to let go of the story for a few months or a year or something and come back to it at some point in the future (kind of like with my other story, Floating).

Set aside an hour, read it, and then come back and let me know what you think. Leave comments. Be constructive. Ask questions. Make guesses. Let me know how it makes you feel and what it makes you think. Tell me which sections belong or don’t belong, or work better in a different order. Let me know where the tone slips or the theme drifts. Or at least help me track down the bazillion typos, errors, tense shifts, etc. I’ll be waiting!