I’ve recently forced Smoketh to read a short story I’ve been planning to submit to a publication, and we’ve both agreed that it’s a sell-out piece, ie, I’m writing out of my personal style (personal style, how pretentious), writing out of character in order to fit the quality of the publication, ie, i’m whoring myself for byline and money. Short stories are a trickier business than, say, a straightforward informative essay on some specific health issue like what I’ve been doing for another publication (an excellent publication if I might add), or book and comic book reviews. Of all the writing forms the short story perhaps is one of the most difficult to tackle, as it has too many elements that would require fleshing out in a more limited space. It is also more difficult to inject one’s characteristic humor, as the humor and wit would have to be delivered within a specific situation or context, and not just something that you could pull out from a personal experience. Having said that, I still think it’s a sell-out piece.

Come to think of it the writing business is not very different from, let’s say, showbizness or even job applications for corporate positions. Sometimes you would need to step out of the box, or as they would say in American Idol, step out of your comfort zone and sing, bleeech, an Air Supply song when necessary when what you really want to belt out is Don’t Drink The Water by Dave Matthews. You can’t always write personal stuff–with the relatively poor marketability of literature plus the fact that very few people would pay to read printed material, you would have to know the access points for the dwindling market. The beauty of writing, I guess, is that its nature as an art allows for more flexibility and range without necessarily attributing such to whoredom.

Categories: Blogs