From Idea to Submission

I recently had an interesting experience with a shirt story I wrote over the weekend. I decided to blog about it because it was just too interesting.

 

On Saturday, April 1^st, I was going about the house, cleaning and tidying up. While I was busy doing that, an idea for a story struck. I had just the vaguest of idea for this story – mostly the theme. Didn’t know what else to do with that idea, so I just filed it away for later and continued with my work. Then, later in the day, I was reading an article on a website (Horror Tree) and noticed a call for submissions that caught my interest. I clicked on it and read the info. It was an anthology call for stories that took place in a bathroom.

 

And the deadline for submissions was in two days.

 

I don’t know why, but something about that particular call for stories had me wanting to submit to them. Still, with a short submission window, I didn’t think I could do it, since I did not currently have any stories that fit that anthology’s theme. Still, I filed it away for later, bookmarking the page.

 

Then sometime after that, my story theme idea somehow clashed with a real-life experience I once had at one of my old jobs – and, suddenly, I had a better idea of a short story that fit that theme and, as a result, a short story that fit the theme of the anthology.

 

Somehow or another, my own personal experience was used for that story idea. How very interesting that, around the same time, I came across an anthology call my short story idea was a match for.

 

So the next day, I sat down to write the story. After I finished writing the first draft, I was delighted how it had all turned out. I had managed to take that idea, pair it up with a personal experience, and turn it all into a story. There were actual words of that story on the page! Yay!

 

But the interesting part of this whole experience does not stop there.

 

After I was done writing this story, I got excited that I’d managed to bang out a first draft of it in one day. (Some stories take me forever to write!) We had a guest staying with us for the weekend (and until Tuesday afternoon), and after I told him I had written a story, I was surprised when he asked to read it. (He and his whole family, who are all like a second family to us, know that I am a writer.) I was surprised because, usually, when I tell somebody that I wrote something, they never ask to read it. So, this was a pleasant surprise.

 

But, of course, I was nervous, too. I had written this story on the laptop, so it had a bunch of typos because A: I was typing furiously as I wrote the story (and pretty much ignored all the typos!) and B: It was a first draft! I had to fix it up. Plus, get rid of the typos. But our guest insisted that wouldn’t bother him and he still wanted to read it.

 

So, I let him read it.

 

And after he read my story, he wrote a very nice note about it, too! I am sharing his note with his permission:

 

“I like it! The way you describe things and lay out the visuals of a scene reminds me of Stephen King! Sad that Clayton’s mother inflicted obsessive compulsion upon him, and can do so even in death! It’s amazing the impact our parents can have on us, even after they’re gone. Her disapproval merely making him yelp reminds me of when drill sergeants inspected us during basic training. Even after all these years, it sends a shiver down my spine as well. I find it hilarious he reassured himself that she’s “merely” a ghost, as if that isn’t upsetting in its own right! Also quite an assumption to think a ghost can’t hurt you.”

 

Wow, what amazing compliments on my story! I let him know his comments were very touching and thanked him for taking the time to read my story and comment on it.

 

I also talked with him about his own personal experience, hoping I hadn’t opened an old wound or triggered a certain trauma he had resulting from that experience. But that also gave me an idea for another story!

Anyway, I spent Monday morning, the day of the submission deadline, editing and fixing up my story. Satisfied, I submitted it to the anthology.

 

Today, I received an acknowledgment that my submission was received.

 

I had met a deadline that was in two days. Yay! This was not the first time I had met a two-day deadline; I once had an article that was due in two days, so I spent most of my time at the computer feverishly researching, writing and rewriting it! (Yes, I had met that deadline, as well – but, boy, did I get a huge migraine afterward!)

 

I came away from this experience just marveling over the whole thing. It’s funny how an idea for a story comes out of nowhere and manages to be turned into a bigger idea for a story to write. I’m just glad I had something from my past that made this idea work. (I use a lot of my personal experiences to “flesh out” story ideas.) Of course, I was worried that the person who caused that experience to happen might see herself in the story and get upset I had created a character based on that experience that ended up being the antagonist, but I’m not ashamed I used a personal experience for a story. That’s what writers do! As a writer, I play around with my ideas and explore different outcomes or ideas with my own personal experiences. Everything that happens in my life is material for my writing. This is just one experience from my past that evolved into a story.

 

And this experience with turning an idea into a story I submitted two days later serves as a reminder to hold onto those ideas for stories, even if all I have is a theme. If it’s just a fragment of an idea, hold onto it. Think about it. Give yourself some time to allow that idea to grow and evolve; there’s bound to be something that can help that idea turn into something bigger and clearer. Then it can be turned into something that you happen to have on hand in the event a short submission window comes along.

 

On another note: I got an idea for a short story to write last week and eventually sat down to write that story. Just today, I found a call for stories for a new magazine that is looking for those kinds of stories from writers! It’s a good thing I grabbed that story idea and wrote that story down. Now to get it ready for submission!