Murder, Murder Everywhere

As of this moment, just over 140 stories have been submitted to the Hint Fiction contest. And I’m seeing the same trend in stories that I saw for the last contest and for the open reading period: murder and killing. It got so bad that at one point on Friday afternoon I sent Ben White this text:

Am starting to get sick and tired of the same old murder/killing stories.

He responded a few minutes later:

Me too! I reject 9 out of 10 just because … they’re so “meh” at this point. Murder without cause is an event. Not a story.

And I think that sums up perfectly what’s wrong with a good number of stories that have been submitted so far: the murder just happens without reason, and the reader is supposed to, what, care about this somehow? In fact, it’s even gotten to the point that the very best stories about murder and killing don’t impress much anymore.

I’m not alone. Ask editors what one of the biggest trends in stories they see is, and they’re apt to tell you murder and killing and any other form of violent crime. (Which all would make for an interesting study into the psyche of a writer … or maybe that writing about murder/killing is the easiest thing to write about, which says something completely different about our society.)

One of the main reasons I asked James Frey to be the final judge of this contest (besides the fact he’s James effin Frey) is because he’s genre neutral. Writers won’t, in theory, immediately assume that because he writes such-and-such, that’s what they need to submit. So that’s why I didn’t ask an established horror or mystery or science fiction writer to be the final judge. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those genres — I’m a fan of them all — but oftentimes writers will manipulate their own stories to try to fit a judge’s sensibility instead of simply writing the very best stories they can.

So am I saying you shouldn’t write and submit stories that deal with murder and killing? No. But if you do, be aware that your story must be the greatest story ever written (hyperbole, yes, but you know what I mean). And keep in mind my previous post about story titles and how they’re even more important in Hint Fiction. Here’s an example of a typical murder/killing story:

Close Call

The cop pulls me over for speeding. He lets me off with a warning. Thank God he didn’t see the blood dripping from the trunk.

Okay, so what do we know here? Obviously that the narrator has something in his trunk (I'm assuming, of course, the narrator is a he) that’s dripping blood. It’s probably a body, but it could be a number of things. But let’s say it is a body. So what? Does the reader really care about a dead body in the trunk? Does the reader get any sense of the narrator’s character or motivation? Yes, it’s Hint Fiction, but is it good Hint Fiction?

Now let’s change up the title:

Because She Said No

The cop pulls me over for speeding. He lets me off with a warning. Thank God he didn’t see the blood dripping from the trunk.

The title certainly adds a new layer to the story. But is it necessarily interesting? More so than before, maybe, but still it’s a typical murder/killing story. Nothing too special here. It’s a story that many other writers would probably come up with at some point. And that’s the thing in all fiction, be it novel or story or hint: the goal is to write something that nobody but you would come up with. That’s the idea of being original.

Note the main reason I kept the submission process the same as last year — through the comments section — is a) I think it's more interesting this way and b) writers can see what's been submitted thus far. Just like in American Idol, you have the advantage of seeing your competition. So use it!

Just A Hint Of A Title

Titles are important -- be it a poem or a story or a novel -- but they are even more important in creating effective Hint Fiction. Last year I talked briefly about the importance of titles but Ben White just recently did a blog post where he says it even better:

The angle for a title (for fiction of any size) is usually a summary or some key/noteworthy words. Perhaps a rephrasing. Moby Dick is about, surprise surprise, Moby Dick (more or less). Most, perhaps even the “good” ones, don”t bring anything new to the table. Fine—but when you write a story that is only 140 characters or 25 words or less, that’s actually pretty inexcusable. You worked hard to cram as much story as you can into a sentence or two, and you’re telling me you couldn’t think of anything else to add? That title could’ve been a whole new element, supported a completely different layer of interpretation. It can do something.

With a novel, titles are often placeholders or descriptors (i.e. The Magician, or something else equally mundane and logical). With micro- and flash-fiction, the usual maxim is that every word counts. That’s actually a lie. There’s plenty of relative fluff even in really compelling stuff. Maybe it counts, but it’s not necessary. But if a title makes up 10-30% of the total word count, it’d better be necessary.

My rule of thumb for a nano title: if the story reads the same way with or without the title, then the title isn’t carrying its weight.

Ben and I actually talked about this last week, and he brought up a good point about the difference between nano fiction (or Twitter fiction) and hint fiction. For the stories Ben edits, writers are restricted to the 140 character limit. There is no room for a title. A story has to stand on its own with just the body of the story itself. Oftentimes, Ben told me, a story might be somewhat good but could be improved upon greatly by just the right title. By adding the right title a writer adds a new layer to the narrative (note, it is possible to make the story worse by adding the wrong title, which should be obvious but which I feel I should mention anyway). A reader will oftentimes glance at the title before reading the story, not really understanding the title's significance until they finish the story and look at the title again and then something clicks.

Ben gives an example of one of his own stories in his post (which you should read, of course), so I might as well give an example of one of my stories published recently. Except I'm going to show you the story first without its title.

She saw his picture in the paper and remembered waiting on him two days before: the lighter fluid, her quip about barbequing, his vacuous gaze.

If you're not familiar with this story, you're probably thinking Hmm, okaaaay ... Truthfully, the story doesn't work on its own. In fact, I'm positive Ben would reject it for Nanoism (for reason other than the fact it's actually 143 characters). There's an element that's missing. That element, of course, is a title. Now here's the story with the title included:

10 Items or Less

She saw his picture in the paper and remembered waiting on him two days before: the lighter fluid, her quip about barbequing, his vacuous gaze.

Now that that extra element has been add, the story becomes much more effective (at least I like to think so, though I am sort of biased). That's why a title is very important in Hint Fiction -- it gives the writer a chance to add another layer to the story, sort of cheating the 25 word limit.

Does your Hint Fiction story need to have a title? Not always -- the Hemingway piece certainly didn't -- but it definitely won't hurt.

Hint Fiction Contest Reloaded

Last year the term "hint fiction" was born in the essay "Hint Fiction: When Flash Fiction Becomes Just Too Flashy" published at Flash Fiction Chronicles. To commemorate the occasion, a retrospective essay, "Hint Fiction: One Year Later" appears at FFC today. A lot has happened in the past 365 days, and I want to thank each and every person who has supported the concept of Hint Fiction and has helped spread the word. And to celebrate Hint Fiction's birthday, we're having another contest. What is Hint Fiction? Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's infamous six-word story -- "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn" -- Hint Fiction is a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. These are complete stories that hint at a larger story, not a first sentence or random sentence plucked from a larger work thinly disguised as a story. To see examples, look at last year's winners and finalists, or check out examples of my own Hint Fiction.

This year's judge:

Last year Stewart O'Nan was kind enough to act as the final judge, and I'm thrilled to announce that this year the final judge will be the one and only James Frey. Author of My Friend Leonard, A Million Little Pieces, and Bright Shiny Morning, James's story "The End or the Beginning" will appear in Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer, being released this November (and which, hint hint, is now up for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble at a very affordable price).

Prizes:

• The first place winner will receive $100; the second place winner will receive $50; the third place winner will receive $25. The first place winner will also receive a slew of  journals and anthologies donated by a handful of publishers:
  • a copy of The Best of Every Day Fiction Two, donated by editor Camille Gooderham Campbell
  • a copy of The Los Angeles Review, donated by fiction editor Stefanie Freele
  • a copy of Sententia, donated by editor/publisher Ryan W. Bradley
  • a copy of Space and Time, donated by editor/publisher Hildy Silverman
  • a copy of [first year] an mlp anthology, donated by editor/publisher J. A. Tyler
  • a copy of PANK, donated by editor Roxane Gay
  • a copy of Fox Force 5, donated by editor/publisher Barry Graham
• My own publisher has also been kind enough to donate ten copies of Sudden Fiction Latino, edited by Robert Shapard, James Thomas, and Ray Gonzalez. A copy will be awarded to each of the winners and finalists, as well as to some random contestants.

Rules:

The contest starts now and will take entries until midnight April 30th eastern time. You are allowed to submit up to two stories in the comments section of this post. Any writer who submits more than two stories will be disqualified. If submitting two stories, submit them at the same time. At the end of this contest, all submitted stories will be deleted from the comments section. No reprints. Titles are not required but encouraged, as they can create an extra layer to the story. Winners will be contacted by e-mail and announced here. Have fun!

Hint Fiction Has A Face

Look at it. Study it. Memorize it. Love it. Because come November, you are encouraged to go into your local bookstore and buy multiple copies of it.

Major thanks and kudos to the art department at Norton; they came up with a fantastic concept for the cover, and I couldn't be happier.

Hint Fiction's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. There are some surprises in store. If you're on Twitter and want to stay up to date on all things hint, follow @Hint_Fiction. So far I've been sharing hint news on both my personal account and that one, but am going to start transitioning into only sharing hint news on the Hint Fiction account.

Last but not least, I've also set up a fan page for Hint Fiction on Facebook. I launched it Saturday night. It already has over 60 fans. You know you want to join, so do it already.

Pre-Order, Pre-Order, Pre-Order

The Hint Fiction anthology isn't slated to be released for another eight months, but it's already up for pre-order at Amazon for those of you kind generous folks who like to pre-order now so you'll be pleasantly surprised months down the line when a package arrives at your place. According to the product details, the book is 192 pages long and its dimensions (because we all worry about such things) are 6.2 x 4.5 x 1 inches. They also list the release date as November 1st, but I'm not sure if that's definite -- the month, yes; the specific day, no.

Alas, there is no cover yet. I've seen the color sketch, and it's pretty groovy, and once all the final touches are done you better believe I'll post it here.

In other news, remember how I'd made The Silver Ring available for free download on Smashwords? Well, it's been exactly one month (only does February count as a full month or am I slighted a few days?), and in the course of that month the novella has been downloaded, as of this moment, 396 times. That comes out to about 100 downloads a week. Again, just because it was downloaded doesn't mean it's actually being read, but still. Something to definitely think about, I'd say.