Length and
Presentation
We are going to take this one step at a time, one day at
a time, and I am going to try to keep things
simple. I mean to approach this topic as if everyone here
is a complete beginner. So, be patient. Even an old dog can always learn
something new.
Length . Contemporary short
stories average between 1000 words and 5000 words. A 1500 word
short story will run about six manuscript pages, maybe four
and a half book pages. Anything shorter than 1000 words takes
us into a "sub-genre" called the short short, or flash, and we
are not going there right now. 1500 to 3000 words is a nice
target for beginners, long enough to force you to write a
standard short story, not so long that you will wind up
confused and defeated.
Presentation: This is
the purely mechanical part but it is the main part of today's
"hint" so pay close attention to what follows.
If you do not already
print out your manuscripts, the time has come to do it, and if
you don't know what correct manuscript style is, here is the
information:
Manuscripts are printed out double spaced in either Courier or
Times New Roman type, 12 point (no larger, no smaller) with
one inch margins all around, with page numbers at the bottom
of the page (some writers use the top of the sheet), and with
the author's name and the genre (fiction, nonfiction) in a
header at the top of each sheet. Sheets are printed on one
side only in black ink.
Thus
your 1500 word manuscript is going to print out as about seven
pages, and from this point on I will be able to talk to you
about pages as well as word counts. Although manuscript pages
are usually slightly shorter in word count that book pages,
they do give you an idea of how much space your story will
take up in a magazine, and what a reader will be looking at
before he/she even starts in on your story.
The
printer . If you don't own a
printer, please get one and don't waste one minute doing it.
Your computer is not a toy, don't treat it like one. Give it a
chance to help you become a real writer. And if you have read
somewhere (as I have) that some other writer never prints out
his copy and does everything electronically, don't tell me
about it. You are a beginner and you need to see your story on
paper. (If you need assistance in setting up the format in MS
Word or Word Perfect, please write me personally. I can help.)
Got that? Whew! Now here is a
link to a web page I've prepared that will give you an idea of
what a manuscript page should look like on your word
processor. The story on this link is from the Brothers Grimm
and you should recognize it. It runs about 1000 words. That's
about four manuscript pages.
Brothers
Grimm
Finally: Keep sending your submissions to
the Storyarts List in the single space format. Double space is
for "hard copy" only. Electronic submissions go in single
space.
Paul Pekin
Storyarts
http://workshop.patstoll.org/page1.htm
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