{"id":2322,"date":"2022-08-06T18:13:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-06T18:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2322"},"modified":"2022-08-06T18:13:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T18:13:20","slug":"didions-ghost-and-7-other-tests-before-submitting-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2322","title":{"rendered":"Didion’s Ghost and 7 Other Tests Before Submitting a Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  1. Every manuscript tells two stories. One, how strong the writing is. Two, how professional the writer is. Not sure about the pro part? The story isn\u2019t ready.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    1. If your piece isn\u2019t even in manuscript format, or there\u2019s your personal format but not what the market specifies, the story is very definitely not ready.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      1. All first ideas might be good, but they\u2019re never the best or even complete. If you haven\u2019t rewritten toward your core idea multiple times, the story isn\u2019t ready.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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        1. Proof-reading oversights and formatting mistakes kill a story before it gets read. If you haven\u2019t proofed and re-proofed, preferably while reading the words aloud, or if you think some editor will clean up your typos, the story isn\u2019t ready.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          1. If your manuscript hasn\u2019t been critiqued or edited by someone not related to you, the story isn\u2019t ready.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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            1. If the ghost or apparition of anyone related to you, or s\"\"ay it\u2019s Joan Didion or someone like that, appears and proclaims that something is wrong with your story, this is a subconscious confession and\/or bad mojo. Your story is not ready.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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              1. Every established market has tone, length, and subject preferences that are either specified or interpretable. If you can read previous issues of a target market but you haven\u2019t read them, your story isn\u2019t ready. For that market, anyway.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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                1. If the work passes all of the above tests AND you\u2019re mourning that your favorite sections got cut AND you would bet an English teacher big coin on the grammar AND you\u2019re so sick of this thing you might chuck your laptop through a window, the story is ready<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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                  \"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Every manuscript tells two stories. One, how strong the writing is. Two, how professional the writer is. Not sure about the pro part? The story isn\u2019t ready.     If your piece isn\u2019t even in manuscript format, or there\u2019s your personal format but not what the market specifies, the story is very definitely not ready.… Continue reading Didion’s Ghost and 7 Other Tests Before Submitting a Story<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92,6],"tags":[186,3,185,5],"class_list":["post-2322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-stories","category-this-whole-writing-thing","tag-joan-didion","tag-short-stories","tag-submissions","tag-writing","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3CG0W-Bs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=758","url_meta":{"origin":2322,"position":0},"title":"Born Under a Bad Sign: Behind “The Cumberland Package”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"March 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Vernon Stagg was born\u00a0from a bad book. A manuscript actually, mine sadly, and fortunately for us all I abandoned it before the querying stage. This was 2011, early yet for me\u00a0into This Whole Writing Thing. The manuscript was a sort of Westlake-ian, Hiaasen-ian lovechild romp, and no matter what I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_2653 (1) (2)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_2653-1-2-300x185.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2378,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2378","url_meta":{"origin":2322,"position":1},"title":"Snack and Snack Again: Behind “Vinny Two Snacks”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"April 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I eat lunch early. That started as a work necessity that became a habit that became a daily rule. Eat lunch early and you're secure against or at least fed for mid-day surprises. Of course, if you eat lunch early, there might come a major afternoon fade. One such two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Awards and Honors"","block_context":{"text":"Awards and Honors","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/P1011897-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":245,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=245","url_meta":{"origin":2322,"position":2},"title":"Behind the Short Story: “Whorling”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"February 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Albert Einstein--you know,\u00a0he of\u00a0the supercomputer brain--once dished out this observation on the universe: \"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.\" Well said, but only half said.\u00a0Sure, gravity doesn't make people weak-kneed in love, but some force does, internal or external.\u00a0Einstein didn't\u00a0name the cause\u00a0because he didn't know it. No\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cathcart"","block_context":{"text":"Cathcart","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1868,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=1868","url_meta":{"origin":2322,"position":3},"title":"The Haps: Spring 2021","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"April 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring has definitely sprung, and just as it brought its usual host of pollen and fresh critters, I have a minor host of updates to report: LOWESTOFT CHRONICLE In March 2021, my story \"No Entiendo\" appeared in Lowestoft Chronicle #45. The piece follows an IT guy who takes a contract\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Awards and Honors"","block_context":{"text":"Awards and Honors","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Presentation1-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=94","url_meta":{"origin":2322,"position":4},"title":"The Fall and Rise of Draft One","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"October 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Day One \u201cWe\u2019re putting together an anthology,\u201d they say. They have an email to prove it. Very few combinations\u00a0of five words so excite The Short Story Guy. Maybe \u201cshort stories turn me on,\u201d or \u201csure, we\u2019re a paying market.\u201d It is not\u00a0a literary style I\u2019ve written in. Despite that, perhaps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2043,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2043","url_meta":{"origin":2322,"position":5},"title":"2022: 10 Years of Writing Stories","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"January 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"2022 marks ten years since I tried writing short stories. Technically, I wrote my first one--that I acknowledge--in 2010, but that was dabbling and na\u00efve ambition. 2011 was learning, and January 2012 brought my first short story acceptance: \"The Food Acquisition Breakdown,\" in wonderful but fledgling Canadian lit e-journal. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Short Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Short Stories","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=92"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/AHMM-MarApr19-1-700x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2322"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2335,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322\/revisions\/2335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}