January 8, 2006
Joe Konrath has been judging a short story contest and mentioned that if it wasn't formated correctly or had a typo or grammar error in the first page or so, he was likely to discard it. He has about 3 slots for winners and he's got over 2000 entries (I can't imagine reading that many short stories over the course of about 10 years, let alone a couple months). He compares it to what editors and agents go through.

There's been some controversy about this, but he's right, and I added this post to his response, which is more of a "yeah, you go Joe," than anything else. Here it is:

"A very important point here, and either people will learn it from trying or they won't learn it at all.

James Woods directed a film a few years ago and got Melanie Griffith to act in it and in an interview he was asked why and he said she was good and she fit the part and "she has whatever that 'ooomph' it is that makes somebody a star."

In writing, we all need that 'ooomph.' There's very little "good enough" in the arts. It's like being in school and doing "good enough" to get a B+ or even an A-, and saying that's "good enough." But in the world of getting your writing published and then noticed, you need to add that something else. You have to not just work on perfection in mechanics--spelling and grammar--but shine everything to a high gloss.

It's a mistake to think editors and/or agents will "fix" the spelling or grammar or other mechanical issues if the story is good enough (whatever the hell that is). They're busy and the industry has shifted toward editors largely acting as "acquisition agents" and their jobs as "shepherding" the manuscript to publication, more than shaping the work and editing the content. That isn't to say they don't edit and shape, but it's not their primary job.

Momma didn't teach you that "neatness counts?" It does. Get the spelling and grammar right and all the other mechanics of writing. Here's something I think editors and agents believe to be true--spelling and grammar is Writing 101. You're not going to get published until you graduate from Writing 401. If you're screwing up Writing 101, you're not ready.

Best,
Mark Terry"