3,500

3,500.  No, this isn’t the title of an upcoming sci-fi series on telly. It’s not the number of days until Armageddon (though, I suppose, it could be). It’s not even how much I charge per hour to be my own fabulous self, although that would be nice.

It is, however a magic number.

For starters, it’s divisible by seven, which is a sure sign of magickness if your favourite number is seven.  But that’s not the reason it’s magical.  I’ll explain why.

For the past year or so, I have been writing short pieces, mostly for my monthly writers’ group.  The criteria there is that they must be readable within about 5 minutes.  So I’ve nigh-on perfected squeezing my stories onto a single piece of paper, printed front and back.  This typically means that these short short stories, or flash fictions, are around 700-800 words in length. If I manipulate the page margins, flout the time limit and read really quickly, I’ve topped out at 1,100. (Naughty, yes. But it was a particularly strong piece).  Which is still a very short story in a genre that requires spaciousness for interesting details and imagined realities.

The result of this is that I have a burgeoning collection of short pieces, which are now arriving at a very polished point. But I’ve no clue where or how to find a home for them.

All of this changed recently when I went along to a Writing fantasy, horror and science fiction workshop with Lisa L Hannett. 

Lisa said that 3,500 words is the magic number for short stories in the speculative fiction paradigm.  It’s the peak word count for publication, and very attractive in competitions.

Neat. Desirable. Magic, even.  

3,500.

I suspect this magic number was buried somewhere deep in my consciousness, because I had one of those zinging moments of recognition.  Did I read this somewhere?  Did I learn it at TAFE 10 years ago?  Or did a parallel self hear it in a writing workshop in an alternative universe? 

Who knows?  All I know is that it was an epiphany. 

This single number awakened in me a way forward.  It is time to break out of the short form, and start moving towards longer pieces with greater complexity.  In her feedback, Lisa gave me some useful tips on how to build on existing pieces to move them towards this goal.  Build the central scene, add another scene on either side of it, layer some nuances into the plot, and voila! 3,500 words. 

To someone else, this might not be a big deal, but my toes are bruised from long dancing past an elephant, so a way forward is worth its weight in steel-capped boots. 

And now, for all the magic number enthusiasts out there, here are some more: 

Magic Square by chrisinplymouth @ Flickr

AND I SHOULD ADD:
Besides the illumination, Lisa also provided some suggestions for markets for the very short pieces that I already have.  Apparently it is not an easy thing to do, to contain a whole story within a small word count, and publications that want short pieces are always on the look out for good ones.  Stay tuned... 

Illegal bookmaking, and other seelie fortunes: Holly Black

Illegal bookmaking is currently camping in my consciousness, since it’s a tidy little earner for Cassel Sharpe, the central character in Holly Black’s excellent YA trilogy, The Curseworkers.  After devouring White Cat recently, I’m now enjoying Red Glove.  It’s a great left-of-centre story that will keep you guessing.  It involves magic but not as we know it, and is told from a unique perspective.  Holly skilfully imbues her character with a fascinating level of tension around the moral ambiguities that he lives with, along with the usual teen angst over finding his way in the world, and love (of course)!  It has piqued my interest to read more of Holly’s work, and especially her short fiction, which promises to be twisted, in every good way.  

And now for the big question. 

Readers might recognise Holly’s name from her earlier work, The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and the Modern Tale of Faerie series (beginning with Tithe).  Speaking of Holly Black’s name, isn’t that a suspiciously good moniker for someone who writes in the fantasy genre? 'Holly' evokes all the mystique of ye olde worlde when evergreens were revered for their magickal properties and bowls of cream were left out for the good folke as insurance against your children growing up a bit …funny.  'Black' hints at the spooky-wooky, the shadow element that gives fantasy its depth and psychological realism.  Surely that must be a nom de plume? 

No, it’s not (if Wikipedia can be believed).  It turns out that she was born Holly Riggenbach (a great name, but not nearly so evocative).  Then she married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, simultaneously landing herself an accomplished illustrator for a husband AND a kick-goblin-ass publishing name. 

I’m not sure if this is fortune favouring the bold, or just evidence that granting the faerie folk their due respect can pay off.  I’m not sure you could create a better pen name than that if you tried.  Definitely some seelie fortune going on there.  I, on the other hand, also married my young sweetheart, but his surname rhymes with belch and squelch.  I’m sticking with Gascoigne.  

The Dark Path by crowolf @ Flickr