What Online Readers Want in Creative Writing
Years of personal experience and observation have lead me to believe that there are three distinct qualities that writers must strive for in their creative writing to give readers their money’s worth.
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About five years ago I mailed a flash fiction story into a local newspaper called The Front Weekly. It was a new print publication in Pittsburgh. The long established weekly newspaper was the City Paper, but the CP did not publish fiction. Both publications covered the cultural, economic, political and sports scene of the Pittsburgh area. I was a graduate student in the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh.
I was pleasantly surprised when a few days later I picked up a copy of The Front at a hot dog shop near the university and there was my story. Happy days! I now had an outlet for my creative writing.
The circulation of The Front grew. I began getting some recognition in the local literary scene. I did a few readings and was interviewed by the local public radio station. I was paid $30 every time an article or flash fiction story of mine appeared in the paper and I had something in every week. And every week I read all the paper’s content in order to get a good idea of what the Editor was publishing. The paper started to put out an online edition, too. Then the Publisher decided to cut overhead to the bone and only put out the weekly online edition. The paper was free to the public and made money on ads.
Finally, after about three years of print and online publication, The Front folded. I never did find out why. I was devastated. The Editor had asked me to be the Fiction Editor after I graduated from Pitt. I had three months before graduation. The Editor had even given me a box of 500 business cards imprinted with my name and new title. We had discussed salary.
And I had discussed with the Editor the guidelines under which I would pass on to him a short story submission for final approval. He totally agreed with my guidelines.
The writing had to have clarity, conciseness and subject matter that was appropriate for The Front. Poor spelling or grammar meant immediate rejection.
Most online readers are no different than online editors.
Flash Fiction: Lesbian Lust
Writing, Flash Fiction and Pittsburgh
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29 Responses to “What Online Readers Want in Creative Writing”
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August 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 am
Great information! Your writing tells me you do know what it takes. Like!
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:15 am
Cogent and to the point, even if there is no grand revelation. Bad grammar, lack of punctuation, or punctuation incorrectly used, really is a show stopper for fiction.
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:58 am
Wow, i’m glad that you make money from your blog as well, and thanks for sharing! You go guy!
(not using triond right now..so it’s me, not anyone else!)
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:31 am
Mrs. Heart, the folding of The Front left me without an outlet for my writing; but I did keep writing and now I write for Triond. Everybody likes a happy ending.
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:48 am
Daisy, you are so right. Grammar, punctuation and spelling are important tools that the fiction writer must use. They are tools just like conflict, dialogue and description. Often, a reader’s enjoyment of a piece of fiction will depend on how well the writer can use all the tools in the tool box.
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 am
Thank you, bumapatria, for stopping by. I enjoy writing for my personal blog and for Triond. I consider myself to be fortunate. Trying to write well is a constant struggle but I enjoy it.
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Good choice of topic
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
It’s a good topic idea, but the post feels more like what the Front wanted in creative writing rather than what online readers want in creative writing.
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:17 pm
You titled the story “What Online Readers Want in Creative Writing,” then continued about what you did in On-line Creative Writing.
I did manage registering that on-line writers wanted something concise and informative.
Good luck with it all. I think online readers are looking for something unique, strong and concise and funny.
Thank-you . j
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:29 am
I’m new to online writing and figuring my way around.. Your article helped. Thanks, Guy!
August 23rd, 2009 at 3:58 am
Guy, this is great article and brings the reader to reality of publishing their own work.
Max
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:08 am
Nick, over a period of about three years The Front published about 50 of my flash fiction stories and several of my articles. It was exactly the kind of experience that gives an unpublished writer confirmation about what he or she is trying to do.
I owe The Front a lot.
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:26 am
Makhios, yes the article does point out what The Front was looking for. The Front was getting 50,000 hits a month online. Some of that had to be because the publication was also giving those readers what they wanted.
Anyway, the publication obviously wasn’t giving the publisher what he wanted: A bigger pay check.
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:36 am
James, online readers are looking for many things and unique, strong, concise and funny are definitely some of those things. I guess what everyone is looking for is something that won’t waste their time.
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 am
Hello, Rosh27, welcome to Triond. I’m glad this article was useful to you. Triond is a good writing community to be a part of. I’ll be looking for your work.
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 am
Hi, Max: I think the more a writer approaches writing with a professional attitude the more chance there is for success. At least that’s my philosophy.
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
Nice article Guy. Though I never write much fiction anymore (unless I’m in school) that was a good story. I wish I could get my name in a newspaper. There’s just no local newspaper that would accept my stuff.
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Great article!
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Appreciated you sharing how you got your writing recognized.
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Hi, gourab: After The Front folded I couldn’t find anyone else who wanted my work. So, I’m very happy to have discovered Triond.
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Thank you, Kira: The Front was a real opportunity for me. It taught me a lot of things. It gave me confidence as a writer.
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Hi dear! You are indeed a good writer and a person.:)
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Crossing roads, I was lucky. The Front was new and it was willing to give new writers a chance. I was in the right place at the right time. And the Editor felt I could contribute quality content.
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Hi, Zunairah: I try to be both. It’s not easy being either one; but I guess if it was easy neither would mean very much.
August 24th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Hello nice article, keep it up…By the way I am happy to tell you that you can now repost your trionds article to bukisa. Bukisa is a very good site to earn . They allow us to repost our article to thier site as long as we are the original author of the article and it must be a minimum of 250 words. This somehow can double our income monthly. Please join now just copy the link below:
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August 25th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
You are doing a great job of sharing insight and your experience.
August 25th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Thank you, Mary, you are very kind. I’m just glad that Triond came along when it did and that I discovered it on the web.
August 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I appreciate the first hand knowledge and experience you bring to all your articles, this one was great.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Hello, BeauX: using my first hand knowledge keeps me from doing research; but I think readers give a writer a little extra credit if the writer actually experienced what he’s writing about. Anyone can just do the research.