What are we really looking for in prose submissions? Is it complex, rarefied prose with deep themes and angst-ridden characters who constantly bemoan their fate in this world and swoon a lot?
That’s cool, if it’s what you write, but Laura and I love the beauty and simplicity of clear and precise prose, and a darned good tale.
Off the top of my head…
Maybe it’s about a trip to the local laundrette, or a farmer walking his land. Even more interesting if someone is trying to take his land from him, and the washing machine is an interdimensional portal that replays the very worst moments of his life, over and over.
Or how about if that farmer has just received a terminal diagnosis, and hopes his daughter won’t sell the land he loves so well?
Perhaps you prefer a domestic narrative, a mother worried about a gaming-addicted child, or whether or not her husband is having an affair?
How about an urban story, of a young woman who’d love to go to university, but there just isn’t enough money? How far will she go to follow her dream, and what will it mean for her if she doesn’t attain it?
Hmm… I might write that one myself!
Do your tastes run to the fantastical, an interplanetary escapade populated by all manner of cultures and beliefs as humans and aliens alike try to save the galaxy from an existential threat?
Any and all of these, and more, is cool with us, because what we’re really looking for is a good yarn!
See where I’m going with this?
There are so many varieties of story types and narrative forms, and the simple truth is that we love ALL sorts of stories about all sorts of characters who have all manner of problems. Simple works for us, complex works for us, and we adore every flavour in between.
We love all genres, from literary to sci-fi to dystopian to fantasy to crime to romance; add whatever you wish to the list! As I look at my nearest bookshelf, I can see examples of all of these, ranging from Seaborne by Nuala O’Connor to The Heart In Winter by Kevin Barry to The Very Best Of The Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction, edited by the legendary Gardner Dozois.
Take a look at Issue 1, for example, where you’ll find a magical eco satire, gritty urban mythologies, and narratives ranging from the experimental to the norm.
Yes, we want to be moved by your story, and yes, we want to feel your heart beating through it in rhythm with our own. Which is just a fancy way of saying that we would like to find something in your story to hook us in, and with which we can identify.
We’re Frazzled, right? We dig ALL jives!
We’re writers ourselves, and we will read your work with a view to finding reasons to accept it, not reject it.
So send us a story YOU love…
… because if YOU love it, there’s a really good chance that WE WILL TOO!
Feel free to drop a comment with your thoughts on this post!
Not me spending days writing a story about a sentient washing machine in a forgotten laundrette especially to submit to Frazzled Lit, only to read this page for the first time and see a very similar idea already suggested.... Whoops *laugh crying*