Tips for Better Stories

Dear Writer,

Lunch Hour Stories magazine receives over 500 stories each year from writers all over the world. And while many of them are excellent, most of them are, well, not. Unfortunately, the majority of stories we receive fail to meet our criteria in one or more critical areas.

In order to better increase your chances of being selected for publication by Lunch Hour Stories, please be sure your story does not fall into one of the following categories:

• The narrative does not meet the required word count of 4000-8000 words.
• The narrative is not literary in nature (romance, children's, religious, erotica, and non-fiction are not considered).
• The narrative is too "ordinary." It fails to introduce the reader to a place, people, culture, or event he is potentially not familiar with, or it fails to present an intriguing story question/problem.
• The narrative is too "slow." It fails to start at the right place in the story and/or it fails to open with action or suspense that grabs the reader’s attention right away.
• The narrative reads like a novel excerpt instead of a short story.
• The narrative is not believable.
• The narrative is overly sentimental, flowery, or poetic. Metaphors have been used ineffectively.
• The narrative is gross or disgusting in nature, or contains excessive profanity.
• The ending is weak and does not leave the reader feeling satisfied.

I hope you will find this checklist helpful as you prepare to send us your stories. Please do not hesitate!

Our annual VERY Short Story Contest (500 word limit) is going on now, deadline December 31, 2007. Our annual Short Story Contest runs from April 1, 2008, through June 30, 2008. Contest details and submission guidelines can be found on our website at www.lunchhourstories.com.

Thank you again for entrusting us with your stories. We love reading your work.

Nina Bayer, Editor