By Evan J
Photo by Evan J
As the fiction editor for Cloud Lake Literary, I have the pleasure of reading hundreds of submissions every year. Like most literary journals, most of our submissions come from young new authors, people trying their best to carve a narrative into something sharp and engaging. It’s a thrilling position for me to be in, not only because I’m exposed to an abundance of impressive creativity, but because reading our fiction submissions allows me to see a snapshot of the contemporary literary consciousness of new authors.
This snapshot is not something that should be guarded. I believe that new writers can find value in understanding the trends of contemporary short fiction so they can better respond and write their own short fiction with an informed edge. Therefore, let me divulge some of these trends now.
About 50% of our short fiction submissions use a sci-fi or spec-lit conceit, even though Cloud Lake Literary is not advertised as a sci-fi or spec-lit publication. These submissions are always incredibly unique and creative. This shockingly high percentage of submissions also proves how prominent these genres remain. But creativity alone is not enough to get a story published. A one-of-a-kind universe doesn’t offset poor diction, tone, dialogue, etc.
Furthermore, 2SLGBTQIA+ topics were only present in about 3% of our submissions. Race-related topics were present in roughly 5%. I expected and hoped that these two topics would be explored in more of our fiction submissions. The fact that we still receive so few fiction submissions that explore gender or race proves that our literary journal, and the literary community as a whole, has much work to do at making the submission process safer and more inclusive.
The topics covered most were: Alzheimer’s or memory loss; the death of a close family member; and young heteronormative love.
It’s understandable why these three topics are covered so often. These topics are some of the most emotionally intense moments that a person can experience. They remain popular narratives in all contemporary entertainment media and are present in many bestselling books, movies, and TV shows. When you feel the emotions connected to one of these occurrences, as a writer, it is hard not to think that the experience should become fodder for your creative writing. But I would suggest for new writers to ignore these popular topics altogether.
For example, if 40% of our short fiction submissions involve young heteronormative love, it’s likely that many of those submissions contain overlapping content. The topic drowns in repetition. Also, it is not uncommon for editors to encounter these popular topics with a negative bias. Obviously, this bias is problematic, as every creative work deserves its own individual analysis, but to say that this bias doesn’t occur would be a lie. Simply, the human brain can get bored of repetition.
The answer to this problem, for short fiction, is simple: explore. “There’s nothing new under the sun” is untrue. There are always new topics worth exploring in prose, and as the fiction editor, fresh topics always excite me. I want to read about the gender complexities in airline management. Fossils and mummified bodies pulled from a swamp. The foods worth bringing to a home-birth party. Short fiction is just that—short. To impress an editor, it’s best to be unique.