Original post date: 12/28/2009.
The mission of Toasted Cheese "is to provide a place where writers can get honest feedback on their work and honest information about issues important to writers." The site publishes flash fiction, fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a story and why?
Stephanie Lenz: I look for a strong voice. A story with characters that aren’t fully realized, dialogue that’s not quite plausible, or a setting that’s just a little off, can be redeemed when the voice works. Voice also speaks to an editor from the first word. If your fantastic character doesn’t appear until the second paragraph, you can rely on your voice to bring the reader to that paragraph. This is also true in poetry and creative non-fiction.
Read the complete, revised interview here.
"Voice also speaks to an editor from the first word." This is so intimidating. I have to not even think about this when I start a project of that first line will stymie me. I can't count how many times I've gone back in edits and changed that first line. :)
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