Writing--and Publishing--a Story for Chicken Soup For the Soul
Sometimes angels show up in the strangest costumes. Even green plastic.
That is the original opening for my story in an “angels” volume of Chicken Soup for the Soul. The line was subsequently edited. But that was—for me—the genesis of the story.
My story is about a plastic green soldier—a child’s toy. And his role in sustaining a friend. The submission call—which I see as a prompt—set me in a place of thinking “angel” but my mind quickly left behind the winged and flying.
Prompts
For some time now, I’ve been using the Chicken Soup submissions and topics pages as prompts. True, I’m as keen as any writer to be published; it’s always preferable to think your work might actually connect with another human being. But I’ve written a number of stories using Chicken Soup prompts, and seen them grow too long to send in, often becoming fully-fleshed stories suitable for a collection of short fiction.
I think that if you spend some thought and time on the not-obvious with the topics— do some wild word-and-thought association, let your mind go—this results in stronger stories. Who would equate a toy soldier with an angel? I hadn’t, until I saw the prompt, and let thoughts drift to see what they might catch.
Length
Let’s get this one right out of the way: my story is SHORT. The word count, according to the Chicken Soup site and “submissions” page, can be up to 1200. But my story is barely 650 words, little more than half that! Concise is the order of the day. I’ve now submitted a number of pieces for various calls they’ve put out, and the longest has been no more than 900 words.
Editing
Aside from re-working the opening, the one other change made by the editor was to take a line of italics—something of a “thought-prayer,” was how I was hearing it— and changing it to a line of dialogue, a spoken-prayer. I suspect that both changes were reader-conscious. I might feel that “thought” is tantamount to “spoken,” but this is not what works for their readership. Admittedly, I struggled with that. But the Chicken Soup editor has been doing this a long time; she knows her readership.
Notes about submitting work
If a story is not chosen
Know that you can resubmit the same story to the next volume of the same topic. This is especially significant if your story makes the first line of cuts, if you receive a note from the editors saying “your story is in round one.”
One story of mine made such a first cut, but not the second. I published it elsewhere when I could have resubmitted it. The fact that it did make “first cut” once put it in good standing for possible inclusion in the next book. Certain topics are perennial favorites with Chicken Soup, and no sooner does one volume come out, than another is in the planning.
Timing of submission
Submitting your story early in the deadline process can be significant, too. Don’t leave it to last minute. Note-worthy stories submitted early-on can be ear-marked. The editors are looking for types of stories to fill slots. So be timely. (This was brought up in a zoom meeting for contributors.)
But I’ve heard other writers say they’ve sub’d last minute, and had their story snapped up. At times, they have an “extended deadline”… which tells me they’re a bit short on the sort of material they’re hoping for. Also good time to submit!
What do these books mean?
Chicken Soup books have dedicated followers and readers, often people who want a quick read and a reminder that the world can be a decent place after all, a good thing to remember, and to remind my own self. Writing such stories—letting the prompts sit in the back of my mind before some idea pops up to meet it—often proves to be surprising.
As a writer, those surprises are what it’s about and that can be sustaining all in itself.