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“I am Jack’s memory. I will not allow Jack to forget what he has read. No matter how much it may turn him off of doughnuts...”
Chuck (Mr. Palahniuk), the first thing I ever got published happened last year. It was a short story published under a pseudonym. The story itself is, to some degree, I think, written using some of the technique(s…
“I am Jack’s memory. I will not allow Jack to forget what he has read. No matter how much it may turn him off of doughnuts...”
Chuck (Mr. Palahniuk), the first thing I ever got published happened last year. It was a short story published under a pseudonym. The story itself is, to some degree, I think, written using some of the technique(s) described above, which I believe I vicariously picked up on through reading your work. Having something published was on my bucket list. I achieved that at 19 and I want to express my gratitude for teaching me to create through your own creations. You and your work has a cemented influence in my life for which I’m grateful.
Also, will this story and the upcoming ones which were too hot for Hollywood see a physical publication one day? I mean, I can’t say I (and I’m assuming others) would be averse to these short stories being collected in a single volume.
“Rejected Offerings” - Stories that’ll make you wish you could rinse your brain out.
My first few published stories were heavily Chuck-sounding, so much so that I became a bit self-conscious about sounding like an imitation vs. finding my own voice. Back then, I'd been reading and re-reading Chuck's series of craft essays from the old Cult website.
Have you read Consider This or Chuck's collection of craft essays? Not sure if they're still available online, if not, maybe they'll be made available here (?).
I get it. But I think a counter point is that by reading Chuck's craft essays, you see the magician explaining his trick, so to speak, and so you become more conscious of what exactly he's up to and thus be more conscious of your own processes which may lead to imitation.
Just a thought.
The nice things is... most readers don't ever recognize the trick. How long have orphan stories been around? Forever. And me revealing that trick won't stop the trick from working for the rest of time.
I think all of us from the cult & early litreactor sounded like chuck 😁
Don't worry. In Tom's workshop we all began to sound like Tom. Those who kept evolving mixed Tom's devices with new ones and created their own voices.
LitReactor still has Chuck's collection of craft essays. You have to subscribe to access them but of course it's well worth it.
I'd wager that there will be a book-book someday. For now it's a blast just to experiment in the short bursts of short stories. The story is where new voices and devices suddenly emerge. An industry secret: Audio book people are expressly looking for short fiction and novellas. Things that can be read in less than two hours. The podcast model has listeners looking for short audio fiction, and that's now driving the market.
So, stories are not a lost cause. They're getting very hot.
And congratulation on being published! That is such a good feeling.
Thank you!
Where can we find your story? I'd love to read it.
Thank you, Dan. I’m incredibly humbled by this. As opposed to you purchasing the anthology it’s in, I’d be more than happy to send you a PDF copy of the story. If you contact me at jaybaird161@gmail.com, I’ll reply with the PDF. Thank you again.