Length Matters: Submit Short Stories And Poems For Publication (2024)

Wondering how longa short story or poemshould be? How many poems should you submit at once? What length do editors prefer for poems? What is the word count that editors prefer? How can you make your story or poem shorter? When it comes to submitting stories and poems, length can make a difference.

Prose pieces should be shorter than 3,500 words, simply because most magazine and journal editors don’t have the room to publish long pieces. Poets should consider limiting their poems to one page—two pages at the most—when possible. At Writer’s Reliefwe recommend poets submit five poems MAX in one group and that their submission not go over ten pages total.

Editors want to publish as many writers as they can per issue, which often is either once or twice a year. Given the space they have to work with, editors forced to choose between two equally good submissions will often choose the one that’s shorter. And do not assume that the editor will take the time to trim your submission if it’s too long. This is a great way to get your work overlooked.

It’s important to write well, but it’s also important to write marketable work. Certainly, there are some journals and magazines that will accept longer works, but by submitting shorter pieces, you will be able to approach a greater number of publications. In other words, the more places you can submit your work, the more likely you’ll be able to earn a publication credit.

If publication is your goal, here are some suggestions that will help you trim your work to a more effective and efficient length.

Trim the excess description. Make sure any description you include is functional. If you’re describing the 7-Eleven clerk who has absolutely nothing to do with the story, don’t go on and on about him. Just have your character pay for the gas, and then briefly describe the good-looking fellow your heroine literally runs into on her way out—the one who pops up later in the story with a purpose.

Cut flabby dialogue. Dialogue should be concise and efficient whenever possible. Rather than “The point I’m trying to make here is that I am unhappy with the amount of homework Mr. Schnipple has assigned,” it makes more sense to write “Mr. Schnipple gave me too much homework.” Dialogue can be loose and rambling in order to mimic everyday conversation and shape character, but don’t overdo it. Trim excess verbiage when possible. Efficient writing is good writing.

Cut action repeat words unless absolutely necessary or emphatic. “No,” he said is more effective than He shook his head. “No,” he said.

Make each word count. Replace “in the neighborhood of” with “about” or “nearly”; replace “at the present time” with “now.” Replace “owing to the fact that” with “because” and “in order to” with “to.”

Watch for redundancies. Attaching modifiers to certain words creates redundant phrases, such as “personal opinion,” “join together,” “new discovery,” “biography of his life,” and “advance planning.”

Use the active voice, not the passive. Passive: “The briefcase was picked up by Susan as she swept by the empty booth.” The active voice is more concise: “Susan picked up the briefcase as she swept by the empty booth.”

Use descriptive verbs. “She walked across the room.” This sentence gives us very little information. But change the verb to be more descriptive, and you can learn oh so much more. “She staggered across the room.” This implies that the woman is sick, drunk, tired, or injured. Or “She shuffled across the room.” This sentence paints a different picture. Perhaps the woman is elderly or in a drugged state.

Expand your vocabulary. If you don’t know the word “soporific,” you may be stuck with “The killer injected the terrified girl with a drug intended to make her sleepy.”

Watch for overlapping adjectives. Two very strong and unique adjectives will be more effective than five adequate ones. If a man is “massive” and has a “stormy” look on his face, it evokes more fear than a man who is “very tall, very big, and has an angry look on his face.”

Trim from the middle when possible. This is most often where the plotline of a story or essay sags and sprawls.

Consider a conversational style. If you’re stuck on a wordy, cluttered phrase, try rewording it the way you’d actually say it.

Eliminate the clichés. “I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” Originally, this was a classic line. Now it is a cliché, and it is better to either come up with your own simile or simply declare, “I was extremely nervous.”

Writers need every advantage when trying to publish a short story or poem. Make sure your writing is concise and powerful, and pay attention to word count—when it comes to successful submissions, length really does matter!Click here to learn how long a book should be.

QUESTION: Which of these trimming techniques do you find most helpful when editing your own writing?