Frank Fradella on "Don't Suck"

Back in 1999, I started an online magazine for superhero fiction that was, in those heady days of the internet’s infancy, the first and only one of its kind. The magazine went on to do great things, including winning the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize in their first ever Zine Publishing Awards, and landed me a gig on their Zine Advisory Board, helping to shape the future of electronic publishing.

It also — and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here — launched a few careers, including my own. Just a year later I would go on to sign a six-book deal and a few of the fine folks who saw publication in our digital pages are now doing fine, fine works for much larger houses.

Today, Sean Taylor, one of my right hand men, and the first to truly believe in what I was doing, wrote a post about two simple words I had included as a rider in our submission guidelines.

Don’t suck.

That was it. That simple. The rest of the sub guides were what you’d expect — story length, format, style notes, don’t blow up Cleveland. You know. The usual.

But those two words added at the end were simple. I wasn't being funny. I wasn't being coy. I was receiving dozens of submissions every week and every story I bought came out of my pocket. And I bought every single good story that came my way.

Read the full article: https://medium.com/@frankfradella/dont-suck-a0c728b77ac8

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #302 -- Don't Suck!

If a writing mentor were to tell you "don't suck," what would you understand that to mean?

Well, considering one of my writing mentors actually told me that, I guess this is more than mere speculation.

When I got that advice, at first I felt it was like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. It was too loose, too gooey, so formless that it didn't really mean anything at all. But without realizing it, those two annoying words had already done their damage and wormed their way into my mental operating system like a computer virus.

Each story I'd write after that, I'd find myself asking, "Is this the best I can do? Does it suck? Why does it suck? What do I need to do to make it not suck?" And so on...

So I guess for me, "Don't suck" was more a motivation than a technique. It was the underlying drive that made me examine my work to learn and recognize what sucked and what worked. In essence, by not meaning anything at all, it ended up meaning everything. "Don't suck" forced me to discover for myself what made writing effective and what made it defective.

So, in one sense, yes, it's like telling an apprentice to "Do better" without actually offering any practical advice on how to improve his or her technique and skills. Pointless. But in another sense, it's like dangling the possibility of being fired in front of an apprentice unless he or she takes the initiative to be responsible for his or her own career. Worth everything.

Don't Suck. Okay, Well Can You Be More Specific?

As I mentioned here not so long ago, some awesome advice I got from a friend way back when was this: "Don't suck." That's all well and good, because I knew what Frank was saying to me when he said that.

But what does that advice mean to you? 

If a writing mentor were to tell you "don't suck," what would you understand that to mean?

Ralph L Angelo Jr: I'd have to think that means make sure you write something engaging and interesting. Something that presses all the right buttons with your audience, but also is true to yourself and not just a cookie cutter book or project. In other words, don't just go through the motions, but actually write something you would want to read and of course something you are proud to put your name on at the end.

Mark Koch: While producing something you are proud of, ensure that you consider how it will appear to the reader. Write only for yourself, and you will likely be the only one who appreciates your writing.

Mark Bousquet: To me, this means, "Don't be lazy." We all have those moments in a story when you know you need to do something you don't want to do because it's time consuming - maybe it's trying to find out the right handgun a Norwegian soldier should be using in World War 2, or going back through your story to provide infrastructure for a new subplot you introduced at the end of a draft. If you know something needs to be done, do it. Now or later is fine, but before publication.

Peter Welmerink: I believe if a writing mentor told me to DON'T SUCK, he'd be saying to make sure, when I am all done with letting my writing SUCK on that FIRST DRAFT, by simply writing without abandon or caring about if sentence structure, grammar, the rest, was all good and just GETTING THAT FIRST DRAFT DONE, by telling me to DON'T SUCK, he/she would be saying to go through that SECOND DRAFT with care and conscience and polish it to perfection.

Van Allen Plexico: Do your best work. Don't settle for less. Don't put something out for public consumption that reflects badly on you. Drink from the glass or cup; don't use a straw. You're a grown up.

Marian Allen: Be technically competent and respect your readers.

Violet Patterson: Tell an unforgettable story.


Ray Dean: In one of my writing communities a member complained that one of the first reviews she had on a self-published novel stated that she needed some editing for basic grammar and sentence structure. She lamented that she didn't have the money to pay someone to edit. We offered her ideas on how to get some help with editing or resources for her to help and edit her own work. Later that day she replied to the thread saying... "That's okay, I like my novel... my MOM likes my novel... haters gonna hate!" I'm not saying that her mother isn't able to identify good work when she sees it, but discounting that review as merely a hater probably isn't the best thing to do. We can always get better... learn more about plotting, grammar, characterization, etc. We can always improve and we should... to me "Don't Suck" means if you can make something better... do it. Don't get lazy.

Selah Janel: Don't write to a formula or what you think you should be writing about. Do what hasn't been done or try a different take on things. Don't write with the mindset to try to advance plan what the next new thing or big bestselling idea will be. Write what you know and be true to the writer you are. Definitely edit and pay attention to spelling, grammar, and formatting. If you're writing to a specific call or magazine, then write what the guidelines ask for. Stretch your wings and be original, but the editors definitely are asking for certain things for a reason. Keep going, keep reading, keep writing, keep pushing yourself to get better.

Lee Houston Jr.: "Don't Suck" to me means I make sure that everything I submit for publication is the best I can humanly create. The reader deserves no less.

Shelby Vick: It boils down to:  Don't cheat the reader. That applies to Western, SciFi, mysteries, etc.

Rebekah McAuliffe: Don't be afraid to bend the rules. Technique and methods should be important, but don't let them overshadow the actual writing of the story.

Tony Acree: Make sure you run spelling and grammar check at least once. Hmm. Twice. And never, ever, start your story with "It was a dark and stormy night."

Terri Smiles: Work at it, revise, revise revise, until it becomes what I intended. For me it was advice to blow deadlines if I needed to in order to create a product I was proud to have my name on.

H. David Blalock: Know your limitations, then push harder. Get outside your comfort zone and take the reader with you. Readers get bored with the same storyline over and over again. Show them something they, and you, have never seen before. Most importantly, don't leave them hanging.

TammyJo Eckhart: Don't be afraid to push the edges of what a genre should include or should be about. While you'll have a harder time selling your work, you'll be more satisfied with it and those readers and publishers who find you will appreciate that you aren't mundane.