Whipping Post

[Steven Hunley]

Whipping Post

I only picked the Creative, Performing and Media Arts Magnet Middle School for one reason: because it wasn’t as far as the Congo, and was on Conrad St. I’m beholding, literally, to Old Captain Joe. Like ship’s doctors, visiting teachers can be a strange lot.

So I came, I saw, and imagined the staff was the crew on my steamer.

Even from the first moment I entered the office I saw an extra infusion of camaraderie.

Is it because it’s a middle school?

I decided to make keen literary observations and then set my imagination to play.

There are a thousand students, they tell me. Yet the office crew still has a sense of humor and the teachers are helpful as can be to a stranger in their midst. I must imagine this more dramatically. Let’s see. I’ll try:

The staff is assaulted and tested every day by students grade six through eighth. Does this make them feel like they’re deeper in the trenches than usual?

“You deal with a group of young men and women who take every opportunity to test you, and not just one on one, or two on one, but if a whole class were to decide to revolt, all the education codes and all the penal codes in the world wouldn’t stop them from tying you up to Gregg Allman’s whipping post.”

Because the staff has experienced the assaults and survived, they’ve become the veteranos, and esprit de corps is high. The educators support each other flawlessly, calmly, with care and precision.

But this only goes to show that too much imagination doesn’t always highlight the truth. The truth was that the kids were wonderful and the staff was wonderful right back. What then made the camaraderie so remarkable? Maybe it was my rose-colored glasses. I enjoy my job.

When I need more drama I’ll set sail on a steamer up the Congo. They say it’s still Heart of Darkness there. Oh, and by the way, the good feelings I saw demonstrated by the staff when I was waiting for attendance sheets in the main office, was the return of a retired teacher who came by for a visit. It was a touching scene, and tinted my glasses rose-colored right on the spot. It was like a female version of Mr. Chips. Make that 21st Century Mrs. Chips.

Great staff, great school, and the Special Ed kids were the greatest of all.

©StevenHunley2016

https://youtu.be/ktTxiGAewZ4 Whipping Post

[Cling Up]

Almost too short to be a story.

[Steven Hunley]

Here is an approximate guideline for story lengths. i found it on the internet somwhere but I forget where. It may be that you're not refering to word count, but rather the lack of development of the character.

Anyway:

Micro-Fiction--up to 100 words

This very abbreviated story is often difficult to write, and even harder to write well, but the markets for micro fiction are becoming increasingly popular in recent times. Publishers love them, as they take up almost no room and don't cost them their budgets. Pay rates are often low, but for so few words, the rate per word averages quite high.

Flash Fiction--100 - 1,000 words

This is the type of short-short story you would expect to find in a glossy magazine, often used to fill one page of quick romance (or quick humor, in men's mags) Very popular, quick and easy to write, and easier to sell!

Short Story--1,000 - 7,500 words

The 'regular' short story, usually found in periodicals or anthology collections. Most 'genre' zines will features works at this length.

Novellette7,500 - 20,000 words

Often a novellette-length work is difficult to sell to a publisher. It is considered too long for most publishers to insert comfortably into a magazine, yet too short for a novel. Generally, authors will piece together three or four novellette-length works into a compilation novel.

Novella-20,000 - 50,000 words

Although most print publishers will balk at printing a novel this short, this is almost perfect for the electronic publishing market length. The online audience doesn't always have the time or the patience to sit through a 100,000 word novel. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of non-fiction.
Novel--50,000 -110,000

Most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. Yet any piece of fiction climbing over the 110,000 word mark also tends to give editors some pause. They need to be sure they can produce a product that won't over-extend their budget, but still be enticing enough to readers to be saleable. Imagine paying good money for a book less than a quarter-inch thick?


Epics and Sequels--Over 110,000 words

If your story extends too far over the 110,000 mark, perhaps consider where you could either condense the story to only include relevant details, or lengthen it to span out into a sequel, or perhaps even a trilogy. (Unless, of course, you're Stephen King - then it doesn't matter what length your manuscript is - a publisher is a little more lenient with an established author who has a well-established readership)

This may all be B.S. After all, the internet can be a sketchy place to find facts. Not my facts, just my stupidity or evil plan to put up some "facts" that are sooo contestable that so many people will respond, the viewing numbers and response numbers will skyrocket! I'm game. I'm the fella with endless enthusiasm! Let's do this, and see what kind of controversy we can stir up.