Fiction Submission Guidelines: Stories We See Too Often
from the Editors at Strange Encounters Magazine

This is an attempt at classifying the kinds of non-horror plots and themes that we receive too frequently. We have a separate page for horror stories. Of course it's not impossible to write a good story with one of these plots or themes; it's not that these are inherently bad plots, merely that we see too many stories that use them.

Person is (metaphorically) at point A, wants to be at point B. Looks at point B, says "I want to be at point B." Walks to point B, encountering no meaningful obstacles or   difficulties. The end. (AKA, the linear plot.)

Creative person is having trouble creating.

1. Writer has writer's block.
2. Painter can't seem to paint anything good.
3. Sculptor can't seem to sculpt anything good.
4. Creative person's work is reviled by critics who don't understand how brilliant it is.
5. Creative person meets a muse (either one of the nine classical Muses or a more individual muse) and interacts with them, usually by keeping them captive.

Visitor to alien planet ignores information about local rules, inadvertantly violates them, is punished.

1. New diplomat arrives on alien planet, ignores anthropologist's attempts to explain local rules, is punished.

Weird things happen, but it turns out they're not real.

1. In the end, it turns out it was all a dream.
2. In the end, it turns out it was all in virtual reality.
3. In the end, it turns out the protagonist is insane.
4. In the end, it turns out the protagonist is writing a novel and the events we've seen are part of the novel.

An A.I. gets loose on the Net despite the computer it was on not being connected to the Net.

1. An A.I. gets loose on the Net but the author doesn't have a clear concept of what it means for software to be "loose on the Net." (Hint: the Net is currently a collection of individual computers, not some kind of big ubercomputer; software doesn't currently run in the wires between computers.)

The future is soulless.

1. In the future, all learning is electronic, until kid is exposed to ancient wisdom in the form of a book.
2. In the future, everything is electronic, until kid is exposed to ancient wisdom in the form of a wise old person who's lived a non-electronic life.

Editor's Note: These were taken from the submission guidelines at: http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-common.shtml, courtesy of the Maryland Writers Association. There are many more on the list, and they're well worth checking out for any market. Strange Encounters is an online speculative fiction magazine and is a paying market approved by the Science Fiction Writers of America. - Roxyanne Young