A news story brought to a mind a concern that comes and goes in my thinking about submitting something for publishing in literary fiction. There is a court case getting national attention about a police officer who may have overstepped his boundary for use of force, killing an armed person. The prosecutor has described the policeman as a "bully." Then I was thinking about what it'd be like to be in the cop's shoes, with any pressures to prove themselves, the crap they deal with on a day-to-day basis -- in short, what factors could have led to that predisposition, assuming it's true. At the point of the shooting, it could be a nice ending for a novel examining those things, to look at the inner life of the man, and garner sympathy for him. Which brings me to my question: How is it that agents and editors, with limited understanding -- as we all would have, too -- determine which works do have particular merit for their trenchant portrayal of things about life that only a segment of society would know about? Is it irrelevant? Must the book lean to the universal to be taken seriously? Would all other things being good prompt them to then seek an authority for verification?
As a cop of thirty-one years I say they're scum, need to be wiped off the streets. Punks with their sub-machine guns want to learn about respect, manners. If that means my service revolver sees a little overtime in the line of duty, so be, or it. Don't misunderstand me Brian, I am not referring to the good guys with guns, only bad guys I have a problem with, big problem, and kind of fortuitous I got the uniform to back me from behind. Or had the uniform till my honourable discharge on health grounds. Still today I love a blue uniform, hat and holster, even a good detective show has merit up to a point, or shift as store agent, though nothing quite captures those days on the force whacking low-life. Takes steely resolve in this trigger finger of mine. Same finger I use to piss. Call it coincidence if you like or call it my justice schlong-finger. Your call, citizen, all the best.
At the end of the day, publishing is a business, so publishers are looking to make money. If you submit something that can help them do that, then you have a better chance of getting published. Also, the individual tastes of the editor(s) make a difference. Some editors just aren't going to be interested in the subject matter, whereas others will be. Your best bet is to look at publishers that publish similar works focusing on social aspects.
I'd like to see you write a POV from an embittered cop. The fun might be in convicting him, yet garnering sympathy from readership. Start with a 500, stop, then go to 2000, then sketch out a story for your novel. Failing that, stay at 1500 and post away to a Canadian mag , heh...do it.
Could be I don't even know why that story made me think of it, but on the other hand, it is apropos since I could only speculate what sort of situational and environmental challenges they typically face, which sort of gets back to my first question... Why do editors believe anything people send them? If you're not actually a cop, do you show all the research you did? Then again, cop example isn't very good since there aren't many truly realistic portrayals, imo. Just like a spy novel, reality would be like sitting behind a computer or infiltrating a group to get someone on tape saying they want to blow up a building -- finito. I don't know, I'd have to think about how much "trespassing" would be involved if were to actually write that one, Matt.
I don't totally, really understand. Why can't you sit in front of the keyboard, snarl, and pretend you're a horrible [police]man, tap for twenty minutes, then sit back and laugh at yourself? Then return, fill it out with adverbs, give the piece 'sense' - connect that mind of yours to other minds. Then you can show me. I'll laugh at you. That is the pleasure, it's fun. Good ones, good writes...we can polish up and send to magazines. I find this issue very frustrating. Caution, all these guys worrying about their settings...well, it's not writing, is it, it is something else... Goes back, reads Brian's post properly...Saturday night x
