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A recent visitor to my office said he liked returning to the Midwest because it was a place, "Where people look you in the eye and tell you the truth without lies or compromises." Taking that as a touchstone, let me suggest that the fiction I'm looking for should seek to be more honest than cute, more truthful than entertaining, more focused on plot and action than on inner turmoil or self analysis, and should seek to be more about character than about "characters."
Too many of the stories I see speak too easily about what's latest at the truck stop or the laundromat, what the bartender told me, or what it's like to grow up, tragically, at the mall—all expressed in a style infected with a wearying case of the cutes. In the face of such exaggeration, traditional Midwestern reticence might be a virtue.
Contrary to public opinion, the Midwest is not just a place where ignorance and boredom meet at the ballgame or the Kmart parking lot. Its people are more narrow and expansive, parochial and global, folksy and aesthetically sophisticated, hilarious and serious, impulsive and reflective than we give them credit for. Also, its landscapes are more variegated and often more beautiful. And the Midwest has a past which goes frequently unnoticed.
Therefore, I'd like to see stories that exhibit a fuller range of what's possible in terms of Midwestern conditions, character, and values.
Setting aside all the usual formulas that "you should write about what you know" and that "stories, no matter how they are disguised, never really escape being about their authors," I would say (with Aristotle) that characters should reveal themselves through dialogue and action rather than by talking about, or to, themselves (this is the old distinction between "showing" and "telling"). Following such a practice adds credibility of the artist's powers of imagination and observation.
I do believe that stories can be about a specific locale and at the same time universal. In fact, it's hard to think of a world-class writer who wasn't also regional in that respect. But that does mean holding yourself to high standards of observation and artistry while maintaining perspective and a critical sense of the near-at-hand.
Despite its current popularity, creative nonfiction is not the only type around. So while I'm receptive to feature stories, memoirs, essays and editorials on war, politics, the theological- ecological- mythological- nexus, the comedy of contemporary manners, and more, there is still room for history, science, the theory and practice of the arts, and other more traditional forms of nonfiction which don't always include the personal witnessing that creative nonfiction usually requires. I only ask that writers avoid the use of technical jargon and make an honest attempt at communicating to a general, intelligent reader.
We also accept reviews although we usually solicit their authors ourselves.
- Tom Wilhelmus, Senior Editor
