Sometimes Lightning Strikes Twice - How I was published in the NYT part deux

Listening to my gut & the “formula” I used

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

In case you missed the first piece I wrote about how I was published in the NYT, please feel free to read it here.

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A Slightly Different Process

*Caveat - this information is not a guarantee of success or publication. This is just how I did it. Everyone who's submitted has a different story.*

Today’s piece is a little bit different.

After I submitted the first Tiny Love Story in June the process to having it published was fast, about a little more than a week’s time. About a month after my piece “Accidental Thief” was released, a Facebook memory popped up about the day my daughter moved away from home. She was 18 and ready to go live with her bestie. On the final day when she was getting everything out, I was stuck at work and couldn’t be there to say bye or give her all the advice I wanted. So, I took a picture of my sad face and sent it to her and then shared it on FB to commemorate the occasion. What I remember most about that day was coming home and seeing her shoes still by the door. And promptly becoming a blubbering mess all over again.

The timing of the memory, and it being the summer when kiddos are leaving home for the first time, prompted me to write about it. And the piece about my daughter’s shoes was born. I thought about where to put it, and decided to take a chance and send it in to NYT again.

My gut knew it was good.

Into the portal I went, trimmed the piece to 100 words, found some phots and hit submit. And waited.. for about 10 days. I then emailed the editor with the story itself and attached a few pictures with a note that said - thought you might like this. Let me know what you think? And waited… 8 days. The editor responded that she really liked it and she’d be in touch soon with the questions. And waited… 13 more days. Finally at the 16 day mark I heard back from her and off to the races to get it published quickly for last week’s edition.

The editor, Miya, made minimal changes and really brought my work to life by making a small adjustment. She’s a dream to work with and really shows me the value of what a great editor can do. If you get the chance to work with her you’ll see what I mean.

I can’t say for certain that I’ve figured out a formula for submitting, but I will say that the structure I’ve used has gotten me in. I learned about writing constraints from Jeannine Ouellette’s writing intensives on her Substack- Writing In the Dark. I have been challenged to write in smaller ways, creating something big in a small container. It’s my favorite way to write- micro flash. What can you create with 100 words? I’ll take that challenge all day. I fully believe it’s making me a better writer.

The formula I’ve used

For the two submissions here is the “formula” I’ve used:

Object-emotional story-tie in to greater universal theme.

Example 1 - first TLS: butter knife (object), story around wedding reception, stealing time and making memories (universal theme).

Example 2 - second TLS: converse shoes (object), story about daughter leaving home, parental love and home as a place to return too (universal theme).

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The basic moral of this story is to challenge yourself to hone what you want to say, what emotion you want to convey and remember even if you’ve submitted before, submit again. You never know, lightning may just strike twice.

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Thanks to all who’ve reached out again regarding the how. I hope this helps you. I hope you’ll take a chance and submit your own Tiny/Big Love Story.

Please let me know if this was helpful!