Writer’s Guidelines (or, our tastes in fiction)

On The Premises is dedicated to publishing a diverse range of short stories between 1,000 and 5,000 words in length. We are careful to choose premises that can be the basis of stories set in this world or almost any other, at almost any point in time, featuring almost any kind of character(s).

As long as a story clearly uses our premise, we will consider any genre except pornography, extreme gore/violence, “fan fiction,” or fiction aimed at very young readers.

 What “Uses Our Premise” Means

We value creativity, but we want creative uses of the premise, not creative interpretations of it. To date, every story published has interpreted a contest premise in a common and obvious manner.

Let’s say our premise is that the story must be set in Las Vegas, Nevada. (We’d never use such a limiting premise, but it makes a great example.)

Bad uses of the premise

• Setting a story in a spaceship called the U. S. S. Las Vegas. We said Nevada.

• Setting a story in a spaceship called the U. S. S. Las Vegas that crashes in Reno, Nevada. Now someone’s just being silly.

• Setting the story in London. If you think no writer would ignore editorial restrictions so blatantly, start a fiction magazine. You will learn.

Good uses of the premise

• Setting the story in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the year 1940, or the year 5000, or in an alternate universe with slot machine fairies.

• Setting the story in present-day Las Vegas, Nevada, and sticking to things that could really happen in the real world, and still telling us a story the likes of which we’ve never read before.

But what about...

A more subtle problem would be a story that, yes, takes place in Las Vegas, but could easily take place anywhere else. Suppose the entire story took place in one bedroom. Well, that could be a bedroom in Las Vegas, right? Just change the line

 Pat looked out the window and saw the ocean

to

 Pat looked out the window and saw downtown Las Vegas

and you’re done. But there is such a thing as the spirit of the rules, and entries are judged heavily on whether they follow the spirit of the rules as much as the letter of them.


Note for Science-Fiction Writers

It turns out most of our judges do not like the old-school, Robert Heinlein-era science fiction where stories focus almost solely on the reader’s intellect. Much of the old-school sci-fi used interchangeable, undeveloped scientist-type characters who spoke in big blocks of technical dialogue.

We like sci-fi, honest! But we prefer Ray Bradbury, Ursula LeGuin, Pat Murphy, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Harlan Ellison over Heinlein.