When reading for submissions morphs into panning for gold.
One of the joys of all the labor involved in submitting stories—okay, there are only two joys—is the inevitable discovery, while cruising magazine sites, of terrific work. Stories I immediately read to the husband even if he’s eating, watching hockey, walking away. Stories I wish I had written.
Typically I dislike stories about writers and writing. On the other hand, I groove on anything “meta” when it’s done well (and despise it when it’s not). Deb Olin Unferth’s meta micro “Draft,” at Wigleaf, first held me spellbound, then made me laugh, and in the end made me wistful for all my unrealized visions. Before I’d finished reading it to the husband, that wistfulness somehow shifted into excited hope for all the visions and the realizing to come. For a piece just over 150 words, that’s quite a feat.
And the second joy that comes of working on submissions? Oh! Realizing all those glorious visions sitting on my hard drive.
Working on submissions begets tinkering, and tinkering begets writing satisfaction. There’s nothing like figuring out, finally, why I’ve always given the side-eye to that last sentence of a shorty that’s very good, deserves a home, yet… something isn’t quite right…. AHA! Wrong verb, and it needs another beat. Ahh. Just look at it now.
A story about writing-dissatisfaction made me want to submit to Wigleaf. And that drive to find the right work for the submission made me tinker. Which ultimately led to writing-satisfaction. For a writer-geek like me, that’s irony gold that had to be shared. In writing.
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Daily Shorty 
Wigleaf? I love it. Wigleaf. So compelling. I still don’t really know what it is, but the name is pulling me in a way I can’t explaine…Wigleaf. Sigh. 🙂
*please let me explain explaine. I am finding myself adding extra letters to some words and, inexplicably, leaving letters off and out of others. I have decided to call it poetic license. Is that wronge? 🙂
Ha! First, your comment makes me feel astonished that I have never ONCE considered what “wigleaf” could possibly mean, despite having heard of the mag for at least a couple of years. What a weird word! Why did I just accept it before? IT HAS NO MEANING WHATSOEVER! But it does sound fun and interesting, I agree. And second, your “explaine” reminds me of “shoppe” and “towne”–we’ll add it to the list of old-world, elegant styling of current words, styling that makes us walk a little straighter, speak with a bit more care…! So yes, I say nicely done with “explaine”! You are not wronge, you are entirely RIGHTE.