Ask the Editors | Word Count, a Lot, and No One

Hi Rae,

When I write short short fiction that requires adherence to a certain word count, I count words such as “a lot” and “no one” as one word since they have their own meaning which is not the same as either one of the comprising words. Do you do this as well? Thanks so much.

Regards,
Susan

 

Hi Susan,

I certainly understand the question and thank you for asking it. I go by what I’ve found to be the standard word count rule for many readers whether they are journal editors, publishing house editors, or agents, and that is to count words separately. In this case, “a lot” would be two words, not one.

I do understand the gray area, as the common understanding and intention of “a lot” is that it functions as a single meaning; however, as far as I know, “a lot” is still an article plus noun as “a” and “lot” and are being used individually in their own definitions and parts of speech the same way as their collective meanings. The etymology of “a lot” or “lot” specifically suggests that “lot” is “someone’s share” (Online Etymology Dictionary), and therefore, does function, both in the contemporary and classical sense, as a share. “A” and “lot” function as two words, the “a” interchangeable with a pronoun or proper noun. The same can be said about “no one” and “no” and “one.” An example:

  • She gathered a lot of stuff from the apartment before leaving him.
  • She gathered her lot of CDs and bonsai trees and the miniature collection of plastic bobble heads before leaving him.
  • She left him a lot.
  • She left him on Wednesdays and Fridays and every other Saturday evening between the hours of ten and eleven when the moon was full or her favorite cover band played “You Shook Me All Night Long” at the biker bar down the street.

One might suggest replacing “a lot” with “lot,” plus the added details, is a better construction, and therefore, “a lot,” as one meaning, could be considered clichéd and too vague. In the second usage, “a lot” appears to be completely inappropriate for the intention of the clause and might even be considered a far lesser construction for many of the same reasons as the prior. Regardless, as I see it, the intention of “a lot” is two words in both cases.

All in all, thank you for the question. I don’t know if I’ve ever really thought on “a lot” this much prior to your question. I suppose, when I do think about it, I don’t use “a lot” much in my own writing, except perhaps in informal dialogue. Your question has made me think on this not only as an editor but also as a writer. Much obliged.

All best,

Rae

 


Sunday Salon | 10 Years in NYC

NYC | June 24, 2012: 10 Years in NYC! In June 2002, Sunday Salon kicked off its first reading in a bar on the Upper West Side. Ten years and two bars later, the series has welcomed over 370 marvelous writers and many talented musical guests. We’ll celebrate the series’ first decade of literary love this month with four more superb writers and original music from Michael Dickes. Come toast with us! At Jimmys 43. 7pm.

Gun Dealer e1339121208638 NYC | June 24, 2012: 10 Years in NYC!Gina Apostol’s first two novels, Bibliolepsy (University of the Philippines Press) and The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata (Anvil Publishing), each won the Philippine National Book Award for Fiction (1997 and 2010). A collection of stories, Cunanan’s Wake and Other Stories, was runner up for the Prairie Schooner Fiction Prize in 2006. Excerpts from her novel in progress, The Unintended, appear in The Massachusetts Review, Winter 2011, and will be published in the anthology Manila Noir (Akashic Press), edited by Jessica Hagedorn. Her stories have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, among other journals, and in the anthologies Charlie Chan is Dead, Volume 2 (NY: Penguin); The Thirdest World (NY: Factory School); Flippin’: Filipino Writers on America (NY: Asian American Writers Workshop); Juncture: 25 Excellent Stories and 12 Very Good Drawings (NY: Soft Skull Press); Babaylan: Filipina and Filipina American Fiction (San Francisco: Aunt Lute Press), and Balikbayan: Contemporanei storie filipini (Ossigene: Milan). Her third novel, Gun Dealers’ Daughter, also published by Anvil Manila, debuts in America from W.W. Norton in June 2012.

SensualistCoverImage e1339121609661 NYC | June 24, 2012: 10 Years in NYC!Daniel Torday’s fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Esquire Magazine, Glimmer Train, Harper Perennial’s Fifty-Two Stories, Harvard Review and The Kenyon Review. His novella The Sensualist was published this spring. He currently serves as director of Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College.

shotguncov e1339121837877 NYC | June 24, 2012: 10 Years in NYC!Amye Archer has an MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. Her work has appeared in [PANK], Twins Magazine, Provincetown Arts, The Ampersand Review, H_ngm_n, Boston Literary Magazine, and Hippocampus. Her first chapbook, No One Ever Looks Up was published by Pudding House Press in 2007. Her latest chapbook, A Shotgun Life, was published by Big Table Publishing in 2011. She is a freelance writer and an adjunct at 9,000 different schools. She is also the Reviews Editor for [PANK]. You can read her blog at www.amyearcher.com.

imaginarymorals e1339121962306 NYC | June 24, 2012: 10 Years in NYC!Rae Bryant’s short story collection, The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals, released from Patasola Press (NY) in June 2011 and has been nominated for the 2012 Pen Hemingway and Pushcart awards. Her stories have appeared in StoryQuarterly, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, BLIP Magazine (formerly Mississippi Review), Gargoyle Magazine, and Opium Magazine, among others. Her critical essays and reviews have appeared in Puerto del Sol, The Nervous Breakdown, Portland Book Review and Beatrice.com. Rae has received Fellowships from the VCCA and The Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a Masters in Writing, and where she now teaches multimedia and creative writing and is the editor in chief of the new literary and arts journal, The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review.

MUSICAL GUEST:

Santee Alley2 e1339122017773 NYC | June 24, 2012: 10 Years in NYC!Michael Dickes is a writer of fiction and songs from the back roads of Lake Chelan, WA now living in New York City. His stories have been or are soon to be featured in Southpaw Journal, Tree Killer Ink, Kerouac’s Dog Magazine, Thunderclap Press, Apocrypha & Abstractions, Connotations Press, THIS Literary Magazine, Blue Fifth Review, Fictionaut Editor’s Eye, Pure Slush, Flash Flood Journal, Duality–The Book, Do Hookers Kiss Magazine, The Istanbul Literary Review, Metazen, and others. His numerous CDs include Trouble, Dig, Loose Ends, Moveable Child, and Thirty-Five, and his work is featured on the “Henry Poole Is Here” soundtrack starring Luke Wilson and George Lopez. Michael has traveled the world as a musician and he has a dedicated following based on his ability to tell stories through his music. More information about Michael’s fiction and music can be found at www.michaeldickes.weebly.com.

 


McSweeney’s Internet Tendency | An Open Letter to a Suicidal Friend, a Bulimic Friend, a Long Lost Aunt, and Stephanie, Your New Linked In Connection

30

Dear Suicidal Friend, Bulimic Friend, Long Lost Aunt, and Stephanie –

What do you do when a good friend texts: “It’s bad again. I’m trying not to hurt myself. I love you”? Then another friend texts he’s anorexic/bulimic and sad? And a few minutes later the aunt you never knew looks you up on Facebook and sends you a message and asks if you have a problem with funeral pictures because your grandfather, who is dead now, took pictures of your father, who died when you were one year old, and she would like to show them to you if you don’t have a problem with funeral pictures? Yes, you think, I do have a problem with funeral pictures but I only have one picture of my father and should I deny myself more pictures of my father because he’s dead? Seconds later LinkedIn emails, “Congratulations, you and Stephanie are now connected. See what Stephanie has been up to.” Read the entire essay at McSweeney’s.