Voice

Break the rules and let the character's voice speak! I'll take Peter Wild's "Ruckus" in Thieves Jargon over 20 famous authors in The New Yorker any day.

45 Seconds from a Comedy Routine

As many on the rejected list know, McD the editor is not a big fan of punch line endings. Spontaneous laughter, however, deserves a shout-out. I'm struggling to keep these comments shorter than the story, so go check out Dean McFarlane's "Grocery store violation" over at Thieves Jargon. Jokes are narrative, too, and this is a good one for/from a stand-up routine.