In 2024 SmokeLong hosted our second SmokeLong Workshop Prize competition. Our workshop participants reported almost 300 publications to us before November 1, 2024. In 2025, we’ll be featuring one writer each week from The SmokeLong Workshop Prize long list. It’s an excellent series of interviews, each grappling with questions about workshopping, giving and receiving feedback, and the publication process. If you are a previous or current SmokeLong workshop participant and you have ultimately published something you began in a SmokeLong workshop, remember to enter The SmokeLong Workshop Prize competition. This free-to-enter competition is on our Submittable page.
__________________________
An Interview with Marijean Oldham — “Leftovers on the Dashboard” published in Midwest Review and “The Last Hall Monitor” published in Halfway Down the Stairs
What do you remember about the workshop where you wrote these stories? What was the prompt or writing task that led to each?
For the story “Leftovers on the Dashboard,” published in Midwest Review, the task was from Christopher Allen in SmokeLong Fitness, 2023: “What if? / Writing Task: Take out at least one of your works in progress (WIP) and make a list of ‘What if?’ questions about the characters and the relationships in the narrative. Either write a separate narrative (800 words or fewer) that relies wholly on the idea of speculation, or incorporate a section (or sections) where your narrator speculates on how things might have been if the character had been different or had done something differently.”
I took a WIP and wrote many different endings, exploring the ideas that came from “what if.” I added them all to the story resulting in a Sliding Doors/Choose Your Own Adventure format. In other tasks, we’ve used repetition, and I think that’s part of what works so well in this story. Workshopping it helped me narrow down to the scenarios with the strongest impact.
For “The Last Hall Monitor,” published in Halfway Down the Stairs, the task was from Christopher Allen in SmokeLong Fitness, 2023: “The Epistolary Story.” I’d made several attempts in the past to write about my excommunication from the Catholic Church, and none of them got to how I really felt about it. When I decided to write a letter to my mother’s parish priest in her defense, it all came out in a rush.
Peer-review feedback is always full of surprises. In general, what kind of feedback do you find helpful? What kind of feedback do you find less helpful?
I find it helpful to learn what resonated with the reader. I like to learn where readers found themselves confused or distracted in the story. A reader summarizing the story can sometimes be helpful, so I know what a reader might take away from the story. I think comments suggesting it should be a longer piece are not helpful when we’re trying to write flash. For example, “this should be a novel!” means I’ve failed to write a flash story.
To how many places did you send these stories? Can you tell us a little about their journeys to publication?
“Leftovers on the Dashboard”: The earliest version of the story, the WIP I used for the task, I sent out to seven places, all rejections. After revision in SmokeLong Fitness, I liked the piece so much I sent it to only two places that are on my shortlist of dream publications. I grew up in the Midwest so was over the moon that Midwest Review accepted this story, and when the print journal arrived, I was excited to have such a beautiful publication to share.
“The Last Hall Monitor”: I sent this story to two places. It was accepted within 48 hours with such kindness and enthusiasm from nonfiction editor Ellen Herbert, who later nominated it for the Best of the Net anthology.
What is your advice to someone considering taking part in a peer-review workshop?
Oh, gosh. Do it! You will learn so much by reading others’ drafts and seeing how they evolve. You will get to know other writers in the workshop and celebrate their work as they publish. Others’ comments on your work and your classmates’ work is so insightful and helps you see the work differently.
Read “Leftovers on the Dash” by Marijean Oldham in Midwest Review.
Read “The Last Hall Monitor” by Marijean Oldham in Halfway Down the Stairs.
_______________________________
Marijean Oldham is a public relations consultant and writer living in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her published works include several pieces of flash fiction and flash creative nonfiction, as well as two guidebooks about central Virginia. Marijean’s work centers on themes of mother/daughter relationships, life in the Midwest, and the complexities of womanhood. The Virginia Center for Creative Arts recognized Marijean with a fellowship in 2022. In 2003, Marijean set a Guinness Book World Record for creating the largest bouquet of flowers.
The core workshop of SmokeLong Fitness is all in writing, so you can take part from anywhere at anytime. We are excited about creating a supportive, consistent and structured environment for flash writers to work on their craft in a community. We are thrilled and proud to say that our workshop participants have won, placed, or been listed in every major flash competition. Community works.