Interview with Ben Klinkner, Fiction Editor

Ben is my esteemed fiction co-editor.  I asked Ben some questions that I thought might be useful to writers or anyone that’s curious about Mr. Klinkner.  We found some seats in the grad student lounge (carefully avoiding the one with the suspiciously large seat stains) and commenced with the interrogation.

Tell me one thing you like about being an editor.

I like the moments when I realize three or four pages into a story that it’s actually a good one and I have something that my lovely coworker and I might actually be working on—as opposed to something that’s going into the pile we’re not going to use.  The good stories are definitely more rare than the bad ones. 

When you’re reading, what, if anything, are you looking for?

First and foremost, I’m looking for technical ability because I feel like all too often we see things that reflect unpracticed writing.  Technical ability and coherence and coherent structure are probably things I’m looking for first. 

So you ignore the pretty stamps?

No, pretty stamps are first.  Then all the other stuff.

What are your pet peeves when it comes to submissions?  I know a couple, but for the public.

Characters who are writers.  I feel like pastoral or rural settings are starting to seem really redundant to me throughout the submissions we’ve been reading. 

What about Courier New font?

Courier New font. That’s my biggest pet peeve.  

Do you want to expand on why you hate it so much?

I hate it because, maybe I’m jumping to conclusion, but it seems like the writer is trying to make it look like they used a typewriter to write their story.  As if they’re boycotting technology because they have such a strong moral character. 

[Laughter.] 

If the story you’re reading were a person, what would your relationship to he/she be?

So—as if every story I picked up was a new person? 

Yeah.

At the beginning, in the process of putting this issue together, I went in a little more accepting and looking forward to starting a friendship.  And now, I’m not necessarily looking to making enemies, but I’m not the most congenial stranger to these story hybrid people we’re talking about. 

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Definitely flight.  

Why?

It’s always been pretty fun to fly in dreams.  I think that would translate to even more fun in real life.