Great Writing Telling Great Stories — With Stephen M. Tomic
We conducted an interview with the co-editor of the literary publication The Junction. Seeing this was one publication bringing good writing to Medium, we sought to understand how the publication worked and what it generally meant for writers seeking to share their own stories on the platform. Stephen was generous enough to provide his answers to help with these questions.
Q: A person comes across your publication and they ask: why The Junction? What would be your answer to them?
I suppose it depends if the question is “why the name The Junction” or “Why should I read The Junction?” If it’s the former, it’s because The Junction was a Greek-American run diner in the town where I went to college. They had 24-hour breakfast and decent coffee, and it was still possible to smoke indoors back then. The Junction was a gathering point from all walks of life to come and talk about anything.
If it’s the latter question, The Junction, if it has a particular mission, is to seek out great writing to tell great stories. In a medium overstuffed with lists, masturbatory advice on how to be a writer (just write, stupid), and regular old clickbait, my hope is that The Junction serves as a kind of literary refuge that has all the cozy qualities of digging into a good book.
Q: Do you have one specific genre you champion or do you have an even spread of all the topics?
Though I read widely, across an incredibly wide swath of topics, I return time and again to fiction. It’s my bread and butter and I try to champion as much of it that I can.
Q: Where do you think your publication can improve the most?
It would probably benefit eventually from some kind of formal submission system, assuming I ever had the time to implement such a thing. As it now stands, I enjoy searching the lesser seen corners of Medium for unrecognized gems.
Q: What is the one thing you could ask Medium if you could be granted this one advantage over other publications?
That seems a bit unfair, no? I believe recognition should derive from merit.
Q: This might have some relation to the site but this is also a personal question. What does fiction mean to you?
To a certain degree, I’ve shaped my life around fiction. It informs my present and past and future to come. What is a life but stories? Fiction allows us to explore the inner depths of our minds and souls, to connect at some holy level, across space and time. A well-wrought story can take me places beyond my wildest imagination.
Q: What the type of fiction that you read the most, like this one genre that has you fawned over every time you pick a book in that genre?
Hm, it’s hard to pinpoint. I’ve always been drawn to more to literary efforts than anything so specific as a genre. Not that I haven’t splurged on some Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Neal Stephenson, etc. but I have long had a fondness for the experimental OuLiPo writers, like Georges Perec and Italo Calvino, or weirdo masterminds like Pynchon. More recently, Elena Ferrante blew my mind, and Donna Tarrt is one of the finest writers of prose alive today. In short, I’m capable of fawning over anything.
Q: What can the readers and writers expect from The Junction in the near or far away future?
More diversity in voices. Thus far we’ve skewed towards middle-aged white guys and I want to have a mix of perspectives and styles for prospective readers to sample. Audio is another component that could be interesting to explore.
Q: Do you think Medium is a good place for fiction writing?
It is to the extent that it’s seen by people who want to read fiction. People are always bitching on Medium about their feeds and the vaunted algorithm, but good fiction can be found if you are ready to dig and explore. I readily click on the fiction and short story tag, and fiction is now tucked into the broader Culture tag on the homepage. Could it stand to have more exposure? Naturally, but that’s certainly a biased opinion. I’m happy my fiction has found a home.
Q: What are your favorite fiction publications on Medium?
I’ve read very good stories from a number of publications. Do you want a list? I’m always clicking on stuff in Crossin(G)enres, The Weekly Knob, The Coffeelicious, Misplaced Identity, Literally Literary, and The Rabbit Is In. And more, so much more.
Q: What do you think can be done to increase the exposure of fiction writers?
That’s tricky to say for sure. I mean, do we want exposure to be solely in the hands of Medium Staff? It’s easy to ask for more exposure, or a dedicated tab on the homepage, but where is the line between exposure and picking favorites? Medium is ultimately a garden for the written word. I recently proposed a kind of “best of” category for fiction, something archived and readily accessible. There could be top 25 stories of the month, and it could be a way for Medium to champion their own writers.
Q: Are there any features you wish to see implemented, conducive to fiction writing?
I’d love to be able to select multiple tags at once and deeper, more integrated search. If, for example, I wanted to read something tagged “fiction” “weird” “short story” “monkeys,” I would want to see results for that.
Q: Do you think people would pay for a good fictional story?
Of course! It still happens, even if the market has been upturned by the internet and the infinite sprawl of words available for free.
Q: Have you considered having memberships on The Junction?
Considered, yes. But I’d rather keep The Junction open to everyone. At present, I can’t dedicate the time to turn The Junction into something deserving of paying money for.
Q: What are the challenges faced by proposing a subscription model?
As I alluded to in my previous answer, a subscription model must, in my opinion, merit the price of subscription. Can I justify people paying however much per month for the content? Putting a premium like that on a publication can be a motivating force, but it also puts a target on your back to produce new material regularly. And should a publication offer something extra to separate it from everyone else? It’s a tight rope to walk.
Q: Waffles or pancakes?
In solidarity with Eleven, I’m gonna go with waffles.
Thank you for sharing your time and insight Stephen. If you have a publication for fiction, poetry, prose, or satire and want to share your interview, send us an email with the subject “Smaller Interview” at thesmallermed@gmail.com.
The ‘Smaller’ Medium is a directory by volunteer editors to improve visibility and discovery for poetry, humor, and fictional writing on the platform. Read the post below if you want to learn more about it.
