Lessons From the Slush Pile

As I wrote about a week ago, I’ve started volunteering for an online journal as a slush pile reader.  I’ve already read over 50 entries, which is much more than I thought I would read.

So far reading from the slush pile has been a fascinating and sobering experience for me as a writer. I feel like I’ve learned far more about the submission process from an editor’s point of view than I would have reasonably expected.

It’s difficult to imagine how many submissions editors and their staffs have to review to get to the final selections for an issue. And the experience of having so many stories put in front of you at once immediately puts you in a comparative mode. I imagine now how some teams might debate and cull down their “Maybe” list into a concise, short list of final “Yes” pieces.

‘This story,’ an editor might think to themselves, ‘is well written, but I don’t like the ending. It’s not as good as this other story I just read a half hour ago.’  Or maybe the thought is, ‘This story just doesn’t go anywhere.’ (In my own brief time as a reader I feel like I’ve read quite a few stories with an excellent premise, but the person just hasn’t taken it far enough.)

And given the pace of life at small online journals and the avalanche of submissions, it’s difficult to imagine editors requesting re-writes and working with writers to hone a piece so it can be published, even though I know it does happen and has happened to me personally a few times. It makes me that much more appreciative of an editor’s time.

Of course all of this reading and evaluating gives me ammunition to look at my own work with a critical eye, or maybe I should say a MORE critical eye.

My early lessons from the slush pile would have me asking myself a series of questions before I’d submit any of my stories to any editor for their review. I jot a few of them here for your consideration and use, as you may see fit.

• “Does this piece have enough to say?”
• “Do I take the characters far enough in this story?”
• “Is there emotional resonance?”
• “Is the premise plausible enough within the context of the story that’s been written?”
• Have I taken the premise of the story far enough?
• “How can I up the ante or increase the tension?”
• Is the ending coming too soon in the story? Too late?
• Is the ending predictable? Is it too unpredictable?

This post is probably the first of several posts I’ll make on this topic, based on other experiences I have from the slush pile.

I’d like to hear from other writers, editors or slush pile readers out there who may agree/disagree with my questions above. Maybe you have your own set of “critical questions” you ask before you submit/and or accept a story for publication and I’d like to hear about those too.

Writer, Reader and now, Slushpile Volunteer

I’ve been back from Mexico for about a week now and I’ve thrown myself into editing and revising a story I’ve been working on for about a month. I’ve gotten feedback from three of my regular readers, and each one has made different suggestions and comments from which to pick and choose. The usual torture.

I continue to grapple with the material and the piece has gone from 1200 words and ballooned up to 2100 words, and now I’ve culled it back down to under 1600 words but I am unhappy with the ending. (I’m usually unhappy with my endings.) And so the toil continues.

But speaking of editing, endings and the like… I’ve also recently started volunteering as a slush pile reader for one of the journals that previously published one of my stories. It’s been fascinating to read other people’s submissions and to be in the position of deciding whether or not the material is worthy of publication. I’ve already read more than 30 stories as a slushpile reader over the last several days, and unfortunately from what I’ve read, the majority of the submissions were a “No” for me.

It is a GREAT experience for me because I see rookie-writer mistakes, crazy stories with no plot, or stories with nonsensical plots and characters, but I also see nuanced well written pieces that for whatever reason do not come together.  As a writer, seeing all of this material gives me a much deeper understanding of what editors (and slush pile readers!) have to go through in order to get to the stories that are ready for publication. It also makes me think that it’s basically a miracle that any of my stories have been published.

Have you ever volunteered as a slushpile reader for a small press journal? Have you ever edited a journal? I’d love to hear some war stories from people who are on the “other side” of the submissions process and their perspective.

A Kindle, a Kindle, I have a Kindle…

I am SO excited – I just got my Kindle delivered today!  I opened it up and ooohed and aaaahed over the lovely glare-free screen, the sleek buttons and the cute little black leatherette carry case that came with it.

But after my initial rush of Kindle-adrenaline, I got to thinking. Hmmm – I could actually read BLOGS on my Kindle! Wow – what a thought!

I’m not exactly sure yet how to read blogs on my Kindle, but I know it can be done and I am going to investigate that, dear readers, and let you know what I find out.

For those who are already super-duper Kindle/blog saavy, please please feel free to leave helpful comments and suggestions – I can use them!