5 Things I Have Learned From My First Few Days Of Reading Slush by Michael Merriam, Age 44

[mmerriam]

1. I am a significantly better writer than I think I am.

2. I am not good enough to be consistently successful at the professional level.

3. I am developing an understanding of why #2 is the current state of being.

4. I am beginning to see how to use #1 to change #2.

5. I have to continue writing while integrating and acting on this new information if I want to change #2.

Comments

[cristalia.livejournal.com]

*nodnod* It really teaches you the what and why. Slush, that is. Glad you're getting something from it so quickly. :)

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Even with a team of us reading slush, the volume is high enough that I'm seeing a lot of stories in a short time.

[redheadedali.livejournal.com]

I came across a link to this on one of the blogs I read and thought of you: http://jimhines.livejournal.com/467074.html

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

heehee! I love this.

[maggiedr.livejournal.com]

Very succinct and very good. I hope I spelled succinct right.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

I am at the same state of understanding that you are. How, though, do you us #1 to change #2?

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're already reaping the benefits of slush reading :)

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the trenches, dude. *g*

And yeah, what you learn about how stories work and why they don't is priceless. It applies to novels too believe it or not.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

It's good to know it applies to novels as well.

[jennifer-brozek.livejournal.com]

All of the thoughts when I started reading slush.

[cloudscudding.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Please do expound on number 3 as time permits.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I think that will be a whole post on its own. I'll think more on this and try to come up with a coherent blog post about it.

[mikandra.livejournal.com]

The most surprising revelation I had when I started reading slush is that the grammatically challenged is not as large a category as I thought it would be. There is a fairly large category of subs that show lack of polish of style, but by far the largest category are stories that are technically (I mean in terms of language) sound, but flawed/tepid plot-wise.

Where do you read slush, BTW?

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I'm reading for Fantasy Magazine. I've been seeing a lot of stories that need polish. I've also seen several that are close, but fall apart somewhere (usually in the middle or right at the climax).

[mikandra.livejournal.com]

Hmm - I also sent an Email after that call for readers. Now I'm wondering if anyone ever received it, since I've heard nothing.