How to Escape the Slush Pile

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Ari Meermans

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This article, "How to Escape the Slush Pile" from Electric Lit—and written in partnership with the Authors Guild for their Writers Resource Library—just crossed my Twitter feed courtesy of Victoria Strauss. (Thank you, Victoria.)

The article ties in nicely with recent discussions here in RT, including our most recent topic: What is a Story?

For editors, searching for a story to publish in the submissions queue can be like searching for a needle in a haystack: it takes ages to find that needle, but when you do finally grab it, it pricks you to let you know it’s there.

While the article is promoted as a "Self-editing checklist for short story writers", the points to ponder would apply just as well to novelists:

  • Have you written a story? (Meaning: are you sure it's a story?)
  • Are you bored? (If so, your reader will be, too.)
  • Does the world need another story like this, told this way?
  • Flashback as story.
  • Are you turning your story into a screenplay?
  • Are your characters motivated?
  • Is this piece ready?
  • Are you comfortable with receiving edits?
 

Bladespark

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Very interesting. Quite a lot of this makes me feel a little better about my story *as* a story. My character is definitely motivated, at least! So tick that one off. I think I may get at least within spitting distance of the rest of it.
 

MaeZe

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  • Have you written a story? (Meaning: are you sure it's a story?) Yes
  • Are you bored? (If so, your reader will be, too.) No, not even close
  • Does the world need another story like this, told this way? Yes, absolutely, but it's not just another story
  • Flashback as story. No, my past and present chapters are the story
  • Are you turning your story into a screenplay? No
  • Are your characters motivated? Yes
  • Is this piece ready? Not yet, but close
  • Are you comfortable with receiving edits? Yes, been receiving critique and edits through the whole writing process

:D I'm good.
 
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Joseph Schmol

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What does "flashback as story" mean? Is it something to avoid or pursue?

That question is answered in detail in the linked article. I'd paraphrase for you, but it's a short passage and very clearly written.
 

Ari Meermans

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You're very welcome, RedDragoness. And thank YOU.

I'm coming to terms (reluctantly) with the fact that, while I am a writer, I'm probably—very likely, yeah, almost surely—not a fiction writer. So I've decided my remit is to turn my rather large investment in every single book on writing by Les Edgerton, James Scott Bell, and Donald Maass (and a few one-off titles such as On Writing by King) into something of use to the writers here. I scour those books trying to find topics to post here to help you all elevate your mastery of the craft. Every once in a while, an article appears through sheer serendipity and I feel I just have to share it, yanno? I love it when even one person truly gets the tip or reads deeply enough to understand what an article is about. :)
 

Bufty

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An easy-to read and informative article. Thank you, Ari. I found the motivation comments in particular to be very helpful.
 

muse

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Nice article. Thanks for sharing.
 

blacbird

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"Most writers say that if you’re not getting rejected, you’re not submitting enough. Others say that you should aim for 100 rejections a year. This is solid advice, but at a certain point . . . some of those rejections need to turn in to acceptances."

The single statement in the article that stands out most, at least for me.

Although this one also resonates, largely because of many many threads about description that appear in the Basic Writing and Novel forums:

"There is a danger in being over-descriptive. When a moment in a story is painstakingly described, it becomes impossible to enter that moment as a reader. For example, if you tell the reader about every movement, every breath, every door that is shut or open, then you’ve left little room for the reader’s imagination."

caw
 
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L. OBrien

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This is a great article. "Have you written a story?" is such a basic question yet it pinpoints the core problem with so many manuscripts (including a few of my own past projects, as much as I hate to say it). That strikes me as a really useful way of thinking about the MS, and a good reminder of what the MS is supposed to accomplish in the first place. Thanks for sharing this!
 
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