I really admire the work you did reading those subs at Punk. For a couple years during my MFA, I read for Willow Springs, and I resented the process. So much stuff came in and so little failed to excite me. I was a snob who needed to get facepunched by the industry. Sadly, most of us at that journal were snobs and we likely ignored gobs of great stories to soothe our own insecurities. Your approach at Punk is so much better and more honest, and self-assured.
To be perfectly honest, I do this only once or twice a year. The heavy lifting is done by Steve Golds. He read for the May theme and reads again for July. It is equal parts exciting and exhausting. If I did it 10 months out of 12, I would probably lose interest and turn snarky. I've also developed a system. I read the subs very fast and go with my gut. 3 buckets: Yes, No, and Maybe. I let some time lapse and re-read the "maybe" - they're the hard choices, sadly they often become "no", mostly because they turn out to be similar to something else that has been accepted. Not surprisingly, the "obsession" theme turned out quite a few serial killer stories ...
I have a love-hate relationship with Dexter and Hannibal Lecter for that reason. It feels like everyone wants to create the next version of that.
Thanks for the honesty about your reading process. Really brought back some nostalgia for me. I didn’t have enough maybes though because I was lazy at that time in my life.
Martine, congrats on your being named guest editor for the June issue! That's a lot of reading and culling. Thanks for sharing your writing thoughts too. - Jim
I can take second person POV in short doses. Adverbs don't bother me much. But repetition, whether in sentence structure, sentence length, or word choice, kills my desire to continue reading every time.
Great article, M
Yo, thanks Steve.
I really admire the work you did reading those subs at Punk. For a couple years during my MFA, I read for Willow Springs, and I resented the process. So much stuff came in and so little failed to excite me. I was a snob who needed to get facepunched by the industry. Sadly, most of us at that journal were snobs and we likely ignored gobs of great stories to soothe our own insecurities. Your approach at Punk is so much better and more honest, and self-assured.
To be perfectly honest, I do this only once or twice a year. The heavy lifting is done by Steve Golds. He read for the May theme and reads again for July. It is equal parts exciting and exhausting. If I did it 10 months out of 12, I would probably lose interest and turn snarky. I've also developed a system. I read the subs very fast and go with my gut. 3 buckets: Yes, No, and Maybe. I let some time lapse and re-read the "maybe" - they're the hard choices, sadly they often become "no", mostly because they turn out to be similar to something else that has been accepted. Not surprisingly, the "obsession" theme turned out quite a few serial killer stories ...
I have a love-hate relationship with Dexter and Hannibal Lecter for that reason. It feels like everyone wants to create the next version of that.
Thanks for the honesty about your reading process. Really brought back some nostalgia for me. I didn’t have enough maybes though because I was lazy at that time in my life.
You are a wonder, Martine.
A little overworked right now….
lol, "funky" adverbs vs vanilla weak ones. I would love to see such a list.
Good for you Martine, and I struggle with poetry too. BTW, I've been published twice by Punk Noir :-)
Hey, you’re in the family!
Martine, congrats on your being named guest editor for the June issue! That's a lot of reading and culling. Thanks for sharing your writing thoughts too. - Jim
It's an interesting gig, and sending back the elevator too. Punk Noir was among the first to publish a piece of mine.
I can take second person POV in short doses. Adverbs don't bother me much. But repetition, whether in sentence structure, sentence length, or word choice, kills my desire to continue reading every time.