Weird for a Reason: What Editors Want From Experimental Fiction
Editors from The Sun, Ploughshares, and Okay Donkey Weigh in
Hey friends,
Welcome to another edition of Tell Us Something We Don’t Know… where we source a panel of literary experts and ask them questions about whatever the heck. Today, the heck is sample pages and our instructors are a trio of publishing mavens:
The Experts:
Derek Askey — Senior Editor at The Sun
Rachel Dillon — Managing Editor of Ploughshares, whose work appears in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, Pleiades, and Poet Lore.
Steve Chang — Fiction Editor at Okay Donkey and MacDowell Fellow.
The Takeaways:
Why “experimental” is not the same as decorative, and how to experiment with intention
How writers can avoid cliché through image
What editors mean when they say a piece must have a “so what”— and why “weird” isn’t enough
How different magazines define “experimental” work
Why successful experimental writing often creates two layers of meaning
By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to let your strangeness loose while handling the reins of meaning with mastery!
How do you feel about ‘experimental’ writing?
Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of The Forever Workshop.
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