James McGirk

James McGirk

Artificial Intelligence, ML Marketplaces

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Takeaways from Slushpile Sifting

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  • Alzheimer’s and parents’ deaths lose their force as plot devices/ emotion tweakers after the 100th read or so;
  • Plagiarizing premises’ from famous short stories dilutes their power;
  • Using graduate school as a setting or graduate students as characters seems lazy and boring;
  • Plot remains paramount – well-written plotless stories dominate slushpiles;
  • The ability to convey emotion through words is rare;
  • You get one premise free, the others you have to earn;
  • After completing a draft, figure out what the story is (the story making machinery) and then write it again;
  • Having a PhD in English/CompLit etc. doesn’t mean you can write things people want to read;

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    Post date

    January 5, 2010

    Post author

    by Jamie

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    Posted in Columbia, Fiction, Uncategorized.

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    Tagged MFA, publishing, slush pile.

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    • Cleaving prying tentacles…
    • Integrating TRIZ

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