Takeaways from Slushpile Sifting

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;

James McGirk