Want to Improve Your Writing?
By our very nature, we are constantly driven to get better in putting keys to keyboard (or pen to paper) for the written word. Reading books to improve our craft, writing draft after draft, attending seminars and conferences, participating in critique groups, and the list goes on. One thing that is not often mentioned, but has very helpful to me, is offering oneself as a volunteer reader for an online publication.
Eric Shattuck makes a case for this in his article, THE PERKS OF BEING A SLUSH READER. The Perks of Being a Slush Reader | by Eric Shattuck | The Writing Cooperative He even quotes William Faulkner, so it is worth checking out.
Most magazines (online or in print) have an all-volunteer staff for readers, and that is what helps to keep the magazine afloat. However, there are a lifetime of benefits to being a reader that are immeasurably paid in other ways. I have seen this firsthand as a volunteer reader for 101 Words (101 Words — 101 Word Short Stories) and Black Hare Press (Home — Black Hare Press).
Most magazines do not let you submit while you are a volunteer reader, but Black Hare Press does (although for obvious reasons, all submissions, including my own, had to be sent in blind). The feedback was definitely valuable to my improvement as a…
