Downwrite & dirty: confessions of a slush pile reader

It’s not the beginning of the end, but as Winston Churchill said, it’s the end of the beginning. The end of the beginning of WRiTE CLUB, that is, the anonymous writing contest sprung from the brain of MG/YA writer DL Hammons, which I mentioned in the last post on this site before I disappeared under the deluge of the 189 writing samples submitted by 132 writers from around the globe. Although not all writers used their full 500-word allowance, those 189 entries translate to nearly 95,000 words – the equivalent of reading a novel written in more than a hundred styles and almost, it sometimes seemed, as many genres. 

It was an amazing, refreshing, humbling and ultimately hopeful experience.

And it’s only just begun. As I write this, the first two contestants to gain enough votes from me and the other 19 WRiTE CLUB slush pile readers have entered the ring and are duking it out for approval of any reader who wants to weigh in. Tomorrow another pair will vie, and so on every weekday through May 17. 

Voting on each bout stays open for a week, so would-be readers who missed the opening round Monday, April 29, still have until noon on Sunday, May 6, to cast their votes, with final votes on all first-week contestants closing May 9, and so on. 

image: pixabay

After the third week, three previous losers from each of the initial weeks will be given second chances, in three-person cage bouts followed by a pair of semi-final rounds. Those left standing (including a wild card contestant) will advance until the final round, when a party of celebrity judges makes the final choice, to be announced at the 2019 DFW Writers Conference, June 22-23.

Please note that up to the penultimate stage of the game, we as readers will turn thumbs up or down – and, writers hope, provide commentary explaining our choices. 

Because contest entrants are anonymous – their real names known only to Hammons' wife, whose behind the scenes work qualify her for a spouse-of-the-year award, writers may vote for their own entries. The slush pile readers who read the initial entries, winnowing them to a field of 30, may also vote. This will give all writers who made the first cut of 30 (out of 189) valuable feedback on their appeal to readers. All Hammons asks is that we use our own identities when voting and posting comments. And, that we not lobby for particular entries or attempt to influence the votes of others.

I explained in a previous post (“A straight shot to this WRiTE CLUB judge’s heart,” April 2), what a writing sample took to gain my favor. Some other slush pile readers joined in on Twitter with #revpit-style thumbprint analyses of what they liked – or not – in sample reads. However, we did not compare notes. 

Neither of the first two entries that hit the ring this week was among my personal picks, although I admit to voting for another entry from one of the writers. And although I favor adult thrillers, mysteries and historical fiction in my reading for pleasure, my votes went to writing writers designated as both adult and young adult, and to which they applied genre labels including "contemporary," "fantasy" (in which I include "magical realism" and "urban fantasy"), "horror," "romance," and more. Some of my favorite entries were those I would have labeled "humor," although they paraded under other genre titles.

In an email this week, Hammons noted that of the 189 entries, a record 168 received at least one vote from his panel of slush pile readers. Of even the remainder, no doubt some judges – including myself – noted intriguing concepts, characters or settings. And all participating writers deserve respect for devotion to their vision and willingness to share their work. Truly, there were far, far more outstanding and worthy writers than the initial group of 30 WRiTE CLUB fighters can indicate. 

And so, Hammons offered this suggestion to us 20, so far relatively anonymous slush pile readers. Will we provide feedback to writers (with their permission) who didn't make the initial cut of 30? I'm willing, and I hope other readers – and writers – will take up the challenge.

In the meantime, keep those votes and comments coming at WRiTE CLUB!