Creatives, You Need to Slow Down
Why taking a step back can make you a better creator
We’re all being forced to slow down right now, and some of us are better at it than others. But I’ve noticed that writers, and creatives in general, are really, really bad at this.
The other day I posted about a Medium publication I run, Interstellar Flight Press, in a thread of people looking for outlets to pitch. A writer immediately replied, “This isn’t a Medium publication.” (We are, but the writer didn’t take the time to read or open the link I posted.) In another publication I manage, I get writers submitting drafts only to remove them a day later before I can read them.
I just got done reading something like 200+ novellas and poetry books from our recent submission call. There were a lot of promising works, but the biggest problem with most of them was a lack of care on the part of the submitter. The writer maybe didn’t follow the submission guidelines, or submitted something that isn’t our vibe (submitting literary fiction when we’re a SFF venue), or the manuscript just wasn’t ready for publication yet.
How could I tell it wasn’t ready? Well, there’s this lovely thing that happens when you read a really good book. It’s similar to when you look at a fantastic piece of art. You sort of fall into it. Maybe you’re…
