Trying Out Something New

In the past three months, I've just been grinding. I've been writing poems in my free time, editing and refining them to something close to perfection and submitting it to as many literary magazines as possible. The strategy seems to quite work - I haven't yet checked my acceptance percentage rate but I think that I've been accepted quite a lot, if I do say so myself.

But I've taken a break. I've got forthcoming poems that are going to be published in June, so I think it's a good time to take a good break. (Not to mention that I'm going into the exam season soon. Maybe after my last exam I'll get back to writing as much as possible.) In that break, I have not written as much as I usually do, and now I'm realizing how much I miss writing.

Opening lines for poems pop up in my head and I write them for the next time I actually sit down and write something. But beyond that, I have almost zero output and I'm waiting on emails from the lit mags that I have submitted to weeks and months ago. So now that I'm not writing, I realized, why not do something that's also adjacent to something in the literary industry?

So, spontaneously, I applied to become editors to various lit mags. My thought process is as follows: "Literally, why not?"

There's a lot of reasons why I think this is a great idea. First of all, I've always wanted to know how the behind-the-scenes work in lit mags. I've always appreciated and respected the amount of work that is poured into making new issues happen. But I want to understand it more. I think that if I were to be a part of the editorial team, I could fully respect the work.

Second, I've been meaning to hone new skills. And if I were to join the editorial team, I would be able to really push myself and provide feedback and reviews to aspiring and established authors and poets. It's a great way to give back to the community of authors. I was once in their position, lost, clueless and oblivious to the fact that there are a lot of supportive communities that will encourage them. This is my chance to pay it forward.

Third, it's just a really great idea overall. I'd be lightening the load of the editor(s)-in-chief, getting to know new editors who are likely to be poets and writers like me. Making connections and networking in this industry is really important and this would be my way to really get to know others.

All in all, I sound like a broken radio. It's a good idea, and I hope that I am accepted into at least one magazine.