Write or Die Magazine (Forever Workshop)

Write or Die Magazine (Forever Workshop)

Fiction

Weird for a Reason: What Editors Want From Experimental Fiction

Editors from The Sun, Ploughshares, and Okay Donkey Weigh in

Rachel Dillon's avatar
Derek Askey's avatar
steve chang's avatar
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Rachel Dillon, Derek Askey, steve chang, and Write or Die
Jul 29, 2026
∙ Paid

Hey friends,

Welcome to another edition of Tell Us Something We Don’t Know… where we source a panel of literary experts and ask them questions about whatever the heck. Today, the heck is sample pages and our instructors are a trio of publishing mavens:

The Experts:

  • Derek Askey — Senior Editor at The Sun

  • Rachel Dillon — Managing Editor of Ploughshares, whose work appears in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, Pleiades, and Poet Lore.

  • Steve Chang — Fiction Editor at Okay Donkey and MacDowell Fellow.

The Takeaways:

  • Why “experimental” is not the same as decorative, and how to experiment with intention

  • How writers can avoid cliché through image

  • What editors mean when they say a piece must have a “so what”— and why “weird” isn’t enough

  • How different magazines define “experimental” work

  • Why successful experimental writing often creates two layers of meaning

By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to let your strangeness loose while handling the reins of meaning with mastery!

How do you feel about ‘experimental’ writing?

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