I hate the word ought, and I hate blanket imperatives. For that reason, I am not about to say that every aspiring writer really ought to spend a year reading slush.

But I will say that I learned an awful lot from my stints as a slush reader back in the day, and I believe that other aspiring writers can learn by reading slush. For one thing, it will show you what everybody else is doing, and maybe why it's not such a great idea for you to do exactly the same thing.

But moreover, you will learn something more important to your development as a writer.

You learn why editors reject stories.