What do you write? And what genre or form are you most interested in sharing with others here, possibly for the forthcoming mini-course… or one in the future?
What is your writing level, and your comfort level with receiving feedback? And with offering feedback?
What I want to write is a romance novel. Specifically an alien abduction type romance novel. The idea is in my head (for not just one book, but a series), but I just can't/won't make myself establish a regular writing routine. So in reality I'm open to writing anything if it makes me establish thaylt routine. I'm completely fine with sharing and receiving feedback. Only problem goes back to the beginning - I need to actually write something to be able to share it and get feedback.
Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022Liked by Alison Acheson
Currently, I'm writing a science fiction series. After that it will be an urban fantasy comedy, then finally I will re-visit my 14th century historical set in France (I'll have learned enough to cope with the criticism by then). Love will be an important part of the stories, but the romantic moments will be sparse. I've written on Medium for two years, been in quite a few writers' groups. So far the Juneta Key's Ninja Writer's sci-fi group has been the best. There needs to be a moderator to keep people on track.
I’m in an low-res MFA program with a year to go, I’m considering leaving. Not happy with it. I write CNF and working on my first screenplay. I love being in a writers group getting and receiving feedback. I’m 53 years old.
Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022Liked by Alison Acheson
I have 4 projects started, all varying shades of Military Sci-Fi. One has a decidedly old school detective noir feel, two are your basic mil/sci-fi, and the last is hard to classify. It deals with the biblical subject of the Millennial Reign of Christ here on Earth. I’m a two or three chapters into each.
I’m not experienced in writing and would love honest feed back. I would also like with suggestions on how to make things better.
I’m in the Army. They’re about to send me to a masters program for a year, so hopefully I’ll be able to write more technically as I learn how to do research and get practice at writing papers (apparently I will have to write a lot of them).
I write poetry (published on Medium and long-ago Scouting mags) and also have several languishing MG/YA partly finished manuscripts in the drawer, that I’d like to revive. My time spent writing has been largely neglected for other interests in the last six months, but I’d like to get back in the groove. I have been following along with the Unschool lessons avidly, reading the works mentioned (ie Laura Ingalls Wilder!), and thinking about how to apply the concepts in my work. I feel poised to ‘begin anew’ at a greater level of skill, but am still standing on the dock, contemplating the water and not ready to dive.
For prose, I am comfortable with giving and getting ‘reader reaction’ type of feedback, but I find after some years in writer’s groups, that I don’t want ‘editorial feedback’ until a piece is ‘first draft complete, or it tends to push me off track to the point that the work stalls. I hope that makes sense!
On poetry, any feedback is entirely welcome on a ‘for next time’ basis but I don’t tend to change a work once it is shared. I don’t share poetry until it feels complete to me, and changes based on other’s suggestions, much as I may feel ‘yes, WISH I’d thought of that!’, feel wrong, like the work would be possibly improved, but no longer ‘my own’. So I take in the feedback and hope to apply it in future work(s). I have never participated in poetry workshopping, but have had some great feedback on Medium from a highly skilled poet whose work I admire. I have had thoughts on others poetry but have never offered feedback.
I'm writing my first novel - it started as YA, but now has morphed into mostly general fiction. Would love to swap work with other YA or general fiction writers! I am a copywriter by profession, and very comfortable giving and receiving feedback.
Hello! I write Picturebooks predominantly as well as personal essays on Medium. I've focused on PBs for 10 years now -- yikes! -- so I wouldn't say I'm a newbie, but I also don't have an agent or any published books, so maybe I am. :) I would be happy to exchange PB manuscripts with other PB writers. I'm comfortable with receiving and giving feedback. Thanks for the opportunity!
Mar 17, 2022·edited Mar 17, 2022Liked by Alison Acheson
I've been an educational writer, editor, designer and project manager for a long time. For fun, I'm having a go at shifting genres into fiction for adults. Perhaps that's what I wanted to write all along 🤔.
I've been publishing short fiction on Medium for a year – from flash fiction to novellas. I would describe most of it as 'contemporary realist fiction with an Australian flavour'. (Except the Permaculture series written by a cat.)
I'm planning to self-publish two volumes of stories (about 224 pp. each) early in 2023. I find the idea of being responsible for the whole publishing process very exciting.
I would workshop one or more of the short stories, or excerpts from them, probably one I think is strong and one I think is a problem child.
I would be looking for an honest personal reaction without favour and without malice. It's particularly useful to know if readers dislike the protagonist, get completely lost, find a motivation or a reaction implausible or find the outcome anticlimactic. It's also useful to know that they truly enjoyed the read and wouldn't change much. There is a danger of trying to deliver 'value for money' and magnifying minor niggles.
I'm prepared to offer the same.
I also have the concept for a novel rattling around in my head, and intend to sit down and write it in the second half of this year. So far I have a plot outline, main characters and a couple of early chapters. Later in the year, I'd be interested in bouncing ideas about that one too, workshopping some key chapters.
I'm not sure how I might fit into this if I do (though I think it's great you are going down this path!) - I really have just enjoyed learning more about writing. Currently I'm writing photo essays and occasional poetry for my Substack newsletter. I'm not sure where it's going in the future, I'm trying to develop voice, style and a path forward! I don't know what my writing level is - not complete beginner but not published author.
I've participated in writing groups before and both given and received feedback so I'm pretty comfortable with that. I always found that having a group helps me focus and make sure I write and it really is wonderful to get the perspective of others.
I write serialized crime fiction, along with other genre fiction. Currently, I'm just writing short stories, but I would like to work up to a serialized novel this summer. I've only taken writing seriously the past few years, learning as much as I can on my own and submitting to online lit mags in the process. I have no formal training in creative writing and would love feedback on how to improve.
I am working on a memoir that is a mix of poetry, lyrical prose, and interesting visual elements. In all the various workshops I have taken, the ones that have "clicked" the most for me were always always always poetry workshops...maybe because I love love love to write and perform poetry/spoken word/ lyric essays / and the like.
I'm an experienced writer (I write in a different form altogether for my "career") with a strong voice. I was part of a collective that involved editing other writer's work constantly, and I have been told that I am an amazing editor/feedback-giver. I'm also fine receiving feedback, though I have yet to be in a workshop where the peer feedback was particularly helpful, as it seemed to focus a lot on asking me things that my intended audience would know and/or things that would be discussed previously in the book.
I think that's a key thing I've struggled with in the workshop sense - I want to workshop essays/poems that are part of this longer work, and tend to spend a lot of time answering questions that would have been answered before the person go to this chapter/essay etc. - and I never know how to address that before people read...
And I am waiting to hear back about MFA programs... applied to 2 low-res ones for this round and still deciding if I want to do the grueling full round in the fall for residency programs (assuming neither of these pan out).
I'm currently a college student that is writing on the side. To be honest, I haven't been writing for the past few years and only decided to pick it back up this month. Embarrassed to say that what I'm writing is fanfiction but it is what brought me back to writing, so I'm grateful. I love being part of a community that could converse about writing.
What I want to write is a romance novel. Specifically an alien abduction type romance novel. The idea is in my head (for not just one book, but a series), but I just can't/won't make myself establish a regular writing routine. So in reality I'm open to writing anything if it makes me establish thaylt routine. I'm completely fine with sharing and receiving feedback. Only problem goes back to the beginning - I need to actually write something to be able to share it and get feedback.
Currently, I'm writing a science fiction series. After that it will be an urban fantasy comedy, then finally I will re-visit my 14th century historical set in France (I'll have learned enough to cope with the criticism by then). Love will be an important part of the stories, but the romantic moments will be sparse. I've written on Medium for two years, been in quite a few writers' groups. So far the Juneta Key's Ninja Writer's sci-fi group has been the best. There needs to be a moderator to keep people on track.
I’m in an low-res MFA program with a year to go, I’m considering leaving. Not happy with it. I write CNF and working on my first screenplay. I love being in a writers group getting and receiving feedback. I’m 53 years old.
I have 4 projects started, all varying shades of Military Sci-Fi. One has a decidedly old school detective noir feel, two are your basic mil/sci-fi, and the last is hard to classify. It deals with the biblical subject of the Millennial Reign of Christ here on Earth. I’m a two or three chapters into each.
I’m not experienced in writing and would love honest feed back. I would also like with suggestions on how to make things better.
I’m in the Army. They’re about to send me to a masters program for a year, so hopefully I’ll be able to write more technically as I learn how to do research and get practice at writing papers (apparently I will have to write a lot of them).
I write poetry (published on Medium and long-ago Scouting mags) and also have several languishing MG/YA partly finished manuscripts in the drawer, that I’d like to revive. My time spent writing has been largely neglected for other interests in the last six months, but I’d like to get back in the groove. I have been following along with the Unschool lessons avidly, reading the works mentioned (ie Laura Ingalls Wilder!), and thinking about how to apply the concepts in my work. I feel poised to ‘begin anew’ at a greater level of skill, but am still standing on the dock, contemplating the water and not ready to dive.
For prose, I am comfortable with giving and getting ‘reader reaction’ type of feedback, but I find after some years in writer’s groups, that I don’t want ‘editorial feedback’ until a piece is ‘first draft complete, or it tends to push me off track to the point that the work stalls. I hope that makes sense!
On poetry, any feedback is entirely welcome on a ‘for next time’ basis but I don’t tend to change a work once it is shared. I don’t share poetry until it feels complete to me, and changes based on other’s suggestions, much as I may feel ‘yes, WISH I’d thought of that!’, feel wrong, like the work would be possibly improved, but no longer ‘my own’. So I take in the feedback and hope to apply it in future work(s). I have never participated in poetry workshopping, but have had some great feedback on Medium from a highly skilled poet whose work I admire. I have had thoughts on others poetry but have never offered feedback.
I'm writing my first novel - it started as YA, but now has morphed into mostly general fiction. Would love to swap work with other YA or general fiction writers! I am a copywriter by profession, and very comfortable giving and receiving feedback.
Hello! I write Picturebooks predominantly as well as personal essays on Medium. I've focused on PBs for 10 years now -- yikes! -- so I wouldn't say I'm a newbie, but I also don't have an agent or any published books, so maybe I am. :) I would be happy to exchange PB manuscripts with other PB writers. I'm comfortable with receiving and giving feedback. Thanks for the opportunity!
I've been an educational writer, editor, designer and project manager for a long time. For fun, I'm having a go at shifting genres into fiction for adults. Perhaps that's what I wanted to write all along 🤔.
I've been publishing short fiction on Medium for a year – from flash fiction to novellas. I would describe most of it as 'contemporary realist fiction with an Australian flavour'. (Except the Permaculture series written by a cat.)
I'm planning to self-publish two volumes of stories (about 224 pp. each) early in 2023. I find the idea of being responsible for the whole publishing process very exciting.
I would workshop one or more of the short stories, or excerpts from them, probably one I think is strong and one I think is a problem child.
I would be looking for an honest personal reaction without favour and without malice. It's particularly useful to know if readers dislike the protagonist, get completely lost, find a motivation or a reaction implausible or find the outcome anticlimactic. It's also useful to know that they truly enjoyed the read and wouldn't change much. There is a danger of trying to deliver 'value for money' and magnifying minor niggles.
I'm prepared to offer the same.
I also have the concept for a novel rattling around in my head, and intend to sit down and write it in the second half of this year. So far I have a plot outline, main characters and a couple of early chapters. Later in the year, I'd be interested in bouncing ideas about that one too, workshopping some key chapters.
I'm not sure how I might fit into this if I do (though I think it's great you are going down this path!) - I really have just enjoyed learning more about writing. Currently I'm writing photo essays and occasional poetry for my Substack newsletter. I'm not sure where it's going in the future, I'm trying to develop voice, style and a path forward! I don't know what my writing level is - not complete beginner but not published author.
I've participated in writing groups before and both given and received feedback so I'm pretty comfortable with that. I always found that having a group helps me focus and make sure I write and it really is wonderful to get the perspective of others.
I write serialized crime fiction, along with other genre fiction. Currently, I'm just writing short stories, but I would like to work up to a serialized novel this summer. I've only taken writing seriously the past few years, learning as much as I can on my own and submitting to online lit mags in the process. I have no formal training in creative writing and would love feedback on how to improve.
I am working on a memoir that is a mix of poetry, lyrical prose, and interesting visual elements. In all the various workshops I have taken, the ones that have "clicked" the most for me were always always always poetry workshops...maybe because I love love love to write and perform poetry/spoken word/ lyric essays / and the like.
I'm an experienced writer (I write in a different form altogether for my "career") with a strong voice. I was part of a collective that involved editing other writer's work constantly, and I have been told that I am an amazing editor/feedback-giver. I'm also fine receiving feedback, though I have yet to be in a workshop where the peer feedback was particularly helpful, as it seemed to focus a lot on asking me things that my intended audience would know and/or things that would be discussed previously in the book.
I think that's a key thing I've struggled with in the workshop sense - I want to workshop essays/poems that are part of this longer work, and tend to spend a lot of time answering questions that would have been answered before the person go to this chapter/essay etc. - and I never know how to address that before people read...
And I am waiting to hear back about MFA programs... applied to 2 low-res ones for this round and still deciding if I want to do the grueling full round in the fall for residency programs (assuming neither of these pan out).
I'm currently a college student that is writing on the side. To be honest, I haven't been writing for the past few years and only decided to pick it back up this month. Embarrassed to say that what I'm writing is fanfiction but it is what brought me back to writing, so I'm grateful. I love being part of a community that could converse about writing.