Revisions and Feedback

Not dead, just busy.

I’ve been really occupied with a short holiday story that I saw a prompt for. Originally I saw it and said, “Hey, being part of an anthology might be good exposure (and a little money), plus it’ll keep me thinking.”

I came up with a story, wrote it up, and felt DAMN good about it. I submitted it to my writers’ group and prepared myself for feedback. But I wasn’t quite as prepared as I had thought I was. Especially since the opening feedback was, “I like your writing but…”

They had some serious issues with my plot and story, and many of them I agreed with. Some of them I feel are a product of the genre. Most of them I know are my weaknesses in writing, so I was happy to work on them. Back to the drafting table. Huge revisions. Round two.

Round two actually went a lot easier. The tweaks were more like tweaks/additions rather than “you have a hugely problematic story element.” I’ve now gone through and made the suggested edits. Now I’m faced with two options: resubmit it to them to review (the poor bastards), or find a beta reader (or two).

The problem here is that I’m having trouble finding beta readers. I’m not very active on social media, and I don’t have a huge following, so right now my writers’ group is my main source of feedback. Part of me knows I need to change that, but most of me knows I’m pretty terrible at it. I’m trying.

So, if you’re interested in reading a 6K Christmas short and giving feedback, let me know!