Adria Bailton, Author
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Musings from a Mountain

Short Fiction Round-Up #78

9/4/2023

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Welcome to the review of the twenty-three (23) stories I suggested on social media over the course of August 2023! If you missed any, here they are. 
If you enjoy any of these stories, I strongly encourage you to read more on the magazine's website and if you like more than one story there, please consider supporting them either through a one-time donation or subcription.
the Rumpus logo with the in white font on black ovals and RUMPUS in fluffy red font
Fingers by Rachel Hein was published at The Rumpus in 2020. 
Children are fearless of the things adults shield them from ... until it's too late.

HAD published Re-Entry by Marguerite Sheffer in July.
A story of how pottery can provide lessons for piloting spaceships.
Picture assocation with this story at HAD, a pile of human skulls in black and white.

Haven Speculative logo with a mastodon head in a little bubblen, Haven written in black and Speculative in blue.
Phosphor's Circle by Annika Barranti Klein was published at Haven Spec in 2021.
Sometimes you just want to give your museum tour without the snarky dads input.

Monster of the Month Club by Marissa Lingen in August
What if your friend got you something exciting, like a monster each month you have to kill?

fiction published In the Making by Tonya R. Moore in July. 
A wonderful sci-fi story about accidents turned into worse situations.

The Time Bureau Came to Careers Day by Sarah Jackson was published by Strange Horizons in July.
A poem about your personal past and time travel.
Strange Horizons logo with a black to purple gradient over the words Strange Horizons

Nature: Futures published Eight laws I wound up breaking while attempting to restore the timeling by P.A. Cornell in July.
This is a hilarious little story about when things go slightly wrong when time traveling.

FAQ: The "Snack Fight" Portion of your Thesis Defense by Luke Burns was published by McSweeney's in 2010.
Thesis defense does feel like defeating snakes.

RE: Thesis defense issue by kalirush is an AO3 fanfiction of the previous McSweeney's story published in 2020.

Lightspeed logo with the word Lightspeed in fat font and an orange to yellow gradient from top to bottom.
Lightspeed published So, You Married Your Arch Nemesis . . . Again by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor in 2022.
A cool story with excerpts from "larger" stories to tell it. Also, what a love story.

The Power Of by Mel Grebing was published by Manawaker Flash Fiction Podcast in July.
A beautiful piece that tackles whether a protagonist must have agency.
Manawaker logo with a pen tip as a rocket, a white with blue wings and orange flame out the back against a dark blue night sky with twinking white stars and gray clouds.

The Wife's Story by Ursula K. Le Guin was originally published in 1982. 
​A story that challenges your preconcieved notions of what is happening in the story.

If There's Anyone Left in black font
If There's Anyone Left published Five Tips for Sealing Away an Ancient Evil by Ann LeBlanc in 2020.
Absolutely perfect from step one to ... six?

Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow was published at Apex Magazine in 2021.
This story made me cry. Have a box of kleenex nearby.

Diabolical Plots published

Interstate Mohinis by M.L. Krishnan in June
A story about a monster who falls in love.
​
Glass Moon Water by Linda Niehoff in July
A bit of humor, a bit of nostalgia for those summer days as a kid - if the dead swam with us.

The Dryad and the Carpentar by Samara Auman in July
What happens when a dryad is neighbors with a carpenter?
Diabolical Plots logo, a steampunk face with goggles, arched eyebrows, and a wide, totthy smile in teal on a shades of teal geometric background.

DSF logo, says DSF on a rocket and Daily Science Fiction around the exterior circle, in shades of green and white.
Funerary Tea by Anne Leonard was published by Daily Science Fiction in 2019.
What if someone told you the unflattering truth about a deceased loved one every time you served them tea?

Metaphorosis published A Wielder Does Not Know Regret by Katherine Karch in August.
A story where the ending changes the meaning of the title and the rest of the story.
Metaphorosis August 2023 issue cover with a dark haired woman in a blue shirt and green pants carrying a child holding a giraffe doll.

Songbird, Jailbird by Pauline Barmby was published at Stupefying Stories in July.
A flash piece with a bit of a joke about writers block.

New Millennium Writings in black
New Millennium Writings published Persephone by Amina Gautier in 2022.
A beautiful re-telling.

The Princess with Blood on Her Dress by Jared Povanda was published by Milk Candy Review in July.
Do you see the ending?

Small Wonders published The Only Way Out by Louise Hughes in August.
When a taxi driver is the only one who can save a family.
Small Wonders logo with gold type of small wonders and a gold keyhole with a white moon and white stars on a navy background through it.

Looking for another speculative fiction market? I didn't highlight much horror this month. The Speculative Fiction Magazine Subscription reference site can help you find just what you're looking for.
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2023 Goal Update #2

8/25/2023

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It's been another, approximately, 4 months...

Cribbed from my last update post, I write goal and goal update posts for transparency. I strongly suggest you find yourelf a small writing group with goals similar to yours - whether it be short fiction or novels, indie publishing or traditional routes - because these groups will be vocal about their goals, activities, and struggles than the average social media or blog writer.
Why four (4) months? Because it's short enough that it doesn't feel like everything has happened all at once, but it's long enough that I don't feel like I'm not reporting change.

Short Stories

Submission Goals
On the day of publication of this blog post, my goal was to have submitted sixty (60) of my yearly goal of nintey (90) stories. I am at exactly sixty submissions as of today.
a table that says Year 2023 Submissions 60
Giving this an On Course 🏃🏻‍♀️
Picture of a woman with a t-shirt that says

Photo by Drew Farwell on Unsplash

"Just send it" is a term for mountain biking that also works for short fiction submissions.
Rejections and Acceptances
I have ten (10) submissions out at this time. I've had two (2) acceptances this year - one for Manawaker Flash Fiction podcast for a reprint for "Submerged" and an new, original print of "W.F.A. #31" for Worlds of Possibility. This number hasn't changed since my last update. I seem to get all my acceptances in the spring. I'm hoping the increased submissions will change that pattern of the last few years.
I always aim for 100% rejection because I really don't have control over acceptances. I've also gotten a higher rate of personal rejections so far this year than in years past. This is a good sign.
Giving this an On Course 🏃🏻‍♀️
Short Fiction Writing Goals
I was already very much in the weeds on this goal for my last update. Knowing that I was at 3 stories out of 17 at that point. If I had tried to get back on track I should have aimed for either drafting or polishing one story per week since. That's another 17 stories. 
Well, I was draftintg a novel through the beginning of June and took a writing break in mid-June for two weeks. That wasn't the initial plan, but I'm statisfied with that course anyway.
Then I participated in the Clarion West 2023 Write-a-Thon Flash Fiction Groups. My goal was to submit a story to them weekly for the five (5) feedback weeks. I accomplished that!
I also ended up writing another novelette in July on top of the poem and flash for the workshop. I've also polished one of the flash stories from the workshop and started its submission journey. All in all, again, I'm satisfied with where this has gone.
Giving this a Smelling the Flowers and perfectly fine
Picture of a gray mailbox on a bar in front of brown-green grass.
Photo by Ray Shrewsberry on Unsplash

Novels

Querying News
No good news since my last update. I have all the responses I expect I'll get on my first novel that I queried. 
I have started querying the second novel as of the end of May. Querying is going faster this time around. For that I'm thankful.
Here's hoping for better news next update.
Novel Writing and Revision
I finished the novel I wrote April - June at about 82,000 words. I plan to let it sit until September (that 90 days that gets thrown around as a suggestion to let novels rest) and pull it out for revision. I'm very happy with that drafting process and that I have something new to work on.
Meanwhile, I have seven (7) pieces of flash, short fiction, and poetry to revise and get on the short story submission grind. Ideally I'll finish all of those in the next couple of weeks. I'll update you on if those manage to get finished by the end of the year, let alone this wild goal of 2 weeks.
That leaves the 23k novella I wrote in February/March to revise still and the 10k novelette I wrote in July to revise - hopefully by the end of the year. Those sit between short fiction and novels. They won't be queryable, but depending on how things shake out, I will be on another submission path with each of those.
That's it! I've been productive in the writing front, and less successful in the acceptances, requests, etc front. Wish me a bit of luck for this last part of the year.
Picture of green shamrocks against a white background
Photo by Autumn Martin on Unsplash
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Writing Advice and Feedback #8

8/14/2023

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Mentorships

It's an even month, when I usually talk about giving or receiving feedback. I'm going to mutate that into talking about getting mentorship, which may involve getting feedback.

Types of Mentorships

There are multiple types of mentorship programs.
  • Career - These focus on career aspects of writing. Your mentor will provide you assistance with how to form your career and steps to achieve your career goals. They may give craft advice, but they do not give individualized feedback on specific pieces.
  • Craft - These focus on a specific manuscript (or a series of short work) in an effort to get that specific piece into submission shape and help you understand craft better to write and revise on your own. 
  • Combined - There are mentorships who expect mentors to do both Career and Craft work with the mentee. 

What do you need? What do you want?

Free or paid?

This post has been edited to add a section on choosing a free or paid program at approximately noon Pacific time on Monday August 14, 2023.
"Money flows to the writer" is often heard in writing circles. This is meant to help writers to avoid schmagents and scammy Publishers. In certain fiction circles, one is advised not to pay submission fees and in others, it is standard procedure to pay submission fees. However, paying to attend conferences and workshops is not a part of that particular advice, since those are expected to be improving your craft and not as a direct publication exchange. It does contribute to a "pay-to-play" mindset that we must be careful about.
That said, consider your budget for learning and improving your craft and career.
  • Do you pay for craft books?
  • Do you pay for classes and workshops?
  • Do you pay for editing?
  • Do you pay for mentorships?
Some of the links below are free to applicants and some have fees. Some cost thousands of US dollars. Other than trying to avoid scams (please comment or email me if I've linked to a scam), I've included both free and paid opportunities below. In this edit, I've marked those that have fees/tuition.

Career-type Mentorships

There aren't that many mentorships that focus solely on your career. Often, career gets lumped into a combined mentorship. For a career mentorship, you already have to have an idea of what you want for your career. Are you a short fiction writer? Novelist? Both? Often you'll have to focus on one per mentorship. What craft advice can you use? This won't come in the form of feedback on your work but rather craft books and other reading for you to learn from. What tools might help you advance your career?
A few of these are available through
  • SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association)

Craft-type Mentorships

The most well-known of these was Pitch Wars, where a specific manuscript was selected by a mentor who helped with revising until it was polished for a showcase for agent interest. Many Pitch Wars mentees went on to find agents (with or without their mentor's continued assistance) and a portion of those secured book deals. However, Pitch Wars is no more. In fact, the last couple of years has seen the ending of many similar programs. 
All of these programs require you have a manuscript or a short story that will be revised and polished during the mentorship with the goal that you'll use the learned revisions tools on your future manuscripts.
Find opportunites at
  • Write Hive
  • We Need Diverse Books (they have other specific mentorships available, so poke around their site)
  • RevPit​
  • Vancouver Manuscript Intensive (Fees/Tuition)

Combined Mentorships

Look for these from
  • ​Local chapters of SCBWI
  • ​Horror Writers of America
Sami Ellis has a slightly dated list here.

Workshops

Workshops can also lead to mentorships. All the in-person and online workshop intensives will require you have a manuscript you submit. You'll often have teachers who will spend time discussing craft in group and sometimes individual settings, along with group critique. These are also given with the idea that you'll take these learned lessons for revising future manuscripts. There are a ton of annual workshops.
SFF/H related workshops
  • Clarion and Clarion West (Fees/Tuition)
  • Odyssey (Fees/Tuition)
  • Viable Paradie (Fees/Tuition)
  • Wayward Wormhole ​(Fees/Tuition)

Writers Groups

There is a ton you can learn by joining writers groups. My favorite are Discord groups. Many like Facebook groups or email groups or web forum groups (like Codex). These are not individual focused mentorships, but you might learn a lot about career and craft that you would not have discovered on your own. Keep your eye out for groups that might provide you these oppotunities.
Some suggested Discord groups - these link to webpages where you can find the Discord invite:
  • Dream Foundry
  • Chez Rambo (Fees)

Please share

This was not in any way meant to be an all-inclusive list of mentorship opportunities. It is meant to encourage fellow writers to look into mentorship opportunities as ways to improve their careers and crafts. Do you have suggestions on mentorship programs and groups? Please leave a comment!
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Short Fiction Round-UP #77

8/7/2023

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July might have been rough to follow my short fiction recs. Mastodon was the best place to get my weekday morning suggestions reliably. I started the month on Twitter, but have since abandoned my account. Three weeks ago, I joined BlueSky and have started posting daily there - though without a scheduler, it's a bit random throughout the day. Here are all twenty-three (23) in one place for you

Anubis with a light wing and a dark wing and A World Unto Myself by P.A. Cornell in all caps type on a brown background
A World Unto Myself by P.A. Cornell was published at Apex Magazine in June.

Smokelong Quarterly published
Lucy Ignores Death by L. Sorviero in 2020

Princess Shipwreck by Tessa Yang in 2017

Timecop Mohitos by Sarah Pauling was published at Diabolical Plots in 2022.
Diabolical Plots logo in shades of teal with a steampunk, wide-smiled face.

Metastellar logo, white all caps-type on orange background, Speculative Fiction and Beyond on a gray background.
Metastellar published A Sampling of Seven Dragons by Mar Vincent in June.

The Haunted Tea Set by Sarah Jackson was published at Bone Parade in June.

Scrawl Place published The Clementine of Enlightenment by Monica Louzon in June.
Scrawl Place logo with the GPS pointer.

Clarkesworld robot head looking up.
Informed Consent Logs from the Soul Swap Clinic by Sarah Pauling was published by Clarkesworld in 2022.

Small Wonders published CoverLetter_Version5 by Courtney Floyd in July.
small wonders logo with the words in gold with a gold keyhole with a moon and stars against a navy background.

Egg / Shell by Avi Burton was published by Kaleidotrope.

Cossmass Infinities published The Bullet in My Pocket Has Your Name On It by P.A. Cornell in June.

Cast of Wonders logo with a mask wearing headphones and the words Cast of Wonders in bubble font.
A Letter to A Bully's Mother by Priya Sridhar
and
A Word to the Wise by Risa T.H. Wolf

was published by Cast of Wonders in May.

Uncanny Magazine published
Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 by R.S.A. Garcia in July. 
Wonderful story about an old woman and a robot becoming family.

Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters by N. K. Jemisin in 2020.
An adventurous story in the aftermath of a hurricane with a dragon.

Uncanny logo with a unicorn on a crescent moon and Uncanny in special font, all in a purple shade.

Nightmare logo with Nightmare in red font.
Terms of Service by Dominica Phettplace was published at Nightmare Magazine.
Really? Have you read the TOS?

If There's Anyone Left published
And Again, We Try by Allison King  in 2022.
Poignant science fiction story about family immigration decisions.

River Mumma Remembers by Tonya R. Moore in June.
​
The Care Giver by Frances Ogamba in 2022.
​A story about a mortuary worker who sees the ghosts of the bodies he works on.

The Sigilist's Notes on the Fell Lord's Staff by Stephen Granade was published at Baffling Magazine in 2021.
​This poetic story shows what happens when you know a person's true name.

Baffling logo with the word in all-caps Black font and wings on the the f's.

Strange Horizons logo with a gradient on the words from black to purple.
Strange Horizons published The Whale Shark's Stars by Dawn Vogel in July.
This poem uses beautiful imagery of astronomy as if stars were created by the skin of a whale shark.

The Hamster Machine by Andrew Kozma was published by ergot. 
​What happens when you need a lot of hamsters?

LatineLit published @kittypooka by Miguel Montevista 
A historical fiction during the pandemic in which a man experiences life altering events regarding ancient religions.
LatineLit logo with a make-up mirror all in blue.

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Reading Reflection

7/28/2023

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Good news first! I've already met my 2023 reading goal!

Picture says 2023 Reading Goal with 3 party horns Reading goal of 24 books met! 100% (24 books)
I did meet my reading goal of 15 books in 2022 because my reading slump that started in 2020 finally ended last September. It feels so good to meet my goal half-way into the year. (This was completed as of June 23!)

Year-to-date Stats

I don't know how to make StoryGraph only give me stats for 3 months (only one or all of a year.) So this includes my first quarter reads as well. 
Pie graph depicting different Moods of books Adria read in 2023
The pie graph says I've been reading adventurous, emotional, and dark stories the most. This is spoilers for my two favorite reads this quarter.
A bar graph of the genre of books Adria has read in 2023.
This year I'm primarily a Fantasy reader with a large amount of LGBTQIA* rep. Young Adult (which I write and therefore read) and Science Fiction follow those up.
Line graph of the number of books and pages Adria has read by the month in 2023.
The spikes in the third month of each quarter intrigues me. I'm not sure why I read more books in those months. Here's to another 24 books!

Favorite Reads of the 2nd Quarter 2023

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

Cover of Hell Followed With Us

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Cover of Kindred
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Writing Advice and Feedback #7

7/10/2023

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Querying!!

For months I have wanted to post some advice on querying. You may have already seen the advice I'm going to give. However, I've come across many writers who query without getting up-to-date advice and make mistakes. The worst that happens is the writer gets a form rejection. The best that happens is the rare agent who will tell you what mistake you made so you can improve. But why get rejections when you could be getting requests?

Guidelines

All agents have manuscript wishlists and guidelines. The wishlists may be on their agency agent page, their own website, or on the Manuscript Wishlist website.
  • First, agents may be opened or closed. Do not try to query closed agents. They will often delete your query unread.
  • Second, each agent has the genre list and age categories they represent. Sending outside of those will earn you only a rejection.
  • Third, each agent and agency will have guidelines on the agency website and often repeated on an agent's personal website or the manuscript wishlist. Follow them!
Common guidelines include what they want in the query package. It will make your life easier if you have the following already saved in a folder.
  • Query Letter (should be under 400 words total)
  • Synopsis (most agents want a 1-page single spaced letter, 250-750 words, 1000 words on the outside)
  • First 5 or 10 pages in manuscript format OR First 1-2-3-5 chapters in MS format OR First 50 pages in MS format [These are the common page requests.]

Do you follow up?

In short, NO!
Generally, once your query is off to the agent, you let it be until they respond. There are agents who accept query inquries, but it's rare. Querying has been slow for the past three years. It will take some time for most agents to get back to you. Have patience. Query more agents, write your next book, distract yourself.

You got a response, do you follow up?

In short, NO!
The vast majority of rejections are form rejections. Often personal rejections may not give specific advice for improvement. Emailing the agent or DM'ing via social media to plead for personal response is generally frowned upon. 
Obviously, if the response is a request or asking for contact, then of course you follow-up!
​If you have an offer in hand, then nudging (a follow-up) is considered appropriate. 

In short...

Don't have agents be the first reader of your manuscript. Get readers for your manuscript and get feedback before querying. You may be nowhere near ready to query and then you blow your shot. Agents typically frown upon getting second queries on the same story they rejected, even if rewritten.
Get feedback on your query package from other querying and recently agented (seriously recently, as in the past year or two) writers who have been around the block.
Query using a currently accepted query letter format. There are many blogs and resources on query letter format - but make sure the advice is within the past couple of years.
Query following agent guidelines - synopsis the length they ask for, the number of pages they ask for you to send (or none at all if they are query letter only), etc.
Response times are long, invest in Query Tracker to have an idea when you might expect a response. 
Accept the response as given and move on.

Get yourself a group of fellow querying writers

Ideally, you'll find yourself a group of writers who are querying, who have been querying, who have successfully queried (that means groups with agents authors who stick around and give advice). These groups are a lifesaver and are available on many social media platforms. 

Good luck! I can't wait to congratuate you on your requests, offers, and announcement of rep!

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Short Fiction Round-Up #76

7/3/2023

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In June I posted twenty-one (21) story for followers to read. Here they are all rounded up!

Hibernation Heirloom by Chelsea Mueller was published by The Sunday Morning Transport in June.

Picture of the Baffling log with the F's made of wings
Baffling Magazine published
Gastronomie Mort by Gerri Leen in 2021

Beyond the Veil by J. Kosakowski in 2021

the ending by Gwynne Garfinkle was published by The Deadlands in 2021.
Picture of The Deadlands logo with a barren tree with stars tied to the branches.

Picture of the Wyldblood logo of a wolf stanking on a rocking outcropping howling at a crescent moon.
Wyldblood Press published
Unbounded by Bridget Haug in 2022

Artificial Autonomy by Helena Pantsis in 2022

Your Inheritance Will Taste of Salt by Karolina Fedyk was published at Fireside in 2019.

Lightspeed published Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death by N.K. Jemisin in 2022.
Picture of LIGHTSPEED written in gradient orange to yellow on all caps font.

APPARITION LIT written in all caps in baby blue with white smudges on a black background.
Soulbirds by Sylvia Heike was published by Apparition Lit in February.

Apex Magazine published A World Unto Myself by P.A. Cornell in June.
Picture

Picture
Augur by Sarah Pauling was published by Luna Station Quarterly in 2019.

Speculative City published Immortal Decision by Erin Lale in 2018.
Speculative City logo, words in white on white background

Fiyah masthead with a fist surrounded by a flame and the letters of FIYAH in yellow appearing to burn.
Muneera and the Moon by Sonia Sulaiman was published by Fiyah in 2021.

If There's Anyone Left published The Flowers I Grew for Her by Avra Margariti in 2020.
If There's Anyone Left written in all caps in white font on white background.

Cast of Wonders logo with a mask listening to overhead headphones with the words Cast of Wonders in yellow font outlined in black.
Barter Queen (Artemis Rising 5) by Sarah Pauling was published by Cast of Wonders in 2019.

Daily Science Fiction published A Heart, An Egg, A Lock of Hair by Kelly Sandoval in 2017.
Daily Science Fiction logo wtih DSF written in green on a rocket with green boosters and white cloud and Daily Science Fiction written on a green ring.

The Forge Literary Magazine banner with a caligraphy pen tip as a flame.
...for a Black girl by Janine Blue was published by The Forge in 2022.

Eternal Haunted Summer published Beneath an Unknown Sky by Dawn Vogel in June.

To Study the Old Masters in the Prado at the End of the World by Sarah Pauling was published in Clarkesworld in 2021.
Picture of Clarkesworld robot

Underland Arcana logo, the words in white.
Underland Arcana published From the Notebook of Gregorey, Keeper of Village Elders Minutes by Michelle Knudsen in June.

Bootleg Jesus by Tonya Liburd was published by Diabolical Plots in 2019.
Diabolical Plots logo, a steampunk face in blues.
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Writing Advice and Feedback #6

6/12/2023

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How to Give Helpful Feedback

Be Honest and Positive

Going back to an earlier post, the best feedback to give and recieve is both Honest and Positive. Again, hat tip to Darren Groth for combining these.
To everybody who I critiqued before I learned about the positive portion, I apologize. I assumed you would know that I liked it or felt somewhat positively about it if I didn't say anything. But that's not how that works. And I wasn't receiving positive critiques myself at that time. During that time is when I had an honest = brutal CP and people giving me 1* reviews as though they were being helpful. I was not intentionally being unkind, mean, or nasty. But I wasn't highlighting the things I liked frequently unless I really liked them.
It's important to be both honest and positive. This will make sure no one feels like you're dishonest about either the positive things or the things you see need improvement. The writer is benefited in that they have actionable feedback and won't end up delusional about their own work.  

Use the format agreed upon by both parties

Learn to write a dev edit letter. This is the first way writers will get feedback from editors and getting it early on from beta readers and critique partners will get them used to this format. It also gives you practice developmental editing, which will only improve your own work if you are a writer. If the writer has sent you a list of questions, use the letter to answer the questions. If you have overall statements to make about the manuscript or story, use a dev edit letter to make those statements. However, before sending a dev edit letter, make sure the writer is open to getting it. ​
Make sure they know ahead of time you'll be commenting and/or editing so that they know to expect the comments or edits. This doesn't mean sending them a message right when you start, but if the agreed-upon format is a dev letter, and all of a sudden comments are flying into their inbox or throughout a returned MS, the writer is rightfully mistrustful and possibly taken aback. 
Are you both verbal/audio communicators and learners? Then have a phone call or a video chat! I, for one, cannot retain anything said over the phone to me. I have some issues with my ears and I have to be in a specific environment free of any other humans or higher cognitive distractions to listen to something I need to learn from. I need to be able to take notes. I cannot take notes on a phone call. I do a little better over video chat. In-person is easy because the person sees me taking notes and will pause. 
A writer should learn to get used to the workshop format used in many group settings, but make sure it's something you agree upon if you are just you and the writer.

Ask Questions and Be Descriptive; Don't be Prescriptive

Describe your reactions or ask questions. If something is funny or you enjoy it, by all means, point it out! But if something doesn't work for you, don't try to fix it. Ask a question to get their writerly brains going. Describe your reaction - even if it's just a "this isn't working for me."
But don't prescribe a correction. I couldn't find a positive framing for this. But overall, I've gone awry when giving prescriptive feedback. That's entirely the reason I got pushback on feedback I gave a writer. It was prescriptive (and wrong.) Your feedback will be equally useless when being prescriptive unless you've already established a relationship where your prescriptiveness is trusted by the writer.

Mary Robinette Kowal's Feedback Guide:

Picture
I'm going to end with MRK's excellent feedback guide. This is a start. The discussion of how to give good feedback should go much deeper than this.
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Short Fiction Round-Up #75

6/5/2023

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I took a social media break for the first two weeks of May. I only posted thirteen (13) suggested short fiction (plus a nod to my April National Poetry month daily poems.) Enjoy!

Picture of A lone pink, cherry blossom on a cherry blossom tree, wet with raindrops.
A lone cherry blossom on a cherry blossom tree, wet with raindrops. Photo by Adria Bailton
National Poetry Month Daily Poems by Adria Bailton

Uncanny Magazine published

Space Treads by Parlei Rivière in March
​
In Time, A Weed May Break Stone by Valerie Valdes in March
Picture of Uncanny Magazine Issue Fifty-One March April 2023 with three muskateers in purple outfits and pointy hats

Fastasy Magazine logo with the word Fantasy written in a green gradient font.
Enchanted Mirrors are Making a Comeback. That's Not Necessarily A Good Thing by Mari Ness was published by Fantasy in March.

Small Wonders published The Watching Astronaut by Wendy Nikel in February.
Small Wonders Issue Zero cover. A swan in front of a castle with a waterfall.

The Dark Issue 82 March 2022 cover where a red being with 3 glowing eyes peers out from behind some trees.
Douen by Suzan Palumbo was published in The Dark Magazine in 2022.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies published The Void Door by V.M. Ayala in March.

Enmity by K. Tempest Bradford was published at her website.
Picture of a black woman in a white halter top and an orange skirt next to a tree with green leaves on a brown trunk and branches in spirals.

Picture of two girls, one with long hair in a half-pont and another with long hair in a bottom pony-tail, in school uniforms, white button down collar shirts and gray striped ties, and one with a gray jacket. They are kissing under a willow tree in front of water by a rock.
Worlds of Possibility published Things Most Meaningful: a story by P.A. Cornell in 2023.

Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death by N.K. Jemisin was reprinted by Lightspeed in 2022.
Lightspeed Issue 140 January 2022 cover. A Figure in a space suit on an island of plants and roots floats in a rocky nebula.

Jet Fuel Review logo, with Jet Fuel Review on a jagged gray line.
Jet Fuel Review published Breath by C.L. Glanzing in the spring 2023.

You Are My Ending by Julie Reeser was published by Little Blue Marble in May.

If There's Anyone Left published Sally Mary Henry by ZZ Claybourne in 2020.

The One They Took Before by Kelly Sandoval was published by Shimmer in 2014.
Shimmer Magazine's header, a bird flying near a tree.
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Writing Advice and Feedback #5

5/8/2023

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Twitter Writing Advice or Listicle Advice or Pithy Advice

As of the writing of this post, Twitter was dying. Who knows what state it will be in by the time I post this particular blog. But the idea is the same. 
The idea of Twitter Writing Advice, Listicle Advice, or short, succinct advice is that Writers™ just want a bunch of check-boxes of writing advice that will guarantee their success. To some extent, that may be true. But the advice you get in 280-characters, a list, or without additional context is basically worthless.

Example, "Show, Don't Tell"

Everyone knows the basic "Show, Don't Tell." Hell, I was taught that as a child in English class about writing having nothing to do with fiction. Where did that advice come from? Well, I've read many interesting suggestions on that ranging from a CIA plot to sway politics via fiction to silent films to Anton Chekhov, a playwright. Quite frankly, none of the sources of these give sources that satisfy my scientist's heart. I have no opinion on the source. My problem lies in how this advice is given. That is, simply and often without anything to actually help a fiction writer grow. Even in the course in which I first heard it didn't really expound upon it usefully. 
When given as advice, "Show, Don't Tell" is useless. Only give or receive this advice if you're in an hour class in which ways in which discussion of "tell" as important and helpful. Only give or receive this advice if you're in an hour or more class in which you discuss what is meant by "show" without it resulting in purple prose or overblown narration. Only give it if you are prepared to really discuss what "show" means and what "telling" is and how they are not mutually exclusive and can be mutually beneficial.

Twitter Advice

My first gripe in this post is when on a 280-character limited social media someone posts Found 25 instances of "asked" in my MS. Time to get trimming!
A writer might walk away from seeing such a post thinking, "is 'ask' a filler word now? Should I be removing dialogue tags of 'asked' from my prose?" The answer is No. No, it is not and no you should not. Why is this person citing "asked" as something to trim? Who knows? They didn't elaborate. They didn't thread. They just tweeted out a person goal that now reads as Writer Advice.
Or better yet, actual writer advice! There have been amazing disk horses over such things as "do people frown with their mouths or foreheads?" or "nobody sighs as much as writers think they do." Often this advice is a random person giving advice using their own personal pet peeves as though it is helpful and useful - just like that 1* review on feedback I mentioned before.
Personally, I enjoy the pushback on these. But if you miss the pushback, you might think the advice is good.
[dave ring] tweeted
Marianne Kirby @TheRotund tweeted on Dec 14 The never-ending prescriptivist writing advice on Twitter that is grounded in a single person's pet peeves but is presented as though it is a hard and fast rule even though writing is truly govered by a bunch of contradictory suggestions sure is a thing.
By definition, micro blogging media such as Twitter or even Mastodon, is meant for short, sweet communication. It does not allow for nuance. I'm not even sure long blogs, such as this, can really get into advice clearly. Because communication is limited. 

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules for Writing

You've come acrost one or more of these:
  1. Never open a book with weather.
  2. Avoid prologues.
  3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
  4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said"…he admonished gravely.
  5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
  6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
  7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
  8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
  9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
  10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
When I came back to writing groups after about 15 years of not being apart of fiction writing groups, these pieces of advice were being passed around like candy. I implore you to go back to my first piece of advice. Who is Elmore Leonard to give this advice? He's a writer who had books and short stories published for 30 years before he gained widespread notoriety - in 1985. He was supposedly "one of few genre writers taken seriously by lit circles." LOL, okay. Please let me know if I'm wrong, but based on photographs and when he was writing, he seems like a cis-het-NT-able-bodied-white man. He basically constrained huge amounts of writing to his world view and preferences.
Oh. This seems like prescriptive writing advice in a list based upon one writer's personal pet peeves presented as hard and fast rules. Please see above.
I'll be honest, I'd never heard the thing about only using "said" as a dialgue tag until 2020. So it wasn't even accepted advice until after this guy died. But I get told "Publishing says..." Did Publishing say? Or have a lot of people in Publishing read this prescriptivist advice, felt the need to present some basis in fact or figures, and have made up that "Readers don't see 'said.'" Can I get a price check on that? Like, how was that determined?

My advice...

Find a writers group you can trust who will discuss the advice given, so that there is nuance and context. In the group, go through craft books together and discuss the advice with critical eyes and minds. Do not fall prey to pithy Writer Advice without understanding where it is coming from, with good sources. Going back to my first blog post - Who is giving this advice? What's the context of the advice? What's the nuance about this advice? Furthermore, is it prescriptive? Does it improve your writing to follow as just a list? Do you understand the goal behind the advice? Do you understand why the originator gave the advice?
I have brought my confusion over advice to one of my writers groups many times, and our discussion has often clarified whether it was something I seriously needed to consider thinking about for my writing, discarding as absolute nonsense, or discarding because it just wasn't effective advice for me.
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    Writer of spec fic. 
    Stories published at ZNB Presents,  Wyldblood Flash and Constelación Magazine.
    Currently querying a novel.

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