For the past year or so I've been a member of a certain on-line literary workshop. I wasn't a very active member. If one wants to write then there's no time to spend on message boards participating in useless bickering. So I was pretty quiet, commenting only when I really had to. I can't say my career there had anything remarkable.
The first story was a disaster, the first sci fi story written in about ten years but that's not an excuse. The second one even I didn't like it. Aside from other things, it wasn't really my style. It was mostly an idea, an image. The third one was a bit different. It was submitted for a contest actually. I had started about three stories and had to give each one up when I realised it would end being too long. Size limitations are a killer, I hate them.
This story was an easy write though, I had it done in one afternoon after I got the idea out of the blue. It wasn't great, not exactly good according to my own standards, but it was decent enough, and if you're into fantasy then probably a pleasant read. I wasn't aiming for more, at that point a story written by a professional writer had already been submitted and I knew that, although it had its problems, it would be hard to beat. Why a professional writer would enter an amateur contest is beyond me, so I won't even go there.
No, my goal was to see if I could get something decent there and receive apropriate feedback. The comments weren't bad, most of them were positive, and only one person took the time to disect the text and tell me exactly what wasn't working, which I really appeciated.
So I guess I got my wish, the story got better marks compared to the previous two, no member openly hated it or thought it was crap, and it ended in second place.
Yep, I can say I'm contented.
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