Write Out Of This World! 2020

Four Fairwood Writers will be providing coaching and feedback for the upcoming Write Out Of This World science fiction and fantasy short story and comic contest, sponsored by MoPOP, so send us your writing questions and the stories--or sections of stories--you'd like feedback on!

Coaching and Feedback FAQ

1. Who’s providing feedback for submissions?

Fairwood Writers and previous MoPOP WOOTW workshop instructors G.R. Theron, Erin Tidwell, Harold Gross, and Renee Stern. You can learn more about their backgrounds here. (See bios at bottom)

2. How many stories, or sections of stories, can I submit?

Please limit yourself to two. We’ll gladly look at two different pieces--or you can ask us to look over your revision after we’ve provided feedback on the original draft.

3. Does my story have to be finished?

No, you can send us an incomplete piece. We’re happy to take a look at sections that you’re having trouble with and offer feedback. But remember, you can only make two submissions. If you send an unfinished story the first time, you can only submit one more manuscript for feedback.

4. Will you answer writing questions even if I don’t include a story for feedback?

Of course! If you’re not sure how to start a story, create interesting characters, or just run into something that stumps you, just ask. We’ll do our best to coach you through the problem--and maybe we’ll base a new part of this FAQ around it if it might help other writers.

5. What’s the maximum length of work I can submit for feedback?

Your contest entry is limited to 2,000 words, but we’ll provide feedback on up to 2,500 words per submission. Writing shorter is harder--we may be able to give you some suggestions on how to cut your story down to fit the contest limit.

6. Will you look at comics?

Yes, but we can’t offer advice about your artwork--just on the text of the story.

7. When should I expect to receive feedback?

We’ll try to provide feedback on submissions within a week. However, if we receive many submissions at once, it may take a few extra days.

8. What kind of feedback will I get?

If you have writing questions, we’ll do our best to provide a thorough, helpful answer. If you send us your story, or part of it, at least two of us will read through it and send back comments about what parts are already working well and what parts need more attention. For instance, we might all note that you’ve done a great job developing your characters, but some of us might suggest places where their actions are hard to follow, while others point out places where the pace slows down and tension falls flat.

9. What if I disagree with the feedback I receive?

That’s OK! We’re only offering our opinions. You’re in charge of your story and you have the final word. Sometimes a suggestion just won’t work for the story you want to tell. But it’s always a good idea to take a little time to think about any feedback you get on your story; sometimes useful advice about our work is hard to hear, but if you keep an open mind you might be able to make your story a whole lot better.

10. What if my story doesn’t need any improvement?

Don’t worry, even stories that already shine can usually be improved.

11. Can I submit my story for more feedback after revising it?

Of course! But remember, you can only submit for feedback two times total. That could be two different stories, or a story and a revision of the story.

12. What if I’m confused by a comment someone made on my story? Can I get more help?

Absolutely! Please ask! 

    13. Where should I send my submission?
            
           Use the submissions form here.

    14. Who can I contact if I have trouble submitting?
           
           Email joshc@mopop.org

    15. What if I don't hear back from you?

          Contact us through an email to joshc@mopop.org
 

Handling Feedback on Your Fiction

You wrote a story, or part of it, shared it, and received feedback on your work. Now what do you do?

It can be hard to read constructive comments on work that you’re proud of, but getting and using feedback is an important way to grow as a writer. Every writer gets feedback from peers, mentors, and editors. Even books by famous writers went through many stages of editing and revision before they were published.

But how do you know whether the feedback is helpful? What do you do when you get feedback from one person that contradicts feedback from someone else? And how do you manage all your feedback to make sure you’re making your story better, not worse?

Managing Your Feedback

Remember that you’re in charge. No one else knows your story like you do. The feedback you’ve received are suggestions, not commands.

Understand that feedback is about only the words on the page—not you. Reading criticism of something that you worked hard on and love isn’t easy. But remember, you wrote the words, but the words aren’t you.

Read through all the comments about your story before you start making changes. You may agree with some comments and disagree with others; some of them may leave you uncertain. Some of them may even conflict with each other. Consider all comments with the story you want to tell in mind. Remember, you can use some, all, or none of them when you revise your story because you’re in charge.

Divide feedback into line editing and structural concerns. Line editing includes notes about spelling, grammar, tightening up wordy sentences, and so on. Leave all that for the final stage of your revision; don’t waste time fixing the spelling in sections you may end up cutting or changing. First tackle any issues with your story’s structure: plot holes, pacing and tension, character arcs, worldbuilding. You can read a little more about story structure here.

Using Your Feedback

Some feedback can feel off-base, but sometimes feedback feels just right and helps you fix something you sensed was a problem but couldn’t define on your own. That’s the best kind of feedback because it can feel exciting to solve a lingering problem.

Remember, the feedback you get is only that person’s opinion—but at the same time, when more than one person suggests that a particular part of your story isn’t working, you should give that more weight. Even if you get suggestions on how to fix that aspect of the story, ultimately it’s your decision how or even if you change anything.

When we write a story, especially in the first draft, we don’t always include all the pieces of it that are in our heads; as the creators of our story universes, we know all the details and backgrounds—advantages that our readers don’t have. When considering feedback, start by looking for places where you’ve confused these first readers so that you can add clarifying details and smooth out tangles when you revise.

The feedback that you agree with is the easiest to use, but what about the parts that you disagreed with when you first read through the comments, or the parts that you weren’t certain about? Don’t dismiss them automatically, unless they really don’t work for the story you want to tell. Sometimes you may need to step back and think about whether that comment is a hard truth that can help improve your story. Sometimes a comment still doesn’t work for your story, but instead leads you to a new idea that makes your story even better.

Constructive feedback is all about helping you write the best story you can—and learning aspects of writing craft along the way that you’ll be able to use in future stories. Ultimately, you, as the writer, are in charge of what feedback you use and what feedback you discard.

Critiquer Bios

Meet the Fairwood Writers offering feedback in January, 2020.

Harold Gross's efforts, solo and collaborative (with Eve Gordon as Gordon Gross), have been published in magazines and anthologies including Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Pseudopod, Story Seed Vault, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds III, and Absolutely Brilliant in Chrome. A full list is at http://literaryends.com/hgblog/writing/.

Most recently, he has a story in the B-Cubed Press anthology Alternative Truths: Endgame, available on Kindle from Amazon. 

In addition to his publications, Harold has received several prizes in various fiction contests and honorable mentions in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror. He is also a film and performance fanatic, who pens a near-daily blog of movie reviews (over 2,200 non-spoiler write-ups), which can be found at: http://www.haroldgross.com

 

Erin Tidwell has two children, three cats, and four college degrees. She’s probably the only person you know who has college credits in the study of Star Trek. Erin is a certified teacher but she accidentally got a job in technical writing while waiting for her teaching certificate to arrive in the mail. Her story-based online curriculum has won several awards from the Northern California Society for Technical Communication.

Erin helped manage the Fairwood Writers Workshop at several Norwescons and Westercons, and has instructed at the MoPOP! Write Out of This World spec fic workshop for kids and teens. She is a graduate of Viable Paradise and Pitch Wars, both of which she highly recommends, and a 2019 Pitch Wars mentor. 

Visit her website at http://www.dreamhaven.org/

G.R. Theron is a Pacific Northwest genre fiction storyteller who graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in classical history. Working in different media, he’s also produced podcasts and comics along with novels and short stories.

As a member of the Fairwood Writers, he helped run the group’s critique workshops at Norwescon along with the workshops for MoPOP’s Write Out Of This World contest. Since 2014, he’s participated and sometimes moderated panel discussions at several genre conventions.

For leisure, he GMs for online roleplaying communities. And he ardently believes that truth should never get in the way of a good story.

Renee Stern is a former reporter turned freelance writer who’s gone from writing articles for community newspapers about sewage treatment plants and local government elections to writing for the trade press about growing fruits and vegetables, building custom cabinets and furniture and, most recently, innovating with technology. Her short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Black Gate, and several small-press anthologies.

A pair of dark fantasy flash pieces will appear in an upcoming issue of the online publication Thrilling Words.

In addition to the articles and short stories, she’s writing the first draft of a secondary-world fantasy novel and seeking a home for the first volume of a planned historical-fantasy trilogy.