Feb 24, 2013 / Community Pool

Community Pool: Focus on Fiction

Community Pool

The Community Pool is for those of you looking for input, whether on post ideas, writing, blog design and layout, or anything else. If you have a post, page, or idea you want to bounce off someone, leave a comment. Your fellow bloggers can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

This week, we’re carving out a space for those of your who write fiction. Whether your entire blog is a novel in progress or you’re making your first foray into flash fiction, use this post to get feedback. Read on for the ground rules and to leave a comment . . .

  • You’ll get the best feedback if you can be as specific as possible about what you’d like people to respond to or where you’re struggling.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. We’re here to help and support one another, not to beat anyone down.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

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  2. I write Flash Fiction (specifically 75 word stories) and have enjoyed sharing them on my blog but am now thinking i’m giving too many away? …

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    2. it’s easily done — in the past I’ve given away a LOT of flash, and while it’s great fun, for the effort it feels like I could have been paid. i don’t do it so much these days, aim instead for the paying markets. You can find these on Duotrope, although ironically that’s a paid service now, or on Poet’s & Writers, or Prizemagic for competitions. There are a lot of sites out there. The alternative is to chill out and enjoy the creativity for what it is, and if you haven’t signed away copyright, you can always get to publish a collection one day…? You have a lovely site, anyway, good luck with the writing.

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      2. Thanks very much for your reply. I’ll certainly take a look at those sites later.
        I published a collection (see link on my site) of 75 x 75 word stories and am writing my second at the moment so i agree – the important thing is to keep on writing.
        So glad you liked the website. I just changed it in the past week. Great to have feedback!

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      4. Yes i am. I actually self-published my book to coincide with it last year and am hoping to do the same this year with my second – but i’m very behind. Website needed updating! Are you? Did you take part last year? I’ll have to check you out on their site.

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    3. Helena,
      It’s really your call to share or withhold your short stories. You can always add a copyright badge from Copyscape or freecopyright to your blog and hope it would deter others. Once you hit publish, all bets are off as to who will read it and where it might end up. 🙂
      Best wishes,
      Eliz

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      1. Many thanks for the reply. I did have a look around and put a copyright thing on my website today but i was wondering about Copyscape – is that better

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      2. Hi Helena,
        It depends on your preference really. I have FreeCopyright but Copyscape and Creative Commons are terrific too… Take a look and then choose any of them. They all provide a way to monitor your work.
        Cheers,
        Eliz

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  3. Good evening to everybody… I’m Italian, I teach Italian, Latin and History in secondary schools and I’ve written an historical novel about Mariannina Coffa, a poet and patriot from Noto – near Siracusa, in Sicily – , lived during the fight for Italy’s independence (1860). My book has been published two years ago and I’m still keeping conferences about this wonderful and almost unknown woman and artist in schools, libraries, bookshops and so on, in Sicily and in all Italy. My wish about this novel : I’d like that foreign students of Italian literature could read it. That some Universities – teachers of Italian studies abroad – would read it.
    My blog is http://www.marialuciariccioli.wordpress.com and here’s a link to read the first pages and some more information. Thank you for this space and to you all for reading.
    http://letteratitudine.blog.kataweb.it/2011/03/14/unita-italia-e-le-donne-nel-risorgimento-italiano/

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  4. Hi, I have just set up a blog on writing and am totally new to all this so any feedback, advice and tips would be very welcome. I’m a bit hamstringed just now as laptop is down so working off an iPad and can’t seem to drag any additional sharing icons down or upload any pictures so expect there will be a bit of tweaking initially.
    I also plan to run mini writing competitions each month (up to 150 words) with the topics set by the author of the previous month’s most popular entry – just for fun and to get some interaction going. Is this something that any of you would be interested in?
    Thanks for reading and the website is http://www.elizabethfrattaroli.wordpress.com

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      1. Brilliant, thanks Daniel. I’ve just made the first one a general theme so please post your entry on the competitions page and I look forward to reading it.

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    2. I’ve had feedback that 150 words is perhaps a bit tight for works of prose so am thinking of raising the word limit to 500 words. Does this sound more realistic? Thanks

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  5. Read and/or follow my blog! I’m writing ficition posts for 29 days. I started monday of last week so your not too late. Plus i write fiction posts every friday (double the work).

    Danielinwonderland.wordpress.com

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    1. Just visited your site and was particularly taken with ‘Sonnet of a Frailty Soul’ which was very accomplished. I will definitely keep dipping in to see what you’re up to. I have only just started writing poetry and have a lot to learn so am trying to be a bit of a sponge.

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      1. Thank you very much for taking time to visit and read my works. I am glad that people are appreciating my works. 🙂 With poetry, there isn’t really much to learn. For me, I only write what I feel, no matter figurative or literal they may be. My sonnets are actually a challenge I set for myself to deviate from my usual free and blank verse poems. 🙂

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  10. Fabulous! I’ve been writing a novel since four years ago. My fictional novel is in Spanish, but now a wonderful wordpress blogger-friend is helping me in translations to English. My idea is releasing them both editions in Spanish-English at the same time. As we are still editing, I’m considering create a new blog or page specific for the novel itself, although I already have two blogs, the one from I’m commenting here, and a secondary blog. Thank you for the tips!

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  11. I would love to receive some feedback on my short stories. I unfortunately can’t narrow it down to just one, so I’m putting all of my short stories at your mercy. I look forward to reading your constructive criticisms. If you like it, please tell me what you liked about it. If you didn’t like it, please tell me what you didn’t like about it. Please feel free to click on the Contact Me link if your response will be long.

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    1. Dear DailyShorts,
      You are a talented short story writer. I’ve read some of your writings before and we actually follow each other. I gave you more feedback on the recent piece you completed for the Trifecta challenge and it occurred to me that your writing continues to flourish; it’s getting better and better… and it gave me an idea. 🙂

      Dear fiction writers,
      Since there are so many fiction writers seeking feedback here, I’d like to encourage all of you to join writers groups like Trifecta, Friday Fictioneers, and other established groups. It would be a terrific way to connect with other fiction writers and receive feedback… Also check out this link from the Daily Post which focused on fiction writers last year. Lost of wonderful material and advice in it. https://wordpress.com/dailypost/2012/08/01/focus-on-fiction-and-poetry-blogs/
      If feasible, I’ll stop by a few more blogs later.
      Best wishes all,
      Eliz

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      1. Eliz, I thought that was a wonderful idea and decided to do something about it. I just created another blog called KRI-TEEK MEE (Critique Me) to give fiction writers a place to go to get some constructive criticism on their work.

        To all the fiction writers out there:
        I hope you all will stop by and sign up for our first KRI-TEEK MEE beginning in March. The website is: http://kriteekmee.wordpress.com/

        See you there and happy writing. 😀

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  13. I love this topic for the community pool! I’m a big fiction reader and writer, so it’s nice to have a place dedicated to that type of writing.

    I have a few short stories on my blog so far, and there will be many more to come. I’d love any feedback on them or my other posts, or just my blog in particular. Anything constructive you have to say about my writing, please, please feel free to comment!

    Also, I’d really like it if you could recommend some good fiction/short story-focused blogs that you know of.

    Thanks!

    http://mydiffer3nce.wordpress.com/

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    1. Hi mydiffer3nce,

      I took a peek at your blog on my way out and left you feedback. I hope you stop by the community page as I added a link here from the Daily Post that covered fiction writers and you could check them out and follow any you like.
      As per your blog, I love your template – Twenty Ten is very popular on WP. I’d suggest that you add a sidebar with Most Recent Posts listed. It is one of the easiest navigation tools to have on our blog, and it encourages visitors to read your other posts. I like the clean, uncluttered feel of your blog and that you use photos/visuals to compliment your writing. If you want your short stories to stand out, you might consider creating a dedicated page for them on your blog. 🙂
      Best wishes,
      Eliz

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      1. Thanks for the advice. I’m still quite new to WP, so my blog is still a work in progress. I really like the idea of having a page dedicated to the, and the sidebar also sounds good.

        I haven’t seen the link yet, but I’ll go take a look soon.

        Thanks!

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  14. Hey guys. I write a fairly new blog mainly about getting healthy, but I see it morphing into a writing site as well (since another goal is continuing my freelance career this year). Anybody out there have a more niche-type blog also with some fiction as well?

    I guess I’m just curious how your readers react to that. My goal was to be pretty focused, but I see that net widening each month.

    The only fiction up so far is this: http://changeforayear.com/2012/12/27/angel/

    But I may add more occasionally if other people find it doesn’t turn off old followers.

    Thanks!

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  17. I have a humorous short story on my site as well as the first chapter of a humorous novel I wrote. Any feedback is appreciated.
    iamkellibeck.wordpress.com

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    1. I decided to post separately from my reply to Dailyshorts!
      Dear Fiction Writers,
      Since there are so many fiction writers seeking feedback here, I’d like to encourage all of you to join writers groups like Trifecta, Friday Fictioneers, NanoWrimo and other established groups. It would be a terrific way to connect with other fiction writers and receive feedback… Also check out this link from the Daily Post which focused on fiction writers last year. Lots of wonderful material and advice in it. https://wordpress.com/dailypost/2012/08/01/focus-on-fiction-and-poetry-blogs/
      If feasible, I’ll stop by a few more blogs later.
      Best wishes all,
      Eliz

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  21. Hi all fellow bloggers. Need a little guidance from you. I want to write fiction. But, how do I get started? What do I write about? What drives you to write fiction? These questions may seem very vague, but they are the ones I need to ask! Can anyone get me started please? 🙂
    Thanks. btw this is my blog (it doesn’t contain fiction yet though) http://au1688.wordpress.com/

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    1. Avani,
      Write about what you know. If you love reading fictional pieces and telling vivid stories then you can try your hand at fiction writing. What interests you? What subjects do you know well and would enjoy writing a fictional piece on? What happened at the party, store, hospital, outside your window? Fictionalize it. I left a post here suggesting that joining a writers group is one way to get going. Check out this link: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/2012/08/01/focus-on-fiction-and-poetry-blogs/
      Best,
      Eliz

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    2. I agree that you should write what you know. I live in a rural community and sometimes feel so uncultured and out of place in the world of writing I wonder what I’m even thinking. I decided that it was okay to write a story that dealt with people living in a rural town. There was a crazy lady in my community I drew inspiration from and I just went from there. Fiction, in my opinion, is easy because you get to make it up as you go. When I get a spark of inspiration I sit on it. I step out of the way and let my brain do its thing. Within a week or two a story starts unraveling and then I start putting words to paper.

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  25. I’ve had a number of things published the “on-paper” way, but this blogging business has thrown me for a loop. I recently decided that blogging is clearly the worlds-best publishing format because it gets rid of that one-way street feeling of soliloquizing to an invisible audience.

    Or so I thought.

    But I’ve been posting short stories every Monday for a few months now and while I get 40 or so visitors for each of my posts along with a handful of likes, I cannot for the life of me draw people out to actually comment.

    Here’s today’s post. Any suggestions?

    Monologue of a Co-Worker Recorded while Polishing Silverware at the Stanford Faculty Club

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    1. I’ve just started blogging myself and I totally agree. It’s hard to draw people in, because nobody knows you’re out there. This community forum place seems like a pretty good place to attract viewers though. Talk about your story, post your blog, and comment on other people’s statuses. The more friends you make, the more readers you’ll have in the future…
      Which reminds me, care to check out my own writing blog. It doesn’t have many entries as of yet, but it’ll grow….
      http://bloodoverithaca.wordpress.com/

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    2. Wow, 40 views 😮 I’ve been posting for 2-3 years, and I barely get 3. Anyway, I really like the story! It’s really interesting, and really funny.

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  30. Hi everyone,
    This forum is fabulous. I’d like to you go through some of my stories, and let me have your take.
    Slickjay.wordpress.com/ the gala
    Slickjay.wordpress.com/ OLUMO
    Slickjay.wordpress.com/ baad day gone bad

    Thanks

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