Welcome to Feedback Friday!

The editor and their faithful cat are back accepting submissions for another month. We've a few more additions, so feel free to look around the site.

* Organization: The Big Fing C*

* Deadline: Opens on the 1st of every month until Tally receives 20 submissions

* Entry fee: None

* Prize/s: Feature for 1 month on the home page and then moved to the blog.

* Link to submission page/official rules: https://thebigfingc.wordpress.com/about-2/

* Other information:

• 1 in 20 wins the spotlight (sometimes 2 if I've had a fresh mouse)
• 19 in 20 get light structural editing for their piece to improve their craft
• Flash fiction/prose/poetry up to 1000 words
• Science fiction, fantasy, horror
• Transgressive, counterculture, political very welcome
• Subversion celebrated
• Seeking marginalized voices: neurodivergent, ethnic, queer, religious, BIPOC, disabled
• Must be in .txt file
• No generic, boilerplate soulless rejections (My rejections are full of soul, and sometimes hairballs)
• No money exchanging hands
• Full submission guidelines on the website

The form is set to stop accepting after 20 submissions to protect my time and ensure quality feedback.

My background is as a professional editor and graphic designer. I am from marginalised communities. My beef is with the current publishing industry where fees are taken and generic rejections are handed out so thick I could butter several dozen loaves of bread with them. I'd love to give emerging, marginalized authors the chances I never had.

Artists, if you are interested in dropping your email to place on my artist's page, you are welcome to. It works as a bulletin board for artists and authors to collaborate. I've left some guidelines on that page. Please note: I am not responsible for any relationships, outcomes, or otherwise.

Found it through Reedsy, so thought it’d be legit. However, later got an email claiming Teazr‘s team went through a change in its platform direction, so the Teazr Team would be choosing the winners on their own instead of the originally planned ‘voting’ method. The emails are from a company called Seedra Corp.

Now, I’ve won $15, but me and the other participants can’t help but think it’s a scam because it seems suspicious. They’ve also asked for bank details such as bank account name and number to transfer the money.

Is there a way I can verify whether they’re legit or not?

here’s the website: https://contest.teazr.net/

* Genre/s: Horror fantasy.

* Goals/expectations/commitment: Develop our craft, help each other with any challenges we have with our manuscripts and build trust in each other.

* Writing/experience level: Beginner

* Meeting place: Kempsville public library (Monday evenings preferably)

* Max size: 4

Greetings everyone I am looking to find like minded people and start a writing group in my area. I have tried to post on other social media platforms but the amount of bot responses saddens me. I'm hoping to have better luck here. Please only respond if you are truly interested.

Ok so I'm writing a dark romance and I want one scene to give readers that edge-of-your-seat rush. The kind where it feels risky and a little forbidden, and you're reading faster because you need to know what happens.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of dynamic between them would give that feeling best. Not the ones I've seen in every dark romance, something that feels fresh or that you don't see written much.

One limit: nothing with choking or tying up/restraints, please. Everything else is open!

Any ideas?

Ansera is a new, free writing group for original stories where the main character is Black or POC. In the Discord, we share drafts, swap feedback, and help each other get unstuck; every month, we write toward a theme together. The first one starts November 1, and every entry gets a real response.

Genre/s: Any. Fantasy, romance, horror, sci-fi, contemporary, literary. Stories, poems, comics, and audio are all welcome. The only requirement is a Black or POC main character.

Goals/expectations/commitment: Share drafts and feedback in the Discord whenever you like, and write toward one theme a month. November's theme is Transition (Nov 1–30, both deadlines 11:59 pm ET). Enter the months you want; there's no minimum. Every entry gets a real response, not just "nice work."

Writing/experience level: All levels, from first story to published. Readers are welcome too.

Meeting place: Discord (https://discord.gg/BwqZUb7SEd) and Tumblr (anseraworld.tumblr.com)

Max size: No limit

Other: Free, no entry fee. Any writer can enter: write from your own culture, write another with care, or leave culture out entirely.

I'm a decent writer, I can write descriptions very well but dialogues is where I get the ick. I just can't seem to get the essence on how to frame it and what to write. If someone has struggled with this same issue can you tell me what worked for you? For seasonal writers can you give me tips and recommendations on how to improve dialogues?

• Genre/s: Any short fiction. The theme is history, so historical fiction, family history, alt-history, or anything else you make of it.
• Goals/expectations/commitment: One evening, no ongoing commitment. A prompt is revealed at the start, then writing time, then an optional read-aloud and feedback round. You can also bring a story you've already written.
• Writing/experience level: All levels welcome.
• Meeting place: Good Girl Books, 12444 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles (Mar Vista). Wednesday, Oct 28, 6:00 to 7:30 PM. Bring a journal, paper and pen, or a laptop.
• Max size: Set by RSVPs. RSVP ($10): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/short-story-writing-night-tickets-2001673105141?aff=oddtdtcreator

Disclosure: I'm with Literati Events, co-hosting with the bookstore.

Well, I'm no stranger on such compelling protagonists in fiction like Walter White, Tony Soprano, Harry Potter, and some of the few that I haven't mentioned. I have managed to write some of my protagonists which I find it distasteful for those who read it. So how do you write an compelling protagonist. Be it villain, hero, anti-hero/villain.

I am looking for a writing program with an actual good native spell check. Google docs sucks, free word is decent, but for me at least inconsistent. I currently have the grammerly plugin, and other than constantly try to replace commas with semicolons, it works ok, but using a plug in is a little annoying. Sometimes it does not read the page properly for me and i need to restart it a few times which is annoying.

So I am looking for a good writing program with a decent spell check, online is a plus but not required. I dont care about other AI features of any kind. Maybe a good build in synonym look up would be nice.

Thank you!

So I'm starting to like a character in my story a bit too much. The setting is a frozen dystopian world, and the character is part of a doomed expedition to the North. And now I'm starting to feel like I don't want to kill him in the story, even though I know he'll need to die. Any advice?

* Genre/s: Romantic Comedy - the "speculative flair" in my books is like a taste of alternate universe but it's mostly contemporary. This is not romantasy, but I'd be open to critique partners in that genre.

* Goals/expectations/commitment: Mostly async exchanges of as-needed frequency. I have a full-time job (that I do not plan on leaving), and I write prooobably 1k words average a week (depending on life) - but I would prefer to have monthly exchanges, perhaps even more like a consistent beta reader swap situation of more polished stuff whenever we have it.

* Writing/experience level: Intermediate? Bonus points if you're considering trad publishing and have some knowledge about that world! I'm pretty deep into a querying education. I'm FULLY aware it's a lofty goal for a hobbyist like me, but I've been writing all my life and I'm very curious about the possibility. I still have a lot to learn!

* Meeting place: Start with DMs but progress from there. If we mesh & time zones allow, I'm happy to do some meetings.

* Max size: 5

I write in past tense and third-person narration. In a scene, I wrote something like:

He coughed, to remind them he was still here.

Is the bolded here strange? I used it instead of there to make the narration more vivid. However, Word suggests that I change it. Do you agree?

• Genre/s: All, but our most common genre is fantasy, but we do have horror, thriller / mystery, sci-fi, romance and poetry in quite large numbers, as well as artists.
• Goals/expectations/commitment: Nothing specific but we're looking for people who actually want to be an active part of a community or are active writers. People are removed if inactive completely.
• Writing/experience level: We have total beginners and well established authors
• Meeting place: Discord
• [Writing groups only] Max size:

The Writer's Room has space for some more people this month.

How to join: Drop a comment or message me and I'll send you over some information via direct message.

What we're looking for: Writers of all experience levels, all over the world and all genres who are active and interested in improving their writing skills and their works, making friends, being held accountable and having fun with like-minded folks!

Minimum age is 18 and we are strict about that. We are a mature community that trends towards 30+ on the average age but the entire server is marked 18+ to ensure that everyone is an adult.

What we offer:

• We're doing NaNoWriMo as a group (about 30 of us) in November.
• Website profile if you want one that connects to our Discord bot (entirely optional, see: https://thewritersroom.net/writers/)
• Regular free to enter contests and big events to help your writing.
• Active Discord with a core group of people who are genuine friends and not just strangers passing words to each other. People all over the world, but large amounts in the USA, Canada and the UK.
• Critique boards to give and receive feedback.
• Bots that help you write such as sprinting together or our custom bot with fun features, quests, games and writing productivity tools.
• Taking part in our fun house events aimed at helping you write. Writing sessions, sprints, prompt parties, live workshop sessions.
• Networking with other authors, several agents and publishing houses present, opportunities to promote your work (within the rules) and general shop / craft talk.

So, leave a comment and I'll DM you with details and the link.

"As he faced the off-white room door, he tried to recall the last time a human, or vampire, for that matter, had made him that nervous. He couldn’t remember if there was ever one without his or his family’s well-being being in danger."

Especially the last sentence, in my head it makes sense but I keep going over it unsure. What I'm trying to say is that the only times character A had felt nervous over others, has been when his or his family lives were at risk. And what he's about to do (speak with character B) has been the only other time he's felt that nervous about someone.

Does that make sense? TYIA!

The October 2000 word slice-of-life Short Story contest is entering its last week.

* Organization: Write With Me ( https://www.writewithme.app )
* Deadline: October 31, 2026
* Entry fee: 0 (None)
* Prize/s: $50 eGift card to an online bookstore of the winning author's choice
* Link to submission page/official rules: https://www.writewithme.app/forums/announcements/6abf9127ae32af3c9168e20b

* Other information:

1. Authors reserve all rights to their works. By posting on Write With Me, users agree to give Write With Me a revocable license to display the work on the website. Users can revoke that license anytime by simply deleting their work.
2. Min Words: 2000
3. Genre: Slice-of-life
4. Theme: Something is coming to an end, or is something beginning?

Hello everyone I'm currently looking for two extra people to join a writing group I've created. There's currently 6 of us, though some who have been accepted still need to see my invite link! Looking specifically for fantasy writers who want to go the publishing route some day, I think it would be amazing to share that journey with some others for support and motivation! 18+ please, and preferably European timezone!

Please let me know if you are interested and fit these requirements! I'll send you a dm asking a bit more about you to ensure the group lasts long.

* Genre/s: Epic / High / grimdark fantasy, preferably adult. * Goals/expectations/commitment: being able to chat with each other atleast once a week, slowly over the days is fine too! If for some reason you are gone for a while communication is appreciated. * Writing/experience level: any, as long as you have something you are working on / wanting to work on. Just so we can send each other snippets for feedback and sharing the passion :) * Meeting place: Discord server * Max size: 2 extra people. (There's currently 6 of us, some still need to see the invite and join)

Genre/s: Contemporary romance but I'm open to other genres, too.

Goals/expectations/commitment: I'm starting a new project and would love to find one writing partner to work alongside throughout the process! I can generally get 4–7 chapters done a week, so I'd love someone with a similar pace (but I totally get that life gets in the way sometimes). I'm looking for someone who wants to exchange feedback, bounce ideas off each other, and do daily check-ins to keep each other accountable. I'd also love to talk through plot points, share progress, and support each other throughout the writing process.

Writing/experience level: I've completed a contemporary romance manuscript and am starting a new project! Any experience level is welcome as long as we're both willing to give and receive constructive feedback.

Meeting place: Reddit DMs to start, but I'm open to Discord, email, or somewhere else if we'd prefer to chat on another platform.

Max size: 2 people (just looking for one writing partner!)

I am a pretty decent writer and I have loved writing for a really long time but when I actually want to write a proper story (like a book) all my ideas crumple up completely.

Basically, I know what scenes I'm gonna add and how to build the stories but I can't seem to put them properly in a sequence.

Give me a few tips to overcome this and start my draft.

I have written my first Novelette and im looking for someone to give me some feedback please.

Happy to swap with something of a similar length.

* Genre/s: Transgressive/Adult/Dystopian sci-fi

* Goals/expectations/commitment: 1 offs

* Writing/experience level: absolute beginner or willing to put up with me

* Meeting place: online only

Thanks

I made a writer’s group.

I have been working on a 6 book series for several months now. I have everything to build this world I know how the story begins and ends I've dreamt of it since I was a child I am now in my mid 30s. I have hundreds of pages of chapters, reworks, spins and twists.

Yet... I'm still stuck on Chapter 1. I've probably rewritten book one multiple times and I know that my problem is I'm chasing perfection, I know that I'm chasing the perfect opening. I have several, and to be clear I have many chapters outside of chapter 1 but I'm stuck.

I go back to read it, or check continuity or to make sure sentences flow and then I hate it, I hate it so much I ask AI to rate it, even if it says the chapter in brutal honesty is a 9/10 it isn't good enough for me. Like I'm missing my "Call me Ishmael". I know what I want I can visually see the scenes play out like a TV series but I can't get the quality of prose to satisfy no matter how deep I dive into it. And some of them look good conceptually, they sound good... I have rewritten so much that I have begun to spiral, not that I have lost interest in the story or that I don't know where I want to go with it but because writing it has become exhausting.

Is this writers block?

Is this something else entierly that I can't seem to get over.

I suspect I am chasing perfection where it simply cannot exist but I've tried everything, I've forced myself to write it and ignore it until I've got out what I want to say. I've developed a road map and character sheets, I've mapped out book 1 and book 2 in its entirety with how those events are supposed to happen. I've even written several different versions of those chapters just to see if I like one over the other and yet... I am spent. I could share a excerpt and get positive feedback from a reader and yet it still isn't good enough for me. Have I just burnt myself out and just need to stop? I spent the better part of a week staring at the screen to get a few paragraphs in and then after I read it back I'm genuinely disgusted I put it on paper and so now I sit at chapter 1, I can't even out the sentence on the screen, I can't even wrote what I want to say. Even now I'm looking at what I am typing and I hate it, the fact I even have to ask it.

Hi, I made a writer’s group.

* Genre/s: Literary & General Fiction.

* Goals/expectations/commitment: The idea is to keep it friendly and writer-focused: talk about what we’re working on, share work for critique, discuss craft, and exchange information about querying, submissions, and publishing.

* Writing/experience level: all are welcome

* Meeting place: Discord

* Max size: to be determined.

If that sounds like your kind of place, message me, and I’ll send you an invite. Hope to see ya. Welcome!