Tips for Fic Part 4.2 - Work(shop) that Thang! [Group Style]

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With the room filling up with newbies from around the globe (or across the--um--disk, depending on whom you believe), the PALnet MSP Fiction Workshop on Discord is hopping. Before I get into the instruction, take a moment to appreciate the glory that is what we can accomplish in ten days or less when Steemians are as driven, generous, and downright awesome as the people I get to hang with at the workshop:

• We’ve given the Red Ink Treatment to around forty pieces since launching our new submission process just ten days ago. Many of those pieces saw three or more reviewers. In addition to @rhondak, almost every one of those saw the meticulous and professional attentions of two incredibly valuable members: @CarolKean and @Bex-dk. This is not your Freshman Comp peer review, people, this is the real deal. Check out the blogs of these incomprehensibly generous women.

• We’ve directed oodles of newcomers to our website at www.mspfictionworkshop.com where we have a collection of links to help develop budding talent into polished authors. We’ve also worked one on one with authors from all over the world, helping them hone their skills, while growing as a welcoming and supportive community.

• Through @SFT we’ve curated yet another batch of fantastic fiction, this time from @geke, @rhondak, and--new to us but hopefully around to stay-- @darxide403. Due to the demand for quality and polished fiction, @SFT has continued to grow in support, and with the aid of www.steemshelves.com, was able to double its payout to curated authors this week: up from 10 SBD to 20 SBD each.

• Inspired by the lovely @Isaria and the blameless (there, I’ve said it) @swelker101, we’ve got a radio show in the works (watch for a big announcement this week) but it’s gonna be amayzingggg.

• We’ve managed to have enough (admittedly risque) fun to keep the incomparable @andrewgenaille in original comics for years to come. Hence our guarantee that a radio show with a bunch of book nerds talking about book nerd stuff will be fun. Trust us. If you don’t, trust Andrew’s comics.

And I hear you asking, “Jess, how do I get to have this much fun all while watching the heart and soul I poured onto the page be slashed, dashed, and hashed into a more palatable piece of fiction?” And I’m glad you asked because it’s extremely complicated.

Really complicated

Step One: Show up

It’s true, you do have to actually come to Discord and hop on our channel #fiction-workshop if you want to hang with the cool kids. I personally found Discord a bit intimidating at first, but guess what? There was no Fiction Workshop when I started. Just spam and me, shouting into the void, “Anyone want a proofread? Please? Free! Just please let me stop you from posting shit that reads like a frighteningly long text message!”

Then one day I showed up and the Viking Goddess, Rhondak Spamhammer had nuked the Creative Fiction channel, salted the earth, and built the Fiction Workshop on the ashes. You, dear reader, have the benefit of showing up now, when the fire is crackling in the hearth, and you can put your feet up and enjoy a cuppa while discussing the pros and cons of pruning shears as instruments of either bikini line maintenance or murder. Or--well--pruning, I guess, but don’t expect to star in an @andrewgenaille production if that’s going to be your attitude.

Not gonna happen

Step Two: Say “Hello”

You can even just say “Hi” if the whole two syllables is too much to invest in a relationship that early on. But prepare to be pounced upon. We love newbies! Our welcome will be so warm, you’ll worry that we sacrifice outsiders to our Harvest Gods. We will want to know where you’re from, what you write, if you have kids or not, where’d you go to college if at all, whether anyone will miss you if you disappear.

Just kidding. No one cares if you went to college.

In all seriousness, I challenge you to show up as a complete unknown to any other gathering and say hello. See how many people stop talking amongst themselves to welcome you into the fold and make you the center of attention for as long as it takes to get you settled in and drinking some cider that may--or may not--be laced with hallucinogenics grown in the shade of our suspiciously fruitful orchard.

Just kidding. I can’t be serious.

Step Three: There is no Step Three

It’s just too easy for three steps. Show up, say hi. Someone is always around. And we’re dying to have you.

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Thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to Upvote, Comment, and Resteem!

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Please check out my recently posted fiction:

Bound
First Night
Restoration
Peace
Let us Gather by the River

Learn more about the Fiction Workshop and see what we do, with my Red Ink Experiment

Part 1
Part 2

Or laugh and learn with previous entries in my Tips for Fic series:

Part 1 – The Writer’s Guide to Getting some Action
Part 2 - Show me yours, I'll Show you Mine
Part 3 - Cover your - um - Content
Part 4 - Work(shop) that Thang!
Part 4.1 - Work(shop) that Thang! [with Google Docs]

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