Silk

Jorville, I see upthread that Mandamon has followed up via PM--I hope that discussion is proving helpful. For the benefit of others reading the thread, though, I would like to take an opportunity to encourage everyone to consider these types comments carefully when they're received. Our fiction and media landscape is so saturated with problematic tropes (be they racist, sexist, and so on) that they can be difficult to spot in, let alone disentangle from, our own writing. It can take a lot of work on the part of the writer to address these types of concerns because they can be so insidious. That being said, doing so can also be extremely rewarding, as it gives us an opportunity to create more thoughtful world-building and a more immersive setting and characters. I realise that it may feel like an accusation when somebody points out racist tropes as part of a critique. Please remember that these comments are all made in the spirit of improving the work (and a better understanding of the tropes and words that we draw on will inevitably improve the work) and give them the consideration that they deserve. While it is always ultimately up to the individual writer to accept and implement the changes they receive from other readers, we have a greater responsibility to consider comments that point out problematic tropes in our fiction, because the unfortunate reality is that racism does real harm, including through fiction--specifically the people who never get to see themselves represented in fiction or only ever see themselves represented in a negative light. Aside from any changes we make to a story ,we also have a greater responsibility to consider how we respond to the people pointing these issues out in a critique, because while it's perfectly acceptable to agree or disagree on the effectiveness of a plot hook, a trope with racist, sexist, etc. elements will be hurtful for some readers whether we as writers agree that it should be hurtful or not. Such comments are typically not made lightly--please consider them carefully. If there's something you disagree with or don't understand, ask specific questions. But the onus is on us as individual writers to make sure that we're acknowledging these concerns to the best of our ability, and not on others to convince us that we're doing something wrong. Again: this will only ever lead to a stronger manuscript. I also want to briefly address the discussion about hostility and politeness that has been raised here. As always, this forum strives to be a welcoming place to all writers, of all background and abilities, and part of that is creating an honest but supportive environment for the people giving and receiving critiques. That said, racism is always unwelcoming--which means we need to be able to discuss racist tropes that we see in our own fiction and address them (and everybody inadvertently uses problematic tropes sometimes. As I mentioned above, our media landscape is so saturated with them, it takes a very concerted effort not to). And we need to be able to make those critiques without worrying whether we will be dismissed as being silly, or just quarreling, or being needlessly hostile. It is not unreasonable to feel angry or upset about experiencing racism. In the context of critiquing, of course one of the major purposes of a group like this is to point these things out in a safe setting. That being said, we can't do so if we suspect that our comments will just be ignored or dismissed; it is extremely frustrating to make a critique, especially about something potentially damaging, and feel that we have been dismissed out-of-hand! While I certainly don't want to see a thread devolve into a shouting fest, that's certainly not what happened in the above thread, and we need to be able to make critiques as was done above without those critiques being dismissed as quarreling, unreasonable, or silly. (There are some resources about tone policing here and here.) I don't want to hijack this thread any further, so I will ask that anyone who feels the need to respond to my post here do so by PM only. I will close by urging, again, that we all strive to see critiques regarding problematic tropes in fiction not as a judgment or attack, but as a way to improve our craft.

Looks like 4/5: @Majestic Fox, @shatteredsmooth, @Robinski, and @Jorville.

@Robinski Hey, stuff happens. Hope you're okay. I see @shatteredsmooth, @Majestic Fox, @Jorville and @Robinski for Monday.

So... you're saying you don't expect much, then? @kais Well that doesn't sound like much fun. Good luck and see you in July!

So I just have @Robinski and @Mandamon for tomorrow unless I've missed anyone. Any other takers?

I'll keep you posted! You'll have to get in line after the Jaguar with Cape theme song and The Tale of the Tangle (that is, mutant radioactive sentient vines. I, um, I... kind of have weird friends.) Also, what exactly would be the content of this theme song...?

Please do!

Thank you! I do! In the short term, say the next year or two, unless one of my co-writers decides to produce it or it gets picked up by someone else entirely (far too early to tell), this is about as produced as it's going to get. (And there was some production; five hours of studio time, though that includes the actual recording process as well, of course.) It'll cost a good chunk in time and money to coordinate studio time, session musicians, etc, and I don't think I want to put any of that down until I can bundle it with a complete album. Which means I have to write a few more of these...

@kais, so far I only see you and @Majestic Fox, so unless we have a slew of last minute requests I'd say you're good.

True enough. It looks fantastic, though. Hey so ummm at the end of April I went down to the coast to participate in a songwriting workshop, during which we were paired up randomly with two other songwriters and given three days (more like one and a half, when you account for all the other workshop activities) to write and record a song, and just in case anyone's interested, here's the one my group did, "The Devil I Know." (I posted all the credits for who did what on Twitter.) I should note that this is a demo track and in no way meant to be a finished product, but hey, we had fun. And look! Silk writes things! I'm not a (complete) fraud!

Very sorry to hear that, @Jorville. Take care and let us know if we can help in any way. I currently see four for Monday: @Mandamon, @shatteredsmooth, @Robinski, and @kais.

Ahh! Sorry for the delayed response, everyone. I was away at a big band event and we don't usually play shows on Sunday, nor in the middle of the day, and it's got me all confused. (Doesn't take much...) Anyway, it looks to me like we've got a full house for Monday: @shatteredsmooth, @Mandamon, @Jorville, @AviatrixAway, and @kais.

Here I was wondering what on earth was on that cover and it was just kissing! No, seriously, looks great. Congrats.

I was gonna suggest scanning it, yeah. Personally, when I handwrite drafts, I typically just enter the changes as I go. But at that stage, I'm usually only making line edits. I'd be much more tempted to maintain the original somehow if I were doing significant revisions. Also, I am only just now seeing from Robinski's signature that we have a Facebook page. HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS BEFORE. In other news, hey, I finally managed to do some fiction writing last weekend! (I've been very bad at making time.) It was an utterly bizarre vignette that I'll almost certainly never do anything with, but hey, it was fun. Now I just need to see how many songs I can write before June 1st...

Updated the Critiquing Guidelines section to reflect our standard of abbreviating unique names in any given piece.

I think you're good. I see four: @Jorville, @Mandamon, @kais, and @Robinski.

@RobinskiI can certainly do that--will do it later this morning. Good call!

@Robinski Well, you're apparently so fearsome that tagging you makes my computer freeze in terror. I dunno if that counts as WINNING, but it's noteworthy.

So three subs at the end of the day: @Mandamon, @Robinski and @kais. Also, congrats Robinski--I tried to @mention you and it briefly broke my computer.

Any other takers? Mandamon's looking a little lonely over here...

Please do!

I only see @Mandamon and @kais right now. Any other takers?

Eight hours and some of songwriting and three hours of rehearsing in the last two days. We’re recording this song tomorrow and I am stoked.

I think @LarkinTyvell decided not to sub his week after all? Correct me if I’m wrong!

Welcome! You’re added and good to go. FYI all, I’m away this weekend at a songwriting workshop starting in, well, a couple of hours and the schedule is pretty aggressive. Which is another way of saying I might leave you all to count to five on your own for this week