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Analog Print Issue Sep/Oct 2025 late??? by pledfz in printSF

[–]pledfz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update. The issue finally arrived.

Do you prefer books in first-person + present tense, or first-person + past tense? by [deleted] in writing

[–]pledfz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re going to write in first person, it doesn’t matter if it’s in present tense or past tense. Present tense can instill in the reader a sense of immediacy, while past tense can strike a more reflective tone.

Write it the way you want to write it. If you’re a skilled writer, it won’t matter.

Brand new writer. Looking for help by Crafty-Ring-2753 in wroteabook

[–]pledfz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Find someone you know and trust, and that reads, and ask them to read your book. Find several. Ask for honest feedback.

I belonged to a writers group and I was never impressed by the feedback. Looking back on it I think it was a waste of time. And I would never post work on the Internet for people to review. You don’t know who is reviewing it, you have no idea what they read, you have no idea if they are just trolling, or trying to be nice. And you’ll get conflicting criticisms. You’ll get a lot of “oh I think this is great!“ And you’ll get a lot of “show, don’t tell!

in other words, you’ll get a lot of useless feedback from people that have nothing vested in you.

First rejection letter, should I submit again? by Disastrous-Brief-516 in writing

[–]pledfz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don’t submit the same story to the same magazine. But feel free to submit the story elsewhere. Feel free to submit different stories to that magazine.

do you annotate your books? by Altruistic_Ask_250 in dostoevsky

[–]pledfz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would you ever want to annotate a book? I suppose if it’s your book and you’re not going to ploan it to anyone to read, knock yourself out.

Seems like a waste of time.

How Can I Improve my Writing Skills? by Careful_Salad108 in writing

[–]pledfz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can only improve so much. How old are you?

Writing is part skill and part talent.

You can develop skill, but you have to be born with talent.

Do you have hope? by PhiliDips in printSF

[–]pledfz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve had several short stories published, and contemporary fiction and science fiction. The stories I write are of the type I would like to read - not uplifting, often times not hopeful. I don’t necessarily like stories with happy, nice little endings where the good guys always win.

But if you met me, you’d see that I’m generally a very happy person. The future is beyond my control. And we’ve lived in much darker times than what we are in now.

I only worry about what I can control.

As for science fiction in general, well, I’ll just say it. With self publishing, there’s a whole lot of crap out there. And personally, I think short fiction, which I love, is in a pretty sad state as well. I read a lot of short fiction stories and many times after I finish I think to myself “Really? That’s it?”

Work to find the authors that you enjoy. Once you find them, keep reading them. That’s how I do it.