The Shroud Underground

It was the most clever subject line I could think of at the time. Anyways...


I gotta say I love this forum for a lot of reasons. The first was the fact that Tim is a legit good guy, which is hard to find and I'm glad that he's doing what he's doing and I'm happy to help out anyway I can. The town population here isn't huge in Kerrville, Texas, but I've managed to get you guys a TV plug so far, and they want me back when my story gets published to talk more about it and all. Basically, Kerrville is a lot like Austin, except it's far more low-key, not as much music, and not as many younger people, but it's art and literature community is large.

To the point at hand. The other thing I love about this site is that it's not just full of established writers and editors, but it's also filled with people just starting out, and people who just enjoy the genre we love to use as our own private action figure play-set...or barbie "nightmare" house.

I figure that this would be a good spot to throw in a feedback forum for people who have work up that they would love to hear some feedback about from others with some spare time. So if you have some work that you would love for someone to check out or scan for grammar errors...ugh, how I hates me some grammar...I think it'd be cool to post links to it here and let our fellow Shroud fans check it out, help us refine it, and most likely try to get Tim to put it in print for us, or just keep it for ourselves. At the very least it should make for an easy way to say "hey, check this out for me and tell me what you think" in a place with like minded people. I for one have a Novel...or novella, not sure which yet, in progress and I would love some feedback from anyone who has a bit of spare time on their hands. My goal is to eventually submit it for publication, but I'm looking for feedback on how it's going so far.

Anyway, I hope this starts something fun at the very least for us. Whaddya think?

I cannot believe no one's replied to this!

There's tons of other writing forums on the net, but I don't see why that indicates a lack of interest to do that here. While I am not an active member of any other writer groups, a sentiment I find to be kinda common is the reluctance to show a work in progress to the "public", even if that public is just a few people with the same interest.

A number of reasons why this would be evident can be listed:

. A story is such a personal matter that while it is in progress it is developing; it is in the womb. Even if the author realizes mentally that critique is nothing personal and meant for the best it can be extraordinarily difficult to let go of those protective feelings.

. Plagiarism. Someone you don't know could use part or all of your unpublished work for professional purposes without your knowledge or consent.

. Many writers are introverted (IMO). This can lead to difficulty in a social context (even online) and can ultimately prevent a story from being critiqued by someone with an unbiased viewpoint.

I could go on, but those are some reasons why some might hesitate to post work online.

I don't mean to imply I wouldn't necessarily show my own... I would be happy to look at anyone's work. I've never been published (unlike some), but like everyone else here I have rejection slips... so what is there to lose?

Well, it's already been "published", but you guys are all welcome to go over to http://www.southerfriedweirness.com and check out my story "Grave Seasons" whic went live a few days ago.

Thoughts, comments, sugestions, reviews, whatever, all appreciated.