Setting
Camp VHS: The Story That Never Was. Honorable Mention in Not Quite There Yet Challenge. Content Warning.
Not quite there, sigh. For the Stay a While Challenge , I wanted to craft a two-part story set in an isolated Iowa Summer Camp. The 3,000-word limit didn't allow for the necessary world-building, contextual character development, and savvy twist in the final act, so I sought to split Camp VHS's complete story into two separate submissions.
By Edward Swafford5 months ago in Critique
Small Prophets
Introduction I enjoyed Mackenzie Crook's first series, "Detectorists" which I wrote about here: So when "Small Prophets" was announced, I was obviously tempted and was glad I was. If you have access to the BBC's iPlayer, you can watch it here:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 5 months ago in Critique
The River. Honorable Mention in Not Quite There Yet Challenge. Content Warning.
The air over the river was heavy and still, clouds merging overhead into cumulus fortresses blocking the sun as the battered pontoon boat chugged up the river toward the rapids. Shannon elbowed Katie and said, “Maybe we should go back.”
By Harper Lewis 5 months ago in Critique
Authorship vs Refinement
Much of the confusion surrounding artificial intelligence and writing comes from a failure to distinguish between two fundamentally different acts: originating ideas and refining their expression. These acts are often treated as interchangeable, as though whoever touches the final form must also be the source of the thought itself. That assumption does not reflect how writing has ever worked, nor does it reflect how human thinking actually unfolds.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 months ago in Critique
Expression vs Distortion
One of the most persistent frustrations in communication is the gap between what a person intends to say and what others actually receive. This gap exists regardless of intelligence, sincerity, conviction, or depth of understanding. Someone can hold an idea with clarity internally, yet watch it arrive distorted, flattened, reduced, or misinterpreted once it is expressed. The failure is often blamed on the idea itself, when the deeper issue is frequently translation.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 months ago in Critique
Productivity as Preservation
Productivity is often framed as the visible accumulation of outcomes. Words written, posts published, episodes released, metrics improved, engagement gained, and projects completed become the evidence that work has happened. Under this framing, anything that does not immediately result in external output is treated as inefficiency, distraction, avoidance, or delay. The productive person is assumed to be the person who can show visible results.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 months ago in Critique
