The MSP Fiction Writers Workshop

Fiction writers and authors, have you wished for a Steemit community just for us, where we can hang out, chat, discuss the craft and the industry, with no fear of being bullied, spammed, or misled about the quality of our work? Then I have good news for you. Just such a community has sprung up at the Minnow Support Project Discord channel, and it’s hoppin’!

You don’t have to be a minnow to participate at the MSP Discord group. We have honorary whales and dolphins who visit regularly. MSP is designed to help minnows grow and thrive in the Steemit ocean, but we love the bigger fish who come to mingle and offer support.

Besides community and friendship, what we offer writers is the opportunity for examination of your work and honest feedback. We have many green writers on the channel, eager to learn and develop their craft. We also have experienced writers with professional editing backgrounds and published work. We are now hosting contests that not only showcase talent, but offer a chance to work with all entries to polish and perfect their skills. We welcome people who want to write as a hobby as well as people who intend to publish.

What we don’t work with in the Fiction Workshop is verse. MSP has a separate channel for that. Poetry and songwriting are different art forms with different expectations and different requirements. People often ask me to offer feedback on their poems, and I politely decline. I know as much about poetry as I know about Bitcoin—I know it exists, and I know it has value. I also know that’s the extent of my understanding. You wouldn’t ask me for advice on trading Bitcoin, so you shouldn’t ask me for advice on writing verse. I’m not qualified to offer it.

We also don’t attempt to evaluate or critique artwork, erotica, or any post that’s NSFW. And we don’t allow promotion on the Fiction Workshop channel. Yes, you will make friends there. You’ll find followers and great writers to follow. And you’ll start to see an increase in upvotes. That’s what @minnowsupport is about. However, those things happen organically, through the power of networking and the beauty of friendship, not by begging or annoying people with spam solicitations.

In fact, we don’t spam each other at MSP. Period. Posting links to Steemit articles is disallowed in several MSP channels, so please check the rules before you post. We do accept links at Fiction Workshop, but only if they’re accompanied by genuine conversation about who you are and what you’re looking for from a critique. If you post a link and never come back to discuss it, any future links you post will probably be deleted. We’re a close community, and guard the happy vibes there like a pack of friendly tigers.

In other words, no matter what our level of skill, we’re serious about writing. Serious about community. Serious about quality content. We talk and laugh and get totally off-topic. That’s fine, as long we always remember why we’re there, give first priority to conversations about writing, and yield the floor to newcomers who need a warm welcome. We would love to see the Fiction Workshop grow and produce its own battalion of published writers and experienced critics. And there’s no better time to get involved than right now!

Here is a link to the PALnet MSP Discord channel. When you join, you’ll land in General. People there are very friendly, but it’s a busy place. Ask folks to direct you to the Fiction Workshop. Someone will. If no one is there with you arrive, leave us a note letting us know you dropped by, and we’ll tag you back to the conversation.

Hope to see you there, and Happy Steeming!