I keep saying I'll install Gimp and LEARN HOW TO USE IT this year. Heh. Anyhow, I finally did download it. Still looking to learn how to use it and suggestions for resources are quite welcome, but I thought this turned out pretty for first noodling around with photos.
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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
I’m sorry. I really am. I know it’s a great story. But here’s some reasons why I’m not thrilled by your offer to let me read it.
I do read fast, but I have a lot to read. I’m reading for the Norton Award this year, which has meant an onslaught of books. I’m reading to stay abreast of the field and so I can make intelligent award nomination decisions. And I’m reading for my own pleasure.
You’re not asking me to read it, really, but also to critique it. That takes time, and even just a little crit is a piranha-like bite out of a day already besieged.
You’re asking me to do it for free. I charge to critique stories. Right now I’m not taking any, because I want to focus on my own work. The same goes for Kickstarters asking me for crits as donation incentives this year. I got bit in the butt with a bunch of these all at once, and it’s just not working for me. I’ll revisit this policy in 2015.
You may not want to hear what I have to say. A few years ago someone pressed a manuscript in my hands, and I took the time to go through it pretty thoroughly and explain why it wasn’t ready for primetime and what changes needed to be made. The recipient made it clear that he’d been wanting to hear praise and market suggestions. That was a bit discouraging.
I am not in a position to publish your story. If that’s what you’re hoping, I’m not currently editing a magazine and the couple of editing projects I have coming up are pretty specific in theme. It is extremely unlikely that I will read your story, shout “Huzzah!” and send it off to another editor saying they should buy it.
If you absolutely must have me read your story, you do have the option of taking my workshop. I offer plenty of classes and there’s new sections of both the Writing F&SF Stories and the Advanced Workshop opening soon.
This is hard for me because I have a difficult time saying no to requests. But they add up into vast piles of undone work that dampen all productive effort. So despite all the convulsions and pain this is causing my inner Midwesterner, who desperately wants to be polite… save us both the trouble and send it to your crit group. At least for now. Okay?
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So I read a great piece of flash fiction a few months back, in a world where children stepping on cracks really does break their mothers' backs and so the big struggle for women is whether or not to bear children, knowing that they may well end up crippled by it eventually. Does anyone remember this piece and remember the title or author?
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5 Responses
Nice! My friend Fred used Gimp to make the covers of his three ebooks. I still think getting a pro to do covers is a good idea for those who can afford it, but Gimp appears pretty versatile. I’ve had it on my laptop for a while but haven’t tried to do anything withit yet. Let us know if you come across a good resource for noobs.
People have been telling me for a long time how wonderful GIMP is and how it can do everything Photoshop can. Maybe it was designed to, but the implementation isn’t there, at least not in the version I have. Quick Mask, for instance, does not exist. There’s a button to turn it on, but the button does nothing. This is true of a number of other features I consider essential. I try to follow tutorials only to discover that what they want me to do cannot be done. Frustrating and disappointing.
I don’t know Photoshop at all — I think the first thing I need to do is get my head around how layers work.
Hi Cat … just read your story in DSF … nicely done!
Thank you! 🙂