Looking for feedback on humanized version of ‘It’s Not a Cold Dark Place’ to help with university application · 3:32am Jan 28th, 2016
The blog title says it all, really.
However! Before anything else: in the past few weeks I’ve had a whole bunch of really lovely comments and messages, yet for one reason and another I haven’t really had time to respond to any of them. But in particular, if you have a few minutes:
• I hope it’s not too late to recommend Christmas stories, since Dinkin’ Donuts by Pascoite is a simply lovely little story that’s well worth your time.
• Jedi Master Ed wrote a blog post about the nature of dreams that used A Light in Dark Places as a starting-off point. It’s an interesting read which I think a lot of people would relate to. I know that I sure did.
ANYWAY.
I’m applying for the Writing for Young People course in Bath Spa University, and I need to provide a twenty-page sample of my writing. One of the things I’m thinking about including is actually a rewrite of It’s Not a Cold Dark Place, ’cause goddammit, that story still means the world to me! But I don’t want to send it off without trying to get some feedback. So any opinions on it, positive or negative, would honestly be soooo appreciated.
(It also functions as a sort-of-rewrite of this thing from last year, which I remain proud of but which also had a lot of deeply rooted problems. So same characters and everything).
If you’re interested, then you can find it here.
Much love!
Do you have a feedback deadline?
Best of luck with the application. I thought 'It's Not a Cold Dark Place' was outstanding, but I have no idea what they are looking for. I would just say read the course description carefully and check your submission checks all the boxes. That story might mean the world to you - but it might not mean quite so much to them. I suspect any specific suggestions I could make might be counterproductive as I have a tendency to annoy creative writing instructors with my silly comments.
3717480 Next week or two, I guess?
As near as I can tell, the university just keep on looking at applications until they decide that they don't want to (I applied to something similar last June and still got an interview! As it happens, they were the ones who told me to apply for this one instead). Plus they still have open days scheduled all the way to July and August, so I'm not so worried on that front. However, I'd still like to get this application off as soon as possible -- before the end of February, say -- because that affects some of the funding I could potentially apply for.
... Also, unrelated, but I just noticed that you of all people wrote a Starlight Glimmer fic!
This is something I need to check out.
3717792
Thanks
Also, that's a fair point, and it's been weighing on my mind. The main reason I'm going with it though is beacuse it'll hopefully compliment the other thing that I'm including in the application (actually the original version of Scootaloo Stew (the fimfic version came shortly afterwards)). They application notes say to try and include some range, so my hope is that a short silly collection of poetry for younger kids would go well with the first two chapters of something more serious for Middle Grade readers.
Hah! That's a feeling I'm familiar with... but honestly, I genuinely appreciate people's feedback. Especially after one or two of the comments I got after I posted an earlier version on Facebook ("It was so good! I mean, I only read the first few lines and then I had to go away and watch The Voice... but I really did like it, it was really good!").
Woo hoo! I'm on it! "It's Not a Cold Dark Place" is the best thing ever.