Introducing Blog Series: Writer Spotlight
What is Writer Spotlight, and Why Are You Creating a Blog in This Incredibly Saturated Market?
Welcome to my review blog series, Writer Spotlight, where I read and review up to 14 short stories/pieces per writer in one week. I’d like to discuss the reasons why I began this blog series, of which there are four. I actually have four and it’s not just a convenient SEO number.
Casting Depression Into the Pit From Whence it Came
The first and foremost reason is that in the past year, I was seriously struggling to write new material. I’ve been professionally published but the value and worth of those publications seemed to decrease the more stories I put out, like a horrible case of inflation.
This was, absolutely, all in my own head. Like, I know that. Classic depression stuff, but exacerbated with everything happening in the world, and adding to all that, the sense that no one cared. It felt that I would write something I was proud of, but that it would go into a void. It was really starting to get to me. I had to do something about it or it would spiral further, and I thought and thought and reflected and pondered and philosophized and looked up therapy solutions and I came out of that period with some revelations.
I have no control over who reads me, or what famous person might know me on social media, or what reviews (or lack of reviews) say about my work. I can’t control any of that. I can only control what I do, how much I read, and how much I put into OTHER peoples’ work.
Ergo, for me to have more confidence in myself and to feel like my writing means something, I needed to help other people with their confidence in their own work, and give value to them first. (I realize this is fundamentally selfish, but I’m trying to be more okay with selfishness when it comes to prioritizing my mental health.)
So. Review blog.
But, Like, a Positive Review Blog
The thing with reviews is that I really, really hate when they neg on someone who doesn’t deserve it. I’m not talking about famous writers, or writers who write problematic shit and who refuse to acknowledge those issues. I’m talking about debut authors whose work is not their best, or when the reviewer reviews something that’s outside of their preferred genre and “just can’t stand sappy stuff” and so gives the romance writer a two star review on Goodreads. Stuff like that, where it’s entirely unnecessary and can be devastating.
Writers thrive on good reviews. A bad review can lay us low for weeks or months. This is why my reviews will focus on things I admire about the writers’ work, never anything I dislike or personally find I don’t enjoy. That’s not why I review. I don’t look for what I don’t vibe with. I don’t critique, I hype. Writers have enough negative talk in their own heads, they don’t need another critical voice on the Internet.
What they need is for someone to get excited about their technique, to notice what they do well. I don’t mean let’s put someone on a pedestal or puff someone’s ego into arrogance. Our work is constantly under appreciated, it would be very difficult to overcorrect. Most writers need encouragement like white people need education on everyday racism.
So. Writer Spotlight is a positive review series, where I will rhapsodize about the beauty that I see, and hopefully, any readers of the blog will be interested in certain stories and what they also like.
I Am Secretly Studying the Writers’ Technique
The third reason is much less altruistic. I really, really want to read more short fiction. I write a lot of it myself, and for me to grow as a writer, I need to consume more of it on a frequent basis so I can become as awesome as them.
Delving Into the Style
Delving is such a fun word. But it’s the perfect one for what I want to describe here. Digging isn’t a good enough word. I’m not digging, I’m diving headfirst, I’m going under with reckless abandon. 14 stories a week, or two stories a day, might seem like a lot and IT IS, but it’s really not that hard compared to the time I spend scrolling on TikTok.
Beyond the concept of hyping a writer up and showcasing them in the awesomeness that they are, I also want to make sure I analyze their style and truly make them feel seen, that their recurring themes are noticed, that they aren’t pigeonholed into one genre because that’s all the reviewer saw. I want to come away from a Spotlight and to have a really good feel for a writer’s style, not just the style of a particular story.
Come with me and discover incredible writers and their plethora of short stories!