u/A_C_Shock

Before the regularly scheduled programming: we've had some reports of people getting unsolicited emails with critiques instead of reddit comments. When you share a Google doc, anyone can get your email by looking at the Shared page in their account. That's why we recommend using an account that's not linked to you irl so you don't get doxed. I suspect most of the email people are using AI for whatever critique they sent you and trying to get you to pay for some kind of service. The mods over at r/betareaders tell me they get a lot of people from Brazil doing this. Ours are Italian. I can't really do anything to stop people from emailing you. I can ban people who are interacting on Reddit, but that doesn't stop them from seeing your content. Best bet is to ignore them, just like any other scammer, if they email you.

I don't care about rainbows. Someone tell me why there are so many stories about frogs this week. Or maybe the better question is this: why are there not more stories about frogs? So, I'm up for another writing weekly.

This past week, I've left a few comments for people saying I think there's a lack of specificity that kills immersion. I'm now wondering what would happen if I gave a vague outline of a story and asked all you writers here to fill in details. I suspect that I'd get a bunch of very different versions of the same story. Let's try!

Non-specific story:

One day, a boy walked out to a pond where he found a frog hopping around. He was excited to find a new friend, so he scooped the frog into a bucket and carried him home. His mother didn't like frogs very much. The boy snuck the frog up to his room and hid it in the closet where he was keeping a fish tank.

That's the outline. I'd like to see what kind of character you all can bring to my very flat short piece.

As always, you do not have to critique to submit to the weekly. If someone is open to critique of something they post, they can indicate that in their comment (and you're welcome to declare you only want people to say nice things!). Respect the requests.

If there's anything else anyone wants to discuss (like what's so interesting about frogs), go ahead and comment that too.

I finished a book yesterday. Well, two this week. I went to look at the reviews and was surprised by the rating being lower than I expected. I guess the author wandered into some controversy about her attempts at diversity being less than favorable to some of the other cultures she was depicting. I mean, I didn't think any of the cultures were depicted favorably but I guess that doesn't matter.

Anyway.

I clicked on the one star reviews because I was curious what it was I liked that other people hated. Long sentences. Info dumping. Telling rather than showing. And I didn't notice any of that! Those are comments I've made about other books I've read recently but not this one.

There's not really a formula or anything that says this writing is good and this writing is bad.

I guess I don't know. That's what I was thinking about this week.

Before the regularly scheduled programming, did you all know Grammarly is now a Free AI Writing Assistance company? They acquired two new AI companies in 2025 and seem to be re-branding. If you are using it to help with grammar, be aware it has the same issues you might find natively using any other LLM tool (that being, it rewrites your sentences). This is my old man yells at clouds moment.

Here at DestructiveReaders, we love a good writing challenge. So, I have a new game. Have you played one of our games before? It goes like this:

Make a top level comment that contains:

• A trope

• A list of required words

Then respond to any comment that inspires you with a story. We don't expect people to critique these and critiques here wouldn't be for credit. Post the story in the body of the comment or in a doc link.

Example:

• Trope: Butt-dialing Mordor (A character, through recklessness or bad luck, ends up unintentionally using some form of long-range communication in a manner that contacts an evil entity.)

• Words: peckish, colt, anabolic, compel, silk

Example:

On Sundays in fall, I try my hardest not to leave the house. You see, the Colts play and I love Indianapolis and if I don't watch them they'll surely lose. There are so many other things I might do that would cause them to lose but leaving the house is the most surefire way. I have a journal where I've kept track of all of their wins and losses since I was five. It's here, the pattern, in plain ink. Anyway, this fact of life leaves me in a bit of a predicament: food. I can't cook. Left to my own devices, I survive on stale cereal and expired milk until someone manages to deliver a meal, so I've become rather dependent on food delivery services. As soon as I start feeling peckish, I log into my favorite one and dial in on the hot wings and pizza.

Except not today. The website crashed at 12:49 on the dot. Without wings and pizza, the Colts have a 30 percent higher chance of losing their game. I start typing frantically in the search engine---where can I get hot wings in time to ensure a Colts win????---and an answer pops up.

"Deviled Hot Wings are guaranteed to grant you your heart's desire. Do you want to know more?"

"As long as I can get them before the game, I don't care! How long will it take to deliver?"

"That depends entirely on you."

"What does that mean?" I mumble out loud.

A voice, silky as a quarterback’s jersey, fills the room, not from the speakers on my laptop but somehow loud and close and all encompassing. "Everyone has a special thing they have to offer. I only ask what you would be willing to give up for your dreams."

"For...the Colts to win the Super Bowl?" Those stupid first draft picks are embroiled in an anabolic steroid scandal and I’d given up hope on our chances. They could use any additional help I could give them. "Anything."

A basket of hot wings floats down from the ceiling. I hold out my hands and cradle the gift. Later, I'll mark down in my notebook what happened, track the changes in my team. I might even win my fantasy football league this year.

"Remember," the voice fades as I tuck into my wings, "if you feel compelled to follow an instinct, act immediately."

The clock ticks to 1:00PM and the Colts win the coin toss. Off to a good start.