I've finally worked up the courage to share some of my writing projects with impartial readers, for some constructive feedback.

It's been great. The constructive feedback is on point and highlighting things I just hadn't thought about, or noticed, or thought was working but evidently wasn't. I'm really grateful for it. Already edited things in/out/shuffling around.

The positive feedback has also been lovely to receive (as it would be). One reader assumed I was a woman because of the relatable way I was portraying the female MC in the story, then was pleasantly surprised to discover I'm a dude. Dialogue getting some good praise, realistic interpretations of how people might react to things, world feels connected and sense of both scale and time passing has been captured. Overall, it's viewed as a fun read, and each time the person provided feedback they asked for more to read over.

Another project I got feedback on was a series of short horror/sci-fi stories that I was hoping build a little anthology out of. So far each person has said "Would love to see this a full blown adventure" which I was hoping to hear. I wanted to write some interesting tidbits and capture enough of someone's imagination or interest that they'd like to see more of it, and more fleshed out.

Feels good. Onwards.