u/LeftHandRedHair

I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I can do about this situation but thought I would ask. I dropped off two items (two different buyers) for FedEx shipping on 6/18, and on 6/20 both scanned as “in transit to local post office.” Since then, they haven’t moved. The “in transit…” scans are tagged with the city and state I shipped from, but both buyers live in different states.

Is there anything I can do here? One buyer is messaging me asking what’s going on (reasonable tbh).

Both packages were single items of clothing in my usual poly envelopes with normal Vinted labels, and I dropped them off at one of the two locations I usually go to. No funny business on my end except dropping them off the day before a postal holiday.

This became a surprisingly divisive topic at a writing group I was in. We were discussing a fantasy novel chapter, and some folk's main criticism was that the clothing was under-described, while others were fine with "she was wearing a purple gown." (FWIW, I was in the latter group.)

Writers of Reddit, what genres do you write in, and how much description do you tend to use? How much do you like to read?

(Since I wrote the post I get to share my opinion up here: I prefer more minimal description, but I do love an enlightening detail. The end of her hair is wet because she chews on it! He's wearing unusual shoes! They're much taller than everyone else and it lends them a sense of gravitas!)

For those who have written in multiple age categories, do you notice yourself doing anything different or run into any unique challenges when working in one versus the other?

I notice when I write middle grade, I put most of not all of the character description as early in the scene as possible. When I was that age, I hated getting partway through a scene and finding out a character was wearing a hat if I hadn’t been picturing one. However, something I struggle with is hitting the balance between “readers this age need more concrete descriptions” and “don’t over explain because kids like to use their imagination.”

For adult fiction I think I get too abstract and vibe-y, but I also feel like there’s a broader spectrum of what’s considered “correct” here. Like, if you’re writing litfic and all your scenery descriptions are focused more on how a scene makes the character feel, as opposed to what it actually looks like, that’s a known convention and people who are picking up your book have the experience with that kind of writing.

(I don’t write YA because teenagers scare the living shit out of me it just hasn’t happened, but I know lots of people here do. Curious to hear your takes!)

I'm applying for a grant (independently, not affiliated with an organization) and it's the worst part of the process. It feels like you have to come off as driven and accomplished enough to be worth the investment, but also small and struggling enough to need it!

I don't want to give too many details on my own situation because I'm hoping this can be a valuable topic for many people. Has anyone here ever found a resource, framework, or tips for writing an artist's statement that they found really helpful? This could be for a general grant, for an org like Fulbright, for an MFA application, etc.

No one reads the writer who can't write about themselves, or whatever Ben Franklin said.

I’m making a trip to Annapolis at the end of the summer and would love to make the trip more fun than just driving. Amtrak seems to be out, but are there any ferries or similar? Or another way I’m not thinking of?

I had an item listed for $90.

Someone offered me $50.

I went in to counter with $65.

Only to see that Smart Sell had countered at $86!!!!

I forgot Smart Sell was on, so I checked the settings and it was set to $75 for this item…of course the buyer declined $86 because it looks like an insulting offer! I put the item in a bundle and added a comment explaining but it’s been about 16 hours with no response….sigh.