grocko's Picks | 19-26 November 2023

Hello, fellow wonderful Scholars and Scribes! Welcome to the weekly picks! This is where we go over which pieces were submitted to the Scholar and Scribe community that stood out and made an impression. I will give my subjective review on each piece selected in hopes of stimulating creativity and reaching our ultimate goal - becoming better writers.

This is a purely prose selection. No poetry I'm afraid.

All selections are placed in terms of release order - these are not rankings.

With that being said, first off we have @kei2 with Children of The Sun.

Kei has been a steady contributor to the community for a while now, and it's wonderful to see active authors improve in their craft. Her imagination for fantastical worlds knows no bounds, and her style of storytelling is instantly recognizable. This is critical for any upcoming writer, and she has found her voice - a major stepping stone.

“Run Suha. Do not look back until you get to the golden tree. The heavens will guide you from there.” Sultana swallowed looking through the window again.

Fantasy is my favorite genre, but for some reason, I feel it's underrepresented in the Hive community. I am so glad for people like Kei that shine a light on how amazing these foreign worlds can be. It also helps that her competency as a writer from a technical aspect has only gotten better. And we like to commend when that happens. 👏 Kudos.

*She began running again through the woods. She didn't stop until she reached a clearing where the golden tree stood tall and magnificent. Suha struggled to catch her breath. She had never been to the golden tree. *

Next up we got @b0s with The Darkness.

Ah yes, who doesn't love a dark depressing story? Just me? Oh well. I am not familiar with @b0s's work, but dark dreary tales are right up my alley. I've said this many times before, but atmosphere trumps technical ability any day of the week. At least for me. Both are important in their own way, but I feel like a piece needs its soul to feel complete. If that makes sense.

"Maybe I am just doing all this for attention. Just to see how many people would actually check in. But then, how many of those people actually care for me? What is it exactly that I'm missing? What is wrong with me?"

This reference might go over most heads that read this, but this piece reminded me a lot of the game Allen Wake. The desperation of the protagonist and the dark thoughts they go through are a delightful cacophony of dread and darkness that I adored reading through. 👏 Kudos.

He stood up briefly to go get his final final final final bottle of whisky. Next thing he knew he was hovering above his car keys on the table, whisky in one hand.

Third on the chopping block is @nancybriti1's Nobody here hears the dogs barking.

I love shining a light on non-native English speakers, as it lets us get to the core of their craft. As I mentioned earlier, technical ability is important, but only so much. Said ability is gained through a copious amount of practice. It will eventually be at a sufficient level. You know what you cannot teach? Your voice, your passion, your love for writing.

The government military arrived yesterday at about 12 o'clock at night. We knew it was them because of the barking dogs. The dogs in the neighborhood only bark at strangers and the only ones who are able to enter at that hour, and in that area, is the government.

@nancybriti1 writes a gripping tale that unfortunately has become topical in recent years. The picture she paints is dire, but oh so very real. Her thematic throughline might be on the nose, but I think it works better that way. The message of this piece is evident, stark. It's not hiding from you. And I think for the point it is making, it had to be written as such. 👏 Kudos.

They went for reinforcements. If before there were fifty, now a hundred soldiers came down. They had their faces covered and long guns. They were on the prowl for two hours, and for two hours the dogs barked too much.

✍️ Hope the Scholars found something to read and the Scribes discovered something new about the craft. Thank you for stopping by and see you all next week!

🖼️ Image Sources: 01, 02, 03 🖼️

Return from grocko's Picks | 19-26 November 2023 to Јоцко's Web3 Blog