In 2024 SmokeLong hosted our second SmokeLong Workshop Prize competition. Our workshop participants reported almost 300 publications to us before November 1, 2024. In 2025, we’ll be featuring one writer each week from The SmokeLong Workshop Prize long list. It’s an excellent series of interviews, each grappling with questions about workshopping, giving and receiving feedback, and the publication process. If you are a previous or current SmokeLong workshop participant and you have ultimately published something you began in a SmokeLong workshop, remember to enter The SmokeLong Workshop Prize competition. This free-to-enter competition is on our Submittable page.
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An Interview with Dawn Tasaka Steffler — “Mom gets me a dog for my ninth birthday because she says all kids should have a dog” published by Fractured Lit and “Rules Keep You Safe” published in BULL
What do you remember about the workshop where you wrote these stories? What was the prompt or writing task that led to them?
“Mom gets me a dog for my ninth birthday because she says all kids should have a dog” (or “Whistle” as I like to call it for short) was written during March Micro Marathon 2024. We were writing from the child’s point of view, focusing on a child in danger or on a child who must make a decision. It was Day 20 out of 24 and I remember feeling exhausted and out of ideas. Though I don’t recall doing this specifically, it’s pretty obvious I looked back on what I wrote earlier in the month, because on Day 1, I wrote a really shitty, 100-word draft from a mom’s POV about kids and a family dog. But when I changed it to a kid’s POV with a kid’s snarky voice, it came alive. And, that line about killing hookers? My youngest son actually said that.
“Rules Keep You Safe” was first drafted in February 2023 and I remember enjoying Helen Rye’s month of ruthless, gritty naturalism prompts. This particular story came from the “POV and Distance” week and was heavily influenced by Abby Feden’s winning SmokeLong Quarterly story, “To Pieces,” which is one of my all time favorite flash stories. We were supposed to write about two or three closely linked characters who have terrible secrets, and the story is the moment everything comes to a head.
Peer-review feedback is always full of surprises. In general, what kind of feedback do you find helpful? What kind of feedback do you find less helpful?
I appreciate it when people suggest places to “lean in more.” It usually means they feel some heat/energy, and it’s as good a place as any to start digging around, asking some questions about the story, and maybe figuring out what some of the backstory is. I always get excited when I receive feedback that is more developmental in nature. I like it when people reflect back to me what they think the story is about, which I sometimes think of as the view from 30,000 feet. It’s a great way to gauge if I missed something when I transcribed what was in my head to the page. And it gives me broad thematic information that I sometimes don’t see because I’m too close.
What isn’t so helpful are line edits that focus on grammar or language. I do so many revisions that those kinds of line edits get lost. However, comments that call attention to story inconsistencies, or point out places where the story is a bit muddy or where they as a reader got confused, those are always useful. What is also not so helpful is feedback that focuses only on positive things. I really want to know what warts you see. I will digest it if it resonates or shrug it off if it doesn’t. But I can’t make a story stronger if I don’t get substantive feedback to work with in the first place.
To how many places did you send these stories? Can you tell us a little about their journeys to publication?
“Whistle” was submitted to thirteen publications and one contest. I revised it eight times. At its shortest it was 398 words, and the longest version was 745 words. That’s the version Fractured Lit published. Sometimes I do a considerable amount of research during drafting, but for this story I only saved one article titled “The 15 Most Despicable Acts Committed In Grand Theft Auto.” LOL. I also remember reading Brendan Stephens’ SmokeLong Quarterly story, “Rascal” and Jenny Boully’s Brevity essay, “I Remain Very Sorry For What I Did to the Little Black Kitten” as inspiration.
“Rules Keep You Safe” went through fifteen revisions and was submitted to nineteen publications and four contests. It was a finalist for the 2024 Blue Frog and was shortlisted for the 2024 Masters Review Spring Short Fiction Award. Because it has two somewhat-alternating POVs, and a fairly substantial backstory chunk in the middle, it always stayed in the 900 word range. I did *a ton* of research for this story, everything from sexual harassment on public transportation, to tricks and tips for living in bad neighborhoods, to an article titled, “41 Ways to Stay Safe While Traveling Alone As A Woman.” One fun but challenging idea I had early on was to chunk up the narrative to fit within a list structure (a list of rules, thus the title). It’s a grim story but I really didn’t want to end it on a note of helplessness, so when the rule, “Life is tough, but so are you” popped into my head one day, I knew the story would somehow end on that note of self-sufficiency and strength.
What is your advice to someone considering taking part in a peer-review workshop?
I always like to read what other people have said in their feedback on a piece. If I find myself agreeing with what someone else has already said, I’ll mention that in my feedback. But I also try to phrase it my own way rather than just broadly agreeing. I think it’s useful to know that 1) multiple people had similar thoughts, and 2) to hear slightly different nuances of opinion.
Also, try to get something down for every prompt, even if it doesn’t particularly speak to you. You never know if you’ll find yourself circling back to it later — like I did with “Whistle” — and you might discover something really exciting. Remember, you can’t revise something if it’s not on the page first.
Read “Mom gets me a dog for my ninth birthday because she says all kids should have a dog” published by Fractured Lit and “Rules Keep You Safe” published in BULL.
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Dawn Tasaka Steffler is an Asian-American writer from Hawaii who currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a Smokelong Quarterly Emerging Writer Fellow, winner of the October 2023 Bath Flash Fiction Award, and selected for the Wigleaf Top 50 long list. Her stories appear or are forthcoming in Pithead Chapel, Flash Frog, Ghost Parachute, Fractured Lit, Moon City Review, Iron Horse Literary Review’s PhotoFinish 2024 and more. Find her online at dawntasakasteffler.com and on X, BlueSky and Instagram @dawnsteffler
The core workshop of SmokeLong Fitness is all in writing, so you can take part from anywhere at anytime. We are excited about creating a supportive, consistent and structured environment for flash writers to work on their craft in a community. We are thrilled and proud to say that our workshop participants have won, placed, or been listed in every major flash competition. Community works.