Resolution #179: Submit My Short Stories To Trigger Street Labs And Stay Active On The Site...

Date: 6-28-2014

Due Date: 6-28-2015

Resolution: I've been a member of Trigger Street Labs pretty much since it started, around 12 years ago. I started using the site because it was a free way to get strangers to read my work and have to give feedback before they could post their work.

Similar sites have you provide feedback for other's projects before you can post one of your own, but then once you've posted your project it becomes a matter of waiting. With Trigger Street you need to continue to participate to earn credits, with each credit you earn they assign your project at random to other members until someone gives you feedback. 

That feedback costs you a credit, so as long as you have credits, you have the site working with you to get your work out there. The quality of feedback on Trigger Street varies a lot but if you put in the effort you'll get readers and they'll write reviews. 

Trigger Street used to only accept feature-length screenplays and short films. I've used it for both and am a fan. A couple of years ago they started accepting short stories. At the time I wasn't sure if a short screenplay counted as a short story so I never thought much of it. Now that I'm writing actually short stories I'm going to give it a shot.

I will post one story at a time and then maximize the credits for that story before posting the next one then repeat and share any feedback I get.

(Note: This will not affect my resolutions to post stories on any other sites. There's no exclusivity here! )

Result #179: Trigger Street Labs Shut Down A Couple Of Months Ago… Leading This Resolution To be a Nonredeemable Failure.

Update #1: The Conclusion…

Date: 6-28-2015

I signed up for Trigger Street Labs right around the time that it started back in 2002. At the time it was fun, and I found it to be a very handy tool to get feedback for my screenplays. There was a competitive aspect because there was a promise that if you made it to the top ten this production company would read your script. It also helped that it was free and ongoing.

As the years went by, and more people signed up, the site felt less promising, but it was still a nice way to get feedback. Then even more years went by and I felt like the activity levels of the site dropped off. I even joked once that it reminded me of the Chris Rock joke about the mall that white people used to go to.

Even with full review credits, it would take a long time for your work to get assigned let alone reviewed. That's why I wasn't all that surprised when the people of Trigger Street decided to shut down the "Labs" aspect of their production company.

That said, since I no longer have the Trigger Street Labs to fulfill this resolution, I have to consider it a fail and I can't even send it to redemption.

Oh well. A lot of my stories are still available here.