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Good morning, Ereki 😀

With only four months left in the year (sorry, I had to say it), I present to you today a challenge *unravels scroll* *clears throat* *uses epic voice*

THE END OF THE YEAR CRITIQUE CHALLENGE

The challenge is for each guild member to present a piece of writing for critique once a month, for three months (September, October, November… not December, since I assume we’re all very busy then).

*returns to normal voice*

Why this challenge? Three reasons:

1) Having your work critiqued is one of the best ways to grow as a writer. Self-editing is great, but having other writers give their feedback will help you hone your skills and reveal where you have room to improve.

2) It will prepare you for having an editor when you get published. A professional editor will likely be much more exact and thorough, but having other writers like yourself look at your work will prepare you for such an editor.

3) Learning how to critique other writers’ work is a great skill to have. Professional authors still have beta readers, and often beta read for one another. Critiquing also allows you to learn to analyze writing, which will help when you write your own stories. And who knows — maybe you’ll come to like critiquing so much that you’ll be an editor one day 😉

SOME TIPS FOR POSTING/GIVING CRITIQUES

– If you’re POSTING a critique, try not to have it be longer than ten or twenty pages. The shorter it is, the more likely people are to read it quickly.

– Google docs is the best method for posting critiques. Just click “share” in the right-hand corner and select a sharing link that allows people to comment. Or, you can post the section of writing right into the forum, but it may be harder for people to critique.

– Ask for a specific kind of feedback. If you just say “everything,” then you’ll get comments on theme and corrections on typos, and if you have to go back and change the entire theme, those typo corrections will likely go to waste as you rewrite the section. So be specific.

– When GIVING a critique, don’t be overly critical and negative. The goal is to encourage the writer while still giving honest feedback. You should try to give balanced feedback: if you say what you don’t like/didn’t think worked, also say what you did like and what did work. If you’ve never critiqued before, just tag me and I can give you some more pointers 🙂

– That being said, don’t be afraid to point out what doesn’t work. Even if you don’t know a lot about writing, there’s still something the author of this piece can learn from your advice.

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So, do you accept the challenge? Post one section of your work in here, once a month, for three months in a row. If you’re outlining or don’t feel ready for this, try to at least contribute to critiquing others’ work.

Participants get free cookies and cake at the end of November 😉

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