I'm Megrim, and I'm totally into reviewing your story! Thing is, because I do this professionally, I have a hard time toning it down, and that's resulted in a lot of crushed spirits. Therefore, I've learned the hard way not to inflict myself on the unsuspecting, and I prefer to critique on a by-request basis.
Why should you care what I have to say? I'm a full-time sci-fi/fantasy author represented by the Donald Mass Literary Agency. I'm an experienced critiquer and beta-reader, and have had good success with writing contests and pitches. I'm here because I'm curious to read your writing, and hopefully to help guide and encourage new writers.
As far as critique style, you'll be getting a broader view of the progression of story and character. I'm not going to give you wording suggestions or correct your punctuation. I'll be looking at things like...
- Character motivations and agency
- Clarity of worldbuilding
- Balance of description vs action
- Plot momentum and pacing
Feel free to browse old reviews for a sample of style. It's a bit different for every story and every person.
-> Please link what you want critiqued. It also helps me if you specify whether this is an in-progress first draft, a finished manuscript, etc. Wordcount is nice to know, too, as well as a bit of description so I know what to expect.
Types of Submissions
Novels: I write novels. This is my bread and butter. I will happily read whatever chapters you want. Unless specified, I'll start at the beginning and read/review as I see fit.
Short Stories and Flash Fiction: I'm also an avid flash fiction writer and have been delving into the world of shorter fiction. I'm less experienced with these, but learning.
Poetry, Lyrics, Scripts, Essays, and Others: I can tell you how it affected me as a reader. I don't write these things and don't know anything about them, but I'm interested in the challenge.
Queries and Pitches: This isn't really a big thing around here, but for those who are interested in publishing, I have a lot of experience with queries and pitches.
I don't care how many reviews a piece has. If you feel like you need additional perspective, I'll look at it even if it already has ten reviews. I also don't care how many chapters a novel has.
I do, however, reserve the right to reject anything I don't have the time/willpower/expertise to handle. This is a safety precaution against, for instance, the beta request for an unedited 300k first draft, or your revolutionary manifesto. I mean, it doesn't hurt to ask, but I also get to say no if I want.
Genres
I'm more than happy to sink my teeth into any genre, however I do have my strengths and weaknesses. I'm a sci-fi/fantasy writer, so anything in that vein is my first preference. I also LOVE diversity (sexuality, ethnicity, disabilities, etc), and will read any content rating.
Things I Will Not Critique
- I will NOT critique something more than once. If you edit it, don't ask me to look at it again. I can't give you anything useful the second time around, because my eyes are no longer fresh.
- I will NOT critique anything based around strong religious or spiritual themes, sorry.
- I will NOT critique fanfiction.
What To Expect
I review general writing technique and execution as well as big picture aspects of the content (plot, character, setting). I'll focus on whatever stood out to me while reading, so it will be different for each review. I may ask questions to get you thinking/brainstorming; these don't need to be answered. My technique varies--sometimes I read it all ahead of time, and sometimes I type down my thoughts as I have them.
Very Important
I do have the ability to eat stories alive, and while I try to be respectful, I've had my critiques described as "crushing dreams like cars beneath the wheels of a monster truck." You absolutely must copy and paste this disclaimer into your post if you want me to review your work. If you ignore this, I will ignore your post, because it means you didn't read my instructions.
I understand that Megrim is not a gentle critter. I am prepared to hear difficult things about my plot and characters, and will not be upset if I'm told to rewrite everything about it.
Gender:
Points: 23295
Reviews: 264