Young Writers Society

I don't mean to sound uh... Rude, for lack of a better word. But no matter what I try to do, I can never seen to get more than three or four reviews on my stories. And only ever on the first chapter. After that people stop commenting on it and it's near impossible for me to get any constructive criticism without sending it directly to someone.
I realize this is an issue that everybody has problems with, and it all comes down to some people being able to criticize constructively and others not being able to (myself for example, aside from general advice on grammar and spelling, I'm practically useless with criticizing. People are always commenting on the flow of a story, or other such things, but I just don't see/hear those things when I'm reading). What I want to ask, is if anyone has any ideas on this matter, or if there is somebody or a group of people I can go to get more help with my story?

Hello!

Shadow Knight wrote:But no matter what I try to do, I can never seen to get more than three or four reviews on my stories.

First off, that's lucky! Not to whine, but I only got 1 person to review my last piece, and all she told me was to double-space my stories, because it's easier to read. That does not help me at all, and should not be posted as a review. A review is a critical evaluation, not a helpful hint.

Shadow Knight wrote:What I want to ask, is if anyone has any ideas on this matter, or if there is somebody or a group of people I can go to get more help with my story?

I think it'd be cool if we had a band of critic going around, to make sure that everyone was treated fairly. Maybe it could be just volunteers, or a special usergroup, or a special rank (like Admin and Moderator).

I think that the crit group is a good idea, and i would be happy to review some of your stuff! I agree with the chapter thing, i think its becuase if people who have not read the first part see "Part two" in the title of something they tend to think oh well i have missed the start? I dunno Still i do get lots of reviews on some things less on others guess ti depends on the day and mood of people!
miyaviloves

About three critiquing groups have been started for the same reason, and they all fall apart.

If you want deeper critiques, I believe there are many workshops on the internet that do that. However, as always, YOU have to be critiquing other people at the same level.

Sk, you're complaining that nobody gives you good critiques while simultaenously admitting you can't give good critiques yourself. There's the problem. Learn how to critique better, give someone an awesome critique, and slowly you'll see the favours might be returned.

Or, if you want to be lucky like me (I always seem to get good critiques) make friends with the right people XD

Firestarter wrote:Learn how to critique better, give someone an awesome critique, and slowly you'll see the favours might be returned.

I suppose that's true, because when someone gives me a decent critique, I tend to look at her portfolio. If she has 74 reviews (or etcetera) already, I'm not going to give her another, but I'll return the favour, if she only has one or two.

There are actually two groups already working on the critiquing thing - the NRJ and SPEW (which does not officially exist, so you didnt hear it from me). Also, a lot of people are happy to crit for you if you PM them a link - at least, I know a lot of the ranking members (e.g. Snoink, Riedawriter, Claudette, and so on) are. The chat is also a good place to recruit critiquers. So you do have options!

That being said, I know what it's like not to receive much (good) advice on a story/poem that you desperately want to improve (or even just want looked over). A few things I suggest - one, check out when the site is busiest, your time, and try to post things when a greater number of people are around to see them. Two, put yourself out there. I dont mean, like, spam everyone with links to your story or whatever, but dont be afraid to ask people in the chat - very politely, of course - if they have the time to just give a particular piece the once-over. We do have a lot of new members right now which means that the postings are largely (i) unhelpful crits or (ii) their own work (no offense to new members!). But I'm sure if you ask there will be plenty of people willing to help out. Oh yes, and critiquing others (even if they have a lot of crits already) is a good way to get attention hehe.

You can always PM me, too

I agree Jack, but you can't just go out and learn to criticize... Like I said, when I read a story, I just don't see those things. Even if i'm looking for them. Plus there's no place you can go to learn how to criticize.

And about the Chatroom... I do try it every now and then, but so far I haven't met with a lot of success.

The Young Writers Society is a place to learn how to critique. Don't just read stories here; also read the critiques. You can learn from them.

1) Try critting lots of people. Not only may you get the occasional 'thank you' crit in return, but you'll also attract the attention of the other critters.

2) Try putting a link to your story in your sig.

3) Make sure your story has an interesting name. This is the first thing anyone will see of your story, and interesting name is needed to grab people's attention. Calling it 'Untitled' tends to put some people off.

4) Make sure the story isn't too long. As a rule of thumb, longer stories recieve less replies, as they take longer to crit (not to mention very long stories put people off). Try spitting your story up into chapters if it's very long.

5) Post an advert in your blog.

6) Bug people in the chat.

7) Some people have a 'PM me for a review' in their sig. Try giving them a PM.

Avoid asking (or worse yet, demanding) for crits in a seperate post in the thread. This puts some people off.

Critique other people's work and make sure it's a good critique. There are several writing tutorials on how to write good critiques -- use those. Also, if it helps, find a critic who you admire and see how that person does his critiques.

More than that, analyze the way you read stories. I know a lot of people that say, "Oh, I don't know any grammar, so that makes me useless." Wrong. You can at least comment on the story/poem, tell you how it felt, and so on. It doesn't have to be all about the grammar.

The more you critique, the more interested in you other critiquers (especially the good critiquers) will become in you. This is because we see that you can be analytical in your writing and you can possibly make things better.

So yeah. Just critique. It'll possibly get better.

i think what a lot of people tend to do is only critique people they know/are friends with/are "popular"

i don't know. if you look at all the unanswered posts, you can see how many are just from the past 2 or 3 days.

granted, some aren't pieces. but... yeah. i don't know. maybe we should try not to all critique one person? =)

SK -


You have received very good suggestions here. I can only add that you must also consider what it is you're writing versus the pool of potential readers, here and elsewhere. Part of keeping a fanbase is knowing how to pace your stories, and, let's face it, how to write effective, gripping prose.

I'm not suggesting you don't; I am suggesting, once again, that you need to consider your audience. What is effective and gripping for one group of people may not be for another, and it's important that you know where/who your readers are. For instance, I initially posted "Chionophobia" here and two other sites, and I ended up pulling it down from the other two because the audience simply wasn't interested.


Hoping you find more help,
Brad