Happiness and Soon-To-Be-Spring thoughts to you on February's Final Friday!
(Yes, I'm desperate for winter's demise.)
Our Drop the Needle is still going strong -- lots of good, helpful critiques pouring in! I've noticed that the "back end" isn't getting quite the same attention as the front end -- hopefully that will resolve itself today and over the weekend.
So: If you're just jumping in to the critting, please be aware that excerpts in the 40s through the 70s are averaging about half the number of critiques as the rest of the bunch. Maybe you could choose one of those "decades" to begin your reading and commenting.
I'm especially interested to hear from our first-timers in today's comment box. How has your experience of critiquing and being critiqued been? Have the comments been helpful? Were the pre-critique nerves worth it all?
And for all critters: Were there particular entries that made you wish the book were already published? Which ones, and why? Has the critiquing process brought to light some areas of your own work that you are now itching to dive into and tear apart?
(Ah, the ruthlessness of editing. It satisfies something deep within.)
Okay, I'm off to squeak out a few more critiques. Thanks again, one and all, for your time, your thoughts, your hearts.
And Merry Weekend!
To all of you brave enough to put your work out there WAY TO GO! For me, reading through the entries made me go back and look at the last 250 words of my chapter endings. It will become part of my editing routine from now on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Authoress for the time you take putting this fine blog together.
More comments coming tonight, Authoress. :]
ReplyDeleteIt's just been one of those weeks. My work computer keeps bopping out on me (I'm amazed it's working right now) and then it's been birthday party week at home. S[
Tonight looks free - so far.
I commented thru 29 (I think). I'm determined to get everyone. :P
And for all critters: Were there particular entries that made you wish the book were already published? Which ones, and why? Has the critiquing process brought to light some areas of your own work that you are now itching to dive into and tear apart?
I'll sit back on the first question and simply say I've seen a LOT of novel premises/writing samples that I wish I could read more of. And maybe some others that I wondered why the people weren't subbing to agents and getting published already.
Yes, definitely to the other question. I've already revised the scene I pulled my snippet from. Thanks for the help, people. :)
Forgot to say - I heartily echo the longing for spring.
ReplyDeleteWe had rainstorms last night, but temps are dropping again. Heard something about more snow through the weekend. :[
This was a good experience for me as a newbie. There were several I'd love to read more on. I'll note those over the weekend, after I have finished reading them all. Thanks again for making this possible.
ReplyDeleteCass
After doing this exercise, I've come up with a new way to edit the my ms one final (as if) time. I'm randomly selecting a page at a time and checking for things such as typos, details, etc that might not be noticed when I'm looking at the scene as a whole. I'm also making sure--after reading someone comments on a entry that wasn't mine--to ensure none of my action read like: then .... and then .... then.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this, Authoress. I've learned a lot from reading comments on other peoples entries. And I enjoyed reading what other people had to say about mine.
As for winter. It was -31F last night. What do you think my opinion is regarding winter's demise?
As for Meg's comment. I wonder how many already have partials (me) or fulls out with agents. We're just using this opportunity to make ours better.
Have a fab weekend everyone!
Newbie to the blog also and have to say that it has been a great experience. I haven't had much opportunity to get 3rd party crit and the feedback I've had so far has been very valuable - things I never even noticed!
ReplyDeleteSo many chapter endings had me wishing I knew what came before and what was coming next. Hopefully will see these on the bookstore shelves soon! :)
I'll be back on there doing more critting tonight. With a 3 year old and a 9 month old, it's been slow going, but that's the life!
Thanks so much, Authoress, for giving us such great opportunities on here!
I thank you for this experience. It was very insightful. I went back and gave my 250 words an overhaul, and it reads much smoother now.
ReplyDeleteIt is really nice to have extra sets of eyes to point out things to you. After reading others comments, I was smacking myself on the head wondering why I didn't see that.
I also want to send out a special thanks to all the people who read my piece.
Thanks
This was my first time posting anything for "blind" critique. I have to say it was nerve wracking. I realize now that I should have included more in my set-up. Most of my comments were helpful, though one aspect of a few I'm still agonizing over.
ReplyDeleteBut the most important thing I learned from this is that what I submitted probably shouldn't be the chapter ending at all. I think now it should be the opening of the next chapter.
As a first-timer, at first I was a little disappointed, there were so many others getting buckets of critiques and mine had been in for 12hours and had only gotten one, but it is very slowly pulling in a few more. I am very thankful of the critiques I have gotten and will be revising my work as soon as I get everything situated (I'm moving this weeked). There are a few bits that I wish I could keep going, and maybe someday I'll see a few of them on the shelves!
ReplyDeleteNewbie here.
ReplyDeleteI've been really enjoying this! I would love to be able to crit everything, but there just isn't time -- instead my goal is to give as many crits as I've gotten. 250 words turns out not to be as short as I initially thought, by which I mean that it's short enough to read quickly and easily but, remarkably, long enough to convey a lot about the story. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but I was.
And holy moley, so many tantalizing story bits! So many characters I want to know what happens to next!
Huge thanks to everyone who critted my entry (#24) -- lots of useful feedback, and an awful lot more positive comments than I expected on a first draft with only three-and-a-half chapters written.
I am a first timer to this website and found it through "Flogging the Quill". I was flogged in the first part of the same chapter (on the other website) and ended the chapter with your website contest. Between the two, I must say I am learning a lot. I too am a little saddened I did not get as many reviews...I really welcome the comments. I am also working on critting more as well.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate seasoned writers with websites like yours...you give the rest of us out there hope!
As a newbie I REALLY regret not having found your blog earlier as this community is wonderful! This made me look at my writing from an amazing array of perspectives which hadn't occurred to me before and I want to send my manuscript to all the incredible commenters to my entry (#18) and have them critique away so as to greatly improve the book!!
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I too wish I could have critiqued more, and plan to start with some of the later entries right after commenting here.
Thanks, again, to everyone!!
Critting someone else's work while you're still licking your own wounds, er…digesting what others have said about your piece can be difficult. That might explain why the second batch hasn't gotten as much attention so far. Hopefully people will get back into the swing today and over the weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time participating, and I've enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see so few historicals - romance or straight - (my genre of choice to write and read), but was heartened by the interest in my era/setting (ancient Sparta) by the people who commented. I received some great feedback which I will use in revision, and I appreciate everyone who spent time helping me out. I've done six crits on the first batch and six on the second (with work and a sick child, it's been tough to do more) and I plan to help out on the back end today and this weekend. Thanks so much for this opportunity to participate.
It's me again...I wanted to add that my story is #51...Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI found some of the technical comments helpful, otherwise some others hinted a prejudice for certain genres.
ReplyDeleteI found it helpful. There were so many that I would love to read. Also, I realized that my book is not close to being ready. I love writing though, and I want to learn all that I can. I also learned that criticism is tough on the ole heart. How do you overcome that?
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time too, and what a treat! I'm in the second batch with fewer critics so far -- but the ones I've received are spot-on and so helpful.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see in practice the fact that different things speak to different people. For instance, I thought #14 was perfect (and said so). Of course, this is not a useful comment! So I apologize to the writer for that.
My writerly amateur ego loves this exercise for the comments my little piece recieved.
However, I do intend to be published one day, and I am finding that critiquing everyone else and reading others' ideas is the truly useful part of this.
Thank you so much, Authoress!!
I also learned that criticism is tough on the ole heart. How do you overcome that?
ReplyDeleteha. I don't think you do. It's like being on a rollercoaster. You know that "feeling" is going to come -- and it does. And then it passes.
Way to go everyone who entered!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had time to critique any yet, but intend to do at least a few. I'll scan through and focus on the entries with the least comments.
If you are YA in the second batch and I haven't already gotten to you, then I'll try again on the weekend. I had already done close to 20 by last night, so I was feeling a little burnt out. I don't know how the Secret Agent does it.
ReplyDeleteI'll only do those who haven't received many comments, though. Check your entries Monday to give me enough time. I know what it's like not to receive many comments. . . not that was an issue for me this time.
Hope that helps.
n00b here. To be a bit melodramatic, this was both uplifting and soul-crushing at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI got some really great feedback, and the whole thing was much less catty than I had anticipated. Better than that, upon going into "editor mode" and critiquing so many others, it made me think long and hard about making the same mistakes in my own writing. I would not have taken away nearly so much if I had only taken criticism and not given it.
Of course, there's also the (soul-crushing) realization that I now need to go back through 175000 words yet a-freakin'-gain and smooth out all of the rough stuff that I had been avoiding. Urg. This is like some Literary Biggest Loser where we have to get weighed-in every week. I honestly don't know how anything ever gets published without the author thinking it's a mediocre pile of dung -- but that may just be my OCD/perfectionism tendencies showing through.
Overall, however, I can't thank you enough for offering up this opportunity. It was worth every moment of anticipation, dread, and slogging through other writers' heads.
One suggestion, however? It would have been easier for me both to critique and to read other critiques if the genre was in the post title. I found myself revisiting some of my earlier critiques to explain more about what I meant, or to state something that had been bugging me but I hadn't been able to articulate on my first post. Having the genres in the post titles would have saved quite a bit of time of trying to remember which was which.
As a newbie to the website, I think this is such a great event -- it really helps to get feedback on your writing and chapter ending and also to see how other people handle it, what works and doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteI've been involved in crit groups for a few years so I am a bit thick skinned by now. It can be quite bracing to receive honest feedback, but it is generally good to see how people respond to your writing.
It's hard to critique a 250-word excerpt from a novel you haven't read -- there is a lot of assuming you have to do. A writer can't encapsulate everything a reader needs to know in their short blurb and I noticed a lot of people included comments that indicated confusion that would likely be cleared up if the reader had read the preceeding chapters. But a great exercise despite the limitations!
There were a number of entries that I would like to read the entire novel. When this is over, I might just send encouraging notes to the authors, if I can find them.
Thanks Authoress for hosting this!
Newbie here as well. :)
ReplyDeleteThe experience has been (mostly) positive. I always enjoy seeing others' writing, and I enjoy critiquing. I haven't been able to get to everything I've wanted to, crit-wise, but I'm going to see what I can do today. Tomorrow is unfortunately a bust.
Thankfully the crit on my own piece hasn't been harsh, and it's all been on the same theme too—more tension! So I'm going to have to look at it again, and the rest of my chapter (and/or segment) endings. Sigh. Some are going to be really hard to make tense and exciting.
I didn't have any pre-crit jitters, but I started getting nervous yesterday, when mine was posted and then didn't get comments as quickly as the others. Darn perfectionism!
Anyway, I guess I should sign off here and go critique something…
I don't know if others experienced this, but I found that a majority of the comments about my excerpt were people noticing the odd choices I had made on purpose (and that make sense if you read the 45 chapters that precede my excerpt). It was gratifying in a way.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other comments, they were great! I've spent so many hours with these words that it's awesome to hear someone say something in a new way and fall in love with it.
I'm planning to spend a good portion of this weekend randomly picking pages and applying some of the editorial remarks reviewers left across the board.
Thank you, Authoress and everyone who's commented on #43!
~A newbie
I haven't had time to look at them yet, but I'll get to them eventually. Entrants, keep checking for new comments. Ha. As if I needed to tell anyone that.
ReplyDeletec.e. Lawson,
ReplyDeleteI LOVED your entry. I am a historical fiction / history buff. Can't wait to read the finished product. Quality stuff!
Everyone...thanks for all the input! It's great to be a part of this community. I am revising as we speak. It's a hard pill to swallow as a newbe but I will embrace the process.
I especially appreciated those who said something positive along with the negative. As a teacher, I always do that with my students because I don't want to discourage them from writing...I want to encourage them to grow and learn.
:-)
I'm definitely not a newbie to critiquing but this is my first time doing it through your blog. It has been a GREAT experience so far and I admire your creative ability to get it started!
ReplyDeleteI gotta say, I've had something like 5 CPs (critique partners) look over my 250 excerpt (in whole chapter form of course) and I've never gotten the kind of input I received through "Drop the Needle." It gave me loads to think about and I'll probably change a lot (for the better, in my opinion) because of the suggestions I received. So this has definitely been a great learning experience for me.
I think a special thanks should go out to Being Beth, who has given tons of lengthy and insightful critiques to multiple submissions. I understand the value of a good critique giver and she's one to keep around. It's always great to have someone who can look beyond the words right in front of her/him and give advice based on it. Nice job, Being Beth! I'm sure you've made a lot of writers thankful you took the time to read their submission! I know I am.
But a HUGE thanks goes out to Authoress for putting this all together in the first place! Your blog should win some kind of award (if it hasn't already).
I have to apologize that I haven't really hit the second batch yet. I have several major tests coming up, but I promise, over the weekend, I'll get the second half. I noticed that they were being neglected too. :-(
ReplyDeleteThere were a ton of great chapter endings! So much talent. It's really quite humbling. Thanks to everyone who critiqued #3 (mine). This is a great community, and this was the first time I put my original work up for critique, so it was an awesome experience. Everybody was helpful and nice.
Good luck to all!
So, Authoress. Are you going to tell us which one is yours this time? A hint maybe?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great community. What a great achievement by Authoress to create a forum for us all.
ReplyDeleteThis excercise has been very valuable to me and my heartfelt thanks go to those who commented on my little ditty.
Maybe Authoress could get the author of the excerpt that receives the most requests for "I want to read more" to post their full chapter. So we can see how that ending fits in context.
My vote would go to #54. Gotta luv snits and exploding heads. Seems a very fresh voice.
Best wishes to all
Joe Novella (#88)
This was my first time participating as I only found your blog last week. I think it's been a wonderful experience, both in terms of feedback for my excerpt and honing my editing on other people's work.
ReplyDeleteMy story is #39, and the comments have been overwhelming positive. Wednesday, the day it was posted, was an absolutely wretched day; these critical reviews were actually the best thing about the entire day. I guess that says a lot. Many of the comments were regarding things I had considered deleting already. This tells me I need to just listen to my gut and delete more crap, or at the very least rearrange it a bit.
I also found it hilarious how several comments directly contradicted one another. Can't please everyone!
I've already done 18 critiques. I did several more than that and had errors in OpenID that lost everything. That was really frustrating because I had so little time to try and crit.
After several critiques I realized I was hearing repeats, and about half the comments weren't on the 250 words, they were on the blurb. I began to wonder is the people leaving comments actually read the piece I submitted, or if they were just scanning previous comments and parroting to get their 10 critiques in.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I felt a bit frustrated.
Hmmm.... I lost track of how many I critiqued and where, I was bouncing around at random on the first day. But I intend to go through the second half this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe comments I got were about what I expected, some of them were very helpful, some didn't make sense in the context of the story because the reader hadn't seen the previous four chapters. When it's the middle of the book someone is reading, this happens.
What a wonderful blog and opportunity to throw a snippit of work out and see what happens. I'm blown away by the number of critiques and the great advice everyone passed along. I'm hooked on this site and appreciate everyone who took the time to say a few words.
ReplyDeleteBeing a new follower here, I thought this was great. It is a great idea to critique because you can't see the before and after chapters to really know what is going on, so you react or critique on what you see.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading all my comments.
A lot of the "I agree with everyone else" was a little frustrating and not original, but all in all I was very pleased.
Made my day!
And today, I had an agent ask for my manuscript so it has been a great week!
Hey, that is always better than a query form letter rejection any day!
Thank you everyone and especially, Authoress. This is always such a wonderful experience for me.
ReplyDeleteAfter the comments I received from all you wonderful critters, I’ve decided to change my manuscript back to a chapter book instead of MG. I had changed it to MG because a publisher suggested it might be a little long for a chapter book. (It was 13,000 words then) Now it’s 20,000. Now I’ve decided to chop it up and submit it as a chapter book again at about 12,000 words. (If I can get it that low)
I found out after posting it on here that eight and nine-year-olds don’t have Show and Tell. I can’t delete that chapter from my book because it’s my favourite one. (Thank you for pointing that out to me.)
My character doesn’t want to grow up. She likes chewing gum, poking out her tongue and licking her dinner plate. Oh, and taking a rat to school for Show and Tell. I guess that’s not MG after all. I’ve also changed her age back to seven turning eight, instead of nine.
Thanks everyone.
Oh, and congratulations, Brian. That’s wonderful news. Good luck.
I’ll go and do some more critiquing now. There are so many wonderful stories here. Maybe we should have a vote for the best one. I like that Idea of the best one getting to post there whole chapter for us all to critique, but I think Authoress has enough on her plate. We don’t want to give her more pressure. Do we?
I certainly learned from this experience. And not just from my submission, but by reading other submissions and their comments too.
ReplyDeleteBesides the fact that I used way too many comma’s and my pronouns were off etc, I learned that I really messed up with the POV head hopping. But I think my biggest error was not giving a better introduction into the characters. By not explaining a bit about my characters, I caused great confusion for most of the readers.
When I read some of the first comments my feelings got hurt, but not one comment was out of line. I want to make sure everyone knows how much I appreciated their input. That’s why I came here and jumped at the chance to submit my 250 words. Thanks to all who commented!
I read many submissions where the writer did a great job ending the chapters with a cliff hanger and not leaving the reader with any confusion. Congratulations - you all know who you are by the comments you received. Job Well Done!
I also noticed that others received some of the same type of comments I did where a few readers felt the character would have or should have described something better or in more detail, or been more excited about what was going on. Remember, what we were submitting was the end of the chapter. It’s hard to convey all that led up to that this point in an introductory paragraph.
I’m truly new to writing and am very thankful to have found this community.
Thanks Authoress for creating your Blog and allowing us entrance.
Cass
I have read some great stuff, but I vote for #72. I think it's excellent. I wrote why in my critique. If you haven't read #72, you should.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks Authoress. This has been fun.
Great blog, Authoress. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMerry weekend to you as well, Authoress :-)
ReplyDeleteI have LOVED this experience! Not all my comments have been positive...(#29 here) but they have almost all been helpful... I plan to hit another 20 or so today... and I will hit the back half since those are the ones that need the comment <3
ReplyDeleteThank you for this... I will definitely play again!
Oh, and I totally want to read more of 81!
ReplyDeleteOh, and 47! I love me some 47!
ReplyDeleteI am a professional editor and have enjoyed posting a few comments on your blog. I'm also a HS English teacher and writer. I was thrilled to discover this great format. I am always looking for great MG and YA to add to my class shelves. As per your request, I critiqued all YA and MG 40-70. Most of the stories have great potential, but unfortunately there weren't any must-reads--yet. I hope to find some in and hope to contribute to future contests.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Thanks for that, Pat! There are 6 more YA and MG from 71-80, plus a few more after that, BTW. ;)
ReplyDeleteTo all -- this has been amazing as always!
Hi! I'm a Newbie (#47) and had a great experience here. Everyone's comments were so helpful. I chose to post a chapter with a weaker ending to see a way of improving it. Not only did I get lots of help-but I've developed a new eye for looking at all my chapter endings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Cass, I made the mistake of not putting much in my blurb. I followed directions and kept it REALLY short LOL! I posted a bigger blurb in the comments for anyone who gave me a crit and wanted a little more information. Thanks for all the great advice ;o)
I'm a newbie to this site. I read Pub Rants (Agent Kristen -- the last Secret Agent) and checked out the site after she mentioned the contest. You just never know what kind of treasure you find while surfing through the blog universe.
ReplyDeleteI read all the entries and found many that piqued my interest as a reader as well as a lot of writers I plan to keep an eye on via their blogs.
We all want good feedback on our work, and it's not always easy to find a way to get unbiased comments and critique, so this site is truly a gift to writers -- thank you Authoress!
The best part for me was to read the critiques. So many insightful, helpful, and honest (yet gentle) viewpoints gave a well-rounded view of each piece of writing.
I like this community and plan to stick around, and enter my own writing next time around.
Oh, and Ashley, thank you for your kind words. I"m glad my critique was helpful.
Due to a whirlwind (and last minute decision) trip to San Diego, CA to welcome my nephew back from Iraq after 13 months . . . I didn't get my entry in to Drop the Needle, nor have I had a chance to critique - though I did read some of the entries. I hope to critique a few this week (better late than never)!
ReplyDeleteWay to go to everyone (88!!) who submitted.
S