Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Hello fellow writers -

I wanted to find out where on the web everyone goes, if at all, to get writing reviewed. What sites do you think are the best for this and has it helped you get better?

Also, I was wondering if it might be worth it to start a Yahoo Group or something similar for visitors to this site to start reviewing.

Not sure if this helps, but I've submitted an early draft of my query to Evil Editor and posted my third-ish draft in this forum. Both have been really helpful for getting fresh perspectives on the letter.

As far as online reviews of the manuscript itself, I haven't availed myself to anything online. I know that Evil Editor will also let you send your first 250 or so words of a WIP to get ripped to shreds--ahem, critiqued, by blog readers.*

A Yahoo group sounds cool--everyone here has been astoundingly helpful so far. I also wonder if we couldn't have a special "Share Your Work" forum here like they do at Absolute Write?


* Of course, I'm kidding about being ripped to shreds. Really. Well, mostly. :)

A "Share Your Work" forum here would be great!

Yes! We have to have Nathan put up a share your work forum on here! It would be great to have you guys critique my stuff and I love to critique others' stuff too :) Though mostly I go to Absolute Write and writers.net. Luck, and I hope that the section to share our work will be made!

In addition to Absolute Write, which was already mentioned:

You can post anything on the roving crits forum at Forward Motion. (Free to join, but must join to see most boards) http://fmwriters.com/
If you write Sci Fi, Fantasy or Horror: Critters is free, must contribute to get critiqued. http://www.critters.org/
Also Sci Fi, Fantasy, or Horror for $49/year, must crit to be critted: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/

ElisabethMoore wrote:In addition to Absolute Write, which was already mentioned:

You can post anything on the roving crits forum at Forward Motion. (Free to join, but must join to see most boards) http://fmwriters.com/
If you write Sci Fi, Fantasy or Horror: Critters is free, must contribute to get critiqued. http://www.critters.org/
Also Sci Fi, Fantasy, or Horror for $49/year, must crit to be critted: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/

Critters sounds very interesting. Have you had any experience with it yourself Elisabeth? How safe is it if you are planning to query? I am a quite novice writer so I apologize if these questions are too obvious.

One of the places not mentioned where I like to hang out is the Writer's Digest Community at http://writersdigest.ning.com/

They have several places that offer peer critiques of your stories and query letters. It's a nice place, and I see several Bransford followers there, as well.

shadow wrote:

ElisabethMoore wrote:In addition to Absolute Write, which was already mentioned:

You can post anything on the roving crits forum at Forward Motion. (Free to join, but must join to see most boards) http://fmwriters.com/
If you write Sci Fi, Fantasy or Horror: Critters is free, must contribute to get critiqued. http://www.critters.org/
Also Sci Fi, Fantasy, or Horror for $49/year, must crit to be critted: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/

Critters sounds very interesting. Have you had any experience with it yourself Elisabeth? How safe is it if you are planning to query? I am a quite novice writer so I apologize if these questions are too obvious.

I haven't used critters myself, but I plan to in the future. It should be safe since nothing is publicly accessible; it's sent out by email and posted to a password protected website. Forward Motion is password protected for the same reason, though both are free and critters is likely to work better for longer works. Most of the private critique circles on Forward Motion are no longer accepting new members and the roving crits board is best for short works. Critters lists members who have had short stories or novels published in the last year on part of the site accessible before signing up.

One of the things that concerns me about Authonomy is that you can read anything posted there without any kind of sign in. That looks like publication to me. Password protected sites are not public, thus no publication.

I've taken and given crits on both Forward Motion and AW, and I posted once in a forum I won't mention where I don't like the attitudes. Membership long since lapsed in that one, lol. I am a member of a fossilized Yahoo group that hasn't been active since whatsername's firstborn.

Critters didn't appeal to me because of the need to crit frequently and regularly. There are times when I'm just not up to the effort -- it isn't something I want to do on a schedule. Another place some like is ReviewFuse. Because it was recommended by a member of the Wisconsin Regional Writers Association, I tried it out. Very, very not me, another demanding straitjacket, do several to get one and fill all the forms. Okay, whatever, I hastened to do my quota in the alloted time. My first crit review felt like a total slap in the face. Fine, they don't need me and I don't need them. I can't write well in cookie-cutter mode. Well, I didn't like what I saw while lurking in the forum either. Some of these intense peer-pressure groups give me the willies. I'm a lone wolf.

I rely a lot on beta readers. I post a chapter or excerpt at erratic intervals for a dose of healthy general suffering that does me loads of good. And I crit at whatever level suits me whenever something attracts my attention -- and hasn't been critted to death already.

Agreed with the comments on Critters. I used it for a while, but eventually quit because I couldn't keep up with the required crit schedule.

You might want to look at http://www.critiquecircle.com

It's the same idea as Critters, but without the time limits on the crits you do. I've gotten some very helpful comments from there.

I posted on AW, and generally I like the forum. The only problem I have is how large it is - you can get lost, and read posts for days. But what I do like about it is that there are all sorts of genre writers there that are willing to help. The place I use the most is Romance Divas - you don't have to write strictly romance because I write YA - but I feel like it's a more nuturing environment. Yeah you can get your MS whipped into to shape, but you can feel more connected to the writers there. Just my two cents.

I'm putting my hand up for a "share your work" thread in here too. I have tried a couple of various critique sites, but for some reason I find the people in this forum are a lot more trustworthy, friendly and most of all helpful and encouraging. As if Nathan didn't have enough on his plate.

BransfordGroupie wrote:I'm putting my hand up for a "share your work" thread in here too. I have tried a couple of various critique sites, but for some reason I find the people in this forum are a lot more trustworthy, friendly and most of all helpful and encouraging. As if Nathan didn't have enough on his plate.

I'm going to let this post linger through the holidays and see if Nathan chimes in with any plans for a share your work portion on this site. If he indicates that he isn't going to set that up as separate forum (or however it might work), then I'll start a yahoo group. Like you, I've found some of the best writing advice within the commentary and forums of this blog and I'd love to get some of these brains to digest my writing.

Cate Hart wrote:The place I use the most is Romance Divas - you don't have to write strictly romance because I write YA - but I feel like it's a more nuturing environment. Yeah you can get your MS whipped into to shape, but you can feel more connected to the writers there. Just my two cents.

Thanks for that Cate. I have checked that out and registered. There are lots of good resource threads there!

UtterInanity wrote:Agreed with the comments on Critters. I used it for a while, but eventually quit because I couldn't keep up with the required crit schedule.

You might want to look at http://www.critiquecircle.com

It's the same idea as Critters, but without the time limits on the crits you do. I've gotten some very helpful comments from there.

I second critiquecircle. I'm on it right now, in fact. There are nice people there, another discussion forum, tools to help writers like exercises and word games, categories for every genre, and a good critique process. And best of all it's FREE!