Critiquing Am I too Picky?

So today I have decided that my Friday mornings will be focused on critiquing fellow writers in their works (and hopefully continuing on into the weekend).  The problem I have with that is not the ones I critique from AQC but the ones from Critters Writers Workshop.  Perhaps it is because I do not talk or chat with the ones from the workshop.  I do not know them in any way.  I have no problems with the site itself or with the people but some of the work that is offered up for review is so raw it is as if they posted their rough drafts without trying to polish and enhance their work.  Some have written stories with not enough research, so it seems beyond reason of suspended belief and others are just choppy and need to learn how to flow more.  It may be that those were the very reasons for them posting on Critters but some how I would think that they would have done more research on what works better, what flows better and the like before showing their work to more then 3000 possible critters.   I know I may be complaining a lot on this.  Perhaps it's just me.  I will not post mine until I feel it is agent worthy, or at the very least close to it, maybe a draft away.  I guess I'm being too critical on the matter.  However, when I am privilaged enough to critique one of the MS of the AQC group, I find them much more polished, and only small tweaks are needed.  There is more pleasure in the critique, and so I give more input.

I wonder if I should just withdraw from Critters, but I feel that perhaps, I will learn more as a picky critique partner there then I would at AQC, only because easy is not always better.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Retreating from the Writer's Retreat

Image
As I have learned, When Words Count Writer's Retreat has a sweepstakes at the end of every year to generate free visits for writers from the beginning of January all the way to the end of May. I was one of those people who won. Coming to the retreat, I was blessed with stunning views of mountain ranges and winding back roads, a covered bridge and farms. All of this pleasant to look at. Arriving was just as beautiful. From the mountains in the distance to the little pond just beyond the house it gave a promise of peace and possible productivity in writing. My room is the top left corner. Hi room, I'm home for the next few days. I admit, when I had first won, I thought it was a scam, and in doing research I have not been the only one to think so. It's not a normal thing to hear about some random retreat in Vermont and also to win a 3 night stay at a country type house in the shadow of the Green Mountains in said retreat. It is real, however, I can attest to it.
Read more

The Bar

Image
Pepe Don had owned a bar when he was young. Mike and his sister decided, now that they were adults, they would finally open the door and see what was left of it. He unlocked the door and the dust hit him. Coughing, he walked in. Becky kept her arm over her mouth as she followed. "Look at all those bottles!" Mike ran his hand on the wood of the counter, picking up a layer of dust. Each bottle had a label and a tag on it. "It is a bar after all." Becky shrugged and headed over to the piano. She plunked her finger on a few keys, the sound was pitch perfect. "This still works." Mike looked at the tags on the mostly full bottles. His jaw dropped. "I don't think this was a bar, Bek." "Look at this place, of course it was a bar." She played a few more notes, the music ringing out in wonderous tones. With each tune, the dust seemed to shake off the bottles. "This isn't a bar. It's an apothecary," Mike insisted. Looking fro
Read more

Lucky 7 MEME

Image
So I was tagged in another Meme, by Dean C Rich and Cherie, which is great cause they're fun. :) And this one is called Lucky 7s. My lucky number. Sounds good so here it goes. Lucky 7!   This one is quite easy, so without any delay, here are the rules: 1. Go to page 77 of your current ms. 2. Go to line 7. 3. Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences, and post them as they're written. No cheating. 4. Tag 7 other victims, er, authors. I'm going to ask your forgiveness in advance for my pg 77. Though I haven't looked at it, in a while, I'm doing a complete rewrite on my Work In Progress so this may be a bit rough.   From Second Nature Her curvy body was dressed in greens and browns of vines to cover her.  The lady’s feet looked like the roots of trees imbedded in the ground.  Nemune gasped in awe. From one side of Nature came Una and Endoria, from the other came Agasga and Rytharvin. Nemune watched as Dawveed got up from where he lay. 
Read more