Hi everyone, I've some sad news to relate -- MelissaJaneFerguson has quit Wattpad for personal reasons, so I'm sorry if you were hoping to get some points by critiquing her story or hoping to hear her thoughts on your work. Social media isn't for everyone....

Featured Stories up for Critique August 1-15

takeapaige - Ahnera - the first 4 chapters (under 7000 words; her chapters are short)

I'm happy that Paige has joined the club and is open to critiques on her writing. 

The target audience for Ahnera is adult, as there will be a good bit of violence and death. Her major struggle is with finding an audience, as it only has 400 reads. 

She prefers critiques as a comment, unless it's the worse thing you've ever read. She prefers a critique that states what she can improve much more than just saying what you like. That's the same for everyone here -- Paige understand our stories are all works in progress. 

MattParker0708 - Engines and Demons: the Undestined - Prologue and Chapter 1i and 1ii

Although E & D was originally written with an older audience in mind, Mattt would like to hear people's thoughts on whether it might appeal to a more teenage/young adult audience. Since being on Wattpad, the majority of people who have shown an interest in his writing seem to be readers/writers of fantasy works, so he's keen to get a more sci-fi perspective on it. With it leaning quite heavily towards fantasy, what do people think about it as a piece of Science fiction writing?

Two issues that have been raised so far by readers are:

The use of too many new words/expressions in Chapter 1. Do people think that these new words make the writing hard to follow, are they distracting, or are they simply too much?

There is some POV/scene switching in Chapter 1. His aim was that each scene would introduce some of the main characters, and that their individual perspectives would give the reader a pretty good idea about how the world and the Order worked, and where each character fits into things. Do people think that the shifts work, or is there too much going on in the opening chapter?

He's happy to get critiques as comments, and don't mind if they are strong, as long as they are constructive.

Critique guidelines PLEASE READ

There are 3 steps to critiques in this group:

Step 1 optional: Please choose one or both of the featured stories and give a minimum 1000 character critique FOR EACH CHAPTER. That means 3000 characters in total. You can lump that all into one critique of all three chapters, or critique each chapter with a minimum 1000 characters each.

Step 1 Participations Points: 15 PP per 3000 characters critique.

Step 2 mandatory: IF you give a critique, then you must come back here and tell us who you critiqued to earn your points. We need to know so that if someone isn't receiving any critiques then we will close down one story to let the other story get some time in the limelight.

Step 3 optional: Beyond telling us who you critiqued, please also share your main findings. Observations, not judgements PLEASE! And please feel free to share a portion of your critique here. Make sure you tag the author in your responses here. Also please read and respond to the comments of other members on the same piece, whether you agree or disagree with their observations.

Step 3 Participation Points: 10 PP per observation report.

Total participation points possible July 17-31: 50 PP (2 critiques + 2 observation reports)

Critiquing Reminder

No judgements, only observations. We are all here to help each other succeed in our writing. What isn't your cup of tea will be somebody's feast!

Describe: What's going on? What are you experiencing as you read?

Interpret: What do you think the author was intending? Where do you think it's headed?

Evaluate: Is it working? WHY? (don't forget the 'because' in your criticism. "It's not working because dada-dada-dada." YOU MUST SAY WHY something is or is not working.

Consider: Setting, Plot, Characterisation, Pace, Writing Quality, Dialogue, Theme, etc.

Accepting Criticism Reminder

Listen. Be quiet and listen.

Don't defend your writing! Don't respond to negative criticism if you feel upset about it. Take a break and come back to it later. We all have bad days. Don't look at criticism when you're having a bad day.

Appreciate and be grateful to your critics -- they have taken their time to read your writing and give you their thoughts! Remember, they aren't trying to hurt you or take you down. We are all here to help each other succeed in our writing.

IF you feel capable of responding to criticism, then focus on what you've learned from the critique. If you feel comfortable you may try to explain why you did something, and ask for ideas on how you might do it better in the next draft, from their perspective. But again, don't get defensive and start explaining why it's great the way it is. Accept the person didn't see or understand what you were trying to do.

Take what works for you and leave the rest behind.