Forward Motion for Writers

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Fiction and Critiques How-To's

The Forward Motion Community offers you the opportunity to improve your writing by sharing reading and critiques on your work and the work of others. Writers learn as much by critically reading the work of others as they do by receiving feedback on their own material. We recommend you put real effort into the critiques you do for other writers.

Do not ask people to evaluate your work if you are not willing to evaluate theirs -- not only does that put work on them for no reward, but it also shortchanges you of an essential part of learning your trade.

The community is primarily based on Crit Circles, in which small groups of writers join together, usually based on genre, and critique each others' work. These circles are usually private.  By using the Critique Connection Board you can ask if any circle is open to accepting you as a new member, or you can form your own crit circle group. SEE FAQ Board for more information on starting a critique circle.

We also have a board for writers who don't have the time to devote to being a regular member of a crit circle. The Roving Crit Board is the place to post work.  In this case, you are opening your work to any member of the site who wishes to critique.  If you do get critiques, you should return the favor

Here is a short template:

This was created by Holly for the site.  If you are not used to critiquing, this can help point you in the right direction.  You do not need to answer all of the questions, but go through as much of it as you can.  Always remember that you are doing this to help the other person, and the more you can answer for them, the more they will understand both what they are doing right and where the story has gone wrong.

  1. My first impressions of your story:
  2. The plot:
  3. The characters:
  4. The action:
  5. The dialogue:
  6. The background:
  7. The overall story:
  8. The theme:
  9. The technical details (spelling, grammar, scientific or historical details), etc.:
  10. What I loved about this work, and why:
  11. What caused me problems, and why:
  12. Final comments:
  13. A link to the story of mine I would like comments on: (if applicable)
 
 

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