Critique Circle

c.m.n.

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I've been using CC lately. I like it.

Though I really wish the mods would make an absolute ruling on erotica and whether it's allowed or not. The rule is that it's not allowed at all, but there is an erotica genre, and I've been told that stories that include explicit scenes are allowed as long as it's not the primary focus of the story.

But there are tons of authors there that are completely confused with the FAQ saying: "No erotica at all in the public queues."

/rant off


ETA: Erotica is no longer allowed on CC, except in a private queue.
 
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Shoe Shine Boy

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Joined CC a few days ago. It's got a great interface and the people seem very nice. I did a crit and reviewed some other people's crit.

I'm not sure if it was just because I was staying in the MG thread... but the people all seemed way too forgiving. I expected some harsher critiques, but I didn't see that.

Don't get me wrong I think they were honestly trying to help the writer but sometimes I think a little tough love is healthy too.

It is very supportive though. I will say that. No one was trying to tear anyone down and that's good. I just would have liked to see some more direct critiques that took off the kid-gloves. You know... kind of like we get here at AW.
 

vrabinec

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I used to be on CC all the time, mostly giving crits. It's only as good as the quality of the authors who are currently running their stuff through. If you're writing romance, you're pretty sure to get some good feedback, but anything else is pretty thin right now. I'd love to send all my stuff through there, but it's just too time-consuming to do that, so I mostly just peek in there now and then to see if any old friends posted something.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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I found the SF queue to be pretty good. I also found a couple of beta-swap buddies through CC.

The public queues are a bit of a PITA in that you have to post weeks in advance if you want postings in consecutive weeks, and you can't modify your posting unless you have a paid membership. I think the next time I have a novel ready, I'll pony up the dough and pay for a private queue.
 

Denevius

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I use Critique Circle a lot. Get lots of good critiques on it. I'm always surprised with what how many people enjoy writing why there aren't more sites like that out there. I highly recommend it.
 

ASeiple

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I used it for my novella, and it was an awesome site. Met my editor through there. Haven't been back lately, but it was a hell of a lot of help starting out.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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Update from me: I've since moved on to scribophile. I got the paid membership, and it's a lot more worth it, IF you join the hosted groups. I'm a member of the ubergroup, where you get split into subgroups of 4-5 members, and you crit each other's postings each week. That way you get consistent crits from the same people.
 
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Denevius

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Scribophile is definitely worth the paid membership. Never did join any of the subgroups, though. Best of luck on the site!
 

G. Applejack

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Is anyone else having trouble accessing the CC website?
 

Denevius

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I just tried and it says: www.critiquecircle.com’s server DNS address could not be found.

However, I was just there a couple of hours ago. Maybe they're updating the site. Most likely no big deal.
 

Lori822

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I had never heard of Critique Circle until now, but I did join. Thanks for the info.
 

Freya Yuki

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Thanks for all the info about Critique Circle. I've been trying to find out more about it. I looked around the site and it does seem interesting, not to mention useful and helpful for writers. But I was wondering how professional it is? Does anyone know if the site has a terms of use and privacy policy pages? I can't seem to find these pages anywhere on the site.

Also, is the site still active? I've tried sending them a tweet (asking about their terms and policies), but they never responded. Are there other members here who are currently active on the site? Some of the info I've found about Critique Circle is dated back to a few years ago, so I'm hoping to be able to find more current info.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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I was on critique circle for a year or so. Got 2 novels partially critted there before I moved on to scribophile. I just logged in and checked, and their queues are full and up-to-date, so they appear to be still normally active.

I found critiquecircle to be very valuable, and the critiques were helpful. There's a huge range of quality, of course, both in the stories that are posted and the critiques that are given. I don't think you can avod that. What eventually drove me away from CC was the queueing system. You basically have to post chapters several weeks in advance, as they'll only put up a certain number per week. As individual postings get their required number of crits, they drop off the list and the list gets smaller. On scribophile, OTOH, as postings drop off, new ones show up. So you don't have to worry about weekly slots. If you have the points, you can make multiple posts and they'll show up one after the other when you get to the front of the queue.

It all comes down to personal preference, though. There are more than just these two sites, but these are the only two I can comment on from personal experience.
 

Freya Yuki

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Thanks for the info :) It's good to hear that Critique Circle is still active. I might go with this site, though, yeah, there are lots of other online critique sites to choose from. I'm still researching and trying to find as much as I can before deciding if I should sign up or not.
 

read2live

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Is this site still active? I used to use it back in the day, but have not logged in there in quite a while and couldn't even remember my logins if I tried.
 

Geoffrey Fowler

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Anyone here also a part of the critiquing group at Critique Circle?

I learned of Critique Circle from this thread and decided to give it a try; I signed up three weeks ago. The critiques I've seen of pieces by other members seemed fair, polite, and helpful. I submitted my first piece for critiquing today.
 
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Geoffrey Fowler

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When you put up a novel in chapter chunks (if you don't want to put up the whole lot at once or pay to do the proper novel formatty thing - am vague as I haven't used it), you will get critters who only read chapter three and then complain about why x, y, z hasn't been set up.

I was formerly a member of another writers' site where several members posted one chapter after another of a novel they were working on. I hated writing reviews of these things because I didn't have an overview of the work. All I could do was address technical issues like run-on sentences, grammatical mistakes, prolixity, telling and not showing, etc. In the process of reviewing I got exposed to just about every writing mistake known to man. Actually, I learned a lot in the process.

I noticed that some people didn't like their mistakes being raised. For example, one man, who claimed he had an editor going over his submissions, got annoyed when I pointed out some dreadful run-on sentences and asked me what credentials I had, was I a professor of literature; how many books had I published, etc. I told him his editor was ripping him off and he should get a new one. I would have liked to have told him something else, but that would have been against the rules.

The reviewing experience can be frustrating for both the reviewer and the person whose work is being reviewed.
 
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veinglory

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My respond to argumentative people on CC is to not reply and not critique them any more. The first rule of critique club is: you can ask for clarification, but don't argue. A critique is a gift and you don't have to agree with it to appreciate it.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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My respond to argumentative people on CC is to not reply and not critique them any more. The first rule of critique club is: you can ask for clarification, but don't argue. A critique is a gift and you don't have to agree with it to appreciate it.

In CC, you can also block someone so they can't critique your postings or PM you. I had to block one person on CC who was, in my opinion, kookoo for cocoa puffs.
 

Freya Yuki

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Is this site still active? I used to use it back in the day, but have not logged in there in quite a while and couldn't even remember my logins if I tried.

Yes, CC is still active. If you can't remember your password, you can use their "forgot password" feature.
 

Anna Iguana

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I'm on Critique Circle. I've found it helpful. Also, for the womenfolks, I appreciate that CC has a block function that actually blocks. On another popular critique website, some jerk started sending me pornographic messages after I posted a vaguely feminist poem. I can't even block him, because he's in the crit groups I need, and blocking doesn't work there. :-(

TL;DR thank you for being cool, Critique Circle.
 
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LucindaLynx

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You're right guys.

The good thing on CC:
* You can put the whole chapter there at once

The bad thing on CC:
* You must wait for your turn. (Don't ask. Those, who have experience on CC, they can explain.)

The good thing on AWW:
* You don't need to wait. You can put the text here right away.

The bad thing on AWW:
* You must cut the chapter in pieces and post parts A, B and C, each on its' own turn.

I am willing to do as the rules say, be it my readers complain "you have not changed the chapter that much". Well, guys and ladies, you have not gotten to the changed part yet. Patience is the key. The changed part will come, when the time is right.