BetaCrit Project Group (Open Slots - Group 2)

Saint09 · Dec 22, 2011

((UPDATE - BlaqueSaber has offered his services for group 2))

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BetaCrit Project Support Group
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Most of us on these boards have been involved with a local writers group at some point in our lives. I love these groups. But what happens when our schedules don't allow us the time to make every single meeting? Or when we don't have the time to read the 5 pieces of work up for crit? Or when we have to wait two months to get to the top of the crit queue?

Sadly, this is currently where I find myself at the moment. I have the time to write, to crit, to read, to review...just not physically show up at a specified time and place. I'm at the point where my project(s) are stalling because the motivation is dwindling due to lack of peer support. Unfortunately, my only other alternative is doing "submit for review" on forums. Which is okay, but not quite the one-on-one, dedicated attention that serious projects need.

And thus was born the idea for a BetaCrit Project Support Group.

What is it?
The BetaCrit Group is an idea for a small group of around 6 writers to get together for support, beta reading, and in-depth crit for a novel they plan to see all the way through the publication stage.

Err, isn't that what my writer's group is for?
Maybe. Yes. And no. Some of us may be lucky enough to belong to a writers group that small. Others, not so much. Most writers crit groups are very general, accepting short stories, poems, novels, etc. This group is specifically geared to novels, and perhaps even a select few genres, and those serious about being published.

Also, writers groups require you to physically show up at a set time in a set place. Not all of us have that freedom. But that doesn't mean we're less dedicated to our novels. This group is designed to work over the internet, where we can show up any time we have time.

How does this work differently from a writers group
The level of one-on-one attention would be the biggest difference. Each member would pair up with one other member that will act as their in-depth critique partner. That partner will help in more than just reading and critting your chapters. They will help with worldbuilding, ideas, brainstorming, suggestions, continuity of plot, pacing, etc. This partner will be privy to the goings on behind the scenes of your novel.

The other 4 members will act more along the lines of beta readers. They'll read your chapters in the mindset of a reader (not a writer trying to help a writer). This is generally more along the lines of the type of critiquing you'll find in a larger writers group. It's always good to have feedback from people who don't know everything going on behind the scenes.

Okay, how's this going to work?
The group would mainly exist on a forum. Each member will get their own forum within the forums, which they will have full admin access to. They can create any sub-forum, category, topic, etc that they'll need to help with their project. They can organize this however they want. They can password protect certain worldbuilding/plot threads so only their project partner and them can view it. The entire forum will be hidden from the public at all times.

Each member can login and make/read posts whenever they want (regarding they are actively supporting/participating). Any hour of the night. On holidays. While at work (which is where I am right now).

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So...there you have it. I'm sure people are doing groups similar to this out there, but I certainly haven't been able to find any. I don't know about you, but I could sure use this level of support. Depending on the genre and type of novel we write, sometimes we need more support than one-off readings and a few comments. Sometimes we need people excited about all aspects of our novel and everything behind the scenes. Sometimes we need someone familiar with our project to bounce ideas off of. Sometimes we simply can't commit to showing up in person. And some of us don't even have writers groups in our area.

If anyone is anyone is interested in starting a group like this, post away! If you have suggestions, feedback, or questions, feel free to share. If enough people are interested, I would be more than happy to host forums for multiple BetaCrit groups.

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Group 1 (thefantasyarchives.com/forums)
Slot 1 = Filled
Slot 2 = Filled
Slot 3 = Filled
Slot 4 = Filled
Slot 5 = Filled
Slot 6 = Filled
Slot 7 = Filled
Slot 8 = Reserved Pending

Group 2
Open slots. Details coming soon.

Saint09 · Dec 22, 2011

I figure before we start partnering up, it might be a good idea to share a little bit about us as writers. Might as well start it! I'll keep it pretty simple and basic for now.

Name: Chad
Age: 30
Genre I Write: Fantasy (most sub-genres), Mystery, Humor, Christian-Fic, YA

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?

Fantasy - Epic/Adventure/YA (some Urban)
Mystery
Thriller
Christian/Spiritual-Fic
Adventure/General Non-Fic

I'd be most helpful doing deep crit in the fantasy genre. That's where 80% of my reading is done and what I am most familiar with. I've read all sorts of fantasy novels from Epic to fairytale to Urban. Since I have a few projects that fall under this category, I have a very deep familiarity with all aspects of worldbuilding.

Genres I'm not familiar with.
Not familiar with romance novels (as a genre, not romance in general). I've never read a romance novel, so I wouldn't have any benchmark in which to gauge what would be considered good/bad.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
I'm not too comfortable with anything that is sexually explicit. I usually just skim if it gets too detailed, but as a constant theme in a novel, I'd rather avoid that. Also not comfortable with sacrilegious themes.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
Dialog and character development are my two biggest strengths. My work experience involves interacting with hundreds of people from all over the US/world every week. There's not a personality type out there that I haven't met. I'd be most helpful in those areas. Also, as previously mentioned, have extensive experience in worldbuilding, specifically creating a world from scratch.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I can commit to at least 4-5 days a week with detailed posts, and at least responses nearly every day. Most of my free time comes while at work when I have 2-4 hours of downtime to spend on the group forums. That time is graveyard PST, so I sleep during the day. I'm usually up most evenings and get some writing in before work.

Chalula88 · Dec 22, 2011

Sounds awesome to me!

Name: Ellen
Age: 21
Genre I Write: Dark literary fiction, speculative fiction

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?

Speculative fiction
Literary/mainstream
YA
MG
Horror

Ultimately, I've worked on a ton of projects and I know a lot about almost every genre.

Genres I'm not familiar with.
I'm not familiar with romance or erotica at all.
I'm not familiar with any sort of religious writing.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
Nothing offends or upsets me and no level of explicit sex or violence has ever bothered me.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
I'm very good with sentence, paragraph, and chapter flow. I make a lot of comments about how to restructure sentences to sound better and how to improve the pacing as a whole.

I'm also good at catching passive voice, overdone descriptions, and grammatical errors.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I have a pretty good amount of free time, but it varies with work and school. Generally, I have 1-4 hours a day to spend critiquing and posting comments.

I am most available in the evenings and sometimes during the day, but that depends on my schedule.

mmallico · Dec 22, 2011

Name: Matt
Age: 21
Genre I Write: Fantasy, YA

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?

Fantasy - Epic/YA/anything non Twilight
Action Packed Mysteries or Thrillers
Horror

I'm especially familiar with fantasy, whether YA or Adult, since that is the genre I've spent the most time writing. I also enjoy works with lots of suspense and mystery in it. I like to not know immediately what the protagonist is up against.

Genres I'm not familiar with.
Anything Twilight related, just no vampires. Also, I don't mind Romance, as long as the two don't fall in love immediately or don't have to fight tooth and nail to be with each other.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
I've read m/m romance, but I would rather not. Sorry, not homophobic, just not my cup of tea. Also, anything that gets too overly preachy or criticizes one group of people too much is something I would avoid.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
I tend to focus more on setting, dialogue, characterization, then punctuation and more in depth stuff. Basically, if I see a problem, I won't hesitate to mention it. I tend to put more immediate concerns as comments in the document itself, and anything else outside.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I work a variable schedule, and I haven't yet to sign up for classes. I also have to come to the library to get internet access, but I hope to get some soon. I can devote maybe a couple of hours every day, sometime more sometimes less.

Saint09 · Dec 22, 2011

Anyone have any suggestions on guidelines?

One I can think of that might be useful is to making your user name your real name when registering. With only 4-6 (possibly 8 if everyone is okay with that), we shouldn't run into 5 Johns.

Also, I'm looking into writing a NDA into the forum registration page.

Saint09 · Dec 23, 2011

I went ahead and loaded up the forum. Just formatted it enough to give the general idea of what it'd look like. You can find it HERE.

Right now it'd viewable to guests and registered user. Once we start using it (which can be once we get a few committed to the project), we can hide all the sensitive information/categories/etc...which would be pretty much all of it.

s.m.s · Dec 23, 2011

Sounds great! The major crit/writing group in my area requires a fee for just about everything which is just not possible for me right now.

Name: Shante
Age: 25
Genre I Write: YA (sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, contemporary with fantasy/paranormal elements, mysteries, thrillers)

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?

Fantasy (YA)
Mystery (Adult, YA)
Thriller (Adult, YA)
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (Adult and YA)
Romance (Adult/YA)

Most of my knowledge is with YA since that's what I want to write, but I'm also familiar with adult mysteries, thrillers and urban fantasy novels and romances--contemporary or historical.

Genres I'm not familiar with.
Christian literature. High fantasies or hard sci-fi.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
Nothing much really. I'm pretty open minded.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
I'd like to think I'm decent at spotting and avoiding or re-working cliches. This is especially important in the YA area. Good at injecting drama or tantalizing conflicts or crazy plot twists. Ha.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
Since I'm currently looking for work, I'm pretty much available whenever and however long. I am on the Pacific Coast in the US for time zone considerations.

Chad, have you tried Googling other online crit groups and peeking at their rules or guidelines just to get some ideas?

Saint09 · Dec 24, 2011

Chad, have you tried Googling other online crit groups and peeking at their rules or guidelines just to get some ideas?

I was actually looking over a few guidelines for yahoo writer groups this morning before bed. Unfortunately most of them are larger groups with more rules and your typical submission queue format. Rules like when to have your stuff submitted by, when to have your response, format of those responses, etc.

Our group is a bit unique (from what I can tell). With so few people and such an open format, I'm thinking it should be fairly simple to self-govern. Maybe as we're setting up the forums we might come up with some forum formatting guidelines for our project sections.

What I'll go ahead and do right now is create the user (using just our first names) for the forum and PM you all the passwords (you can change them later). From there we can talk a bit more in detail about the group as well as the projects we are working on. That'll help us decide how to go about partnering up, or maybe if we just want to leave it open for people to get as involved as they want to (far as behind the scenes info and spoilers) in each other projects. Plus it'll be a little bit more private of a place.

As of right now, going by who has responded here and PMed me, we have 5 people. Plenty enough to get started.

PS: If anyone has familiarity with forum setup through the Admin Control Panel (using phpbb), I could use some help/ideas getting the forums all squared away.

ryannj5 · Dec 24, 2011

This sounds cool. Can I play?

Name: Ryann (I'm a girl, FYI)

Age: 30
Genre I Write: YA

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?

General Fiction (Adult)
YA all genres
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy/Dystopian (YA)
Romance (Adult/YA)

Genres I'm not familiar with.
Christian literature. Hard sci-fi. Literary fiction.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
Nothing comes to mind.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
I have an eye for moving pacing along, spotting where characters need more development, I'm decent at line edits (aside from commas - I hate those), and market comparrison since I read so much.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
No time constraints. I love to read, I love to write, I love to help serious writers.

Bushrat · Dec 26, 2011

Sounds good to me

Name: Kay
Age: 40
Genre I Write: contemporary fiction with suspense sub-plots, non-fiction.

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?

memoirs
thrillers
chick-lit
contemporary fiction

Genres I'm not familiar with.
I don't read fantasy in any incarnation.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
I skip all passages that feature explicit violence, be it directed at people or animals. I do not read anything that tries to push religious views and morals on the reader.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
I have a good ear for dialogue and deep POV, and am a real stickler for facts. My main strength is creating short and vivid descriptions - though I have to watch that I don't get carried away with it.
When critiquing, I try to give suggestions as to why certain things don't work for me and what I can think of to improve it. And I do not think that my opinion is the holy grail you need to follow.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
It totally varies with me, according to the seasons. I have a lot of time between now and late January, then again in March; and in April-May, I won't have any.

amlptj · Dec 27, 2011

Still have room? I was just on to ask if anything like this existed.

Name: Ally
Age: 21
Genre I Write: My series is YA Horror/Thriller, also right now working on YA Fantasy

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Thillers
Horror
Fantasy
YA of petty much any sort

Genres I'm not familiar with.
Romance, Erotic, contemporary

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
Erotic

Writing/critiquing strengths.
I'm good with spotting plot holes/flaws, flow and character problems. I'm good with support for continuing a story and figuring out ideas on how to fix problems.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I'm in college right now, but i'm on break at the moment so i'll have plenty of time, it really depends on where how much schoolwork i have. Usually i'm on at night though. I'm rather addicted to AW so i'm on offten

Saint09 · Dec 27, 2011

We may have some room left. Just have to talk it over with some of the others and get a final list of who all we have at the moment. Been gone the past couple days for the holidays. I'll post an update later tonight!

heidirebecca · Dec 27, 2011

Just in case you've got more room, I'd love to join too.

Name: Heidi
Age: 27
Genre I Write: YA fantasy (more harry potter, less twilight)

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
YA fantasy
YA contemporary
Not so much paranormal romances

Genres I'm not familiar with.
High Fantasy, Romance, Crime

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid.
High fantasy with sword fighting and LOTR type stuff. Also, I really loathe YA paranormal romances.

Writing/critiquing strengths.
Plotting, backstory and world building are probably my strengths. I'm also quite good with spelling/grammar and pacing. I tend to question character motive a lot and I'm quite a picky reader myself so if something doesn't hold my interest or would make me want to put the book down, I can spot it easily.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I'm free a lot as I only work once or twice a week and school doesn't begin until March. When it does, I'll still have plenty of time free.

AgathaChristieFan · Dec 28, 2011

I'd like to join too if you still have room...

Name: Yawatta
Age: 29
Genre I write: Romance, Chick Lit

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Horror
Thriller
Suspense
Romance

Genres I'm not familiar with:
Sci-Fi, Young Adult (but I wouldn't mind reading it)

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid:
Would rather not read anything too religious. Pretty much open to anything; nothing really bothers me.

Writing/Critiquing strengths:
Great with characterization and plot. I'm good with spelling and grammar. And, I'm good with providing feedback along the lines of what I find good/bad as a reader instead of a writer helping another writer.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I can commit a lot of time to the group. On Mon, Wed, Fri, the best times are in the mornings before I go to work. Mornings, afternoons work best for me. When I buy a new laptop, will also more available at nights and Sundays.

BlaqueSaber · Jan 2, 2012

If there are more people interested than space a second group could be started easily. I could have a forum made in no time without any hassle at all.

Saint09 · Jan 3, 2012

BlaqueSaber said:
If there are more people interested than space a second group could be started easily. I could have a forum made in no time without any hassle at all.

That's great! I can also keep the first post here updated with the slots and their stats (either filled or open).

Just a quick update. The first group still has a possible 3 slots open. We're waiting to hear back from a couple people, but if we don't hear back soon we'll go ahead and set those slots to open.

Anywho, keep posting, and we'll keep creating groups!

GenevieveGoth · Jan 3, 2012

If there's going to be a second group started, I'd love to join.

Name: Jennifer
Age: 29
Genre I write: Urban Fantasy (Adult)

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Urban Fantasy (Ya/Adult)
Paraormal (Adult/YA)
Fantasy (YA/Adult
Sci-Fi ((Adult/YA)
Suspense/Thriller

Genres I'm not familiar with:
Anything that requires me to have a grasp on pop-culture since I don't follow it at all.

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid:
I don't really have anything that makes me uncomfortable

Writing/Critiquing strengths:
I'm good with plots and characters. I'm not at all shabby when it comes to grammar and spelling.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I can commit a bit of time, mostly in the afternoons and late nights. I'm available some evenings but not always.

AlanDavid · Jan 3, 2012

Is there still room?

I'd be interested in joining.

Name: Alan
Age: 18
Genre I write: literary/contemporary fiction with supernatural & thriller elements

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Literary
Contemporary
Mystery/Suspense
Thriller
Paranormal
(YA or Adult on any of those)

Genres I'm not familiar with:
Romance
Erotica

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid:
Basically nothing. Violence doesn't bother me; sexual content doesn't bother me, though I may not be able to offer a lot of help with it if that's your focus. I'm extremely open-minded and LGBT friendly.

Writing/Critiquing strengths:
I'm fairly good with characters and dialogue. I can spot sentence structure clunkiness fairly well. I'm also anal about weird little details and can pick up on them.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?
I've usually got quite a bit of free time on my hands, and I'm on my laptop most of the day. I always try to check online at least once, even if something comes up.

wampuscat · Jan 3, 2012

Just a question. Is the intent of the group to review polished materials only or is it welcome to second drafts as well. I'd be interested, but I don't have much that I feel is ready for beta readers. I'm more at the crit partner stage.

Karen Junker · Jan 3, 2012

Name: Karen
Age: 58
Genre I write: Paranormal romance, urban fantasy

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Romance, especially Regency era
Mystery/Suspense
Fantasy
Urban Fantasy

Genres I'm not familiar with: YA

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid: I do not have a deep understanding of Christian themes.

Writing/Critiquing strengths: I can spot cliches, anachronisms and most grammar/spelling/typos issues. I usually comment on what goes through my mind as I'm reading, so if something is unclear to me, I will mention that.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available? I am available most days from noon to around 8 PM Pacific time.

Saint09 · Jan 3, 2012

wampuscat said:
Just a question. Is the intent of the group to review polished materials only or is it welcome to second drafts as well. I'd be interested, but I don't have much that I feel is ready for beta readers. I'm more at the crit partner stage.

Group one has a good mix of both. I'd say about half of us are closer to a complete manuscript, and a couple have stuff at the beta stage, but are also have another project for chapter-by-chapter. I'm only 4 chapters into my most completed projects.

It's meant for both, but some things might change depending on what the group decides. For example, in our group, instead of really partnering up, we went ahead and let those who want to be involved in deeper crit, behind the scenes, spoilers, etc go ahead and decide themselves. This was mainly due to some of the projects not really requiring such deep critiquing.

Anywho, looks like 4 people already for a group 2 in just one day. Should be enough where BlaqueSaber can start up the other forums.

buz · Jan 4, 2012

Still room in group two? ...If so, can I play?

Name: Alice
Age: 22
Genre I write: Fantasy, weird things

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Fantasy
Sci-fi
Speculative fiction
Anything weird or offbeat or humorous
Historical fiction

Genres I'm not familiar with:
Romance
Erotica
Christian/spiritual

--I have no idea how to critique YA because I don't know what makes it different from regular A (aside from length/themes) but I'm not unwilling to read it

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid: Christian/spiritual themes...I like vulgarity, and purity makes me feel weird. Because I am batshit crazy and have a Thing about substance use, I can't read an entire book in which drug use figures heavily (but occasional/passing use is fine).

Writing/Critiquing strengths: Dunno.

I've been told I'm okay at dialogue. I have a better-than-average-but-not-spectacular command of spelling and grammar. I'll give anything I can...I'll be that someone sexy you tell "Hey. Give me everything tonight."

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available? Nights and some of my days off...I have a full-time job but not much of a life otherwise.

Ellielle · Jan 4, 2012

I think this sounds great...and would love to join if possible.

Name: Erin
Age: 21
Genre I write: Fantasy (most of my recent projects have been YA)

What kind of novel would you be most helpful in doing deep-crit for?
Fantasy (all sub-genres) (YA or A)
Sci-fi (softer end--I'm no scientist) (YA or A)
Thriller/suspense/mystery

Genres I'm not familiar with:
Historical
Literary Fiction
Romance
Erotica
Christian/spiritual

Themes that make me uncomfortable and would rather avoid: It's not that I have anything against Christianity, but I'm horribly unfamiliar with it.

Writing/Critiquing strengths: Plotting. My grammar is generally decent (so I'd like to think). I can give opinions on characterization in something I'm reading, but it tends to be the weakest point in my own writing.

How much time can you commit to the group, and what times are you most available?

Well, my job leaves me with a lot of free time that I could use for reading/critting. I'm more or less free Monday through Friday from 1pm until I go to sleep. But I live in South Korea, which means I'm available from...oh, 11pm Eastern Standard Time (just using this as a reference for US time because this is where my home/family is) to maybe 8 or 9 AM. Not sure if this fact would completely knock me out as a participant...

Saint09 · Jan 4, 2012

BlaqueSaber hasn't been on in a couple days and only has 8 posts. If he's not back soon then I can go ahead and toss up some forums for a second group, but somebody would need to help admin them (fairly simple to do). It might even be possible to get a second group setup on the same forums, and just make each group's areas visible to that group. We'll give BlaqueSaber a day or two to respond!

Saint09 · Jan 4, 2012

Not sure if this fact would completely knock me out as a participant...

That's the beauty of a crit group with this structure--you can login and read/crit at any time!

BetaCrit Project Group (Open Slots - Group 2)

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