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06-06-2006, 07:39 AM
Wesley Smith
Super Member
TheNextBigWriter.com & Zoetrope.com
The Next Big Writer and Zoetrope are communities that promise feedback in a workshop type setting. Zoetrope is free, The Next Big Writer evidently charges about $40 a year.
Anybody have any thoughts on either of these sites, or know of any other sites where I can workshop my novel (beyond here, I mean).
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06-06-2006, 07:58 AM
sanyuja
Super Fast Turtle
I have no clue about the first one, but I have used Zoetrope for sometime. Yes, it's free and I used it mainly as a critique board. You critique 5 stories and you will be allowed to upload one of your stories for critique. It is more or less the same as Critique Circle (CC), but CC has a much better credit system. The crowd is more friendly and more passionate. I probably came across the wrong crowd at Zoetrope, but this is my experience. You do get good, helpful crit at Zoetrope, though.
I am not sure about this part: I think Zoetrope also publishes stories. Members can rate a story and based on the rating, they choose to publish few of the stories.
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Random Rambling
06-06-2006, 08:01 AM
cuteshoes
Board fanatic
I've used Zoetrope and Critique Circle and I wholeheartedly prefer CC. You only need to crit 3 stories for every 1 you submit and most people there seem to submit entire novels chapter by chapter whereas Zoetrope is usually short stories. Since I am writing a novel, it's much more useful that I use CC.
06-06-2006, 08:01 AM
sanyuja
Super Fast Turtle
To answer your last question, you can post your novel in chunks (chapterwise) at CC. I have seen many people do this and going by their persistence (they are into chapter 20 etc.), I assume the feedback is helpful. Why don't you try posting a chapter and see what kind of feedback you get? You don't lose anything: it's free.
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Random Rambling
06-06-2006, 08:04 AM
sanyuja
Super Fast Turtle
Actually, the number of stories you need to crit depend on the length of your crit. You get more credit points for a longer crit.Quote:
Originally Posted by cuteshoes
You only need to crit 3 stories for every 1 you submit and most people there seem to submit entire novels chapter by chapter whereas Zoetrope is usually short stories.
Zoetrope also has a novel section, cuteshoes. I vaguely remember that the limit on the length of the novel was 50K. I am not sure about the limit, but I am positive they have a section on novels.
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Random Rambling
06-06-2006, 08:52 AM
Old Hack
A very happy poster
I've not heard of Critique Circle, although I have been to Zoe. Can someone post a link to the former, please?
06-06-2006, 11:28 AM
zeprosnepsid
Board fanatic
I use Zoetrope for Short Stories and screenplays. People are not very nice and the boards are very clique-ish but a lot of the critiques are pretty good. No one's going to give you an easy time but they will generally give you pretty honest opinions.
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06-06-2006, 11:57 AM
CaoPaux
Mostly Harmless
http://www.critiquecircle.com/Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Hack
I've not heard of Critique Circle, although I have been to Zoe. Can someone post a link to the former, please?
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CAO
06-06-2006, 12:02 PM
Old Hack
A very happy poster
Why, thank you, CP!
I tried Zoe but found it lacking: unless you get involved in a lot of private offices (which is very time-consuming) you are restricted to the public boards, which are so full there is little feeling of family there. However, they do a useful critique, so long as you're not feeling too sensitive.
06-06-2006, 12:04 PM
JerseyGirl1962
Board fanatic
Don't know anything about either of those. I originally was going to go with Critique Circle and the only reason I didn't (it's silly, really) was because I was having computer problems (I couldn't register there for whatever weird, technical reason). Instead, I went with the Online Writing Workshop (http://www.onlinewritingworkshop.com). Now, it's not free (about $50 per year) and it's only spec fic (horror/SF/fantasy), but the critiques I've received have helped me tremendously (I've yet to receive any sort of putdown along the lines of "you shouldn't be writing"; the mods over there make sure it's understood that truthful but respectful critiques are the way to go). They do allow an initial free period (1 month) where you're allowed to post a novel chapter or a short story, just so you can see if it's for you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wesley Smith
The Next Big Writer and Zoetrope are communities that promise feedback in a workshop type setting. Zoetrope is free, The Next Big Writer evidently charges about $40 a year.
Anybody have any thoughts on either of these sites, or know of any other sites where I can workshop my novel (beyond here, I mean).
So if you're writing in those genres, it might be worth a look.
~Nancy
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Let the beauty we love be what we do. - Rumi, 13th Century poet
06-06-2006, 12:24 PM
CaoPaux
Mostly Harmless
http://critters.org/ is another big one for specfic writers. No fee and accommodates all levels of writers.
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CAO