Post by Charlie Allison on May 16, 2017 18:33:18 GMT
Hey there, friends I know and friends I have yet to meet!
Tis, I Charlie! We're going to be going over expectations for the weekly fiction reviews, which start this Monday the 22nd.
The core of this group (Justin has been my MFA-bestie for two years but has also steadfastly contributed to this board and its denizens) is expected to be initially people from my MFA creative writing group. However, everyone is welcome to join!
When you submit, here are the parameters to follow:
-Submit your work as a .PDF attachment in your post
-12 font, times new roman, preferably double spaced
-Page numbers in the document, along with the authors last name so we remember whose work we're reading
- Ideally, the submission would be between 10-20 pages, although exceptions could be made for shorter or longer works--just make note of it on your introductory post. Speaking of:
-Write a brief preface about your work alongside the attachment including: what you were trying to create with this work--theme, atmosphere, characters--and how you wanted to accomplish this. Address what you think the strengths and weaknesses of the piece are--and address specifics in your work. For example: 'Does the fight scene on page 7 work? I was worried it was over too fast to give the reader a sense of its importance to the story.'
As reviewers, the expectations are reasonable:
-Create a new thread and label it '______'s Feedback on ______________[title of work being reviewed]
-If you're from my MFA cohort, feel free to skip this next part as they were part and parcel of our review process--if you aren't, well I'll carry on.
-Feedback should be no less than 200 words, excluding quotations from the work (which is encouraged--specificity helps the author improve or narrow down).
-Specify what you liked about the work--feel free to quote, but don't compliment for the sake of complimenting. Ideally, the piece's strengths dove tail into its weaknesses. I can't express how important it is to show what doesn't work (either by quoting in text, by line notes, or by paraphrasing such as 'As you can see on page 9 when Steve tries to hotwire the car, this seems to be a different character than the nebbish professor we see in the previous pages.' or or 'you have a descriptive style of writing, but often this means that you tell rather than show at key moments. A prime example at this is in the confrontation in the mines (pages 13-20), where Sigyn tells us his thoughts instead of showing his terror of the battle-kobolds' or whatever.
-Don't be a dick (I originally wrote this as 'be civil' but this is clearer.)
-If someone mis-interprets your criticism, correct them politely in your next post.
-Be inquisitive--give the author the benefit of the doubt.
-If you identify an apparent problem, make concrete suggestions on how to fix it in text and context.
Scheduling:
The schedule as it stands so far: (And subject to change or doubling up weekly submissions/adding new people to the line up--don't be shy! post on this board or send a message to me asking to be put in the lineup!)
Me - 5/22
Tianna - 5/29
V - 6/5
Abi - 6/12
Justin - 6/19
Nicole - 6/26
See you on the boards!
Tis, I Charlie! We're going to be going over expectations for the weekly fiction reviews, which start this Monday the 22nd.
The core of this group (Justin has been my MFA-bestie for two years but has also steadfastly contributed to this board and its denizens) is expected to be initially people from my MFA creative writing group. However, everyone is welcome to join!
When you submit, here are the parameters to follow:
-Submit your work as a .PDF attachment in your post
-12 font, times new roman, preferably double spaced
-Page numbers in the document, along with the authors last name so we remember whose work we're reading
- Ideally, the submission would be between 10-20 pages, although exceptions could be made for shorter or longer works--just make note of it on your introductory post. Speaking of:
-Write a brief preface about your work alongside the attachment including: what you were trying to create with this work--theme, atmosphere, characters--and how you wanted to accomplish this. Address what you think the strengths and weaknesses of the piece are--and address specifics in your work. For example: 'Does the fight scene on page 7 work? I was worried it was over too fast to give the reader a sense of its importance to the story.'
As reviewers, the expectations are reasonable:
-Create a new thread and label it '______'s Feedback on ______________[title of work being reviewed]
-If you're from my MFA cohort, feel free to skip this next part as they were part and parcel of our review process--if you aren't, well I'll carry on.
-Feedback should be no less than 200 words, excluding quotations from the work (which is encouraged--specificity helps the author improve or narrow down).
-Specify what you liked about the work--feel free to quote, but don't compliment for the sake of complimenting. Ideally, the piece's strengths dove tail into its weaknesses. I can't express how important it is to show what doesn't work (either by quoting in text, by line notes, or by paraphrasing such as 'As you can see on page 9 when Steve tries to hotwire the car, this seems to be a different character than the nebbish professor we see in the previous pages.' or or 'you have a descriptive style of writing, but often this means that you tell rather than show at key moments. A prime example at this is in the confrontation in the mines (pages 13-20), where Sigyn tells us his thoughts instead of showing his terror of the battle-kobolds' or whatever.
-Don't be a dick (I originally wrote this as 'be civil' but this is clearer.)
-If someone mis-interprets your criticism, correct them politely in your next post.
-Be inquisitive--give the author the benefit of the doubt.
-If you identify an apparent problem, make concrete suggestions on how to fix it in text and context.
Scheduling:
The schedule as it stands so far: (And subject to change or doubling up weekly submissions/adding new people to the line up--don't be shy! post on this board or send a message to me asking to be put in the lineup!)
Me - 5/22
Tianna - 5/29
V - 6/5
Abi - 6/12
Justin - 6/19
Nicole - 6/26
See you on the boards!
