The aspect of my writing I most want feedback on is structure (did it flow logically, were the key elements of plot clearly laid out, was it well-paced, did the ending work?) In @Wreybies piece on critiques he says people are put off critiquing longer posts, and for longer pieces suggests posting an excerpt around 1500. Doesn't that make it difficult to get feedback on things like structure (unless your stories are pretty short)? I know there's the Plot Development message board but there's a difference between describing your plot/structure and executing it, yes? Any advice on this would be appreciated!
Hi, Sal! Welcome to the forum. What kind of writing are you referring to? Short stories, novels, etc? I agree very much that structure needs feedback, and it's not possible to give it when the whole piece isn't there to be looked at.
As I'm sure Wrey mentions in his post on critiques, there are no actual rules about who the length of the items you post. The problem is the time and work required to critique a longer piece; many a member might not be willing to invest so much. Something you could do is to post in the workshop (either shorter pieces, or take a chance and post a longer), and when you have met the requirements to post in the Collaboration forum you can see if someone is willing to beta read a longer section or the entire manuscript.
@jannert - It's just short stories but they're mostly 3000-5000 words. @Komposten - Thanks! I know there aren't hard and fast rules but you and @Wreybies both point out that longer critiques are a big ask. The Collaborative forums sound like an interesting option. I'll take a look there where they're available to me.
I'd post one of the shorter ones (closer to 3,000) in the workshop when you meet the requirements. If your writing is at a good standard, you will get some bites--a well-written piece of 3,000 words is often quicker to read and critique than 800 words of a badly-written piece.
Length isn't too off-putting. Just make sure the story is visually readable. Put in spaces between paragraphs so it doesn't look like a wall of text. Don't tell the critiquers the story is garbage that you whipped up in a night ( the charm of self deprecation is lost when others are going to invest their time in helping you. ) And goose the members of the site with a catchy title. Just by using the word controversial I had more people checking out my story than any other story I posted recently. Also go over it, really go over it so people aren't distracted by spelling mistakes.