Hey guys, I'm new to the forum, and I had a few questions regarding the reviews some of you guys give. I've read some reviews from other sections of the forum and I thought they were just fantastic -- harsh enough to be constructive, but not enough to be mean. Anyway, I was wondering how I would go about getting someone to review my stuff? I'm very new to this writing thing. I have somewhat of a grasp on expository writing for school assignments and stuff, so I think I have a good grasp of the language and grammar rules, but I've never told a story before. Just two or three days ago, I decided to try it out and see what happens, and I was able to fill out almost two pages before I felt ready to be criticized for it. The thing is, since this is a new thing for me, I was wondering if I could PM any of you for some criticism, instead of posting it publicly (it doesn't just have to be one person...I would actually prefer to get multiple critiques, just so I know for sure what my problem areas are). I would just post it like other people are doing, but I sort of don't want to, because I know it's awful. And I would have asked this in an appropriate section, by the way, but for some reason, I can't post anywhere but here! Thanks, Cerebral.
If you read the forum rules, you'll see that in order to receive critiques, you must be a member for two weeks, and must give two critiques yourself. The value of the critiquing system here is that it places the emphasis on giving critiques rather than receiving them. That's because learning to critique the work of others will help you critique yourself, and that is a very important skill for a writer to have. Welcome, and good luck.
Ah, I didn't know that. I'm also new to this forum stuff...but I've just now checked out the rules, and I now see why I couldn't create a thread. That's actually pretty cool; it keeps out the people who aren't serious about improving their writing. How would the forum administrators KNOW I critiqued someone's work properly though? Does someone personally review my posts in the Writing Workshop or something? And to critique properly, am I required to use the color codes? I'm only asking because I didn't see anything about it in the Rules page.
