1. ic1978

    ic1978 New Member

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    Short story critiquing

    Discussion in 'Revision and Editing' started by ic1978, Nov 16, 2011.

    So I submitted a short story on this and another forum. I have had numerous views without any comment. What would be the reasoning? Seems every story, and trust me I've checked, is critiqued within hours. What gives? If this post is ignored then there is a conspiracy.
     
  2. Midnight_Adventurer

    Midnight_Adventurer Active Member

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    Hi ic1978,

    I don't know for sure why people are reading your short story and not commenting on it, but here are a few possibilities:

    1) If it's long then people can’t be bothered reading it to the end.
    2) If it's long and people can be bothered reading it then they can’t be bothered going through it again to critique it.
    3) People who read it may not feel comfortable critiquing it because they don't feel they know how.
    4) People may not be a fan of the genre you're writing in and don't want to critique it.
    5) People may be short on time and simply can’t spend half an hour or however long telling you what they think.
    6) Or maybe, just maybe your work is perfect and the people who read it can’t find anything wrong with it ;)

    I haven't personally read your work yet so I'm not sure what it's about and these are only generalised points that I've witnessed or done so myself. I think in the end it really comes down to if the reader finds it engaging enough and worth their time to say something about it. I'm certainly guilty of reading through people's work, finding certain points I want to comment on, but being too lazy to do so and in the end someone else says them for me.
    Try not to take it personally or feel down hearted about it. Maybe spread the word about your short story in your blog or ask some people if they'd mind reading through your story. There are some members around who are happy to do so.

    I hope that helps...If I've made any sense :redface:
     
  3. ic1978

    ic1978 New Member

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    Thanks for the reply... Reasons 1through 5 make sense... definitely won't be number 6. I am guilty of all of the above as well. Btw, if you get a chance the title is THE SERPENT'S ANTEBELLUM in general fiction. Again thanks for the reply.
     
  4. Blue Night

    Blue Night Active Member

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    I only had one critique of my chapter and it wasn’t much. But one of my characters speaks in Early Modern English. Maybe that could be the issue.
    But the ‘view to critique’ ratio is pretty high. So I guess people click on it, start reading and if it’s not their genre, they move on.
    But who knows? I know this for sure. If it’s riddled with grammatical errors, doesn’t make sense or otherwise downright terrible, then you will get critiques. It seems many people love the easy stuff.
    I for one will give you a thorough, analytical critique-something I was never afforded.
     
  5. Devrokon

    Devrokon New Member

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    Don't take it personally, some people just can't find the time. It doesn't mean the work in question is bad or redundant in terms of stylistic features of quality. It's their loss, right?

    I've had this happen more than a few times before...
     
  6. Bob Magness

    Bob Magness New Member

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    I will give it a look later when I have some time. But yeah, there are plenty of reasons you may not have been critiqued yet that have nothing to do with the merit of your story.
     

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