Hey all! So I'm relatively new and I have a question for when I post my first piece for critique. I've noticed most entries in the Writers Workshop are short, longest I'm reading are often no more than 5-6000 words. But many of the members here are writing novels, and this rule is generally true even in the novels section. The rules explained why and I understand, it's a lot to ask people to read at once. So how do you go about breaking things up to post them in easier to digest sections? The piece I am writing is currently almost 10000 words, and will likely be a little over that when I'm done. Not a novel, but definitely not as short a story as I have been seeing on here. I feel like I definitely need to break it up, and I suppose I can link the parts together. What's your strategy to get the best number of reads and responses without fragmenting your story too much?
By the chapter, or by a guesstimated 2-3k chunks. Alternitively you could find a few Beta readers and get help that route too, in the Collaboration subforum. 10-11k words is not long enough to be a novella either.
You can go a few different directions. My personal choice is to find a segment that exemplifies a question or concern I'm having with the piece. I rarely actually mention said concern or question since this tends to inform the critic how to answer, and that's not what I want. I want the story to inform, and that's what I post to see if it does. I often also post "test mules", older snippets of the piece or purposefully disguised pieces, like automobile makers used to do back in the day. The image below is what Ferrari used as a Dino test mule. You don't slip your lastest project in its sexiest skin for the paparazzi to see when you're just testing the drivetrain and suspension.
