Hi, not quite sure if this is the right forum, but it's my best guess. My little sister (10 years of age) wrote a short story and I was wondering if it would be all right to share it for critique in the Writing Workshop? I'd be willing to cover the 2 critiques required myself. I'd rather not get her an account because of her age, but I would like her to get some advice other than my own on how to improve.
You can wait for a mod for the final say, but my instinct would be that this is a bad idea... yeah, she's only ten, but there's still a principle involved, and to me, the principle is that people should be in charge of their own work--where it's published/posted, etc. I agree that a ten year old probably shouldn't have her own account on this board, but I'm really not sure that a ten year old should be getting critique from strangers, either.
It's more of an encouragement thing than for the critique, although that would be nice. She knows what would be going on and she's okay with it, I wouldn't post it otherwise. She's like me in that she's not very self-motivated, the more interest she gets the more she'll write. (Plus this way we can get her to work on her typing.)
But what if someone actually critiques it? I mean, she's ten. I assume her writing is pretty undeveloped. If someone comes across it and actually critiques it, they're probably going to say some harsh things. And if you post it in the "critique" section with a request that it not really be critiqued, that seems... contrary to the purpose of the section? Maybe you could start a progress journal for her or something?
I'm not saying no to critiques, just that the purpose is more to encourage her. I will screen them though, so if someone is overly harsh I can tone it down for her. I'll also likely make a note up on top saying it was wrote by my ten year old sister so people will know. I like the progress journal idea though. I'll bring that up to her.
My concern would actually be the same as @BayView's. I'm not going to tell you no, and you've been honest as to the provenance of the work, so no problem there, but I would be concerned about the fact that our forum's average age has grown over the years. When I very first joined here, it was a decidedly younger crowd. We were even a "PG" forum back then and the software would automatically ******* (bleep) a list of more adult words. It would be an AYOR deal. My time is spread pretty thin as it is and I cannot commit to special vigilance in a thread. I know you've not asked for that - you haven't - but I'm just saying for the sake of saying.
I understand. I probably won't even let her look at the thread itself, just relay the general idea what people said. I'll be helping her polish it up a bit myself, then we'll get it up on the forum. Thank you for allowing it, Wreybies! And I appreciate the concern both of you have shown.