Q & A: manuscript critique

[blackaire]

I was going to get all Larry-Davidesque and blog about nothing today ("My hair looks amazing! The cats are asleep! I fixed my wonky wifi card!") but I got a good question from a blog reader so I figured I'd justify my internet existence and answer that instead.

shaunee asks:

The problem Im having is that when I submit my work to contests or to a

Comments

[mmerriam]

I can attest to the goodness that is OWW, as mentioned above. It was exactly what I needed early on, and several successful writers have come up through the OWW, including Elizabeth Bear, Charles Coleman Finley, and Leah Bobet.

[csinman]

I second the love for OWW. I've gotten all kinds of reviews there, but every one of them has had at least something useful in it. Part of that might be my attitude, but part of it is the simple fact that people willing to pay for the workshop are at least serious about using it, even if they're not especially more skilled/nicer/prettier/luckier/better-smelling than people who won't pay.

[karenjunker]

I had some good luck with finding crits on AbsoluteWrite.com - they have a forum where you can post if you are looking for crits or willing to give them.

Or you can come here: www.IronSpringsWritersRetreat.com if you want to workshop with Jay Lake and David Levine and a bunch of really cool people from the old days at Writer's Weekend. (this is not a commercial plug, per se. We don't charge admission, but we do ask for people to chip in and help pay for food and the cost of the speakers lodging and transportation).

[csinman]

Karen's right--I got great advice at Iron Springs last year! ;)

But I cannot believe I forgot Absolute Write! It's free, and there are professionals as well as other amateurs, all willing to help. It's a really open, positive environment.

[david_bridger]

Forward Motion is my writing home. There are crits, workshops, challenges, goals forums, marathons, and so much more on offer. All for free and very friendly.