I recently read a story that I liked from someone in my writing community. The author is planning to self-publish using Amazon. Seeing a problem with the protagonist’s special abilities, I privately emailed the author to address my concerns. The author was grateful and embraced my feedback. But should critique pointing out a flawed character or story come from our writing community?
For me, I’ll have to say yes! My community knows me and should be able to tactfully bring to my attention any story flaws that need attention. I constantly ask myself how can I grow as a writer if I can’t accept critique from fellow writers? This is a question everyone should ask themselves. The goal should be to help the writer improve their story and writing style. I believe we do this well, so I am proud to be among so many writers of all levels.
Sometimes I ask family or friends to read my current WIP. This doesn’t work as well for me because it suddenly became hard to get an honest assessment of WIP. I started to feel like a child getting praise for the effort, nothing deeper than that.
So my question to you readers is, who do you use for critiquing WIP? I’ll be looking into some online services in the next few weeks. If I find a service that’s useful, I’ll write something about it.
Fictionista 
the first time I got a decent critique was when I paid $$$ for it. all friends and family (and every agent who rejected me) said: “This is nice- just not for me.”
I think they assumed I was 100% in love with my WIP- i was not, that was why I was looking for feedback.
😛
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Family and most friends wont be honest. Thats my experience anyway. Thank you very much for the comment! Have a nice day!
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I’m in a critique group of six people. We’ve been together for a little over a year. Our goal is to comment on macro story issues, compliment, suggest and encourage.
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Sounds like a nice group. Keep them.
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I think critique from our contemporaries can be extremely useful. Your approach was exactly the way to go. Unfortunately the writer asking for feedback can get overwhelmed with responses, mostly well-intentioned but sometimes not! I use a team of five beta readers (not family members) to critique an early draft. They will point out murky plot points and other clunky sections of narrative. After I make changes based on their suggestions, I used a professional editor for the final draft. I’ll be interested to hear what you find out about these online services!
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Yes! An author I like, Brandon Sanderson uses several beta readers for the first draft. The second draft he uses different beta readers. Then trusted friends/writers for the third round. Trusted readers will keep you from getting overwhelmed. Thanks for the comment Meg.
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My pleasure!
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I agree with you about asking friends and family. I know they care and want to lift me up but more honesty is what I wish for. I have a few writer friends I turn to. I recently started posting chapters of my work-in-progress on Chapterbuzz, I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback from the other writers there but one regularly reads and comments. One writer helping is better than no help at all. 😁
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Yes it’s tough getting honest feedback from family. They are better at coaching to finish WIP. Never heard of ChapterBuzz. I’ll take a look. Thanks for the comment.
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You’re welcome 😊
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And I totally agree with you here! I think when you have a group of writers friends it’s amazing how their influence can inspire you. When I’m having trouble with writing a persuasive essay, I always ask my group for help. I believe it’s totally okay to get advice from people that know what you are dealing with.
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