Do you love to write but find yourself feeling isolated or needing a constructive critique?
via comedycentral.co.uk
As writers, we’ve all hit the point when we feel something in our story is not quite right, but we can’t figure out what that something is. We’re inclined to ask someone’s advice and probably first turn to our friends and family. The truth is, unless our friends and family are writers too, they’re probably out of their depth. They’ll want to help, but even if they know what’s wrong (and there’s a good chance they won’t), they’ll think about our feelings first. So we end up hearing things like, “it sounds good to me.” Or, “I think it’s fine how it is.”
Now, we all want to hear our writing is good, but when we know something is off and no one around us will or can help, it’s frustrating. It can even make us feel isolated, and leave us unwilling to share our writing again. This is because we want to hear the truth. “That character didn’t respond to the situation in a believable way.” Or, “The dialogue is good, but where is it happening? You didn’t describe the setting at all in this scene.” These aren’t bad things to hear, after all we want constructive criticism, but it can be hard for friends and family to say. When we ask for advice, we’re asking people to engage with us, and they may not be willing to do that. This is where a writing community comes in.
Writers helping writers is never a bad thing. They know what you’re going through, because they have been through it too. They’ve created worlds, they’ve fallen in love with their characters, and they’ve written themselves into corners. Their advice is more likely to come from experience. The mistakes they point out, they’ve made and still make.
You’re probably wondering where all these helpful communities are. Well, here are three great ones that you should consider joining.
Figment
via figment.com
Figment is an engaging community for aspiring young authors. It is all about reactions and reviews. You post your stories and other members can read them and leave you reviews, reactions, or comments. If you really impress them, they’ll start following you and get updates every time you post a new story.
Why Join?
Figment is a small community which allows you more opportunities to get to know individual members. You can do swaps—an agreement to read and review a member’s work in exchange for the same courtesy—earn badges, enter contests, and join groups specific to your genre. Figment focuses heavily on young writers. So, if you are still in high school, or just learning the ropes, this is a great place to start.
NaNoWriMo
via nanowrimo.org
NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It happens every November. This community has a specific goal: to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. It sounds like a lot, and that’s because it is, but the beauty of this challenge is that it’s a personal one. A lot of people succeed, and a lot of people don’t, but everyone here is supportive because they only care that you tried.
Why Join?
NaNoWriMo is a very large and very active community, so there is lots of help and support. In October and November, the website explodes. There is a frenzy of writers getting ready for, and undertaking the challenge of, writing a novel in a month. So, if you’re taking the challenge too you’ll get caught up in the excitement, but there is no rule saying you have to take the challenge. If you just want to be part of the community to give and get help and advice, that’s okay too.
NaNoWriMo has the additional benefit of meeting your fellow writers. During November they hold regional events, such as write-ins. A place and time is chosen, and people in the area all get together to write and talk about writing.
Critique Circle
via critiquecircle.com
Critique Circle is for when you’re a little further along in your writing. You’ve finished your story and you want to know what people think about it: what you did well, and where you can improve. Here you write critiques of other people’s work in return for credits. Then, you use those credits to put your own stories, or chapters, up for critique.
Why Join?
Critique Circle is an active community. The forums are always humming, and every week new stories go up for critique. You’ll get many detailed critiques of your stories. You can guide the focal point of the critique by explaining what you’re looking for. Sometimes you want grammar or story structure advice, and sometimes you want to know about character or plot believability. At Critique Circle, you can cover it all. Plus, by critiquing other people’s work, you’ll begin to broaden your understanding of the writing process.
via bittersweetadventures.com
Everyone has their own unique approach to writing, but it doesn’t have to be the solitary act most people think it is. Joining a community will help you improve as a writer, expand your horizons, and give you a confidence boost. All of these communities are free to join, but the benefits of being part of them are priceless.
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