Welcome to the third week of Novel Boot Camp! This week we will be working on peer critiques. The complete list of novel openings is at the end of this post, but before we get started I want to offer a few pointers.
How To Be a Great Critique Partner
Here are my (hopefully) helpful hints on giving critiques:
- Being a great critique partner is about balancing respect and honesty. Respect does not mean complimenting elements of the story that aren’t working. Honesty doesn’t mean being unnecessarily harsh or cruel.
- Differentiate between opinion and objective truth. Make sure to clarify if you feel something is objectively wrong (such as not fitting the genre or age group) or if you just don’t like it personally.
- Stop reading whenever you lose interest and explain why. Sometimes writers hesitate to offer feedback because they feel required to read the full excerpt. This isn’t so! It’s okay to stop reading if you grow bored or don’t have time to finish. You can still leave feedback!
- If you’re not sure why something isn’t working, say so! Don’t feel that you have to give a reason for your opinion. It’s okay to say, “This isn’t working for me but I’m not sure why.”
Here is my advice on receiving critiques:
- Don’t argue with a critique. Getting a bad critique that you disagree with is good practice for the inevitable negative reviews that will pop up throughout your writing career. Fighting to defend your work is not constructive and the outcome is often more embarrassing than the negative critique.
- Thank the writers who take the time to provide feedback. They are offering you a free service and deserve a “thank you” for the effort!
- Remember that the goal of critiques is to grow and improve as a writer. It will probably sting when you get a harsh critique, but a pat on the back is pointless. You want someone who will pick your work apart. That’s how you get better!
Workshop #3
Each novel opening has been pasted on its own page with its own comments section. Please leave your comments in the individual comments sections rather than on this page.
Feel free to share your opening page on Twitter, Facebook, etc. The more writers offering critiques the merrier! You do not have to be a Boot Camp participant to offer critiques.
Complete List of Novel Openings
Please choose at least 5 openings to critique. Thanks!
Fantasy
Pride & Destiny (fan fiction)
Historical
Young Adult
(Fantasy) Crow Jane
(Romance) To the Steadfast
(Fantasy) Andra of the Aki
(Thriller) Untitled
(Fantasy) Untitled
(Fantasy) Draidan’s Mountain
(Fantasy) Cane
(Fantasy) Elspeth Rising
(Mystery) Untitled
(Fantasy) Those Who Were
(Fantasy) From Earth to Neptune and Back
(Fantasy) Aja
(Fantasy) Untitled
Romance
Science Fiction
Mainstream
The Mediocre Life of a Champion Cheat
Middle Grade
(Fantasy) The Lil Gods and the Rise of the Giants
(Mystery) SKIP School
(SciFi) Scarlett Whisp and the Voice of the Void
(Mainstream) Lion Girl
(Historical) Resolution
Mystery
Thanks to everyone who offers critiques!
This post is part of Novel Boot Camp. If you don’t know what that is, click here.
Ellen Brock 
Thanks for organizing them by genre, Ellen. There are some genres I never read and therefore would not feel qualified to critique, so this makes sorting out which ones to focus on a lot easier. The new format of having a separate page for each opening was a great idea, too! I have a day off tomorrow and will get right on reading at least the required five, and hopefully more, after my morning coffee. 🙂
I’m glad to hear this format is an improvement! Thanks!
Agreed!
WOW! This is quite a list! Thank you, Ellen, that you´re offering this chance to us. I´m looking forward to give at least half of the stories a try. I´m sure that´s gonna be a lesson in many different ways…
Great job!
I submitted my first critique, but it didn’t show up in the comments. Is there a lag or did I do something wrong?
If you have never commented before I have to manually approve your first two comments to avoid spam or bots. Sorry for the delay!
I don’t see my opening chapter here with the others. You posted mine on Aug 4th. It was number 12 under mainstream.
There was a separate submission page for this workshop. If you didn’t submit it there, then it wasn’t posted here. Sorry!
Hi Ellen,
I inadvertantly submitted my beginning – “The Oaeonian” – under Mainstream when it should be in Historical. Will it be possible to move it at that stage? Really sorry for the confusion.
Thanks, Alex Zaykov
It’s been moved. 🙂
Ah, 😦
The Paeonian 🙂
Thank you so much, Ellen!
This workshop is such fun!!!
What if no one chooses a particular story? For example, the ones that are untitled. Once five people have chosen a story does the select option close for that one?
I’m looking for pieces that have no or few critiques – hopefully everyone will do the same so that everyone gets some feedback.