Welcome to the second workshop of Novel Boot Camp!
This workshop will focus on peer critiques, but I will jump in with my own thoughts and comments if anyone has any questions or if I feel I can offer additional assistance.
Each participant will be given their own page and comments section for their work. You will be able to link to this page to ask friends, family members, etc. to leave critiques. I will post a master list of all the novel openings as a blog post this Friday (August 18).
Because all of the peer critiques will be posted at the same time, you must have your submission to me by 8am EST Thursday (August 17)!
As usual, I cannot guarantee that everyone will be able to participate. I will do as much as I can, and get to as many submissions as possible. I promise!
The Golden Rule: Do not submit your novel opening if you do not intend to critique the openings of others. This is not fair to the other participants.
***Important: The novel openings will be identified by their title and genre only. If you write “untitled” in the submission form, you will have no way to know which submission is yours and other participants will be less likely to click on your opening when choosing which openings to critique, so please provide a title (even if it’s a fake title). Thanks!
Ellen Brock 
Hello Ellen. I submitted an opening for First Page Critiques. Can I submit a different opening to participate in Peer First Page Critiques?
Sure!
Hi Ellen,
Is it possible to edit a submission before it goes out? The second paragraph of my submission wasn’t supposed to be there and was leftover from a previous draft. I know it’s a small thing, but I feel like it makes a difference to the story and I want it too be in the best shape possible before going on the internet. If it’s not possible to change it, that’s okay.
Thanks for doing Novel Boot Camp!
It can’t be edited, but you can submit it again and I will try to use the updated version. Thanks!
Ello, Ellen!
I posted 2x in a row, because I think my first post has a typo in my email.
This sounds really fun and I can’t wait to see what other people have written!
I did forget to count the words on my novel opening, but if it is longer than 1000 words, it shouldn’t be much longer. I apologize if it is, I was too excited at the thought of seeing what others think.
It is the first I have ever written, and I’ve never shown anyone my writing, so I am excited to see what critique I can get!
Thanks for doing this! I’ve been watching your youtube videos for a while and was happy to see this happening! 🙂
Hi Ellen! I’m a follower of your channel and am very intrigued by the Peer First Page Critiques on your blog. I’m about to submit my first 1000 words, but I wanted to check on how I am able to critique other people’s work. Do you post the individual submissions on your blog and we comment below on the ones we read? How do we go about participating in this exactly? Let me know. Thanks!
Each submission is posted on an individual page with a comments section. The list of pages will be posted on Friday.
I love your blog and have improved as a writer from your teachings. I look forward to reading the postings of my fellow writers and reading the critiques.
Hi! I might be a little too late – I posted my submission yesterday but in the wrong place. Still, being on the other side of the pond, it’s still early, so fingers crossed! Would be very nice with a few peer critiques. 🙂
I hope folks get decent feedback. Myself, I’ve given the peer review process several attempts. It was never reciprocal.
One online class had about a hundred people. I gave comment on every piece submitted. I got less than 20. Another class was divided into groups of 4, so it was 3 peer reviews. One was crude and rude. Another had 15, 5 reviewed.
Those that did, except for two were helpful. I have an idea for how to start my story, (about 400 per class) which is what I was after. I had several starts, and now I’m focused on a beginning I like.
Your blogs and advice are very helpful. I caught myself doing some of the things you mentioned. 🙂
Good luck to those who submitted AND remember their stories are as important to them as yours is to you.