JOIN US FOR THE CON CRIT PROJECT ! VOLUNTEERS WANTED AND NEEDED !

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Hello hd_writers! I'm Julie, aka slytherincesss, and I am one of the new mods for our community. We have a ton of really exciting projects being planned behind the scenes, one of which I want to briefly talk with you about today.

Constructive criticism, or con crit as it's known as, is one of the most controversial writing topics out there. There isn't a writer out there who can't benefit from con crit; however, genuine con crit is rare. More often we have readers squee over our stories and tell us the stories are fabulous and wonderful and ribbons and lollipops yay! Have you ever wondered, though, who did not like your fic and why not? There's a variety of reasons people don't leave con crit. They may feel it will fall on deaf ears. They may be afraid to be seen as a "flamer" (we'll get into the differences between a flame and genuine con crit). More often than not, though, many people simply don't know how to give constructive criticism, therefore they shy away from doing it.

We'd like to do some tutorials on what con crit is and how to give it effectively.

Now, the fun part!

I am directly soliciting works of fan fiction from YOU ALL, that you would not mind having beta read/con critted for posting in our community as an example of constructive criticism. I have a few guidelines surrounding the kind of fic I'm looking for. It can be either an unpublished or published work. It cannot be for any of the fests currently going on, due to the anonymity factor. So don't send us your hd_holidays or mini_fest fics or anything like that. I'm looking for the fic to be 5000 words or less, give or take a few. There needs to be enough words to really get into the meat of the fic, but as LJ limits posts to 10,000 words, there needs to be enough room to post the con crit along with the fic.. One shots are fine. Any number of chapters from a chaptered fic are fine, as long as they're no more than 5000 words all together. If submitting from a chaptered fic, I would prefer the first chapter be sent, so the fic is in context to us as readers. It's hard to crit chapter 14 out of 45 with no context, if you get what I mean. ETA: Just to clarify, if you have a fic you'd liked critiqued, but it's longer than 5000 words, we're willing to at least look at the first 5000 words if you'd like to submit them.

For purposes of this exercise, I am willing to accept any pairing(s) and any rating. Hey, you want to send me Squid/Grawp/Firenze, go right ahead! H/D is preferred, but if you only happen to have a fic of another pairing that fits the above criteria, we will accept it for purposes of learning and growing as writers. Yes, this includes het, threesomes, incest, whatever, too. Anything goes.

If you're game, please e-mail the fic you choose to slytherincess[at]gmail[dot]com with the subject header HD_Writers Con Crit Exercise.

Please be assured that should your fic be chosen as one to be con-critted, we would of course show you the con crit prior to posting it to the community. We don't want anyone to feel blindsided! And if at any point you change your mind and do not want your work(s) posted, we will respect that as well.

In the event that we receive no submissions, I will con crit my own very first fan fic, which I wrote back in 2003-2004. I recently re-read it and, haha, yeah . . . it needs some serious con crit! Think of it as Mystery Science Theater 3000 ;)

Questions? Concerns? We're still working out the details on this activity and your feedback and input is invaluable. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have.

Thanks!

Comments

[nabi-sarang.livejournal.com]

This is a fab idea. I've emailed a fic I hope will be ok.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

I received it! It's great! Thank you :)

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Please do! If you have anything that fits the requirements, we'd love to take a look at it. You can also take 5000 words out of an existing fic, if you'd like.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

I adore het! If you're so inclined, send it along :) If you do decide to send it, send me the whole fic PLUS indicate which 5000 words you'd like con critted. Thanks :)

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Quelle horreur! ;)

I'm kidding -- I'm a canon whore and I like H/G, so no problem.

[sordid-humors.livejournal.com]

This is a wonderful idea--brava! Unfortunately, all of my stuff is wildly long, otherwise I'd volunteer to mount the chopping block. Let me know if you need any more constructive minds, though!

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Thank you! We're also happy to accept 5000 words from a longer fic or a chaptered fic, so if you feel like submitting 5000 words of anything, you're more than welcome to.

[magicallioness.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! I feel this is a great idea, and a wonderful opportunity at the same time. I admit that it's a bit scary too though, but what's life without a little risk, eh?

I'll email you the first part of one of my works in progress that I started a long time ago. It will be interesting to see if I've actually improved over time and how much of the con crit I can still use :).

Thanks for this awesome idea!

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Please don't feel scared -- we will thoroughly review with you the con crit before posting it to the comm and there certainly won't be anything rude or unkind said.

I received your fic! Thank you!

I'm glad you like the idea :D

[skriftlig.livejournal.com]

This sounds excellent. I have wondered about con-crit for a while now - how to give it, what to look for, what to ask for - but have never seen it so openly discussed or explained. I'm really looking forward to reading the examples here. A quick question: are the mods going to give the con-crit or are we going to be asked to provide it for the brave souls who have volunteered their work?

If you're in need of more examples, I'd be very happy to volunteer something of my own, too. Again, this is a great idea. I'll definitely be keeping an eye open for this and the other future projects. :)

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

As part of this exercise, the mods will first post the con crit, but of course there would be an open invitation for comm members to comment with their own insights as well. So, both!

We're accepting any and all volunteer fics! 5000 words or less, send it via e-mail to the address in the post if you're interested.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I answered this earlier, but I see it didn't post. Anyway, I'd say go ahead and send the first chapter and I'll take a look at it. My e-mail's in the original post. :)

[dulcemia.livejournal.com]

In a blaze of originality, I'll chime in with the 15th "This is a brilliant idea." It truly is, though.

This could really inspire readers to share their thoughts with authors in a helpful and respectful way which, as you've noted, doesn't happen often; we get the huzzahs (and the occasional lunatic flame) but actual Concrit's an elusive unicorn. A lot of us Beta, and this would be helpful for us as well, keep the chops in tune. All of this adds up to fostering better quality writing, and that's a worthy cause.

I'm wondering:

1.) Whether the critted fics will be posted anonymously, or at least with that as an option, according to author preference;

2.) If there's a minimum WC - would drabbles/1/1500 fics be eligible?; and

3.) Whether there will be any Concrit guidelines (just a simple do's/dont's ~ suggested approaches bullet points kind of thing) posted to assist comm members who are interested in joining the critique

I would also humbly submit a suggestion: Perhaps authors would be braver if the mods were to lead by example? You mention that you'll 'MST3K' :) your own first fic if submissions don't roll in, but perhaps even more would roll in if someone does that right up front?... Having the mods crit a mod fic first might make authors more comfortable with submitting, particularly the stage-frighty/fragile ones. Just a thought.

Again, this is much needed and wonderful!

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

1) I think the option for anonymity should certainly be made available for anyone submitting. I totally understand wanting that option and I'm happy to provide it. Once the fics are critted we will first contact the author and show them the con crit, and at that time they can decide 1) whether they're truly okay with it being posted (I don't want anyone to feel coerced in any way) and 2) whether they'd prefer to post it under their name or as an anonymous contribution.

2) I wouldn't begin to know how to con crit a 100 word drabble, to be honest, unless it was so egregiously OOC that it was obvious what needed some fine tuning. But, yeah, I'd be happy to do a 1500 word ficlet -- because we the shorter fics, you really have to be able to deliver cohesive information in a short format.

3) Yes, absolutely, we'll post some guidelines along with examples to quantify the guidelines. There are quite a few "rules" for con crit, so we'll go over those. And I think it will be interesting to debate the merits of certain suggested guidelines for con crit. Some may feel that a certain guideline is off or that things should be done differently, and we can discuss that.

Heh, I'm happy to post my own fic first. I've been revisiting my first ever fan fic and -- OMFG -- yeah. So, sure, I'll jump in the pool first if you'd like :D

I'm so glad you like the idea!

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Hey, did you get my email? :)

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

The one about the LOTR question I had?

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

No, the one for this with a link to my fic, lol.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

No! Could you resend it? That would be wonderful! slytherincess[at]gmail[dot]com

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Resent just now. :) Let me know if you get it?

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

Hmm, it still hasn't arrived. Are you using Gmail too?

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I was using my yahoo email address.

Have pmed you the link instead. :)

[rebecca_selene]

I've sent some fics! I hope they're useful. This project is a fantastic idea.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

I received your fics -- thanks so much!

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

I know this is ages late, but are you still doing these? As in, still taking submissions? Or was it a one time fun thing?

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

No, please, by all means -- send something along! I'm working on the con crit exercise currently. Thanks for your interest!