The secret to getting your work critiqued online

OK, you’ve been brave. You’ve posted your work for critique in an online forum or on a critique website. Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for the comments to roll in. You’re waiting … and waiting ... and checking for responses. But nothing shows up, and your work is hanging out there with nary a comment! What do you do?

If you belonged to a writers group that met in person, critiquing each other’s work would be a natural part of the interaction you’d expect in the group. In fact, it’s usually the purpose for the meeting:  People take time out of their busy schedules to show up and participate by giving and receiving critiques. But it’s not so easy online when the interactions are separated by space and time and the relative anonymity of the participants.

I’ve often seen writers go to the trouble of posting their work for critique without much result, and I can understand how frustrating that must be. But there is a secret ingredient to getting a critique of your work that many people don’t think of: Be  proactive! You need to step up to the plate and offer your critique of their work first.

Don’t get me wrong—this is not the only way you'll get a critique. There are people who are always willing to give you the benefit of their opinion or who are nice enough to post a critique without expecting anything in return. But if you’re posting your work and nothing happens, see if you can find someone who has posted something and offer to swap critiques. Or just go ahead and critique their work and then ask for some comments on yours in return.

If you can create a win/win situation where both people feel they received something of value in exchange for their time, you’ll find it much easier to get a critique on your work. It’s hardly fair to expect someone to use his precious free time to go over your work if you aren’t going to contribute your own time in exchange.

-- Martha Lundin, editorial associate for The Writer

Comments

mother's happy child wrote re: The secret to getting your work critiqued online on Tue, Aug 24 2010 8:59 AM Hi Martha, Interesting topic!   Just for grins, I wrote a new post in the "non-fiction" section yesterday.  This morning I checked to see about the "reviews and replies."  There were 11 reviews and 0 replies (fine by me). However, looking over the posts for August there were 6 new posts (non-fiction), with 246 reviews and 2 replies.  I don't know why, but I too find these stats to be very interesting. I don't suppose, and this is like throwing eggs on a wall, we could have some type of automatic rating system - say from 1 - 10 at the bottom of the "add a comment" section.  Maybe it could read:  "Please rate this post from 1 to 10" with a square block added.   It appears some aspiring writers have followed your suggestion, "critique - to be critiqued" without success. You understand, of course, this is only an observation from my point of view. Any comments? Thanks, Mother's Happy Child

Marge wrote re: The secret to getting your work critiqued online on Wed, Aug 25 2010 8:41 PM I suggest writers check out the Internet Writers Workshop, (Google the name) They have lists for many different genres, and there are participation requirements for each list. example; two subs or critiques every month minimum requirement. Try it, you'll like it. Disclaimer; I've been a member for about 14 years, and am an administrator for the YA and children's list.