PaulineMRoss
Inkling
About six months ago, I joined Scribophile, an online critique group, to get feedback on the early chapters of my current work. I thought it might be useful to report back on results, for the benefit of anyone thinking about joining a group, or for comparison with other groups.
First, a quick rundown of how it works. Scribophile operates on a karma currency system. You critique posted works to earn karma. You pay karma to post your own work. It takes two to three critiques to earn enough karma to post one piece. Your critiques earn karma by the word so verbosity pays! Some works are in a spotlight and earn extra karma, and some authors pay extra karma, so it builds up quite quickly if you select carefully. Unlike some critique sites, you can choose what to critique (there's lots of fantasy), and there are no time constraints. Posted pieces are supposed to be 3,000 words or below, but it's not rigid. There's a free level, allowing only two posted works at a time, or you can pay $65 a year for premium and post as many as you want - a whole novel, if you can earn that much karma.
Here's how it worked out for me. Over the six months, I posted two first chapters for general is-it-worth-continuing feedback, and the first 21 chapters of the current book. The first chapters received 6 and 7 crits respectively. The 21 chapters have received 158 crits so far (most of them are still active, so may get more). Chapter 1 got 22 crits, and chapters 2-8 all got double figures. The later chapters got lower numbers, but they're more recent.
The quality of the crits is generally very good. I've only received 2 that I would say were just written for the karma, and weren't substantive. All the others contained some useful feedback, and quite a few were awesome, either from level of detail or because they gave me some crucial insight into why a scene or chapter wasn't working. I haven't received any abusive or aggressive crits.
On the other side of the coin, I've written 135 critiques myself, and I'd say I've learned as much from that exercise as from receiving crits. However, it does take a lot of time away from writing. For a reasonably polished piece, I can critique it in about an hour, but some take a lot longer. The forums are also a time-sink, although there's some useful information too. On the plus side, I've made several good crit-buddies, who read all my chapters and I read theirs.
What Scribophile doesn't do well is critiquing a whole novel. The system works on a very narrow, chapter-by-chapter focus, people drop in to critique chapter 17 and then disappear, and even people who follow every chapter have long gaps between them. Plus, a lot of critiquers nitpick at the word and sentence level, rather than looking at character development or plot. So a novel still needs beta reading (or similar).
I've found it to be incredibly useful. It's helped me to tighten my writing while also giving me confidence that the story is working effectively. And a minor point - the website is very well designed and a pleasure to use. Like all these sites, the more you put into it the more you get out of it, so it needs some investment to get the best return. It won't suit everyone, but it's worked well for me.
First, a quick rundown of how it works. Scribophile operates on a karma currency system. You critique posted works to earn karma. You pay karma to post your own work. It takes two to three critiques to earn enough karma to post one piece. Your critiques earn karma by the word so verbosity pays! Some works are in a spotlight and earn extra karma, and some authors pay extra karma, so it builds up quite quickly if you select carefully. Unlike some critique sites, you can choose what to critique (there's lots of fantasy), and there are no time constraints. Posted pieces are supposed to be 3,000 words or below, but it's not rigid. There's a free level, allowing only two posted works at a time, or you can pay $65 a year for premium and post as many as you want - a whole novel, if you can earn that much karma.
Here's how it worked out for me. Over the six months, I posted two first chapters for general is-it-worth-continuing feedback, and the first 21 chapters of the current book. The first chapters received 6 and 7 crits respectively. The 21 chapters have received 158 crits so far (most of them are still active, so may get more). Chapter 1 got 22 crits, and chapters 2-8 all got double figures. The later chapters got lower numbers, but they're more recent.
The quality of the crits is generally very good. I've only received 2 that I would say were just written for the karma, and weren't substantive. All the others contained some useful feedback, and quite a few were awesome, either from level of detail or because they gave me some crucial insight into why a scene or chapter wasn't working. I haven't received any abusive or aggressive crits.
On the other side of the coin, I've written 135 critiques myself, and I'd say I've learned as much from that exercise as from receiving crits. However, it does take a lot of time away from writing. For a reasonably polished piece, I can critique it in about an hour, but some take a lot longer. The forums are also a time-sink, although there's some useful information too. On the plus side, I've made several good crit-buddies, who read all my chapters and I read theirs.
What Scribophile doesn't do well is critiquing a whole novel. The system works on a very narrow, chapter-by-chapter focus, people drop in to critique chapter 17 and then disappear, and even people who follow every chapter have long gaps between them. Plus, a lot of critiquers nitpick at the word and sentence level, rather than looking at character development or plot. So a novel still needs beta reading (or similar).
I've found it to be incredibly useful. It's helped me to tighten my writing while also giving me confidence that the story is working effectively. And a minor point - the website is very well designed and a pleasure to use. Like all these sites, the more you put into it the more you get out of it, so it needs some investment to get the best return. It won't suit everyone, but it's worked well for me.
Sage
Myth Weaver
Auror
