ideas please

[Waterpoor]

ok, i'm going to do it. whine!!!!!!!!!!!
i have spent considerable time trying to give feedback and feel i have done my share. it took a while to catch attention but eventually i got feedback on my material. most of what i have gotten has been valuable and showed me weak spots in my work, just what i was looking for.

i eventually put material up that i had not exposed before because it was difficult stuff to write, i had hoped for feed back from some of the 'oldtimers'. i have several pieces that got good readership but few comments. i felt at times that i had been ostracized by those critiquers who had been there before.

i really don't care for complainers. don't whine, do something. this is all i could think of to do. any ideas?

[Firefly]

I noticed that you have a number of recent pieces up--my suggestion would be to post just one or two at a time, focus on them, and then after some time has gone by, post another. Sometimes when you have multiple pieces up at once, members can feel overwhelmed at "getting to" everything. Other than that, just keep critiquing others' works, and for the people who take the time on others, I always see it come back to them.

Hope this helps!

[CandraH]

Ideas? Grin and bear it. It's just an internet forum, and posting your work here for critique is free. People don't have to comment or even read your work if they don't want to or are busy doing other things. There are no obligations on either side of the fence and whining that you're not getting any attention sounds like what it is, whining.

If you're so desperate for feedback at whatever cost, including whining, go join a paid workshop. There are plenty online and they cater for nothing else than workshopping your work. That might be more along the lines of what you're looking for.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, it's not intended to be. I just get a bit pissed off when people complain that they're not getting what they want. Personally, I'm very aware of the free hoice regarding critiques in this forum and absolutely appreciate any comments on my work. And if I get none, it's not a big deal to me. Certainly not my place to expect comments or complain if I don't get them.

[bicyclingfish]

I think that you are not out of line seeking responses, particularly after you have responded to so many people.

That said, and as another editor has demonstrated, the Internet can be an ugly place where people behave in ways that are not okay in "real time." There is a breakdown in the social contract here that allows for rudeness, indiscretion, and plain mean behavior. It emboldens people to show disrespectful and harmful parts of themselves, and to believe those parts to be real.

I would suggest that you take what you like and leave the rest.

[dean]

I am new here. I think you should critique other people's stories and try asking to have one of yours critiqued in return at the end of your critique. Sell your material! And start out with a HOOK, as the editors say, make those 1st few sentences of your story grab the attention of the reader. And ask for specific types of feedback after your story, in the areas you have questions about. I am going to go look for one of your stories right now, by the way.

Dean

[YoruKage]

Hmm...with works on the internet I have noticed that depending on the topic and the title that you give the work is what determines on how many people give you feedback. If you really want feedback, maybe you should try a title that will make them WANT to read the story. Though, sometimes you will get those that will just view the writing, read it and leave. It's the internet so it all depends on who you get to read the story if you get a response or not.

[IanG]

The number of critiques you get can vary greatly from one story to the next. One of mine got twenty while others had none. It is disappointing when it doesn't happen, but I try again and so far the next story has always drawn a response. I don't know if that will last, but I've had a number of good critiques already. Also, even if a story doesn't get a critique, if its taking hits then you know someone has paid attention to it. Some of mine have got no critiques yet gone on taking hits for some time. Other people besides you and me have had no hits on a story, whatever the reason.

[fleamailman]

("...would I be wrong in thinking that the more you are known by your readers the more they will both, seek you out here, and comment upon your works too, where surely if one is self-publishing one's works anyway, then offering a little more upon this forum, than what I have seen of you to date, would be in your interest now..." mentioned the goblin somehow remembering that dickens and dolye didn't actually write books at all, instead they wrote episodes in journals, so the goblin smiled, saying "...readers are rather lazy, they turn up on forums wanting to find something to read now, where if a writer were to write in episodes upon that forum then, offering a chapter a week lets say, then once the readers were hooked upon it, the author's other works would sell of themselves now...", in fact, the goblin meant well but was often misunderstood)

[Grace Gabriel]

Been off the Beat for a while - guess i'm possibly not the only one missing from your loyal and constant critique circle to be around the place less of late. Be patient R - lots of new blood here that will soon acquire a taste for you...and your old bad pennies will keep turning up...

[Nick Pierce]

Originally Posted by fleamailman

dickens and dolye didn't actually write books at all, instead they wrote episodes in journals

I find this bit of fact deeply interesting.

[CandraH]

What, that our Fleamailman wrote Doyle to sound like doily? Or that a lot of Victorian writers in particular produced their stories in episodic format?

[Gaines]

I don't crit as much as I should and I am sure it impacts the number of crits I receive on my work. That said, I do read quite a few pieces here on the wb and find many to be well written and enjoyable reads.

As one of the "old heads" all I can say is do not depair. If your aim is true it will eventually find its mark.

BTW no one ever mentions the fact that William Tell had fives sons....once.

[Devon]

And no one's noticed that this thread was created in late 2011, revived again in April of this year. Not terribly old, but . . .

Anyway. Still relevant, though, since many members often wonder "Why haven't I gotten any feedback yet?!?"