Erik Rodgers's picture
Erik Rodgers from Los Angeles is reading Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje April 12, 2013 - 1:39pm

Hi everyone.  Just joined the site.  Getting oriented thanks to Courntey's great intro  and then will read some of the review tips before digging in.  Hopefully I'll get the hang of things quickly!

My stuff will probably be on a bit of the longer side, so I welcom suggestions on whether or not to break it up into smaller submissions.  Specifically, A Novella I'm working on (28,750 words in three roughly equal sections) and a short story (7,500 words in two sections).   

Any other tips and suggestions for getting started and getting involved are welcomed as well!

 

 

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters April 12, 2013 - 1:45pm

Welcome!

On the submissions, you will likely get the most bang for your buck if you break them up.  The "sweet spot" for getting reviews is somewhere around 2500 words.  Longer things will get reviewed, just not as much.  As you meet people you can work out tit for tat deals where you review for them and they will review for you.  The workshop is great that way. 

As for getting involved...where to begin!!!!!!!!!!  There's plenty of fun stuff here in the forums, as well as the magazine.  Look around, see what you like and feel free to jump in anywhere you like. 

I'm the moderator for these here parts, so if you have any specific questions, comments, worries, or concerns you can shoot those to me. 

If you'd like, I can find a weird picture to post here to make you feel more welcome.  Or if that's not your thing, you know, it's cool.  I don't hold it against you.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks April 12, 2013 - 1:51pm

Hi, Erik! Weirdly good timing, I logged on to the forums three minutes after you posted!

You only get the chance to post one story until you've reviewed a few; you get fifteen free points for signing up, but you have to earn another fifteen to post a second story. Or, in this case, section.

The pros and cons of posting a novella are common to most review circles. First, you have to keep the reader through all your sections to get good criticism. Don't be afraid to reach out to people who reviewed the first section and haven't reviewed the second; just let them know you hope they review it, as you appreciated their comments, and nearly everyone will try to help you out again! The other major problem is getting people to review each section anyway -- dividing it into three sections would make it nearly 10k words, and it's damn near impossible to get those reviewed. If I were you, I'd have it broken down to 5k, but that would require six separate postings. Weigh your options and choose what seems best to you!

My suggestion would be to post your short story first. Since you wrote both the story and the novella, you'll probably have a similar writing style for both and can get a general idea of what problems you have in the actual writing. Like, if you use too many adjectives or if your dialogue is unrealistic, you'll find that out when you post the short story. You can use those comments to hone both the story and novella and improve the novella so it's less work on reviewers.

Most importantly, have fun! We like pretty much everyone here.

Linda's picture
Linda from Sweden is reading Fearful Symmetries April 12, 2013 - 2:03pm

Greetings Erik! I have no wisdom to add, but I can alert you to the fact that people throw around some pretty weird lingo in the workshop, and let you know that most of it hails from the craft essays that can be found in the magazine section of the site.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics April 12, 2013 - 3:12pm

It's nice to find someone with longer works they're wanting a new set of eyes on. I'm always up for putting a few hours into doing a line-by-line review on any of your longer work if you can't drum up a ton of interest because of the lnegth. Avery is right about the 2500 sweet spot. So, just let me know if you want a review for the novella - I don't want to toot my own horn, but others have told me my lbl's are really thorough and hopefully at least slightly helpful.

Welcome. You are now one of us... one of us... one of us.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks April 12, 2013 - 6:38pm

Same offer as Photon from me, too! I've gotten compliments on my reviewing as well, but that might be because I'm so young and no one wants to hurt my feelings.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics April 12, 2013 - 6:43pm

Awww, c'mon... You could be a four year old poster child for some heart breaking condition, and if you were a loser, I'd have no problem telling you, Courtney. Since I haven't, you're not.  I'm sure that goes for many here. We may not stomp your head till your brains shoot onto the carpet like grape jelly out of one of those squeeze bottles, but we wouldn't pull punches just because you're a young lady.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated April 13, 2013 - 7:11am

Hi, and notice Strange said 'may not' instead of 'will not'.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics April 13, 2013 - 7:23am

LOL, Dwayne is sharp.

A very helpful and important distinction to make, the one between may not and will not. Could be the difference between life and a stained carpet!