Sen Yama

...there are so many unanswered posts (even when you exclude the poetry)?

Aren't we here to help on another get better? And yet there are plenty of shorts that haven't been responded to...

It just seems discourtious, that's all.

Anyone have any ideas

__________________

Writing is the soul dancing before another's eyes.
http://www.writingforums.com/poetry/...-darkness.html Flirting with darkness, a poem

edropus

Most people stick to their section. I try to stick to crit&adv, both for writing and for reading.

A lot of people just don't read here; many of the 'older' posters just comment on Lounge stuff and stay out of the writing portions.

Changes person to person; no universal rhyme or reason.

I've been wanting to start a Crit Club where you sign up and have to leave at least one comment in other members' posts.

Let me know if you're interested.

Sen Yama

Sounds good to me

__________________

Writing is the soul dancing before another's eyes.
http://www.writingforums.com/poetry/...-darkness.html Flirting with darkness, a poem

Foxee

eropus, have you visited critique circle? It's a similar setup to what you're thinking.

__________________
Try the POSTCARD FICTION CONTEST! Closes for entries November 19. Can you write a story in 350 words or less?

starStuff

i've noticed it too. Some posts will get lots of critique and others will get few or none. I haven't seen a pattern in it at all. I guess it depends on who is on and what their mood is when you post your piece. I know that certain days i'll be in a mood to give a deep critique, other days i'll just comment, and sometimes I'm just not in the mood at all.

The two sections of my story i've so far posted have had widely different responses. The prologue got lots of good deep critique. Chapter one got two minor comments and fell off the thread page.

Is it possible for the mods to create a forum here with that exact theme? Like a members only thing where if you don't critique you get locked out from posting or reading in said forum?

__________________
Please read and critique my Novella-in-Progress, tentatively titled:
The Gadon Stone
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Library

Chapter 2 is in the works. These are posted in the Critique and Advice forum here.

JosephB

I gave Critique Circle a serious shot. I didn't think the crits were that good, nor the writing. In fact some of the writing is just horrendous. You have to accumulate points -- 5 crits -- in order to post a story, and so you can tell folks just dash something off to acquire points. It's also just very dull.

EDIT: That's just my opinion. It wasn't for me. You might like it, so check it out, by all means. Also, it was a few years ago, so who knows. Now that I think of it, maybe I wasn't the best judge then!

__________________
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
-- Albert Einstein

"I am really only interested in a fiction of miracles."
-- Flannery O'Connor

Non Serviam

Oh, I definitely see a pattern. Or several patterns.

The first pattern is who you are and whether people know you. I mean, say I post a piece and I get really useful critiques from, for example, Loulou, DwelleroftheDeep, Sam Winchester and Smilinghelps. I'm then inclined to look for their pieces and post responses in future.

So if you want good critiques, give good critiques to others (and target the people who're active in posting in your chosen forum).

The second pattern is about the thread title. If someone's thread is called "Please critique!" I probably won't bother opening it because the thread title shows a lack of thought. ("Please critique!" is the worst possible title for a thread. We already know why you posted; use the title box to entice us to comply.) But if it says "Historical fiction: The Taking of Jerusalem -- 2,000 words" then there's immediate evidence of a writer who's stopped to think before hitting "submit".

Once past these two hurdles, the next question is whether there's anything immediately wrong with the piece. A basic error in the first paragraph such as "where" for "were" (for example) means I just won't read further--I have limited time to read here and I'll spend it on the pieces that show serious work from the author has gone into it. In other words, I'll sometimes provide a critique, but I'm not a free proofreading service.

Assuming it holds my interest past the first couple of paragraphs, I'm likely to read on and at that point a critique from me is virtually guaranteed.

But it's down to the author to get me to read past those first couple of paragraphs, you see.

__________________
Thoughtcrime does not entail death. Thoughtcrime IS death.
http://www.theoddvillepress.com/html/download.html

edropus

Where do I find said circle?

Foxee

__________________
Try the POSTCARD FICTION CONTEST! Closes for entries November 19. Can you write a story in 350 words or less?

HippoHead

It's because people are too lazy to respnd. If a piece of work doesn't interest me completley I won't bother responding. Even with a good piece I almost always skip over most of it and give my critique on those partiular parts. The only thing I read the whole way through split into huge sections was Akroma's Raven thing, which is AWESOME. I sat down one night and read it for hours. Kudos to her!

Brenda Keesal

Life is chaos. Mood counts for a lot, actual time to read does, too. Personally, I don't have much time and prefer to encourage something I find strong, rather than blast something I find weak.

__________________
My blog: http://burnsthefire.com

Sam Winchester

It's not so much that people are lazy, more that they have lives, work, and their own novels to get completed. Full critiques are something that takes time, dedication, and patience to do. Sure, it'd be easy to just say: 'Damn, this is good.' Or, 'Dude, this was crap.' These little one liners don't get it done, though.

Then there's the other side. When you gave a full-blooded, pull-no-punches critique designed to help a writer, they sometimes have a tendency to piss that writer off. Sometimes, mind you. Not very often.

I'm completely the opposite. If it doesn't interest me, and I think it's poorly written, these are usually the pieces I spend most of the time critiquing.

__________________

Perception of reality is not the same thing as reality itself.

lilacstarflower

I also think it depends on what genre your writing as well.

I'm working on two different genres and I definitely see a difference in both views and critiques between them

__________________

CroZ

What section are you looking in? Every post on the first page of the T&A, Short Story, crit, lounge and debate sections have bee replied to.

Malone

I just scanned the first page of the Writers' Workshop, and every post has at least one reply, most with several. Not sure what you guys are complaining about.

__________________
There Is A Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed