My favorite Writer's Critique group

     I have just finished my first novel, and almost immediately, I felt the urge to write the next one. That lasted about a month, now I want a break from any big commitments. I just want to play with short stories.

     Instead of writing something new, I looked in my reject pile and found a beloved old story I named Born Again. I’ve now reworked it, but before I send it out this time, I’m submitting it to a writers critique group online. Don’t know what that is? They are sites in which you can post your stories and receive feedback from others writers. Posting your story for everyone to see is one of the best ways to know if it’s ready for publication.

     Why use a critique group? Because we’ve all edited a story ten times and missed spelling errors, or failed to see a story element that made no sense. Allowing other writers to read you, puts the story in the hands of people who understand character development, scene building and other technical elements that even hardened readers may not be looking for.

     The Zoetrope Virtual Studio is Web site for filmmakers, writers and other artists to review and discuss each other’s work. The categories of writing are Short Stories, Screenplays, Novellas, Short Scripts, Poetry, and Flash Fiction.

     It was launched March of 1998 by Francis Coppola, and was intended as a website where writers could submit their short stories to his magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story. It became popular quickly and now includes departments where members can workshop film projects, music, graphics, design, and video. Francis Coppola pays for it all.

     It is a great workshop environment for writers to test and refine our craft. You'll get feedback, collaborate and network with other artists, and maybe get published since all submissions are made available to Zoetrope magazine editors. And you’ll get to read some really cool stories!

     Is it truly free? Well, not completely, you must read stories from five other writers before you can post one of you own. That way you must look at other’s work before getting your own needs met. And reading the work of other writers is something we should be doing anyway.

      I hated the idea of a critique group at first. I was worried everyone would not like my work, but I’ve  learned that the fear and worry are just pride, and pride is of no use to an amateur writer.

     Go and learn, then tell me what you think, or tell me about some other critique groups out there. Zoetrope, is the one I use, but I'm researching others for future posts.

     Lucho