Critique Circle Made My Day

I’ve been part of the writer’s forum Critique Circle for about a month and a half. So far, I’ve critiqued 50 or so chapters in various books in different genres. Thanks to CC, I even started reading genres I have never read before, such as Romantasy. This is one of the benefits I never would have thought of; the possibility of dipping my toes into different, or returning to ones that I had abandoned years ago.

The idea behind the forum is to critique other writers in order to have them critique your own works. I haven’t uploaded any stories because I have nothing that I can actually upload at the moment. But it doesn’t matter. Just by critiquing others I’m improving my current manuscript. By analysing strong points and weak points in other author’s works I’m able to apply what I’ve learned to my own writing. I combine the practical knowledge from CC with the theory from The Linchpin Writer. It’s a great combination.

Today was a highlight for me. A couple of days ago I received an email in my CC mail from someone asking for a critique. I was confused as I couldn’t remember critiquing her past works. I searched the chapter she asked me to critique (it’s very good) and wrote up a few notes. I received a couple of responses in return. A thank you for my critique and a message saying she had asked for my input based on a critique I wrote for someone else. I swelled with pride at being chosen. What better gift could I ask for?