The Writers' Lounge

I'm always rather amazed at the total strangers who are like, "Read and critique my novel!" It's really annoying. (And, yeah, sometimes I read the first paragraph and am tempted to rip it apart brutally. Usually I delete without reading.)

Of course, reciprocation is what drives groups like Critters and Critique Circle. The idea is that you *have* to critique in order to be critiqued. But that can drive interesting dynamics where people crit stuff they hate, as they have to keep their own counts up. *shrugs* And it also can drive some really lousy critiques, as quality often matters far less than does just getting the words in. (And let's be frank, I could probably write a generic, "OMG, I loved this story so much! Your plot totally engrossed me, and your characters were great and so sympathetic!" critique and copy and paste it to every story...while not having a single angry author...and even if I didn't do that, 200 words of mindless gush is easier to write than a thorough critique.)

I do think that getting a critique from someone you don't know relies a lot upon having a strong opening and a good first few pages. (Same for being published.) That said, there is some reciprocation, so if you agree to critique four or five people's work, one is bound to say "sure" and do the same for you. And, of course, people who've only read a bit by you are more likely to critique if your story is short...

But either way, there's definitely a supply/demand imbalance. For this reason, I tend to get irritated at people who demand that their critiques only match their "demands". (i.e. the authors who go "I demand at least two nice things said about my story for every critique!" Which I find kind of hilarious as none of the major online critique groups allow you to pull that kind of thing.) If the supply/demand imbalance was reversed, it would make perfect sense. But as it's the other way around, I figure that authors should be lucky for almost any constructive feedback they get. (I certainly feel that way.)