The stories go up on a Friday night, but I never get a chance to view them then as I've just travelled back home after working away all week, and it wouldn't go down well if I immediately ensconced myself with stories to read and crit.
There were six this week, and I did them all on Saturday morning. Up at 7.30, which means by 12.30 all six were done, about 3000 words in total of crits. I probably learned more from those 3000 words than I would 6000 of my own writing.
Two stories this week seemed to have the germ of a very strong idea in them, but were oddly focused. They seemed to me to miss the meat of the story, concentrated on an aspect which was too much "seen it all before" whereas hidden within the stories were some fascinating ideas which were not fully developed.
For both of those stories, I'm certain a good rewrite could see them as prize winners.
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1 comment:
I always try to blitz them, for a few reasons.
First to get the work over for ME
Second to kick-start the crit session
Third to show it CAN be done
Fourth to work under pressure like a judge
Fifth to ensure that the authors get EARLY crits they can read and forget.
alx
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