Critique of Your Writing
The Next Big Writer–Online Option for Critique of Your Writing
By Diane A. Brown, reviewer, author
I have made a discovery in the writing world–a gem of great worth. It is a place of inspiration, insight, and friendship. The best thing is, you don’t have to leave home to visit.
My search for a writers’ group, or trying to start one, had reached a dead end. I was advised to look for an online group but felt it was too impersonal. Finally after looking for months I gave in and went online. The options were endless but nothing seemed to fit. Then I came across The Next Big Writer Web site: The title was definitely intriguing and the layout looked professional. Here are the basics.
You can participate in two ways:
1) Review Only: You have the opportunity to critique others work and offer comments and suggestions but cannot post your work.
2) Member: As a paying member you can post your work and enter their contests at no cost.
Monthly fee $7.95
Quarterly fee $14.95
Annual fee $49.95 (Includes a free subscription to “Writers Digest”)
Wow. I thought, This looks awesome. I’m impulsive at times and wanted to immediately sign up for a year, so I pulled out my credit card and got started. Then I thought that maybe it’s a scam. So I decided to check a little deeper. I searched the Internet for negative input about The Next Big Writer, (if it is a scam you can always find something written about it.) I unearthed no dirt–a positive sign. So I ventured back to the registration page and decided to try it for a month.
I did all the normal set-up profile stuff like location info, brief bio, contact preferences, and photo. My next step was to post my first short story.
The procedure was relatively easy and required only a couple of screens to complete. It included inputting your title, type of story, genre, rating, summary and what type of feedback you are seeking. The second screen was simply a cut and paste for my story. It was a romance titled “By Chance” of about 5,000 words, (the limit for individual posts). Within just a few minutes I was getting feedback!
Their ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
• 1 = A worthy start but needs significant work.
• 2 = Shows promise.
• 3 = Above average.
• 4 = Very good.
• 5 = Excellent. I really enjoyed it and I won’t forget it for awhile.
By Chance was my first attempt at romance writing. I had made several revisions and just thought of it as a work in progress. My first review scores were a 4 and 5. I was thrilled! There were positive comments mixed with helpful suggestions. Sometimes we get tunnel vision and miss things; it happens to everyone. This is a great way to consider changes before your manuscript hits the editor’s desk.
Your next required step is to rate your review with a 1-5 scale. The 1 is representative of no help at all and 5 being extremely helpful. You also have the opportunity to comment directly to the reviewer.
Your first posting is free. You have to earn “credits” to post more work. This is accomplished by reading the work of others and leaving a 50-75 word review. The amount of credits received for the review is based on the length of the post. I feel it’s a wonderful way to experience the work of others and have a wide variety or readers to comment on your work. Some reviewers focus on the mechanics and others focus on the emotional impact. Just in case you are wondering, members retain all rights to their works.
The Next Big Writer has other treasures to enjoy including several forums under these categories.
—The Next Big Writer – Site related
—Your Writing – The processes of writing
—Writing Groups – Lots of options
—General – This and that
You will also find FAQs, current contest, and other helpful links. The only drawback I have experienced is when the site is very active, the load time for some of the pages is slower, but then again I am impatient.
The Next Big Writer webpage quotes:
“Our mission is to empower writers and to find, reward and promote the best undiscovered writing talent.”
“Since its launch in October 2005 the site’s members have generated over 112,000 detailed reviews on 16,723 novel chapters, short stories, and poems posted on the site. From this, over 100 short stories and poems workshopped on The Next Big Writer have been published by independent literary magazines. Several of the novels on the site have already achieved commercial success and many more are moving their way through the publication process.”
Joining The Next Big Writer is the best thing I have done for my writing self in many years. I have discovered a worldwide group of peers that have the same goals and desires. Together we have the opportunity to reach for our dreams.
Now you are all hyped up visit http://www.TheNextBigWriter.com and take a look for yourself. I’ll see you there. A good day to all and to all a good write.