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Critiques 4 U

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writing weather winter critique group
My snowy yard

Happy January, everyone! Typically, this is a month redolent with opportunity and new beginnings. Where I live, it also means that your kids only go to school half the time. So…kind of counter-productive. On the upside, snow days mean sleeping in, waffle breakfasts, and long days in pajamas. Also, lots of reading. So let’s do a critique contest, shall we?

CRITIQUES 4 U!

CONTEST CLOSED

If you’re working on a first page and would like some objective feedback, please leave a comment that includes:

1) your email address. Some of you have expressed concern about making your email address public; if you’re sure that the email address associated with your WordPress account is correct, you don’t have to include it here. But if you do win and I’m unable to contact you through that email address, I’ll have to choose an alternate winner.

2) your story’s genre (no erotica, please)

Also, please be sure your first page is ready to go so I can critique it before next month’s contest rolls around. If it needs some work and you won’t be able to get it to me right away, I’d like to ask that you plan on entering the next contest, once any necessary tweaking has been taken care of. 🙂

~~ONLY ENTRIES THAT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED~~

Three commenters’ names will be randomly drawn and posted tomorrow. If you win, you can email me your first page and I’ll offer my feedback. Best of luck!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. BECCA PUGLISI says

    Thanks for entering, everyone! The winners this week are…

    Irene Kessler
    MM Forsythe
    Mary Balice

    I’ll be in touch shortly with the 3 of you. Everyone else, I’ll see you next month!

  2. Judy Levine says

    Enter contest. writer.jlevine@gmail.com. Women’s Fiction.

    I have your books and find them helpful. I’m already on your mailing list. I’ve reworked the beginning of this novel many times and would like an outside (and professional) opinion of the current first page.

  10. Jay Hicks says

    Hi Becca. I’m writing contemporary/historical fiction involving an elderly recluse who is forced to change her ways when she learns she’s not the last living member of her family. Thanks for this opportunity.

  25. JC Martell says

    Would an entry be considered if you’ve already had (the great pleasure!) of winning before? This is a mighty generous thing you do.

    I have been a member of One Stop for Writers since it originated, and it’s still my #1 resource for line editing, and more and more for the big picture planning and revision with all the super new resources you’ve added. I’m amazed at all the new and useful things you come up with! What about some sort of “action” thesaurus? All those dull walk, stood, sat, said, thought, etc. There are resources out there, including plain ole alternative-word lists but your approach is always so much more detailed and I DO like all my resources in one place. I would love something that not only has the alternatives, but how they “compare” (if that makes sense) – without having to look up the definition of the alternative word. A BIG thank you for One Stop, once again.

    • BECCA PUGLISI says

      Hi, JC! If someone has won a critique in the past and they win another one within the same calendar year, I have a policy to withdraw them from the running for that contest. But so far, that’s never happened. And because this is January, everyone’s back in the running :).

      And thank you for your suggestion. We will keep this in mind or future resource ideas!

  26. Irene Wittig says

    My genre for the novel I am currently working on is Historical Novel – and is about Vienna from the time of their civil war in 1934 through the war to 1959.

    Thank you for your newsletter and all the helpful information you are willing and eager to share with fellow writers.