Welp, the kids are back in school, I’m all moved into my new place, and no hurricanes are imminent, so I’m finally getting back into my groove. Which is good, considering I’ve got TWO amazing critique opportunities for you this month!
#1: Our Regularly Scheduled First-Page Critique Contest
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED, but the character critique is still open. Keep reading for info 🙂
If you’re working on a first page (in any genre except erotica) and would like some objective feedback, please leave a comment. Any comment :). As long as the email address associated with your WordPress account/comment profile is up-to-date,I’ll be able to contact you if your first page is chosen. Just please know that if I’m unable to get in touch with you through that address, you’ll have to forfeit your win.
Two caveats:
▪ 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, let me ask that you plan on entering the next contest, once any necessary tweaking has been taken care of.
▪ I’d like to be able to use portions of winning submissions as illustrations in an upcoming presentation on first pages. By entering the Critiques 4 U contest, you’ll be granting permission for me to use small writing samples only (no author names or book titles).
Three commenters’ names will be randomly drawn and posted tomorrow morning. If you win, you can email me your first page and I’ll offer my feedback.
We run this contest on a monthly basis, so if you’d like to be notified when the next opportunity comes around, consider subscribing to our blog (see the left-hand sidebar).
Regardless of whether or not you’re entering our Critiques 4 U contest, we’ve got one more limited-time opportunity you may want to take advantage of: a chance for you to get feedback on one of your characters! First, a little bit of background info:
#2: One Stop for Writers and Author Accelerator would like to invite YOU to their Character Clinic on October 8th!
This live webinar will show you how to take a character from good to GREAT. Plus it’s an opportunity to…
- Get an intimate look into what happens between a writing coach and their client during the character development process
- Gain insight into the details about a character that REALLY MATTER so you know exactly what to brainstorm
- See how One Stop’s hyper-intelligent Character Builder will help you craft a fascinating and meaningful story cast.

Or if you’d rather get started on building a powerful character right now, activate our free trial. No credit card is necessary. Not only will you have full access to the site, you’ll be able to create one Character Profile using the Character Builder!
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Thank you
Hi Becca, how do you submit the page?
Hi Frank,
You leave a comment the day this post goes up to enter, and if Becca selects you as a winner, you submit the page as instructed in her comment on the same post. It looks like you didn’t win this round, but this is a monthly contest, so subscribe to the posts at Writers helping Writers so you can enter the next one. 🙂
Angela
Ok! The winners for this round are P.I. Barrington, Dan, and Sandy Stuckless. I’ll be in touch with you all shortly.
Thanks so much for entering, everyone! Winners are chosen randomly, so keep trying! And may the odds be ever in your favor. 🙂
Woooohooooo! Thank you so much!
First page is on it’s way! 🙂
Hi Becca, Angela and Julie. I was scrolling through Twitter and discovered your post. You know, I’ve never had someone critique the first page before. I would be thrilled to receive your thoughts on my work. This could be interesting. Or not. Lol. 😊
Oh, I’m so glad you found us! I do the first-page critique contest every month (dates vary); if you want to be informed when they come around, you can subscribe to get our updates via email, in the left-hand sidebar. Have a great day!
I’ve been an email subscriber for ages with you! Now I’d love it if I could win a critique!
I really learn from feedback and critiques, even the hard to hear and the hard to implement varieties. Thank you.
What a great opportunity.
I would love a chance for a critique!!
This is a very cool opportunity. Thank you so much for offering this. I know that so many new writers have issues trying to write the perfect first page, myself included. Hoping this will be helpful to whoever wins!
I’d love to have my work critqued! I can’t improve if I don’t know what’s wrong.
Hello,
I’d like to apply for the “First-Page Critique Contest.”
Thanks so much for offering it,
Ashleth
What a great opportunity!!! I would love a chance!
What an awesome opportunity to get some cool feed back. I do have the first page of my third book of a trilogy that I am writing. Book one is published, book two is at the editing stage; so having you critique the first page of book three would be wonderful.
Me please!
What a wonderful opportunity! I signed up for the Character Clinic!
Oh, good! Fingers crossed! 🙂
#1: Our Regularly Scheduled First-Page Critique Contest
This is an opportunity to help me make my first page shine. It is a little complicated and I hope to make it understandable to my YA readers.
We would love a critique of our first page!
Such a great opportunity! Thanks so much.
Would love to have first page looked at! Are the rules different for prologues?
Nope, the rules are the same. 🙂
What a wonderful opportunity! Thank you!
Would love a first-page critique but don’t have a website or WordPress account.
Hi, Bev! This is totally fine. Next time, I’ll just need you to leave an email address with your comment so I can get in touch with you if you win.
I would love a critique of my first page.
I have an urban Fantasy novel in the works and have worked hard to make my first page really capture the world and the main character. Would live feedback!
I’ve rewritten my first page st least 50 times! Still don’t know if I hit the msrk. I would love and adore a critique!
I would love to have a first page critique! 🤞
I would love to have the first page of the historical novel critiqued. Thanks for offering this contest.
You guys are the best! What an incredible resource!
I’d love a critique on the first page of my novella!
I have a first page but I do not know what a real fisrt page should look like. I will be 75 next month and I just write stuff and I am still learning.
Good for you, Richard! If you should win, I’ll let you know how to submit your first page, no worries. 🙂
I would appreciate having my first page critique.
I have a first page ready for a critique… fingers crossed 🙂
How about a memoir?
Any genre except erotica. 🙂
Would love a first page critique!
Thank you for the chance at a critique!
I’ve got my first page ready and would love this opportunity. Thanks so much.
I would love for you to critique the first page, you’ll get to comment on how well I’ve made use of your thesauruses.
Would love the chance to do this.
Thanks for the opportunity.
I would love a first page critique. Also looking forward to the webinar.
I would love a first page critique. #amquerying needs a little kick in the pants.
I would love the chance of a first page critique!