Proofreading
A new proposal
Community comrades, I would like to try something different this week. Me, not you, you can go about your business in whatever way you please, of course. But I would like to read differently this week. I have written previously about my somewhat challengingly conscientious vocal reading habits, and in Reply All, my response to Vocal's solicitation of our aspirations for 2024, I laid out my plans for readjusting these reading habits to manage my own capacity, as well as to free up more time for engaging with writers new to me. This largely involved letting go of the pressure to read everything anyone I had subscribed to writes, de-prioritising those creators with whom a one sided relationship is the prevailing norm. I am on no high horse here, understand, I am both an imperfect reciprocator (though I try) and an inconsistent community adventurer. Miraculously, my piece about reading LESS on Vocal did not place in that challenge!
By Hannah Moore2 years ago in Critique
Never Piss Off An Author (You Will End Up in Our Next Work!)
A cliché statement, yes, but true, nonetheless. It comes with the territory of watching this world turn (and burn) before my very eyes as well as your own, I’m sure of it. In my own case, I have felt story upon story begging me to be written as more events unfold, not merely in current events globally, but in the behind the scenes of said events. Never mind how such events may impact my own life—bigger things are at play and must be called out!
By Jackie Barrows2 years ago in Critique
Critiques Needed: First pages of Project Styx. Top Story - January 2024. Content Warning.
Authors note: I would like constructive critiques on the first pages of a sci-fi fantasy book I am working on. I would like to know first impressions and things that need to be worked on. This is so I can get an idea of what an agent or editor might think. I also know that this is long—no need to read the whole thing, in fact, tell me when you lose interest.
By K. Kocheryan2 years ago in Critique
Exile
“This is great, man; I’m so proud of you,” I gave Doug a congratulatory thump on his back; he had been working on this gallery show for six months now. He always had a passion for the arts and had been planning an event like this since he was in high school.
By Kelsey Winds2 years ago in Critique
The Unyielding Truth
In the heart of Metropolisville, a city renowned for its towering skyscrapers and bustling streets, there existed a peculiar government office known as the Department of Veracity. Despite its grandiose name, the department was infamous for harboring a culture of corruption that ran deeper than the ink in its bureaucrats' pens.
By Jacob Mhango2 years ago in Critique
My Coworker, Death. Top Story - November 2023.
Death and I work very closely, but never together I see death in passing about once a week, but we've never actually met. For most people death is an obscure thought, something that rarely crosses the mind. For others, it is the prominent shadow that runs past our peripherals. Tonight, death worked over time. He was not a blur that ran past as I was turning away, but was a prominent shadow in the room I stood in and the floor beneath me. I didn't see him at first, he's easy to miss if you want to. My focus was on the muddy veins of my patient's right arm, attempting to finagle one last good one to draw from. It was never my forte, but when I did get it, I enjoyed watching the smooth red liquid collect into the tubes; the simple movement of it was relaxing to me in a sense. It was a reward, an earning for my blind pokes that eventually caught what I was looking for.
By Kelsey Winds2 years ago in Critique
Strategies to Make Your "Vocal Writing Awards" Submissions EVEN BETTER. Top Story - September 2023.
You’ve poured yourself into creating an amazing story. You've read it through several times. Yet perhaps you hesitate before pressing “submit,” wondering: What could I do to make it even better?
By Sonia Heidi Unruh2 years ago in Critique
Excuse Me! That is NOT Yours! Put it Down!
Yesterday a friend and fellow Vocal creator saw that a deeply personal story of theirs, one that was a recent Top Story and one filled with their most vulnerable thoughts, was plagiarized and reposted on Vocal. Although they had already reported it, I went and did so, too, in solidarity.
By Judey Kalchik 2 years ago in Critique
How to Critique a Blog Post
A blog critique is a written evaluation of a blog post. It can be used to improve the writing, content, or design of the blog post. When critiquing a blog post, it is important to be constructive and specific. The goal is to help the author improve their blog post, not to tear it down.
By Timothy A Rowland3 years ago in Critique
