Is it ok to ask for writing critique on fluther?

I would be glad to help in such a capacity for any one who asked.

I have no idea how it would work, but I would be totally for this, both helping and being helped.

Me too. I’m in.

And Coloma makes quatro! (that sounds rather obscene doesn’t it?) :-p

You put one word in
you take one word out
you put one word back and you shake ‘em all about

You do the hokey pokey
and you turn those words around

that’s what it’s all about!

Sure.

SOUNDS GOOD BUT WE HAVE TO TEST IT FIRST TO SEE HOW IT WORKS

[ damn caps sorry ]

Awesome idea. Please start this.

It depends. If you have a specific question (“I’m stumped by an awkward sentence. What’s a better way to phrase this?”), then yes. If it’s “What do you think of my poem/short story/blog entry?”, then no. This is, after all, a Q&A site, not a literary critique site.

I personally would not want to open my writing up for critique on such a broad forum with no safeguards.

It could be phrased along the lines of ” Calling all writers, would you like to participate in a writing critique?”

Asking for help with a piece of writing, IS a question, and it draws in the writers/poets of the house for their expertise and creative input.

I see nothing wrong with this in the least.

It’s an ‘exercise’ in engaging the collective creative.
As with all questions, either it strikes your fancy, or, it doesn’t.

Obviously we are not talking about editing someones 450 page novel, just a little guidance and creative feedback.

Related discussion

I’d be very interested, yes.

@syz I checked out that link, and now I understand your point of view much better. Still, it’s disappointing. I’m having trouble finding a good writing community, (maybe advice on finding one would be a good question to put to the collective) because, in general, people seem more interested in self-promotion than in critique.

One reason I like Fluther so much is that people are so intelligent and helpful here; there really is a better quality of discourse here than pretty much anywhere else on the internet. That’s why I’d hoped to talk about writing here vs. on other communities. But you’re right, this is a Q&A site and not a writing site.

@Haleth This seems to be a pretty helpful site. I have no skill when it comes to writing, so I haven’t really looked around, but surely there are smart, helpful communities of writers out there.

And of course, that’s just my own opinion. I’m just a cog in the wheel – if you approach Fluther ownership/management, they may decide that allowing literary review is just fine.

People used to post poems for critiques. I didn’t realize that had been made illegal. I don’t know if the advice given here would be very useful. I know that the two or three I critiqued I basically trashed. It always seems like the novices post stuff here. I haven’t seen anything that I would consider publishable. I doubt if my critiques helped. But it was kind of fun to say what I really thought.

@syz That looks helpful. I’ll be sure to check it out, thanks!

@wundayatta Feedback doesn’t have to be kind to be helpful. I’d rather have someone trash my writing so I could improve, than tell me there was nothing wrong with it.

@Haleth I was taught to be supportive in critiquing people’s work. You name a few things you like before going onto the things you don’t like or think don’t work. I believe it is very important to do this, because the ego of a writer can be quite fragile. But here I don’t feel the need to follow that rule because this place isn’t about literary critiques. So I feel no guilt about being an asshole when doing this. Well, ok. A little bit of guilt, but I try to ignore that because it is so much fun to say what I actually think. I guess it’s the Simon Cowell in me.

I think you can get pretty creatively nasty if you let your nasty side have free reign. Then you seek to entertain instead of help someone improve. So I don’t care if you improve or not. You put some question up there, and as long as I don’t attack you personally, I can rip away at it, should I choose to do so.

@wundayatta

Are you presenting yourself as editor in chief critique?

Are you a tugboat or the Titanic?
Oh oh….wait, you’re the iceberg that’s gonna sink our ship? lol

Bear in mind that any writing you post on fluther has the potential to break your anonymity.

I respond occasionally to specific requests, but I wouldn’t join a thread.

I don’t think any of us are opinionated enough to give you a good critique.

You’re being facetious, right, @Dutchess_III? Which of us is not opinionated? To me the trouble is more likely to be that those who are willing aren’t necessarily qualified and those who are qualified are apt to be torn between candor and kindness.

@wundayatta, free rein is a horse metaphor, not a royalty metaphor.

Of course!

@Jeruba Oh I don’t know. I’d say that Cowell has a kind of lese majeste. Sorry, but I’m not one of those people who never makes a spelling error. In fact, I make them quiet often. My rein as spelling champion never got off the ground. But chute me. It’ll give me my just deserts.

I’m fine with asking for help with spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and even if a essay is properly structured.

But I think allowing people to ask if there poem/story is good will make the site worse.

@wundayatta, sorry, I don’t get what you’re telling me with a reference to Cowell . . . ?