The Review Spot

Fiction only, and prose only. Don't post your screenplay written in non-rhyming choriambic foots. We're sure it's terrific, but we'll just say, "Duh."

You must be the author of the posted work. Don't request a review on behalf of someone else, who may not want an in-depth review.

Please send us only completed items, not drafts or segments of stories. Chapters are okay, but see the length guidelines below.

Please proofread your item before you submit. We'll comment on typos or grammar if we see problems, but we are not a proofreading service. We're here to help with craft.

Keep your submissions short: less than 4,000 words, please.

If your story is flash fiction--anything less than 1000 words--don't expect a detailed review. It's not that I've got anything against flash fiction, but like poetry it's a different art form than short stories. I'm not confident my advice on flash fiction is helpful.

This is mostly for short stories, but we'll read the first chapter to your novel if it's less than 4000 words. This is not the place to get your novel critiqued. If that's what you're after, we suggest you apply to join a novel critique group.

Please don't post more than one item in any fourteen day period; we want to be fair to everyone.

This is a place to post fiction. Don't send us your life story or your paper on non-associative Lie algebras. We might be interested in those (probably not), but this isn't the place to send them. We'll read any fictional genre, but we're probably not very good at works aimed at children or young adults.

Do not ask us to review the same thing more than once, even if you've revised it. It might help you to get a second review, but that's not the purpose of this page. We are volunteers, with families, jobs, and our own writing projects. We must apportion our effort here in ways that benefit the most visitors to this site and still permit us to meet our many other obligations. Please cooperate with this rule.

Be sure that your works are properly rated according to WDC standards--see "Content Rating System (CRS)" . We'll read anything that fits the above guidelines, and we're not the ratings police, but this is a public forum and simple courtesy will alert readers as to your content.

All reviews from this page are public and will appear on the public review pages. If you don't want a public review, don't post here.

Fan Fiction is acceptable in principle, but only if I'm a fan, too. If you've got Star Trek Voyager fan fiction, I'll read it. If you've got Buffy fan fiction, I'll pass, having never watched a single episode. I'm not criticizing Buffy--I'm sure it's awesome--I just never watched it.

We'll re-state your plot. This will help you confirm that you've communicated it clearly.

We'll comment on your choice of point of view: is it consistent and appropriate?

We'll comment on referencing: if you have a character in the 1920's humming a Beatles tune, it better be a time-travel story.

We''ll comment on your setting: can we visualize your scene; can we follow the movements of your characters?

We'll comment on your characters and their relationships.

We''ll comment on grammar.

We'll give you our opinion on how well the story or chapter works: do you have hooks, is the first paragraph strong, does the pacing work?

You'll also get line-by-line comments. That's where we'll try to help you with specific suggestions about the craft of writing.

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