posted
After doing a few critiques, I've noticed that I seem to take too much of the author's preceeding comments into account and I think it colors my judgement. The writer may say what the story is about in the intro, and I'll be so interested in that, that the first 13 lines will fall short of my expectations. Considering that, I don't think I'm really giving a fair critique.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
[This message has been edited by UnheardOf (edited May 14, 2004).]
posted
I think there is a little bit of necessary information that should be always be given before the 13 lines:
1. Short story or novel 2. Genre (and audience or target market, if applicable)
Some more information that should be given if necessary:
1. By default, you'll just get feedback on the first 13 lines. If you want feedback on more, you need to ask for volunteers, and you should give a word count.
2. If the 13 lines are taken from somewhere other than the beginning, specify that and give any context that might be needed.
3. If you need the feedback by a certain deadline (such as for submission to the Writers of the Future Contest), specify that.
4. If you are only looking for feedback on one aspect of the work, specify that.
So, for example, you might introduce your 13 lines by saying:
quote:This is the beginning of a science fiction novel aimed at the YA market.
quote:This is the beginning of a 4000-word urban fantasy short story. I'm looking for people willing to read the whole thing by Friday, May 21.
Any information beyond that is probably superfluous.
posted
One thing that we may ask after reading the first bit which you should only post after some people have asked the question is what you're trying to accomplish in the opening.
Usually, your first thirteen simply introduce the POV and set the first scene of the story. They might hint at the major dramatic conflict, or only raise a subordinate conflict. If you're trying to do something very different, and someone asks what your trying to accomplish (or just tells you that you aren't accomplishing the ordinary things), then you can explain.
If you post up front that you are trying to achieve some special effect, then nobody will be able to tell you whether you succeeded, only whether it seems likely that you would succeed.
There are a number of other bits of information like that which you should only post here after someone asks for it. Once the question is raised, you probably needn't be shy about responding, but before that, stick to what Eric has outlined.
posted
I thought I'd kick this up to the top again, since we recently had a slight problem caused by just this sort of thing.
In the particular recent contretemps, the missing information was genre (i.e. target audience). I didn't feel that the post itself was at all out of line, but it probably should have been mentioned that the content of the work as a whole was "ribald" or "suggestive" (though I personally thought it wasn't ribald enough to really work). Of course, this is also true of other genres, but usually nobody ends up getting offended if the opening sounded like cyber-punk and it turned out to be military SF instead.
I admit, I usually only query for information about length if the posting author makes an omission. I tend to infer genre on my own, as do a lot of readers. But for certain genres--and to some degree for pretty much any genre other than soft SF or Fantasy--an upfront statement of the market at which the piece is targeted would improve the feedback a work recieves.
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