(and the stories i do put up here, they were already written when I wasn't up to my neck in work and school and they just need to be revised, which I usually do on my spare time; I haven't had much time to write much, either)
Also, I don't have internet at my house, so that makes it harder. I usually go to the library and use the internet there for one hour, which is all I'm given, and then I have to get off and read)

Again, I appolgize for not contributing much. I will very soon.

Hey Devon,

We all start out somewhere as writers, right? None of us come here as fully-formed professionals with loads of experience ready to share with others. Lord knows I didn't. I had an over-inflated sense of my own writing abilities, brought on by too many people, too close to me, too uneducated in the writing process giving me good feedback for too long. I came. I offered my stories for critique and learned from the replies I got back.

I think where I learned more, though, is from being brave and getting my voice out there as a critiquer. Looking at others writing for the mistakes I've been called on. Seeing what works for me and what doesn't. And then, being bold and making those same comments. It does take a certain amount of chutzpah to be a new writer with no credits under your belt, and criticize someone whose writing you can sense is better than your own. Regardless, it's important for several reasons:

1. Wisdom oftentimes comes from the mouths of babes.
2. Even if we aren't accomplished writers, we can often be (and regularly are) experienced readers, who know a good yarn from hopeless dreck.
3. Opinions are like elbows - we all come with a couple of them, and use them to fight amongst ourselves. Wait, did I have a point with this one?

Anyways, long story short, we value all opinions. Your voice (whether put forth in a long detailed critique or a short pithy dispatch denigrating someone's punctuation or use of adverbs in dialogue attribution) is an important addition to Hatrack. I spoke from my own experience of seeing too many authors come by Hatrack, submit a few stories for critique, and then vamoose into the ether again, leaving the critiquing equation unbalanced. We all understand that life gets in the way sometimes. Lord knows my own has recently - I haven't submitted anything for critique in months, if not a year.

I just wanted to encourage you to contribute as well as ask for contributions. No ill will bore here.

But that said, if you don't have enough time you don't have enough time. I know exactly what that's like. Just look and see how long my chess game has been going.

First off, welcome to hatrack. Glad to have you with us.

I think Wolfe might have summed up most of what I was going to say, so I will keep it brief. Above all else, don't feel that you have nothing to offer in regards to critting other's work. Even as a new writer, you have some intuition on what makes a good story or else you wouldn't want to write them. By critting other peoples work, you will also be able to improve your writing. By observing other peoples crits, you will learn of popular views or rules that we try to adhere to, in general. Most importantly, it will help you build your experience as a critical reader, which you are probably beginning to learn through rethoric and essay writing in composition at school.

Secondly, I think that the mild scolding wasn't meant as a personal attack as much as just a glimpse at how frustrating it can appear to see one reaping the benefit of our time and labor without reciprocating. We all are busy, and all have a lot going on besides our writing. Like you we are striving to accomplish something we enjoy above the hectic rigors of our daily lives. On that note imagine the time that has been dedicated to offering you opinions and crit of the several post that ou have made, and I admit, it can be frustrating to someone like me, who contributes regularly, and dedicates alot of time in that effort to see comments on three of your posts while I am struggling to get comments on my own.

Perhaps, just try to avoid flooding the fragments area, and focus on one story at a time, especially since you are so busy. You likely won't have time to edit them all at the same time anyway. "But I ain't not mad at ya" just remember that we all want to help each other out, and try to balance as much as possible. Learning a little etiquette never hurt anyone.

We are glad to have you and look forward to what you do bring to the table.Often a fresh perspective can add a lot. You will likely be able to bring up a few new angles to consider, simply because you are not as familiar with the norm.

Have a great day, and good luck with your writing.

Personally, the only people whose opinions I in any way give additional weight to are those with whom I've established a relationship to where I know that they "get" my manner of writing and we've established a rapport in communication (such as my Lovely Assistants, genevive [the bunny] and Meredith [the cat girl]). Even then, its not that their opinions are "better" simply that we communciate better and understand each other more fully.

The only requirement I have of feedback is courtesy, and thats rarely if ever an issue here. I personally also like to discuss comments.

As you start out critiqueing, just give your impressions as a reader. As time goes on, I think its good to try and understand or find out what the author intends, so you can focus and tailor your feedback. That comes with time.

Don't be intimidated. Your a writer and a storyteller just as much as the rest of us, in my eyes. You've made the decision to write, you've done it, you've finished stories. I believe creativity and arts are individual things that spring from within a person and the same is largely true of critqueing. Your thoughts are as valid as anyones, just always remember that goes all ways.

Devon, you are exactly the kind of person that SHOULD be coming to the site: those that are willing to learn. Speaking as one who critiqued your work, you were very open to what I had to say and very accepting of criticism. From my interaction with you, you are a far cry from the norm.

I know what you mean, though the content of my workload is different, I'm continually close to burn-out even without my writing workload, and try to manage my time to stay just on the sane side of the thin red line. But here's where critiquing has been really important to me. Because it's only been through critiquing that I've been able to get better at (a) producing a solid first draft and (b) self-editing well enough that I don't need to put my work through as many critique cycles.

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Plus, I don't think my review or critique would be of much importance anyway, for I don't know much and I see all these people sending these immense looking comments and i'm like: "should mine be that long? I don't know if i can do that," so I haven't really done much of that for reasons consisting of thinking people might just think i don't know what I'm talking about.

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I totally understand how you feel. Some people here are really good at critiquing. When I first got here, I spent most of my time reading through the first thirteen line critiques, and I learned more there than anywhere else.

But don't worry about whether what you say is good enough. Honest feedback is the most valuable thing you can offer.

Overcoming fears of inadequacy is an important step for a writer (as is overcoming delusions of grandeur.) Trust me, people like getting responses, no matter whether it's longer than their first 13 or it's just a "I'd read on." It means that someone at least read it and thought about it. Do your best that's all anyone can ask.

You also happened to poke your head in at a particularly cranky time over here, (which smells like it has passed) so you might have gotten more than usual blowback, even though reciprocation is nice.

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I personally rarely spend time in Frag and Feed because of time reasons.

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