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Has anybody had a short story assessed by the Writers' Workshop for Writers' Forum? My comments came back today; the story hasn't been accepted but it says Highly commended and it gave me good feedback I can use in the future. Do you find this kind of assessment useful or do you think it's just a way to feed our ego?
Hi Summernight. Yes, I've sent in two stories to Writers' Forum and got their feedback sheets. I also got some positive feedback, but I don't get the sense that it's just flannel, as I was scored lower on some areas, eg dialogue, so it wasn't blanket approval. I also met someone at a festival last year, who'd had one of his stories rejected out of hand by WF, with quite negative comments on it, so I think they are pretty straight about things. The thing to bear in mind, though, is (of course) how subjective their view might be - I've read some awful stories in Writers' Forum and have been amazed that they've got through. Awful in a technical sense, eg viewpoint shifting all over the place, so something else must have won the judges over/blinded them to what seemed to me glaring faults! I don't think, though, that they are feeding egos.
Thank you all for your nice comments, they are very much appreciated.
Amboline. Yes, the critique is a tick-sheet format but there are also extra personal comments which I think are useful. 'Moments of pure elegance infuse a simple tale with charm through to its poignant ending.' is one of them ... sorry I can't help being a bit proud of it!
Anyway, I still only got 136 points out of 230!!!!
Very late congratulations from me, summernights. A friend of mine has had some very good feedback from WF which has been very useful to him. Keep up the good work.
I have to be honest and say I haven't been that impressed with WF. In the last issue I bought, one article alone was riddled with errors (6 on a single page, if I recall), and it ruined my enjoyment, managing to put me off WF after that.
Congratulations on being Highly Commended summernight. That's another one for the writing c.v. I would be interested to know how long it took WF to reply. I sent a story for assessment about five weeks ago but haven't had it back yet.
Last year our Writers Club received a free copy for a few months, of WF, and I find the lay out horrid. I couldn't sit down and read it for more than a few minutes. Something looks too cluttered.
Comments
gary and Carol
Thanks
Amboline. Yes, the critique is a tick-sheet format but there are also extra personal comments which I think are useful. 'Moments of pure elegance infuse a simple tale with charm through to its poignant ending.' is one of them ... sorry I can't help being a bit proud of it!
Anyway, I still only got 136 points out of 230!!!!
Helen. Yes, that's the one.