General Chat

I thought that the idea was to put it all on one e mail so we could all learn from the criticism. But I suppose that could be done as well.

Stella that's all there is ... I am very prone to starting things and not finishing :( I have at least three 'starts' and need to decide which if any to stick at!

xx

just read Stellas comments and I agree it is much easier to comment at the time. If this is okay with everyone I will continue. But as you say...Jill is the boss..lol

Maggie

Hi all !....just been reading through the thread and I have actually given my opinion on each piece I have read. Hope I did the right thing? I have C+P it though just in case...lol

Maggie

Let's see what Jill says later, she's the boss hehe

i have replied as i have received things....i find that easier as it is fresh in my mind from reading.

Rose , it is lovely.....i hope there is more of it...?

I thought we were going to do them in one go but I don't think it matters.

And yes Teresa, 3 in one sentence and as somebody with grade A, A level English I should have picked it up myself Lol!!!!!

I've already done my criticisms on those who have posted so far, I think. I did them as and when to the individuals.

Sorry was just off typing something up to send to Stella...for her withdrawal symptoms lol...

Just going to read back, but are we going to submit our criticisms all in one go or send out to individuals as the pieces come in? If so I will get cracking lol.

xx

Me too Stella, and as this is amongst friends, done between us all only, then it should be easier, without being picky of course, to be able to say, 'perhaps you could change this bit' or 'could you expand on this bit' or even 'you said that word three times in that sentence' *cough*

This isn't a competition, so we should be able to say what's good AND what's not so good without being judgemental or feeling we're being judged. It's just for leisure after all.

i would hate to think someone had noticed something in my work that could be changed for the better and not said anything to me..

Glad you found my comments useful Stella and Ann.

As for treading on dreams, it really depends how you tell someone. I mean, if you said, sorry, didn't like that, it was full of mistakes and was weak (not that any of the work I've read so far has been weak or full of mistakes), then yes you will tread on their dreams and damage their confidence.

But hopefully we can all offer useful comment on how to improve, what leaves us asking questions, whether a little more description/prose/dialogue/action would be needed etc. while being encouraging at the same time.

I loved BC's piece, not because I'm biased, but because it was so good and so well written there really was nothing to say.

Over time, perhaps I can pass on the little tips I have learned on the way through my course so far, and others can do the same. That way we all learn and improve and build up our confidence in our own abilities.

I don't mind taking it Ann (I think) but I hate giving it....XX

edit....I thought we all had one piece to do this time?

BC we will all have to be strong enough to withstand criticism. I too had some good help from Teresa. I may be too easy to please as, apart from typos I haven't really seen anything to criticize. I have written one other piece but was holding back as I wasn't sure how many pieces of prose we had to write.

Teresa is very good at offering a helpful criticism. I truly hate the criticising part, I wish we didn't have to as it would be so easy to tread on someone's dreams and put them off writing! I would much prefer if we had a panel of critics who don't write. XX

Teresa kindly pointed out errors in my first piece, i was really pleased that she had because now i have edited it and it reads much better just for changing a few words..

lol...I haven't written anything since but I really want to get my hands on my story and change loads! BC XX

i think this 2 week deadline is too long for me ...i am
impatient to move on, but i do realize that some members need longer than others because they are working or busy..

lol Stella I am the same...I took what I printed off to bed last night , but it didn't last long , so as I couldn't sleep for coughing I read Harry Potter after .
xx

i have enjoyed all the things i have read so far... am getting withdrawal symptoms now....

has anyone written anything else ?

:O))