Is a fiction critique any use, and why? There are a number of reasons. The first is the reality that it's very difficult to be objective about your novel's quality. How can you possibly be sure that it's up to standard? Are you wasting months of your life on something that's just never going to work? Do you have what it takes at all? Maybe, though, it's that you just aren't sure about this specific novel - is it on the right track? Another reason might be that you realise that publishers nowadays expect manuscripts to be almost print-ready. They'll still have an in-house editor but no longer will that editor work with you to tidy up a messy or half-formed manuscript. They receive scores of novel that they have no need to bring on a half-finished story; they need only wait for a finished one to come in. You need to make sure that the polished manuscript they pick is yours - and a fiction critique will help you do that. Or, possibly you've just got a manuscript rejection and would like some aid figuring out why. You need feedback, which is what a fiction critique is really.There are four different ways to get the feedback you need. The first option is to ask your friends and family to read your manuscript, or part of it, and tell you their opinion on it. However, I don't recommend this option. With the best will in the world, family and friends aren't experts. If they didn't like it, they probably wouldn't know why, nor be able to suggest in detail how it could be improved. The most likely situation, though, is that they'll say it's really good - because they love you after all - and that will leave you no better off. The second option is for you to join a writers' group. The trouble with this is that you don't know how expert these wannabe writers are either. It could work out fine, of course, if you are lucky enough to find yourself in a group with experienced and knowledgable writers . It's not easy, though, to ascertain just how good they are. Another trouble is that there's a big time investment for you in taking this route - you are obliged to give feedback on their work too. Is this time that would be better off spent writing? Of course, it's not a complete waste of time as you can learn a good bit about writing by critiquing others' work. Another way of getting feedback is to effectively 'ask' the publishing industry to decide if your work is of sufficient quality. This method involves completing your story and submitting the manuscript to publishers and/or agents - their response will tell you exactly how good your novel is. The publishing industry is the final arbiter anyway - it's the one whose opinion ultimately matters. The problem with this route is that you really don't get to go back to an agent or publisher with the same manuscript, and so you don't want to ruin your one shot with a poor book. And to my mind the best option is to avail of a professional fiction critique service. A professional critique gives you the analysis you need without having to write the whole novel (and writing who knows how many flaws into it), and without running out of agents and publishers to submit to. And a professional critiquer will be able to diagnose the novel's flaws and offer solutions to those flaws. So in my considered judgement, a professional critique service is the best solution.
Author Tracy Culleton is a writing coach and teacher. She shares her love of writing along with tons of information at www.fiction-writers-mentor.com. You can learn more about fiction critique on her website.
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