Please read the rules below before posting. We're taking turns to post text, and text posted out of turn will be hollered.
The discussion over at the "Is being Troperiffic a Bad Thing?"
thread got a few of us seriously talking about starting a full-fledged, free for all dedicated ConCrit thread. Thanks go to your friendly neighborhood Herald, Chihuahua0, for giving this the go-ahead 
This is how it's going to work:
- This thread is for helping people improve as writers. Please stay away from needlessly gushing or needlessly being mean when handing out criticism.
- No mentioning your own work when giving out criticism. This is to prevent "Let's talk about ME" derails.
- Feedback will be given to one person at a time. We're taking a deliberately slow pace; a person's turn to get feedback is generally supposed to last a week, but we're not ending someone's turn until they get feedback from at least five different people. On the other hand, the person getting feedback can end their own turn if they figure they're done.
- When a turn ends, we wait 12 hours to see if anyone of the people who have just given feedback wants to be up next. If they don't, we pick the person up next from the feedback request list.
- Yes, it's okay to point out spelling and grammar errors made by the person you're giving feedback to.
- If you're unfamiliar with the original verse of a piece of Fan Fiction up for feedback, pretend it's a piece of original fiction and criticize accordingly.
- If and when you step up to receive feedback:
- Post actual writing (not world-building, concepts, layouts, character lists and so on).
- Be specific in what you are looking for, or at least mention what is troubling you the most.
- Fan Fiction is fine, but take into account that anyone not familiar with the source material will judge your piece "blind", essentially by the same standards as original fiction. This means you might get called out on flaws that fan fiction usually gets away with in practice, perhaps even justifiably so. Just like any other kind of criticism, consider it or ignore at at your discretion.
- Be ready to hear some things you probably didn't want to hear. This should go without saying, but, please: No being bitter, being sarcastic, calling people out for "going too far" or otherwise expressing disapproval of the criticism given to you. If you think people are being unfair to your writing, make your case civilly.
With that said, I suppose we can begin and see whether this goes anywhere. The first person to respond with a post to the extent of "I'll go first" will go first.
edited 17th Feb '12 5:07:01 PM by TripleElation
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
The climax is usually where the central problem of the book (but not necessary of the entire series) is resolved, for better or for worse. I'm just a little confused about what exactly is being resolved/revealed/being realized.
I'm probably nitpicking though, so you can go ahead and disregard my question.
I do give you kudos for presenting the scene with a bang, however. Some stories tend to not have that.
edited 8th Feb '12 6:42:43 PM by chihuahua0
Ahr river
Oh. Yes. This climax is less...resolvey...and more...catalysty...
As in, it basically kicks off the main plot.
I will not lie, the plotting of my first book is...abnormal...
edited 8th Feb '12 6:50:59 PM by MrAHR
Read my stories!
So, it's not the climax, as in the final one. It's just one of the smaller climaxes (?) throughout the story?
edited 8th Feb '12 7:02:06 PM by LoniJay
Be not afraid...
Ahr river
Final climax of Book One. Yes. Sorry for being unclear.
Read my stories!
Drummer Boy
edited 8th Feb '12 7:10:35 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Ahr river
Oh, yes, I get to pick the person from the people who critiqued, yes?
Read my stories!
Drummer Boy
Whoops. I just forgot.
Ignore me.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Diagonalizing The Matrix
AHR: Yes, pretty much.
As to the climax thing: You probably want the climax to resolve themes and issues related specifically to book 1, then. If you're not careful you might end up with a Longest Prologue Ever, It Gets Better type of thing on your hands.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:14:48 PM by TripleElation
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to
Ahr river
So...uh...who WANTS to post something?
Read my stories!
Moi? If you won't mind.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:16:41 PM by QQQQQ
Diagonalizing The Matrix
EDIT: nvm, ninjad to oblivion.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:17:30 PM by TripleElation
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to
Ahr river
Doesn't it need to be someone who gave me feedback?
Read my stories!
No.
Maybe we need to make the rules about "Who's Next" a little clearer, Triple?
edited 8th Feb '12 7:20:11 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
Ahr river
Then you need to reword
I have something that I wouldn't mind feedback on, but I haven't given any critique and I don't mind waiting.
By the way, what's the rough size of work that we're talking about here?
Be not afraid...
Diagonalizing The Matrix
I meant it to be someone who gave feedback, yes. I figured the demand for feedback is going to be higher than the supply. Maybe this was wrong, too early to tell.
This is kind of a toughie. I want to say yes, go ahead, but for all I know one of the people who just gave feedback wants to be next. How about this: We give this a day, and if until this hour tomorrow no one of the feedback-givers speaks up and says they want to go next, QQQQQ gets the spotlight.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:24:23 PM by TripleElation
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to
In your OP, could you start a queue of people who asked for a review? It will be easy to keep track of, in case people who give critiques regularly never post anything.
So something like:
- Snowy Foxes
- QQQQQ
- Loni Jay
- Etc.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:33:06 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
I'll try and get my thoughts out on AHR's excerpt — I've read it, and I don't think I have much to say that the others haven't mentioned already. The piece I have is a six-page short story fanfic, from a long while ago, but I'd still like to reflect on people's thoughts about it.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:26:56 PM by QQQQQ
The problem is that the list will go bust in a few weeks (see the OP of the Trope Critique Club), but it serves as a temporary situation.
Drummer Boy
I, uhm, actually asked first, but blanked the request when I realized that the next poster had to be picked from people that had given critiques.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
Oh, sure.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:30:29 PM by QQQQQ
Should we set a twelve-hour waiting period for a feedback giver to step up? That sounds like a reasonable number.
Diagonalizing The Matrix
Yeah, that's reasonable.
EDIT: Wait, never mind. If we have a formal queue for people who haven't given feedback, and anyone who has given feedback can just step up, that works. I'm kind of worried about the possibility of someone stepping up and being ninja-d, but I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
edited 8th Feb '12 7:37:17 PM by TripleElation
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to
Well, I didn't mean for it to be binding, but just so everyone will be kept track of, so we could prevent things like Snowy's request, etc. But a link would be good.
Chih: OK? Do you see that specific problem with my story? This is not the last scene of the book. Just the climax.
TE: Well, I got a lot of good feedback. I definitely know where to go next. Once I figure out what Chih is trying to say, I'm good.
edited 8th Feb '12 6:37:30 PM by MrAHR
Read my stories!