Welcome to Reading Excuses

[Turin Turambar]

Hey, I don't know where else to ask this, but is there a thread or a way to post about overarching plots, writing excuses stuff but not actual chapters, etc.

[kais]

@Turin Turambar you can make your own thread or post in the lounge

[Turin Turambar]

8 hours ago, kais said:

@Turin Turambar you can make your own thread or post in the lounge

Thanks.

[Sarah B she/her]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but what is the threshold for a language warning? 

I assume anything considered 'swearing' would count, but what about world specific insults or cursing? Ie nonsense words that are used as swearing. 

Also, what about derivatives like 'dang'?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[kais]

It's up to you, really. Full on swears need a warning, I'd say made ups don't, neither does anything you'd hear in a grad school playground (like dang, suck, etc.).

[Silk she/her]

On 11/3/2020 at 8:00 AM, kais said:

It's up to you, really. Full on swears need a warning, I'd say made ups don't, neither does anything you'd hear in a grad school playground (like dang, suck, etc.).

Yep, I'd say this makes sense.

[Aspiring Writer]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I just finished re-editing my first submission, so what do I do exactly? Do I just send the next few chapters of my book without the edit ones, do I send them with the edited ones, is sending the edited ones it's own submission, what's the procedure there?

[Snakenaps she/her]

20 minutes ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I just finished re-editing my first submission, so what do I do exactly? Do I just send the next few chapters of my book without the edit ones, do I send them with the edited ones, is sending the edited ones it's own submission, what's the procedure there?

Good question. It depends on you. 

Me? I like to sit on any revised chapters. I want people to "cold read" or be unfamiliar with the work so they won't be biased. So if I ever decide to re-submit a chapter, I'll do it at least several weeks from the first submission. Considering I have a 40 chapter book I'm slowly submitting...if I decide to submit a revised version, it will be like a year since the first time people read that chapter.

I just keep moving forward and put in the email any major changes I've made in the previous revised chapter that will affect the storyline moving forward.

I also don't personally revise a chapter until I struggle to remember what people said about it (roughly two weeks) because otherwise I revise emotionally instead of objectively. 

Other people submit their revised version the week after the original. I personally find these harder to critique because I biased from what I know from the previous submission. If you think you might get stuck revising chapter one for weeks...yup, don't do this. Just move forward. 

Sending in revised chapters either way counts towards your submission limit of 5,000 words. 

[Aspiring Writer]

2 minutes ago, Snakenaps said:

Good question. It depends on you. 

Me? I like to sit on any revised chapters. I want people to "cold read" or be unfamiliar with the work so they won't be biased. So if I ever decide to re-submit a chapter, I'll do it at least several weeks from the first submission. Considering I have a 40 chapter book I'm slowly submitting...if I decide to submit a revised version, it will be like a year since the first time people read that chapter.

I just keep moving forward and put in the email any major changes I've made in the previous revised chapter that will affect the storyline moving forward.

I also don't personally revise a chapter until I struggle to remember what people said about it (roughly two weeks) because otherwise I revise emotionally instead of objectively. 

Other people submit their revised version the week after the original. I personally find these harder to critique because I biased from what I know from the previous submission. If you think you might get stuck revising chapter one for weeks...yup, don't do this. Just move forward. 

Sending in revised chapters either way counts towards your submission limit of 5,000 words. 

Thank you!

[Snakenaps she/her]

55 minutes ago, Aspiring Writer said:

Thank you!

My pleasure, as always!

[Robinski he/him]

Yeah, @Aspiring Writer, it depends on what you want from the process, but what @Snakenaps says holds true for most people, I think.

If you send a revised chapter the week after you sent the previous version it will be freshers in folks' minds, but I feel the feedback will be proportionally less valuable, because--speaking personally anyway--I'm a bit jaded with reading the same thing again seven days later. Also, that approach breaks up any flow in the reader continuing through the story at a regular pace.

I have subbed a revision the following week, but I prefer to go one chapter after another, so the reader is reading a consistent package, and a regular pace (slots permitting).

Now, if you were subbing a short story, that would be different, as you are trying to hone a smaller piece through several revisions that might be quite close together, especially if you have a submission deadline for a competition, or market submission. But ultimately, it's up to you. Sometimes, if you sub a revised piece the following week, you can get some reader who haven't got around to reading the first sub, and can go straight to the second one so you get a fresh perspective.

[Silk she/her]

Yep, it depends entirely on what you're looking for. As folks have noted, it's a pretty common experience to hit a point of diminishing returns when it comes to resubmitting editing chapters, but if there's nothing wrong with doing that if it's going to be valuable for you. If you think it's more valuable for you to get feedback on later chapters instead, do that instead. If you've made significant changes to a previous chapter that you end up not subbing, you can always mention that in your email/forum post if you think that context will be important.

[Silk she/her]

New edit: Minor updates to the rules to better reflect current practices, and an update to the FAQs.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Silk

[The Unknown Order he/him]

How would I go about joining this?

[kais]

6 hours ago, The Unknown Order said:

How would I go about joining this?

It’s all in the first post in this thread. Just read through and follow the instructions 

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

I'm an amateur writer - I've written some short stuff and am 7,200 words into my first novel. I desperately want someone to bounce my work off of, and the thread does say "Beginners Welcome," but I definitely don't intend my work for publication yet. Is Reading Excuses right for me? It's totally ok if you say no; it won't hurt my feelings

[Mandamon he/him]

8 hours ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

I'm an amateur writer - I've written some short stuff and am 7,200 words into my first novel. I desperately want someone to bounce my work off of, and the thread does say "Beginners Welcome," but I definitely don't intend my work for publication yet. Is Reading Excuses right for me? It's totally ok if you say no; it won't hurt my feelings

Reading Excuses is a great place to get feedback and direction on how to become a better writer. One of the best ways to do this is show someone else your work and say, "What's wrong with this?"

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

10 hours ago, Mandamon said:

Reading Excuses is a great place to get feedback and direction on how to become a better writer. One of the best ways to do this is show someone else your work and say, "What's wrong with this?"

So… yes?

[Mandamon he/him]

18 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

So… yes?

Yes.

[Silk she/her]

On 2/3/2022 at 9:39 PM, Szeth_Pancakes said:

I'm an amateur writer - I've written some short stuff and am 7,200 words into my first novel. I desperately want someone to bounce my work off of, and the thread does say "Beginners Welcome," but I definitely don't intend my work for publication yet. Is Reading Excuses right for me? It's totally ok if you say no; it won't hurt my feelings

We get new and amateur writers in all the time; it's an open door over here. If you're on the fence, you can always take a look through some of critique threads on the boards and see if it seems like the feedback that other people are getting is the kind of thing you're looking for.

Or you can just join and try it out! If you decide it's not a fit for you after a few rounds, we certainly won't be offended.

Edit: In the name of thoroughness, I should note that you won't necessarily get to submit the first week you join.

Edited February 6, 2022 by Silk

[The Isochronism he/him]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this (I know, people say that a lot, I'm sorry) but I was wondering some more about how this works. Like, is there a specific format or whatever for submissions? Are we reading stuff, or writing it? Are we posting entire books, or just chapters? Where would things be posted/submitted? Etc. Sorry, I probably could have found this info somewhere but I'm not a super patient person so I'm asking you guys.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Bondsmith-Edgedancer

[Warmacky]

Hey @Bondsmith-Edgedancer, if you check the first 4 posts from Silk at the top of this thread you will find all of the information you are looking for.  I was new a few months ago and found she had done an excellent job of detailing all the specifics you need to know to participate (side note: it has been a lot of fun participating with this group of amazing authors!) .  I'll summarize some of that for you here to point you in the right direction until you have a chance to read the details:

4 hours ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

Like, is there a specific format or whatever for submissions?

Silk's 2nd post is dedicated to all the submission format rules.  It specified everything from file type, to font, word count, naming conventions, and the submission process.  Please review those details when you have a chance.

4 hours ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

we reading stuff, or writing it?

Hopefully both!  This is an exchange of critiques where you read submissions from other writers and give them feedback in exchange for them reading and critiquing your work.

4 hours ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

Are we posting entire books, or just chapters?

Some people post entire books over the course of many submissions.  The maximum word count per submission is 5,000 words.  Keeping the length short ensures you get more feedback because the time commitment to read and comment is lower.

4 hours ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

Where would things be posted/submitted?

You can have your email address added to a distribution list which has submissions sent every week that you can read and comment on.  Please DM Silk and Robinski your email address to be added to that.  Submission details are referenced in detail in the 2nd post by Silk on this thread.

4 hours ago, Bondsmith-Edgedancer said:

Sorry, I probably could have found this info somewhere but I'm not a super patient person so I'm asking you guys.

Please do refer to the 4 original posts by Silk on this thread for more details.  I found it all very clear when I read through it and it will be the fastest way to learn what you want to know since you can read it at your leisure!  I definitely won't do it justice trying to summarize everything here.

[The Isochronism he/him]

Hey, thanks for the summery, 'preciate it. @Warmacky