One of the numerous reasons I love Camp Nano is that they give us resources and wonderful discounts on things that cost money. Scribophile is free, but has a premium option. For my friends who are familiar, it works much like #NBR*. You have a spotlight, get critiques and earn more spotlighting by giving thoughtful crit yourself.

Of course it is full of characters.

You get a freebie as a New Member. Just follow their gamified to-do list and by the end you’ll have enough karma (brownie points) racked up to earn the newbie spotlight.

The UX is fantastic, it’s very well done. I’m a fan of all gamified systems and this is a good one.

I see myself being really distracted by the site and am going to attempt not to plunge in fully until my draft is finished and my long-suffering editor gives me her blessing on my series outline.

But the initial feedback on my first chapter was “Oh it’s like Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller.”

Of course. I used the word “lute” so it must be the same. Wink.

That isn’t really fair. I did purposefully include a really obvious hat tip in the first scene as a nod to those who would compare the two. Best to get it out of the way.

Yes I’ve read Kingkiller.  Move on. 

I’ll take it out. Sigh.

Mostly the feedback was good and constructive. It ranged from experienced review to novice and I’m okay with that.  From the little I’ve read, the writing seems to have a wide range of quality as well. That’s a good thing.

This is possibly my fifth such group/site? I joined “Critters” early and wasn’t ready for it and so moved on, trying a paid site. That helped, but I still wasn’t ready. I went back to writing and then joined Wattpad and loved #NBR. Then I joined Plotters of Dreams, which is small and quaint in that we upload and download docs. But the people are smart and excellent writers.

I think review sites are fine and I use them to test my own theories and gauge response, but one thing I’ve been really cognizant of as I’m going is that these groups and opinions could skew my writing. If I weren’t sure of where I was going, I’d be really tempted to completely change everything.

My design background and age serve me well in this respect. I’m too old and too cussed to much care what others think. I do trust my own instincts and have a thick skin born from arguments with thousands of design clients. I’m wondering if God didn’t have me designing all these years so I’d learn to listen to critique, use it when useful. Toss it when not.

It’s a skill like any other.

Anyhow. All of that said, I like Scribophile.

If you’re looking for a safe place to get feedback that isn’t a commitment to lifelong drudgery and isn’t email-driven, it might be useful to you.

Do you like crit groups? What has your experience been with them? Useful? not? Any pitfalls?

*NBR is the best book club on Wattpad, it works like Scribophile only it runs off the sweat of sainted volunteers who make it work.