A good website for sharing your work?

[Tawariell]

Hi guys!

As the title may have suggested; I'm looking for a website where I can publish the chapters of my current high fantasy novel, and possibly share them with other writers. I've never had constructive feedback on my writing, so it would be nice to have other (more experienced) writers give some feedback

Does anyone know any good websites for this?

 

[Tawariell]

Henche, I'm currently using WorldAnvil for my world-building. They do have a Manuscript feature to share with others on the website. Does anyone else use this website for sharing their stories?

 

[The Judge]

Can't help you with a site where you can share all your work as it's written, but when you get to 30 counted posts (not all posts count for that purpose) you can put an excerpt of your work here in Critiques -- there's a thread limit of 1500 words, but I'd suggest 500-800 max at first. That will give you good, constructive feedback to help you with the rest of your work.

What might be better for you than an open site, though, where quality of feedback may be suspect, is finding a good writing group who can help you progress. There are lots of threads and advice about writing groups and beta readers generally here on Chrons which may help.

Meanwhile, I'll move your thread over to Writing Discussion where it will get more attention.

 

[Tawariell]

Can't help you with a site where you can share all your work as it's written, but when you get to 30 counted posts (not all posts count for that purpose) you can put an excerpt of your work here in Critiques -- there's a thread limit of 1500 words, but I'd suggest 500-800 max at first. That will give you good, constructive feedback to help you with the rest of your work.

What might be better for you than an open site, though, where quality of feedback may be suspect, is finding a good writing group who can help you progress. There are lots of threads and advice about writing groups and beta readers generally here on Chrons which may help.

Meanwhile, I'll move your thread over to Writing Discussion where it will get more attention.

Thank you! Yes, I read about the Critiques area. However, should I begin with the first 500-800 words of my first chapter? I'd eventually love for someone to read the rest of it, so they might comment on the world-building too

 

[Droflet]

Ah, the impatience of a first time author. Thank goodness I never suffered from that. Cough. Baby steps, Tawar, baby steps. Take care of the basics first. You've got all the time in the world for the 'big' issues but first get your writing in order. Okay?

 

[Brian G Turner]

You really need to look at reading through our resources and existing threads for writers - there's a lot you probably need to learn, so learning is good. And expect the feedback to sting as well - that's the point of a critique, to point out flaws in the storytelling.

 

[The Judge]

should I begin with the first 500-800 words of my first chapter? I'd eventually love for someone to read the rest of it, so they might comment on the world-building too

Yes, it's usually best to start with the beginning of the first chapter -- that way we don't need to have anything explained, and we're coming to it cold just as a normal reader would. After a few days, once you've had some feedback on that opening, you can then use what you've learned to make any necessary changes and you can put the next tranche of the chapter up, always limited to the 1500 words for the thread. (Alternatively, some members revise the opening, if wholesale changes are recommended, and put the revised version up to check they're heading in the right direction before continuing with the next bit of the chapter.)

Then, after a week or so, to give people time to critique the second part, and again taking account of any comments, you can put another 1500 up in a new, separate thread. At that point, you can ask if anyone is willing to look at the rest of the chapter and/or the next couple of chapters for you. I'd suggest leaving it till then because people will want to see if they like your work enough to spend time on it, and also it helps to see how critiquees respond to critiques -- both as to the attitude taken (I know you'll be thanking people for their help but we do get some newbies who throw their toys out of the pram!) and also as to whether notice is taken of advice (and again I'm sure this won't apply to you, but it is dispiriting to spend considerable time helping someone only to see they've ignored all one's comments and continue to make the same mistakes).

Meanwhile, also do some critiquing of your own, so when you ask for help you can offer to reciprocate, and other members can see how useful your feedback is.

 

[Tawariell]

Yes, it's usually best to start with the beginning of the first chapter -- that way we don't need to have anything explained, and we're coming to it cold just as a normal reader would. After a few days, once you've had some feedback on that opening, you can then use what you've learned to make any necessary changes and you can put the next tranche of the chapter up, always limited to the 1500 words for the thread. (Alternatively, some members revise the opening, if wholesale changes are recommended, and put the revised version up to check they're heading in the right direction before continuing with the next bit of the chapter.)

Then, after a week or so, to give people time to critique the second part, and again taking account of any comments, you can put another 1500 up in a new, separate thread. At that point, you can ask if anyone is willing to look at the rest of the chapter and/or the next couple of chapters for you. I'd suggest leaving it till then because people will want to see if they like your work enough to spend time on it, and also it helps to see how critiquees respond to critiques -- both as to the attitude taken (I know you'll be thanking people for their help but we do get some newbies who throw their toys out of the pram!) and also as to whether notice is taken of advice (and again I'm sure this won't apply to you, but it is dispiriting to spend considerable time helping someone only to see they've ignored all one's comments and continue to make the same mistakes).

Meanwhile, also do some critiquing of your own, so when you ask for help you can offer to reciprocate, and other members can see how useful your feedback is.

Thank you very much! Once I've reached my required amount of messages, I'll definitely give this a shot. Your explanation is very much appreciated

 

[Tawariell]

Ah, the impatience of a first time author. Thank goodness I never suffered from that. Cough. Baby steps, Tawar, baby steps. Take care of the basics first. You've got all the time in the world for the 'big' issues but first get your writing in order. Okay?

Well, I think that is exactly what I should do now. I've been writing for 10 years, but I've never really shown my work to any other serious writers or critiques. I think it is about time, or else I'll never improve my writing
But yes, this is my first time writing something that I actually want to get published.

 

[Tawariell]

You really need to look at reading through our resources and existing threads for writers - there's a lot you probably need to learn, so learning is good. And expect the feedback to sting as well - that's the point of a critique, to point out flaws in the storytelling.

Yes, exactly what I was thinking. I don't mind the critique. I've been keeping my original works to myself for far too long now. I've been writing in Dutch for a long time, and I honestly feel that my author's voice has changed ever since I started writing in English. Quite an interesting discovery, I must say.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

I've known some authors to use sites like Royal Road and Wattpad for posting chapter drafts for early feedback before getting to the editing phase. However, if you plan to go the traditional publication route, I'd avoid that as it would mess up 'first publication rights.'

 

[AllanR]

'first publication rights.'

I wonder how much an edit has to change for the work to be considered unpublished.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Two I know of, and both won't harm your "first publication rights".

First is Sffonlinewriting workshop , which has been going over 20 years. Home
It is fee paying and has had a string of now well known SF and F writers that have used it in the past. It was originally set up by Tor. You have to critique others work and I don't mean a five word "oh it is good type." and you will, I warn you, get critiques that will make your hair curl! Elizabeth Bear was a member when I was a member.

Second is https://critters.org/ and is run by Andrew Burt, former vice-president of SFWA

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

I wonder how much an edit has to change for the work to be considered unpublished.

Not sure. I'd rather like to know that myself. I do know though that N.K Jemisin posts unedited chapter drafts as patron-only posts on her Patreon. Apparently, because they aren't public posts, this doesn't mess up first publication rights so that's another option, but a tricky one to make work.

 

[Biskit]

I wonder how much an edit has to change for the work to be considered unpublished.

There probably isn't an answer to that, other than the general principal that publishers/agents looking at a book would probably err on the side rejecting if there was more than a hint of prior online publishing.

The only safe approach is to not post your novel in any form, anywhere that would be considered public, if you intended to pursue the trad publishing route.

 

[Astro Pen]

What @Laura R Hepworth said in post #11
That is why I never put anything I intend to publish on here.
I would like a private critique system on the site where I could try try out sections without deep sixing any chance of traditional publishing. I have put a couple of book drafts out via private messaging and got some feedback but that is a bit limited.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Make friends, and organicallclan or tribe will form that you respect and who respect you. They will end up being your foundation for crits and general discussions about your writing.

Well, that’s how it happened for me.

There are people here whose writing you’ll love and vice versa. Put in time to get to know the site and active members and become part of the community and everything else will follow.

There’s a difference between critting and beta, btw. Is your story ready to be beta’d or is it still at crit stage?

I’d not written a word until I joined here, and I think I’ve improved as a result.

 

[The Judge]

I would like a private critique system on the site where I could try try out sections without deep sixing any chance of traditional publishing. I have put a couple of book drafts out via private messaging and got some feedback but that is a bit limited.

The Chrons Writing Group has always had restricted viewing and it's now open only to Supporters, so we're pretty sure work there wouldn't be deemed previously published. Although when it was first started it was designed to be a last stop before submitting for publication and we preferred it to be used by those who had already put drafts of the work up in Critiques, those two requirements have rather gone by the board.

As for Critiques itself, it's my understanding that provided only a tiny portion of the work was once available for public viewing, that is no bar to being trad published. Quite how much "tiny" is depends on the length of the complete novel, of course, but I don't believe a few hundred words out of a typical 100k work is going to cause real problems.

 

[Abernovo]

You're almost at the 'magic' 30 post mark. Once you are, you could, as others have suggested post six or seven hundred words in Critiques, to give a flavour of your writing. Take the critiques which help. You might also find people who are willing to form a crit group with you through the interactions.

Join in discussions here, read critiques of others, even post critiques of others' writing. Sometimes, what's going wrong in somebody else's work will give you an inkling in how to improve your own.

Good luck.

 

[Tawariell]

I've known some authors to use sites like Royal Road and Wattpad for posting chapter drafts for early feedback before getting to the editing phase. However, if you plan to go the traditional publication route, I'd avoid that as it would mess up 'first publication rights.'

I've been using Wattpad for a while now, but I noticed no one is really giving any feedback. It's just the usual "it's so good!" "please update more!" "Omg love it!" I'll try and take a look at Royal Road! Thanks

Two I know of, and both won't harm your "first publication rights".

First is Sffonlinewriting workshop , which has been going over 20 years. Home
It is fee paying and has had a string of now well known SF and F writers that have used it in the past. It was originally set up by Tor. You have to critique others work and I don't mean a five word "oh it is good type." and you will, I warn you, get critiques that will make your hair curl! Elizabeth Bear was a member when I was a member.

Second is https://critters.org/ and is run by Andrew Burt, former vice-president of SFWA

Thank you! This sounds like an interesting website, so I'll definitely take a look! I currently started a Discord server with two others and we are posting our chapters there and giving feedback to each other. If anyone wants to join, feel free to do so haha. You can send me a message and I'll send you the invite link.

There probably isn't an answer to that, other than the general principal that publishers/agents looking at a book would probably err on the side rejecting if there was more than a hint of prior online publishing.

The only safe approach is to not post your novel in any form, anywhere that would be considered public, if you intended to pursue the trad publishing route.

Exactly what I am afraid of. That's why I started a Discord server with some others. You can only join by invitation, so it isn't public.

What @Laura R Hepworth said in post #11
That is why I never put anything I intend to publish on here.
I would like a private critique system on the site where I could try try out sections without deep sixing any chance of traditional publishing. I have put a couple of book drafts out via private messaging and got some feedback but that is a bit limited.

Sounds about right. Do you want to join my Discord server? Honestly, I'm loving it so far. Easy to chat with each other and it's private, and helpful giving feedback and discussing it with one another through the chat. So far, it's only three of us.

Make friends, and organicallclan or tribe will form that you respect and who respect you. They will end up being your foundation for crits and general discussions about your writing.

Well, that’s how it happened for me.

There are people here whose writing you’ll love and vice versa. Put in time to get to know the site and active members and become part of the community and everything else will follow.

There’s a difference between critting and beta, btw. Is your story ready to be beta’d or is it still at crit stage?

I’d not written a word until I joined here, and I think I’ve improved as a result.

I think it's still in the critique stage. I found another writer on Facebook and we are now exchanging chapters and critiquing each others work through Discord. I had two friends read it as well, but one just started writing himself, and the only critique he gives me is "It's so good!", so not very helpful haha. My other friend isn't a writer at all, but at least he's been quite helpful in pointing out some things that stood out to him as a "normal" reader.

You're almost at the 'magic' 30 post mark. Once you are, you could, as others have suggested post six or seven hundred words in Critiques, to give a flavour of your writing. Take the critiques which help. You might also find people who are willing to form a crit group with you through the interactions.

Join in discussions here, read critiques of others, even post critiques of others' writing. Sometimes, what's going wrong in somebody else's work will give you an inkling in how to improve your own.

Good luck.

Yes, I'm really looking forward to this! I'm not so scared of the critique, because I'm really curious about what others will think of my work. I honestly need the critique! (no one is a natural haha). I'm just a little anxious about critiquing others their work because I'm not a native nor an author. I'm a little afraid I might give the wrong critique (if there's such a thing?). Anywho, I'm excited to use the critique section!