Getting work critiqued

by Len Gill
20th August 2016

Hi there, my name is Len Gill I am a 68 year old retired male. No having a little spare time on my hands, I thought I would have a go at writing short stories. (not sure how many words is deemed as a short story). But possibly something in the region of 3,000 to 500 words. I'm thinking of something that would take something about half hour to read.

I have never written anything in my life, so it's just an experiment. I feel I must point out that I have no 'A' level or GCSE English literature grades at all, but I do feel I have a vivid imagination. My biggest fear is punctuation. I have written one short story that I would like critiqued by someone to see if this could be a hobby for me. I do not fear criticism as I have nothing to lose.

Regards Len Gill

Replies

Hi, Len, and welcome!

Go to https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/community/shared-work and click on "share your work" . That 2nd link will only work if you're logged on. On the new page, click on "add a new shared work".

Fill in the title box, choose a genre from the drop-down list, copy and paste your story into the main box, and click "share".

You are launched!

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Jimmy
Hollis i Dickson
1920 points
Ready to publish
Film, Music, Theatre, TV and Radio
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Jimmy Hollis i Dickson
21/08/2016

Thanks for your comments Jeremy. What I was asking really is , is there anyone on this site who would be willing to critique my work. and if so where do I post it?

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Len
Gill
270 points
Developing your craft
Short stories
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
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Len Gill
20/08/2016

I would recommend you join a writing group. At age 63 having worked outdoors all my life I too have very little writing experience, not much more than writing bookies slips. I have written a memoir which got a very good report written by an author from the Literary consultancy. The author suggested I get some help in improving my book for publishing.

The group I have joined are brilliant. Their aim is to help members get published, whether self or otherwise. At each meeting they read one chapter of my book and they all add their comments to my writing. I then use their ideas to edit that chapter. It is all very practical learning for me.

You don't say where you live so am not sure of availabilty in your area, but if you live in South Cumbria I can recommend the Ulverston Writers Group.

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Jeremy
Gavins
330 points
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Jeremy Gavins
20/08/2016