Diligence is the best way to improve your fiction-writing skills. But how do you know whether you're on the right track? How do you know what you're doing is right or wrong? You need feedback.

Many new writers show their work to family and friends. Unless you know a fellow writer, friends and family only know whether they like the story or not. "I like it" is not a constructive comment. People who are not familiar with the writing process are not equiped to help you improve your writing. P.E. Scribes' goal is to help aspiring writers become publishable and published authors.

General Rules of Engagement

For the reviewer:

	Be honest, but gentle.
	Be kind. Treat others as you want to be treated. Honesty doesn't mean brutality.
	Be encouraging.

For the author:

	Be thick-skinned. Comments should not be taken personally. Comments are made on the submitted story only.
	Consider comments carefully.

When critiquing a manuscript, consider the following elements:

	Characterization: Do the characters seem real and believable or are they recognizable stereotypes? Are the motives of the characters understandable and logical to the story?
	Dialogue: Does the dialogue seem realistic?
	Setting: Does the atmosphere in the story allow the reader to experience what the characters experience? Can the reader imagine the location around the characters clearly?
	Point Of View: Is the POV consistent throughout the piece?
	Development: Does the story develop logically, or is it confusing?
	Pacing: How well does the reader get involved in the story? Does the action progress slowly or quickly?
	Mechanics: Sentence structure, verb agreement, and aspects of basic style.

Questions? Send us an email

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Group Created by Mark Venturini
This Page Last Modified on Wednesday, February 12th, 2005