Critique Circle Online Writing Workshop

18. Jun 16:44

The Newbie Support Page

Welcome to the Critique Circle newbie's page. Here you can find some information that might be useful to find your footing at CC.
Remember, if you have any trouble with anything on the site our moderators will help you through the Newbie Helper messagebox.

Comments from our Newbie-Helpers

Here are some short Flash videos showing some of the more basic functions of CC:

How to submit a story
How to submit a critique

Using Hover Links
Using the Novel System
Arranging the front page
The Outlining Workshop

How to submit an inline critique
How to change the appearance of CC
How to bookmark a page within CC
How to use the CCSpell Spell Checker
Subscribing to Threads and Forums

Please note that you will require Flash to view these videos. Here is our Video Tutorial page.

If you would prefer text based instructions, go to the FAQ and look through the numerous entries there.

- Nonnib (5. Feb 2005 at 13:32)

Here are some quick links to interesting forums and threads. You might also want to subscribe to the forums to always get the latest updates. Click 'Subscribe to forum' at the top of the forum page to do so or subscribe to individual threads.

Newcomers
Introduce yourself

Say hi to the other members and see what people are chatting about.

Publishing Forum
Keep up with all the latest news from the members on different publishers, getting published, new markets, etc. Also, check out our Publishing FAQ, which answers many of the basic questions about submitting and succeeding in the publishing world: www.critiquecircle.com/faq.asp?cat=12

On Writing
This is a good forum to browse, and to keep up to date with all the great questions raised and comments on all forms of writing.

Advice on how to get critiques
Now that you're here, how is it best to go about getting those precious critiques? You will find some solid advice here.

Here are some things that is good to keep in mind:

- Queue length (and therefore waiting time) depends on a couple of things:

1) How many crits each story received in the previous period (average is 5-8). If the critiques drop and each story receives but a few critiques, then there will be fewer stories to critique next period. So the more you crit, the more likely it is that the number of stories in a crit period will go up.

2) Number of submitted stories. We don't want an empty queue. If few stories are submitted then the number of stories to be critted will be lowered. We like to have at least one upcoming batch of stories in each queue.

There are other factors as well but these are the most important ones.

- Waiting for your story to come up isn't such a bad thing. It gives you time to crit stories that are critiqued while you wait.
Authors that you have critiqued are often more inclined to crit your story than others.
When deciding on a story to crit, members will often check the activity of an author (found on the member's page) to see if he has been critiquing. If you have been actively critiquing, others are more likely to critique you.

- Nonnib (5. Feb 2005 at 12:06)

Don't know what to say in your critique or what to do with a critique you've received? Take a look at these links for some solid advice

Hardcore Critique Advice by Amy Sterling Casil

How to Critique Fiction by Victory Crayne

How to Cope with Critiquing by Rich Hamper

It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It by Andrew Burt

The Diplomatic Critiquer by Andrew Burt

- Nonnib (5. Feb 2005 at 11:16)

Some useful FAQ entries

Title

Can I edit my own upcoming story before it is up for review?

Can I read critiques on other people’s texts?

How do the credits work and what is their purpose?

I think I'm missing a critique! What are unapproved crits?

Practical instructions: critiquing

The Critique Circle Rules of Conduct

What is a Free Pass?

Writing a critique

Critique Samples

Title	Description
Padded crit--DON'T do this!!	Extra/nonsense word to create word count
bad bad crit	You should never give crits like these!
An excellent example	Here's a critique of c.a average length. It's well written and was much appreciated by the story's author.
A short critique	Here is an example of a good, short critique.
A long, detailed critique	An example of a long, quality critique
A good template critique	Here is an example of a good, template critique for a chapter.

Just contact any of our moderators if you need some help

	Name	Personal Comment
	Vickb	Heya Welcome to CC. I love this place! It's like one big happy family. My writing has imrpoved greatly through the help on this site. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions about CC.
	Momzilla	Welcome to CC! This is a wonderful learning environment for all levels of writers. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need help with anything, big or small! - Angela
	Yunaleska	Hi and welcome to CC! The few years I've been here has improved my writing tremendously. Any problems or queries just ask and we'll try to help!
	Owllady
	Breeze
	Gutbugs
	Ladyv	Hi! Welcome to CC! It's always great to meet new people and see the new, up-an-coming literary talent. I hope you find CC as helpful as I have. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask
	Mariehill3	Welcome to CC! This site is a source of endless knowledge from all over the world. I hope you find it to be as helpful as I do. If you ever have a question don't hesitate to drop me a note.
	Candance
	Jongoff	I found CC after my first book was "finished." Thank heavens I did. The people here gave it a fantastic once over, and made it much better. Best writing site on the web!
	Whiplash	Why, hello, there! Welcome to CC! I know you'll find what you need here to polish your work and get it ready for publication, or just to refine your craft, if you don't think you're ready to go public just yet. If you have any questions, just send one of us a PM (Personal Message) individually, or just put "Moderator" in the address line of your PM. Glad to have you with us.