The Rules Of Reading Excuses

[Silk]

This board didn't exist until ... what, about three days ago?

We won't throw you out if you miss a submission deadline (though we may, as per the rules, laugh at you). It just means you miss out on your opportunity to get critiqued.

We have a couple of people right now who have opted to pass up the first submission deadlines and just be on the critique list for now. They're going to start actually submitting later when they feel they're ready.

What do you guys think about making this open to people who JUST want to read/critique and don't want to submit at all?

[GreenMonsta]

Woah your quick. I'm not saying I wouldn't submit, I am just saying that I might not be able to submit every time and I wouldn't want to be kicked out due to this. I'm not going to lie I haven't read all the pages here yet. For a board that has existed for three days you guys really work fast. Anyway I am not afraid to be laughed at so that's cool with me.

[AvalonDreamer]

Yes, but are you adverse to whippings with spaghetti? For that is the unspoken penalty for not submitting.

Personally I'm all for a second list for readers. I saw it at first and thought about how it'd suck to have it distributed that far, but really, it's just like having a giant common pool of Alpha Readers.

[Chaos]

A second group for readers would be great.

[GreenMonsta]

Hey Chaos if your critiquing skills in anyway resemble your reviewing skills that you displayed with whatever that Eragon book three title was I think it was Brisinger, then this should be a lot of fun. That was brutal and quite clear. Well written you definitely got your point across and I thought it was great.

[Chaos]

Hey Chaos if your critiquing skills in anyway resemble your reviewing skills that you displayed with whatever that Eragon book three title was I think it was Brisinger, then this should be a lot of fun. That was brutal and quite clear. Well written you definitely got your point across and I thought it was great.

And that was actually after Nessa cut some of the fluff on it. I could've gone on.

However, critiquing is quite different from reviewing. Still, I will be as even-handed as I can, praise what should be praised, and describe why something didn't work. What I can promise is that I will try to be as logical as I can in my critiques.

[Silk]

Fair enough, I'll add you to the list. Did you want to pick a submission date (Dec 1st or 15th) right away, or do what Flo and Rose are doing and just read first, join in on submissions later?

I don't know, a group of readers would be a cool idea in theory, but considering how large Reading Excuses has gotten in like, three days, with just writers, it seems like if we opened up to people who just wanted to read and critique we could potentially end up sending our work out to massive numbers of people. Which seems a little iffy to me. I'm not entirely certain why...

[Dangerbutton]

So, I've seen that the suggested guideline is 3500 words in length, but at another place somewhere on this forum, there was talk of having it be a chapter at a time. Does that chapter thing still stand, or would it be okay to submit two chapters if they are, together, fitting the 3500 word guideline (I just felt that the one was too short to submit alone)?

[little wilson]

For the most part, it's by chapter. If you have a chapter shorter than that, and if you couple it with the next chapter, it still doesn't go over the 3500 word mark, it's fine. That's what I'll be doing--for the first submission at least. My prologue is barely 500 words and Chapter 1 is currenty a little over 2100 (I'me editting it and adding another scene to make it flow a bit better).

I think as long as with both chapters it doesn't go OVER 3500 (or at least not by much), you should be okay.

[Chaos]

And conversely, if your chapter goes OVER 3500, it's cool, too. 3500 is just a guideline. If a single chapter goes beyond that, then that's totally fine to submit that.

[Dangerbutton]

So if Pologue+Chapter 1 are 3700 words, is that cool?

[Chaos]

Yeah. It's really no big deal. The idea with the word "limit" is to prevent someone from submitting their entire NaNoWriMo novel in one sitting (which would be WAY too much to critique). Just use common sense. In your case, a 500 word Prologue isn't enough to critique, in my opinion, so it makes perfect sense to group it together with the first chapter.

[little wilson]

And conversely, if your chapter goes OVER 3500, it's cool, too. 3500 is just a guideline. If a single chapter goes beyond that, then that's totally fine to submit that.

Haha. I was going to put that in my post, and then I decided what was the point?....

And yeah, 3700 isn't bad at all. It's only 200 words over, and if it's 2 chapters that's fine (it's fine if it's one chapter as well).....

....Random comment here, but the term "guideline" makes me think of Pirates of the Caribbean, the first one, with all the stuff about the Pirate's Code being more like guidelines.....This 3500 words deal could be the "Writer's Code" and it's like the Pirate's in that it doesn't really matter if you follow it or not....Maybe. Of course, we could be like rogue pirates (is there such a thing, I wonder?) and string you up by your toes (or worse....) if you break it TOO much (*hint*what  Chaos said about the NaNo novel...or any novel *hint*), but I won't guarantee anything....I'd hate to scare away potential victims.

[Chaos]

Good, you picked up on that. I used "guideline" in exactly that sense--to pay homage to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Instead of stringing up your toes, we just start all laughing maniacally. In unison. Sort of like a full choir of evil laughs. Your brain explodes under that kind of pressure.

[Dangerbutton]

well, hey, anything with exploding brains is good