When you book an appointment with me, you are asking me to critique your work. In exchange, you are offering to do exactly the same thing for me.
In order to do this, we both need to know what we are committing to do before we agree to do it.
Please look carefully at the list of options below. Then list the option you are requesting in your appointment request.
Option 1 – General R&R
In this option, the critique partner records responses as they are reading.
This gives the author an opportunity to see the reader’s mind at work while it is engaging with the material.
It is important to understand that R&Rs are not editing.
Readers should be careful to avoid the temptation to engage in copy editing during an R&R. While it is fair to note reactions to punctuation, the reader should not be suggesting corrections.
Readers should be careful to avoid the temptation to engage in line editing during an R&R. While it is fair to note reactions to grammar and syntax, the reader should not be suggesting corrections.
Option 2 – Alpha Read
With the Alpha Read option, the critique partner assesses the structure of any chapter (except Ch. 1), looking specifically at The Three Os and The Four Questions, described below.
Please note that this option cannot be requested for Ch. 1. If you are seeking related feedback for Ch. 1, please see Option 4 below.
The Three Os
- Objective
- Obstacles
- Outcome
The Four Questions
- Is this scene moving the plot forward?
- Is this scene building the world?
- Is this scene demonstrating internal character?
- Is this scene demonstrating external character change?
Both the author and the reader should be aware that this is reader feedback, not editorial feedback. The main difference, of course, is that editors are expected to suggest corrections while readers should simply flag them.
Option 3 – 1st Page Feedback
This is a close examination of the first 250 words (the first page) of Ch. 1.
The critique partner reads the first 250 words of Page 1 and answers these questions:
- What is the idea or event that hooks the reader?
- Who is the protagonist or main character?
- Which genre do we believe we are reading?
Option 4 – Ch. 1 Feedback
This option requires the critique partner to answer these questions.
- What is the POV?
- Who is the protagonist?
- What is the hook?
- What is the genre?
- What is the story you are expecting?
- Which named characters do you like or dislike?
- Does Ch. 1 pull you into Ch. 2?
Option 5 – Line Editing
This option offers sentence- and paragraph-level analysis focused on readability, clarity, and flow. Unlike Options 1 through 4, in which issues are merely flagged, Option 5 requires the critique partner to suggest corrections.
While I am happy to exchange line edits, I do so clearly stating that I am doing it as a critique partner and not as a professional editor.
Suggested Method for Line Editing
ORIGINAL: “This is the original line copied from the chapter and pasted here.”
ALTERNATE: This is the alternate wording I am suggesting for the original line above.
Prioritizing Line Edits
Line editing chapters can sometimes take much longer than the single hour that is generally expected for chapter swaps. For that reason, I recommend prioritizing.
One way to do this is to read through the chapter, flagging the most important issues. Then go back and deal with them in order of importance. Save for last the smallest issues and questions of style or taste.
I, personally, don’t mind spending more than an hour on line editing for critique partners that I have an established relationship with. But I don’t expect anyone to spend more than an hour line editing my work for the purposes of a swap.