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A question for regular users . . .
El Vidente
Posted: Thursday, December 8, 2011 12:13 PM
Joined: 11/18/2011
Posts: 2


Hi, I'm Dave and I'm a new user.

When you review a book here, would you rather be reading a first draft or one that, while not necessarily finished, has had a rewrite or two?
Marcie
Posted: Thursday, December 8, 2011 2:06 PM
Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 102


Hi Dave,

Welcome to the site. I can only speak for myself, but it doesn't matter to me which draft the story is in as long as it is coherent.

That being said, in my experience, someone new to critique tends to focus on nit-picky things that one would normally fix in a final draft, so if you're looking for bigger picture help (like character, plot), ensure your writing is clear of as many easy to fix things (like typos) as you can make it. 


RJBlain
Posted: Friday, December 16, 2011 9:35 AM
Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 222


When I review, I want to help the writer improve their story and their general skills. I don't care what phase the writing is at. However, if the writing hasn't had any edits, I'm more likely to make comments about general, consistent mistakes -- things that might have been cleaned up in an edit run or two. That said, I know I like and need feedback early in the process, so I prefer to post earlier drafts. This lets me get a feel for what is working and what isn't, even if I have made stupid grammar errors I'm corrected on.

So, bring on the rough, raw drafts. That is an excellent place to see the natural, reoccurring mistakes. I'd rather do a poor draft than have to tell someone all of those errors they've made in the rewrite phase. Having to rewrite something that has been rewritten several times because no outside feedback was acquired is really rough in my opinion!
Alexandria Brim
Posted: Saturday, December 17, 2011 4:49 AM
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350


I agree with RJ. I joined Book Country to get feedback from people interested in writing and who I don't know personally. I trust the members here to be more honest with me and so far, you all have. I know I prefer to post my early drafts for much the same reasons as RJ. I'd rather know I have to course-correct while I'm still writing the story rather than have to do when I'm done.