Feedback Guidelines

Please follow these guidelines for the giving and receiving of critiques and feedback in the Feedback section.

1. Be considerate of other people's works. Rude or deliberately harmful attacks will not be tolerated. They will be deleted.
2. Don't post or copy anything for which you don't own the copyright (meaning you wrote the piece)
3. All Forum guidelines apply within the Feedback portion as well.
4. Feedback Junction is not visible to the public. It is only visible to fellow HWA members.
5. You can post your piece directly onto the forum and ask for general feedback or you can simply post what it is about and see who might be interested in taking a look at what it's about. Whatever you feel more comfortable with.
6. If you do decide to post your piece, or a portion of it, keep it under 2000 words.


Advice & Suggestions

- The giving and receiving of feedback can be tough. Try to start your critique with a positive. It's just as important for a writer to know what is working in their writing as it is to know what's not.

- Be specific. Use examples to prove your points rather than generic statements like "this part was good." Why was it good?

- Stay on topic. Make sure you are discussing the work itself and not anything else.

- Remember that this is someone else's work and be considerate of that. Put yourself in their shoes and ask how you would take the criticism you are offering before you offer it.

- Some may find it more beneficial to use this Forum as a sort of "meet-up" to find readers who are interested in your subject matter and, rather than carrying out the giving and receiving of feedback on the forums themselves, you do it through private email.

- Don't take critiques personally. We are all writers here and no one is out there simply to attack what is written.

- Remember that not all feedback is right for everyone. Just because someone thinks that a part of the story doesn't work doesn't mean you have to agree with them. Still, thank them for their input.

- Remember that everyone else is probably seeing your work for the first time. They may not know everything about the story, as they can't see into your head. Some comments may not apply to the story, especially if they are only seeing a portion of it.

- You are the creator. You dictate what goes into the piece you are working on. Please yourself first, not everyone else. Your peers are simply trying to help, but they can't make any changes for you.