How to Get Constructive Criticism on Your Writing

I like to read hubs on writing. In fact, I desperately need to read hubs on writing so that I can improve and I am just barely smart enough to know that. I was reading one a while back by Michael Ray King and after finishing it asked him if he thought I should put the first chapter of my book on a hub. He didn't think I would get the criticism I needed on hubpages. Then he wrote a hub suggesting I write a hub on how to get constructive not cruel criticism.

His idea was to create a hub about getting feedback on my first chapter, to include a link to my web site, and to invite hubbers to go there to check it out. They could leave criticism without having to worry about hurting my feelings. On my site you do not have to leave your name. Well, you still might hurt my feelings but I would not know who did it!

Having read all of Michael Ray King's hubs, I decided he knew more than I did. So here goes.

I suppose there are writer's groups online in cyberspace that might fit the bill here. I have a couple of problems with going that route. First, I don't know where they are and second I don't want to waste my time hunting them down and checking them out. I would prefer to get feedback from people whose opinion matters ...to me. If any hubbers out there know of a good one send me a link and I will add it to this hub.

I know I don't want to give it to my wife to read! I made that mistake a couple of years ago with the first version of this chapter. Now granted, I eventually agreed it needed work and have written it over about 57 times. But, (drum roll please) she said it was "banal". Banal. My wife. I took that in the spirit it was intended and put my divorce lawyer on speed dial.

My 101 english professor at the local college asked me to look over a book he had written and give him some suggestions. It was a murder mystery and I went through it and gave him a few pointers from a law enforcement background. I took several hours reading it and making notes for him. Then he took my first chapter and never got back to me. I think he lost it. Or possibly his dog ate it. I'm not sure,  but at least he didn't tell me it was banal.

My success rate on feedback on this novel is not too good. I have the chapter on my web site and those folks who have read it are not writers. Everyone who has read it has liked it and wants me to put chapter two on there. Not one single person has made a comment on it. At least no one said it was banal.

If you live in a large town there are probably writers groups that meet somewhere near you on a regular basis. That is not an option for me. The closest thing we even have to a book store here is Wal-Mart. We drive into Charlotte, N.C. just about every Friday night and I observed a writer's group there once at a Barnes & Noble. Pretending to read a book, I listened in to their conversation then realized I was studying the Pictorial Guide to the Karma Sutra and quietly slinked away. Their conversation was banal anyway.

So here we are at the end of my hub. If you would be so kind as to follow me to my link, you will find the first chapter of my novel waiting for you. Justice @ Sunset is the working title of my book. It is the story of ex-cop turned private detective J. J. Justice who lives at Sunset Beach, North Carolina. Justice struggles to solve his first case while establishing a code of conduct for himself in a world where he makes the rules.

Please leave any comments you might have that would make the story and the storyteller better. I will take what I can use and discard the rest. And please, don't be banal.