Get a Critique For Your Writing
As you write about literature, it's important to know where you can get helpful critiques of your work. You can't always rely on your friends or classmates to give you a critique that will really improve your writing skills, and help develop your paper. So, here are some other resources you should look at when you are looking for help in critiquing your writing.
The English Server
Managed by the English Department at Carnegie-Mellon University. Offers a unique, eclectic blend of research links reflecting the motley composition of the individuals who have cooperated in putting it together. It hosts a number of mailing lists, electronic journals, and a Conference Line with five 'chat rooms' for online classes, meetings, and conversations.
The University of Missouri's Online Writery
There are basically two ways to send submissions to them. First, you can use your favorite web browser (Netscape, Mosaic, etc.) to get to their homepage, choose "e-mail", and fill out the handy 'mailto' form that they have there. You must fill in your name, e-mail address, what kind of feedback you are looking for, and paste in a copy of your paper. Or, you may use your regular electronic mailer (Pine, Elm, etc.) to send all of the same information at WRITING@lists.missouri.edu. In either case, be as specific as you can about the assignment/task, and be sure to thank them for their help.
The Dakota State On-Line Writing Lab
Another campus-based writing assistance service that appears to respond to requests for feedback. Submissions may be made directly via email. Again, provide specific information about your needs and thank them in advance for their help.
The Inkspot
This site provides a good collection of annotated links to electronic newsletters, electronic 'zines', and mailing lists for writers. Also, they have a nice selection of online writing courses, some of them free, some of them not.
The Victory Page is a unique site devoted to the maintenance of gumption. The articles of interest that can be accessed there are "Career Plan for Fiction Writers"; "How to Critique Fiction"; and "How to Deal with Critiquing". Good background for how to interact gracefully in the writers' newsgroups and mailing lists. Victory's Motivational Newsletter is published once a month via e-mail, and "covers pick-me-ups and specific powerful mental tools to motivate yourself".
Virtual University
To view the current offerings, follow this link and browse their calendar. Offerings for Spring 2000 include "Introduction to Copyright Law," "Writing the Romance Novel," "The ABC's of Grammar and Style," and "Writing Argumentative Essays."
Writers on the Net
An interesting resource for more serious writers . . . but they are NOT free. They consist of a core of published writers who are also teachers, and who will tutor you on an individual basis via e-mail. Moreover, they individually specialize in everything from poetry to historical fiction to academic writing. Writing classes are offered via e-mail utilizing mailing lists for group discussion and critique.
The Expository Writing Tutorial-by-Mail
For $495, you get 14 assignments by e-mail, one about every week and a half, and extensive feedback from a writing tutor. There are three levels of difficulty, ranging from the personal essay and revision techniques, to analytic and critical writing, to poetry and fiction. The course sequence is designed to prepare the student for the Advanced Placement Test in English Language and Composition.
Writers Write
This Web site appears to be geared for fiction writers and/or journalists. It features interviews with well-known authors, reviews of popular books, and how-to-make-it-in-the-world-of-writing tips. In addition, it offers an extensive links section, which includes links to writers' groups, sites for on-line feedback, chat rooms, and so forth. The site is a commercial one, but it provides links to many free services.
Writing for the Web
This commercial site contains a variety of free resources as well. It includes many useful suggestions for writing and publishing on the web, and provides links to a variety of resources. This is a useful resource for anyone interested in the how-to's of writing on the web.
