The goal of The Writers' Block is not simply to produce good writing. It's to grow good writers. That starts with good editing. We're gaining a reputation as the place to go to get quality feedback on your writing--and this reputation isn't just on Steem. We've partnered with another writing Discord and we get people in through word of mouth occasionally as well.
The Writers' Block is onboarding new members rapidly and now approach 800 members, despite routine pruning. We have working queues in #fiction-workshop, #poetry-workshop, #non-fiction-workshop, #writers-workout, and #schrijvershoek (our Dutch language channel) where our members can get specific feedback on their own projects. As our growth spurt shows no sign of stopping, the time has come to revamp our critique system to make it more effective for the current demands. What worked great for 300 members doesn't necessarily work as well for 800 or 1000.
Out there in the real world, pieces intended for publication go through multiple rounds of revision. Each round focuses on different aspects as well as perfecting what came before it.
It's now time to implement a similar process at The Writers' Block, so our members can receive the type of targeted feedback and editorial advice that is appropriate for their work at the right time. A further benefit of this new system is that our editors will be able to focus more deeply on their own areas of strength, using their time and energy where they can do the most good. This will also improve our capacity to ease our newer members into the critique process--on both sides.
While the system explained here may seem more complicated, it actually should streamline the process a great deal. We expect it to allow us to manage turn-around times in a way that better scales with our growth.
Review Levels
When you go into the queue to submit your next piece, a new question will appear about what review level you are requesting.
The simple description for each type of review level is:
- 1. Developmental: My writing hasn't gone through the queue yet or has been rewritten extensively since the previous review.
- 2. Nitpick: My writing has been through a developmental edit and the changes needed were relatively straightforward.
- 3. Polish: I am confident I fixed everything from my Nitpick and I've been over it myself with fresh eyes but can't find anything more to fix.
The intention is for every piece that goes through our workshops to go through at least one round of editing at each level.
If a piece is submitted for one level of editing and our editors look at it and find issues needing work in the previous type of review, your review type will be changed for you. We don't consult you about this, but will simply modify the review level in the spreadsheet and continue at the needed level. Our editors will not spend time on Nitpicks when they realize a Developmental review is needed and will not do a Polish when something needs a Nitpick or Developmental review.
Developmental
Description
This correlates to the first round of edits your work would receive if you were working with a professional editor. Regardless of genre, this focuses on the foundation of the work and on aspects that can require more extensive rewrites, such as structure, style, and tone. Fine tuning, such as grammar and word choice, is ignored except where pointing out a recurring issue once or twice to draw your attention to it. Making small sentence-by-sentence changes is not appropriate in a developmental review, because the assumption is that big things might have to get changed.
This review level also enables the editors to determine if the author needs extra language help or has grammar and word choice struggles that would benefit from sending later revisions through our #english-language channel. We aren't looking at the finer points, but the overall ideas. That means this review level is usually accepted despite moderate language issues. Only authors with extreme language difficulties will be requested to use #english-language first.
The more specific points of the reviews vary depending on genre:
For fiction, we look especially at POV, Characterization, Plot, Structure, and Setting. We consider whether the chosen POV is appropriate for the piece and look for larger POV breaks and issues with transitions or headhopping. With Characterization, we look for realistic characters with sufficient depth. We also look at the character arcs. For plot, we look at the flow of events in the story and what does or doesn't work as well as the pacing. Structure looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the opening and the ending, scene transitions, and whether scenes are included that don't add to the story or are missing and needing inclusion. Setting looks at the world-building--whether it is credible, if there is enough of it, or if there is too much of it.
A developmental review for poetry considers the theme and the logical structure of the poem’s underlying meaning. It reviews the structure and decisions about writing in (or out of) form and rhyme. It may offer suggestions for refocusing in certain areas or complete rewrites where necessary.
Nonfiction developmental reviews focus on the purpose and audience of the piece and how well the structure, style, and content fit the intended purpose and audience. It checks that the elements are in place to answer the question of the piece and fulfill its purpose. It also considers the structure of the article and the order in which information is presented.
Usage
Everything starts with a Developmental review, regardless of the writer's skill level or experience. So if this is your first time submitting a work, always pick Developmental.
Also use a developmental review when you are struggling somewhere with your writing and need more specific feedback than a brainstorming session. Include notes at the beginning and end about where you are going or what you need help with so people can respond to your specific concerns, for example, note that you are concerned about the character development at the beginning and at the end include a short summary about what you've already decided about where the story is going or what goals you have with the character. This also keeps us from telling you things you already know (like if you're asking where to go from your current state in a fiction piece, they don't need to point out the lack of an ending or resolution of the character arc since you are unlikely to have reached that point yet). When you later finish writing the draft of your work, the "completed" version must again go in for a developmental review, even though you had one in a partial state.
If you previously submitted for developmental review and your work has undergone extensive rewrites, it's probably a good idea to put it in for a developmental review again to make sure you fixed everything without missing things or creating new problems. It's also possible that one thing needing work in the first review kept your reviewers from noticing other things--this happens more often than we'd like.
Nitpick
Description
This corresponds to the next level of edits in the professional world. Obviously the name isn't a technical term, but this is the best way to describe what we mean on the Block. This is the level closest to what those who have already used our workshops are accustomed to receiving. The difference going forward is that the developmental concerns will already be resolved before we get here.
This level results in a detailed line-by-line edit of the work. It pays attention to all the points mentioned in a developmental review, but puts much less focus on them. The developmental aspects can easily get lost in this more focused view. It also assumes the piece won't be needing extensive rewrites for developmental work.
Here we start weighing the value of individual words, phrases, and sentences. It includes basic grammar corrections as well as the genre-specific facets of writing. You can expect a whole lot of really specific suggestions.
Be aware that if there are recurring issues, we may return your piece requiring one or more types of revision be applied to the rest of your document. Once those changes are made the piece can then be resubmitted for the review work to continue. We do this so you have a better chance of learning from the mistakes. The Writers' Block is a community focused on helping our members be better writers. Unlike a paid editor, the Block doesn't have the goal of fixing everything for you. Our goal instead is to help you grow as a writer and become better able to catch your own mistakes. No one is expected to be perfect--we all have our weaknesses and miss things--but our experience is that our authors learn more when they work on finding things themselves. Our hope long-term is that some of these recurring issues will get caught in developmental edits, so you already will have been advised to beware of comma splices or consider your use of dialogue tags more carefully, but if these things slip into this level of review, the goal isn't to mark every error for you, but to help you learn to recognize them in your own revisions.
The Fiction Nitpick checks for any sort of inconsistency, be it in POV, setting, characterization, or voice. It looks at appropriate paragraph breaks, the flow from one sentence and para to another, and the variations in sentence structure and sentence and paragraph length. We also watch for things like word echos and use of cliche. This review also makes sure all your dialogue works and it is clear who is speaking. This is where we make your writing "pretty."
Poetry Nitpicks are a bit more specialized: Use of similes, metaphors and other tropes. Application of poetic techniques. Line structure and layout. Enjambments and word positions. Attaining perfection in rhythm and rhyme. Removing or reifying abstractions.
This review type for Nonfiction, like for fiction, pays attention to inconsistencies and flow. It makes sure the style is consistent throughout the piece and that the vocabulary remains audience-appropriate. It looks for things that stray to far from the purpose of the piece and makes sure the introduction and conclusion are effective.
Usage
To make sure the system will work for all our members in a way that will keep up with our growth we are requiring that every piece go through a thorough Developmental review before it will be eligible for a Nitpick. Anything submitted for this level that has not had a developmental review already will be rejected, not just downgraded.
If your work has gone through a developmental review without major changes, you can submit it for Nitpick.
If your work has been put in for a Nitpick but you needed to change a lot, another Nitpick is recommended.
Polish
Description
Once a piece has gone through developmental and nitpicking edits, the final round is to polish it. This is the final fine-tuning copy edit, where the finishing touches are added to the piece.
Much of this is to check that all grammar, punctuation, and formatting is correct and that no odd "remnants" have crept into the piece during the revision process.
You should put a piece aside for a few days before submitting for a polish after finishing the edits. This is to allow authors to do as much as possible of the work themselves. Make the changes. Put it aside a few days. Then come back with fresher eyes to read through your story yourself and make sure you don't catch anything. Then put it in the queue, selecting Polish as your edit type, and get someone with even fresher eyes to clean it up.
Whether you use a polish review or not is your choice. It isn't mandatory. But it's the best way to make sure you haven’t missed something that is about to be locked down onto the blockchain forever.
With Fiction, Polish is pretty much as mentioned above. Everything else should have been fixed in Nitpick, although there may be a few changes with paragraph breaks or things like that. If more rework is needed, it will go back to Nitpick.
Poetry has some more specialized topics in the Polish phase. As well as grammar and punctuation, it looks at final decisions on titling and word choices throughout the piece. The economy of language and pruning back the superfluous is also part of this phase. It brings the poem to its sharpest focus.
Nonfiction is also mainly about grammar and punctuation, but also considers formatting and the use of visuals. Headers are checked for consistency in style and formatting. It also checks formatting on quotes and citations.
Usage
Do not submit your piece for a Polish until after it has gone through both Developmental and Nitpick reviews. If you need to make major changes after a Nitpick, it is probably best to go for another nitpick.
This level of review is optional, but strongly recommended. Nothing is worse than putting out a piece you've spent days writing, rewriting, and revising, just to find out later that you have sentences that partially repeat, stray spaces before punctuation, or avoidable typos. All those things should be caught in a round of Polish.
Version
When you fill out the submission form, it also asks what submission version your piece is. The submission version is a factor in what review levels you can select.
First Sub
This gets used for the first submission of a piece. If a piece goes through a developmental review in a partial form, the first submission of a full piece is still a First Sub.
Nothing is ever eligible for anything other than Developmental in this state. If an author is unwilling to go through the whole process in the dedicated workshop and just wants a quick rush fine-tuning of grammar, they have to apply to #english-language for help and the editors there can decide how they wish to proceed.
Revised
This piece has been through at least one revision in its completed state, whether this is as a standalone or a chapter/scene/article out of a larger series.
A revised work might be going for Developmental or for Nitpick reviews.
Later Revisions
This piece has been through the queue at least twice already. It is either coming in for work or more work in the Nitpick phase or is ready for a Polish, depending on the authors needs.
If a piece needs multiple rounds of developmental edits, it should just stay in revised mode until it is ready to at least move on to Nitpick.
Time-Outs
Our editors and critters are feeling the strain of how much demand there is for their attention in the many queues, and our experience has shown that we can increase efficiency and improve our member experience greatly if people use more caution making and checking their revisions. For this reason, we are implementing a minimum 24 hour time out between when you @qpull your submission and when you can resubmit it for another review. We recommend you preferably take a few days when possible to allow yourself enough time to do your edits and catch any other errors.
People react in different ways to editorial feedback. When you first get feedback, you may experience a defensive reaction and decide to ignore the feedback. This is natural. Many people discard very correct and appropriate feedback because they don't give themselves time to process it fully and consider why they are feeling the way they do. If the feedback hurts (and it can sometimes sting), why does it hurt? Is it because it is accurate? It’s easy to feel attacked when people make changes to words that you worked hard on and put your feelings and thoughts into. So ideally, when you pull your piece, you should read through all the feedback and start thinking about it, without resolving comments. Sleep on it. Then look again.
If you're not sure what a comment means, ask and let people know you need them to look into your file. Read any articles or anything else recommended by the reviewers. Ask questions if you don't understand things. We love intelligent discussions about writing. It’s what the Block is all about.
Once you fully understand the feedback and any recommended reading, make your changes. Take your time and do it right. Put it aside. Go to bed and sleep on it again.
Now that you have fresher eyes, look over your piece again. Make sure you haven't missed anything or made weird or stupid mistakes. Once you've done that, you are finally ready to submit again.
This time-out rule is not just for our honorary members and members. It applies to Blockheads, Editors, Senior Editors, Mods, and even the Editor-in-Chief and Admins. We're serious about changing our processes here. It’s to make things better for everyone and to keep the process working well even when we pass the 1000 member mark and beyond.
Join Us
If you're interested in joining our membership and receiving these types of feedback on your writing, please click our logo and check out our Discord server. Be prepared for a bit of questioning when you make it into the Welcome Center. We want to be sure those that join our group have a good chance of fitting in and understand our rules.
Remember that our goal is to grow good writers, not get upvotes. We're not a promotional server.