Fiction Critique Service
I'm excited to offer you my fiction critique service. As the best-selling author of three novels, and
experienced creative writing teacher - not to mention the creator of this very website! - I offer you this service
to help you improve your writing.
This means that I can offer you professional feedback on contemporary women's commercial fiction. I can also
critique historical fiction, science fiction, crime and children's fiction but you need to know that these are not
my areas of expertise so that fiction critique service will not involve commentary on the suitability of the story
for the genre. But I'll still be able to give you good advice on story: e.g. pacing, characterisation, plot
etc.
| 3,000 words @ €65.00: |
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| You can order multiples of 3000 words by just changing the quanitity on the
payment screen, e.g. 6000 words would be a quantity of '2'.) |
What does the fiction critique service involve?The fiction critique service involves me reading your
manuscript and telling you what’s good about it and what’s not working as well as it might.
I’ll give specific indications of its faults, and suggestions for fixing them so you know where to go with it. I
may give examples of how you could solve a problem (e.g. “Maybe Geoff overheard that conversation”), but they’ll
only be top-of-head suggestions to give you ideas - I’d expect that you’d use it as a launch pad to your own better
ideas.
I’ll comment on things like pacing, dialogue, plot, characterisation and so on - all the items given in the
Editing Checklist.
 I will point out spelling mistakes, typos and grammar mistakes as I see them, but that’s not the
point of this exercise and I don’t commit to doing that in every case. If you want a proofreading edit done, I
can recommend somebody to you. Also a proofreading edit should be absolutely the last thing done, and so I
suggest you don’t even think about that until all the critiquing and rewriting is done.
Also, if you are consistently making a mistake I'll point out the first two or three incidents and then make the
point that you need to check this in the rest of your work. (In other words, I point out what's wrong,
you do the work. This is important not only to keep the cost competitive, but also that you learn from
this process so that your writing gets better and better.)
To get the best value from this, I really do suggest that you get the manuscript as polished as possible first.
If I have to point out basic problems then you’ll probably need another critique when they’re fixed, to identify
the more subtle and detailed issues. (If you're not at that stage, perhaps my coaching
service would be better for you.)  In offering you a fiction critique service I'd be doing you no favours to patronise you and gush
mindlessly over your work. What would you learn from that after all? So I’ll be honest and blunt about what I
find. But equally, I’m very aware that I’m holding your dreams in my hand and I’ll be sensitive to that and
be as gentle as I can.
The critique costs E65.00 per 3000 words. PayPal will automatically convert for you. This is appx $90.00 - check
the exact amount at www.xe.com.
| 3,000 words @ €65.00: |
|
| You can order multiples of 3000 words by just changing the quanitity on the
payment screen, e.g. 6000 words would be a quantity of '2'.) |
This is, frankly, more expensive than many other critique services. But it is on a par with the other good
critique services. I put a LOT of time into each one (see below for an example of how comprehensive the critique
is) and give good advice and even suggestions.
You aren't just told what's wrong with it, you're given direction and suggestion as to how to fix it. In many
ways it's more of a coaching service than a mere critique service.
As I say, you can get me to critique as much as you like; however I suggest that you purchase just one increment
- i.e. 3000 words - to start with. There are three reasons for this:
- So you can test out this fiction critique service, to see if you like my style and see for yourself the
quality of critique I'm offering.
- Often the same mistakes are made throughout a novel, and maybe we can spot them in the first 3,000 words.
You can then extrapolate from my comments on that and apply them to the rest of the novel, thus saving you
money.
- Another reason for starting with just 3,000 words is that I can see if your work is ready for the
critiquing process. If it’s not polished enough, as explained above, you really are not getting the best value,
and I can gently point this out to you and suggest you polish the manuscript before getting further
critiques.
I will of course keep your work confidential and respect your copyright.
The sort of comments I’ll be making are given below. These examples are all from real critiques I’ve done. Most
of them are the general overview comments - each incident was commented on in the text itself but I don’t share
those as they each refer to the specific story. But a typical (albeit made-up) example might be:
I don’t think David would do that. In the para on page 3 where he meets Dora, you demonstrate him to be very
shy and hesitant. It doesn’t make sense that suddenly, 3 pages later, he’s being dynamic and assertive. It’s
not that he can’t grow as a character to become dynamic and assertive, but you need to a) have a cause for that
effect and b) show it happening. Neither of those apply here. I suggest that you spend some time getting to
know the character of David so you can write more consistently about him, maybe by doing the Interviewing
Characters technique with him.
.
The general comments are things like:
- My overall feeling is that you have a great facility with language and your writing is very talented - well
done indeed! You’re very good at involving the reader and keeping her interested, and that’s no small
achievement.The story also has a LOT of potential, but I can see a lot of holes in it which need to be worked
on before it’ll be a tightly woven and satisfying plot.
- Absolutely excellent opening line - it drags the reader right in. Well done!
- Again, nicely phrased - you have a lovely use of language. However, this whole three pages so far has been
telling-not-showing. You can get away with a certain amount of that at the beginning of a story as you’re
setting the scene, but I wonder if you could tell less and show more. It’s difficult when it’s all flashback I
know. Maybe trim these three pages and tighten them up a little.
- It’s a lovely story, with engaging characters, and I’m dying to find out what happens next - which is a
very good way to have your readers! I think you should definitely keep working on it, and finish it.
- You need to be more consistent about your POV - I detail this in the story itself where I find POV
inconsistencies.
- You need to show more and tell less - there was a lot of info-dumping.
Here’s an example of what people are saying about my critiques. Note that not everybody was comfortable giving
their full name as they're private individuals - but they're all genuine testimonials, I guarantee it.
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"Tracy Culleton is ideally placed to critique fiction manuscripts of all genre because not only had
she written a best seller herself, but she has a superb grasp on the essentials of good fiction
writing, and a rare ability to communicate these clearly and constructively.
With a gentle but perceptive approach, she provides high level feedback to all levels of writer,
working to develop their manuscripts to a publishable standard.
Tracy's knowledge of the nuts and bolts of fiction writing, the building blocks (show not tell,
point of view, passive and active voice, building on detail, foreshadowing, to name just a few),
makes her a valuable asset to every aspiring writer and I am delighted that she has agreed to
assist Inkwell in providing a critiquing service."
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Vanessa O'Loughlin
INKwell Writers Workshops
www.inkwellwriters.ie |
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"WOW, I am really getting my money's worth!
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
It is so interesting to me that no matter how many times I review a piece I have written, I don't
see the better writing methods that you have explained.
Your critique is exactly what I have been searching for; most writing sites I frequent are
little more than praise and fluff. Thank you again, I am excited to get home and re-tool this
piece.
Have a great day!"
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| B.V, USA |
"I found the critique service to be excellent. The service is reasonably priced and she replied quickly
with the critique. As a new writer I am too close to my story to see what is wrong with it. Tracy
gently, humourously but honestly pointed out all the mistakes, both typos and plot holes and gave
examples of how to repair them. Thanks Tracy."
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| A.B., Dubin |
"Hi Tracy, I just wanted to thank you for the fantastic critique you did on the first couple of
chapters of my novel.
You were really comprehensive and thorough and you highlighted important things that I simply didn't
see until you pointed them out, so thanks for that!
I also found your suggestions on the plot development extremely helpful and I've taken everything you
said on board. It was great to have the valuable second opinion of an experienced and professional
author.
Kindest regards," |
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Judy Fusco-Linnane
Dublin |
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"I can't thank you enough for the feedback you've given me. The critique was like a full writing course
- there were things I never knew existed and I can now use." |
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| M.D. Dublin |
"Dear Tracy,
Thanks so much for a wonderful and constructive critique - it's given me a real boost, just as I was
starting to get a bit bogged down.
I'll be taking on board all your suggestions and making a few changes, and would love to send you some
more chapters at some point, if that's ok with you.
I'm so impressed with your service and would happily recommend you :o)"
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Karen Clarke
www.writewritingwritten.blogspot.com
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"Tracy's great at spotting details that slip past me even after several rewrites. She tells it like it
is too when something just doesn't work, and always has helpful comments on how to make it happen. I
think her objective, yet encouraging, analysis would be an invaluable asset to any writer." |
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| Ray Gregory, SC, USA |
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"Regarding your
critique: In a word; brilliant; something I could’ve done with years ago. Explanatory,
sense-making, positively-constructive, very thorough, whilst remaining somewhat encouraging
throughout. I am also delighted at the speed of your delivery, so please don't think
it went unnoticed." |
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| Andreas Fredrichs, Dublin |
"Tracy, THANK YOU!
This is fabulous. I'm learning so much. Short of attending a class, I can't imagine I would have
learned as much in such a short time any other way." |
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Sybil Ward, GA, USA
www.bookpaint.com
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"Hello Tracy,
thanks so much for critique. I really hadn't expected you to have done so much work and offer so much
advice, I really appreciate it " |
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Katy H, Dublin, Ireland
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SAMPLE CRITIQUE
Here's an example of a critique I did. You can't read the words, and that's intentional as it's somebody else's
work. But I want you to see this - my comments are in red and the original text is in black. Look how much red
there is. That's a comprehensive critique.
Here's another one about which there wasn't quite as much to say (I'm not picking holes in your story for the
sake of it!):
So, if you would like this kind of comprehensive, informative, and helpful comments on your own work, so you
know how to take it to the next step, then here’s how to order:
Click on the PayNow button below and that will bring you to the order page. Once you pay, you’ll be brought to
the page for the instructions on how to organise the critique.
At the moment I am able to guarantee to return the fiction critique to you within two weeks. However, in most
cases I’ll do it more quickly than that. I understand the urgency of them as it’s nerve-wracking waiting for
feedback and also you can’t really move on until you have these comments, so I’ll get the critique back to as soon
as possible.
So, click below to order your professional and comprehensive critique:
| 3,000 words @ €65.00: |
|
| You can order multiples of 3000 words by just changing the quanitity on the
payment screen, e.g. 6000 words would be a quantity of '2'.) |
|
NOTE: I'm thinking of offering a critique-lite service - it would be much more top level,
general comments rather than the specific line-by-line critique I offer now, but the professional
and clear insight would be the same. The price would, of course, reflect this, so it could be more
affordable. Would you be interested in this?
If so, please contact me and let me know.
Thanks! Tracy
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