Critiquing Skills and my own Read Later List · 3:53am Jun 6th, 2014
I've added a Custom Box to the near-top of my profile page listing my new "Read Later List" of a custom variety. Relating this to my Critiquing Skills, I have decided that I have become decidedly rusty in my ability to critique and pick apart a story. However, I don't necessarily have the time nor the inclination to go out and start taking on requests to critique stories I'm not necessarily interested in. So, in an effort to keep my skills sharp without adding an undo amount of stress to my already-tight schedule, I've decided to fashion my own "Read Later" list, which I have put inside this custom box.
All of the stories inside this box are stories I have already decided I was going to read for pleasure, and still do intend to read for pleasure. The added thing, though, is that whenever I finish one of these stories, I'm then going to make a small critique of the story, which I will put into the custom box. It's also my sort of way of saying "Hey guys, you should check out these stories..." for the stories I have completed and critiqued. I'll be providing a non-spoiled critique and a small, additional "Afterthoughts" section that is spoiled for each story, along with a personal rating. Currently, nearly every story in the list is over 100k in length, since I tend to prefer longer stories.
I only have a few critiques in there right now, as I've only completed five of the stories that were originally on the list. That, and I'm not listing stories I dropped halfway through due to a problem I found in the story that made me not want to continue any real depth into it (I'm looking at you, Last of the Dragonlords). I think I might also decide that, whenever I finished one of these stories, I'll also post my review in a blog so I can get feedback if you guys have read the story before and disagree with what I stated.
If you guys would, I'd also like to get suggestions for other stories I should begin adding to my list to read and critique at a later date.
Note: I will be spoil-marking any part of a critique that reveals parts of the stories, especially when putting it in here in a blog, just in case anyone hasn't read the story I am critiquing. So no need to worry about me revealing the good stuff to ya.