I have read a lot of first chapters during my time on CritiqueMatch. I base my feedback heavily on “Stephen James’ 8 requirements of a story's beginning,” from his book Story Trumps Structure. These eight requirements are essential to writing a solid first chapter that will hook the reader, and have helped me become not only a better writer but also a better critique partner. 

A warm welcome to literary agent Fiona Kenshole! Fiona came to agenting after nearly a decade as VP at Laika Studios, creating a development slate of new projects for the Academy Award-winning animation studio including the Oscar-nominated THE BOXTROLLS and CORALINE.

Previously she was a senior publisher in the UK where she published authors including Michael Bond (Paddington Bear), P.L Travers (Mary Poppins) and the Laureate Michael Morpurgo (War Horse) and was UK editor for Beverley Cleary, Lois Lowry, Bruce Coville, Gary Paulsen and Cynthia Voigt amongst others. She was nominated for “Editor of the Year” at the British Book Awards.

I’ve been on CritiqueMatch for quite a while. I’ve seen a lot of new people appear and vanish as soon as they arrive. Cruising the ‘search partners’ feature is a good way to see who is active on the site and who is not. People like myself and a few others will often be in the first few pages of the site while some drift all the way to the back pages or vanish altogether. I always wonder why they left and what happened, even if I’m not partnered with them. Now, most people go inactive on the site for practical and personal reasons. Maybe they only have a limited amount of time because of work, school, or personal stuff. 

“Write what you know” is perhaps one of the most hackneyed pieces of writing advice out there. It’s one of the first things you’ll hear in any intro-level writing class and is always bound to be a proposed cure for writer’s block. I’ve been writing for several years, and for a lot of that time, I would cite this phrase as the worst piece of advice one to give to any writer. It just seems too restrictive and simplistic. How could I, in good conscience, endorse any advice that seemed to actively discourage research and exploration? However, I feel that the problems I had with this advice simply arose out of misunderstanding. “Write what you know” can most literally be interpreted as “write about a familiar setting or circumstances that you have lived through.” But to me, “write what you know” refers to the emotional core of a story. It tells you to write about your grief, your fears, your euphoria. 

Your critique partners (CPs) will be some of the most insightful readers to ever look through your book. Why? Because unlike your readers, they’re writers. Writers like you who have studied the craft, have written their own books, and are probably planning to seek (or actively seeking) publication.

Before we get into the benefits of having a CP, let’s discuss the difference between CPs and beta readers.