New writers start here: Scribophile

Posted on March 17, 2018 by peNdantry

I recently joined an online writing community called ‘Scribophile‘, following a recommendation from fellow blogger DHH.

Scribophile’s website is very well designed. There are the usual personal profile pages, forum, blog and FAQ, but for me the main draw is its comprehensive critiquing system, based on ‘karma’. It’s really quite neat: you earn karma for critiquing others’ works, and then spend your karma to post your own writing for others to rip apart comment on. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. It’s not possible to game the system; you can’t avoid doing your fair share of critiquing if you want to post your own work.

Possibly best of all, there’s a free option. It’s fully functional, although limited (for instance, as a ‘basic’ — free — member you can only have a total of two pieces of writing up for critique at any one time — whereas a ‘premium’ member enjoys unlimited works). So it needn’t cost you a penny to test the waters.

If this is of interest to you, when you get there please do look me up!

In other news, I’ve also joined a writing group near where I live, but that means I have to go out into the big wide world to meet people face to face… scary!

About peNdantry

Phlyarologist (part-time) and pendant. Campaigner for action against anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and injustice in all its forms. Humanist, atheist, notoftenpist. Wannabe poet, writer and astronaut.
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42 Responses to New writers start here: Scribophile

  1. Hariod Brawn says:
    March 17, 2018 at 15:38

    Interesting, will forward that (and this post) to one or two writers I know.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  2. Esme upon the Cloud says:
    March 17, 2018 at 16:13

    I’ve joined, I’ll have a mooch around later and check it out, a great idea, and yes, I’ve looked you up on there, *beams a smile out*

    – Esme Cloud

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  3. awkward brown guy says:
    March 17, 2018 at 18:28

    Thank you – will check this out for sure!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  4. Paul Handover says:
    March 17, 2018 at 19:27

    Brilliant recommendation and one that I will most certainly follow up early next week. I must say that there are more and more wonderful software applications and websites coming along all the time. Once again, Colin, well done!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  5. Eric Alagan says:
    March 18, 2018 at 00:51

    Hello Colin,
    Thank you for this heads up. I’ve signed up and will get round to checking out the platform when I catch some time. BTW, I put you down as the guy to blame when they asked how I got to learn of them.
    Cheers,
    Eric

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  6. revruss1220 says:
    March 18, 2018 at 02:49

    I love/am terrified by the idea of submitting my word children to thoughtful critique by knowledgeable peers. I would love to hear how the in-person group works for you.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • pendantry says:
      March 18, 2018 at 10:14

      I’ll post an update on that when I have something of use to report.

      PS Love the term ‘word children’ :)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
    • pendantry says:
      February 28, 2020 at 17:22

      I promised to let you know how the ‘in-person group’ worked for me, revruss1220. Sadly, it didn’t. Nice bunch of folks, but I felt too awkward to stay long enough to get to know anyone. Scribophile, in contrast, is so much more convenient — I can ‘go there’ whenever I want to, I’m not restricted to set meeting times. And of course there’s no tedious mucking about with actually getting my body there, no traffic, no parking issues… Yes, you’re right, I’m making excuses :/

      Like

      Reply
  7. paulelmo says:
    March 20, 2018 at 12:42

    It seems like you’re “liking” the posts on my site without actually reading them. If that’s the case, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Squashy Moss says:
    March 21, 2018 at 07:02

    I am not a proper writer. I came here because Facearse p@£#ed me off. I felt like an outsider there in the one place I should have felt at home. I will have a little lookie though.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  9. Laurie says:
    March 21, 2018 at 15:24

    Thanks for the suggestion. I set up my profile. I think that most of the site is dedicated to novels, short stories and poetry, which are not my niche. I will have to look around for some nonfiction articles to see if I can fit in somewhere.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  10. Sam "Goldie" Kirk says:
    February 28, 2020 at 15:04

    I love the idea of people having to contribute in order to get their work critiqued.
    I’ve recently started participating in Reedsy Blog prompts. They have this thing called a critique circle. For every story you submit, I think you get two links in your email that lead to other people’s work. The idea is great. The problem is that people just end up spamming “Like” and not leaving a comment. I will definitely check Scribophile out. Having 2 piece up at one time is no problem. How do you take it down/ close it? Are you able to do it whenever you choose?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • pendantry says:
      February 28, 2020 at 16:58

      I can see that would be a problem with the ‘Reedsy Blog’ thing you’re talking about. Scribophile is extremely well organised; you really do have to pull your weight in order to get anything useful out of it. You can just leave comments about a piece of work, but that doesn’t gain you any karma (the ‘coinage’ in Scribophile). You get karma for contributing solid suggestions for improving others’ works.

      Your work on Scribophile is your own (there’s no copyright issues). You can copy it back to your own filestore as and when you like, and delete it from Scrib if you feel that’s necessary.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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