Back in the days of iron men and wooden computers, I was a denizen of Compuserve. I loved the OzWin software that let me download tons of forum threads quickly via my dial-up connection, I loved downloading all the software, I carefully tended my forum messages -- all long gone now. The Web, Compuserve's abysmal software upgrades and the general unusability of its forums, and less desire to want to read and keep tons of forum messages related to now-defunct software all contributed to my dropping Compuserve and moving my online life to the Web.
(I'm still trying to control my blog reading and random surfing ... New times, new conditions, same old problems.)
Anyway - I remember in the Compuserve Writers Forum a gadfly named Alex Keegan who ran a private writers group. They had developed something called The Grid that they used to critique against every story the members submitted. I found a copy of it here. The goal is to score over 130+; a description of the grid system is here.
As part of my Moleskine harvest, I wrote down the following list of things I'd like to remind myself of or check myself against when critiquing my stories:
character
setting
dialogue
tone
interest
conflict
advancement of plot
sensual hooks
energy
transitions
narrative
pace
backstory
