Happy Birthday to Critters!

Nowadays, our short stories are published in eZines, our novels are read as eBooks, we interact with readers on FaceBook and Twitter. It's an online world. Why not, then, online communities where writers can help review and critique each other's works in progress? These "writers' eGroups" are commonplace now; you may belong to one yourself. But I'ld like to pay tribute to one of the pioneers in this space — the Critters Writers Workshop — that was way ahead of its time.

The "Critter Captain," Dr. Andrew Burt (no relation, unfortunately ;-), founded Critters two full decades ago, when the world wide web was not much more than a few shaky strands. He envisioned an online community where speculative fiction writers from all geographies could solicit peers to review their work and provide candid, well-reasoned, and (hopefully) tactful feedback to help shape revisions. The idea was for each member of the workshop to grow their skill set, both by digesting critiques of their own submissions and (just as enlightening) by thoughtfully dissecting and critiquing the works of others. Win-win: submitting and reviewing both help a writer refine his craft.

Critters was one of the first (if not the first) communities of this kind established on the web. It's helped many, many writers improve many, many stories and now boasts more than 15,000 members. Wow! I know I've gained more than I can ever repay by participating in the workshop. The critiques of works I've submitted were invaluable; I think I learned even more by reading the stories of my Critters comrades and struggling to analyze what worked for me as a reader, what didn't, and why. Participating in Critters has changed the way I read fiction... including my own drafts during rewriting sessions, and that's a major blessing.

I've also been fortunate enough to get "sneak previews" into some brilliant draft stories that I know, without a doubt, will find publishing homes, tales for which I would willingly have paid. That's a pretty sweet bonus for any fiction read-aholic!

So happy belated 20th birthday, Critters. I'm afraid I didn't get you anything other than my gratitude (and the occasional online donation over the years). After everything you've given me since I joined your ranks, no gift of mine could measure up.