To be honest I find there is no substitute for a personal critique from a respected peer. These are people you trust, hopefully get on with and who have your best interests at heart. Also face to face critiques give you the chance to discuss plot ideas and hopefully get several different points of view on your work.

However, what if you can't make it to a meeting and you don't fancy posting your work online to be critiqued by complete strangers?

Look no further than the editminion. Here you can post chunks of work and it will give you feedback on your use of grammar, adverbs, passive voice and other aspects of your manuscript. Not bad if you are looking for instant editing gratification. And let's face it - we all need that from time to time.

Of course by using this and not turning up to a meeting you are missing out on two-way critiquing, plot analysis, writing encouragement and a fair amount of gossip. Oh and beer.