Greetings! I go by the name Bokkie Dee here, though it's just a pseudonym. Whether you're familiar with me or not, I'm a writer on Wattpad (don't worry, I'm not widely known). I've established this critique shop under a different account to keep my writing separate and focused.

You might ask, "are you a professional writer?"

Well, that's a tricky question. I don't really believe that there are professional writers. I just think that there are writers who earn money from their craft, then those who like to keep their writings to themselves, and those who don't write at all. Unless what you're gonna write are technical papers or scientific ones, I don't think that there should be a distinction between a professional writer and a non-professional one. Anyone can write a story, you don't need to have a degree for that. 

Anyway, I fall on the category of writers who earn money from their craft. My degree involves a lot of technical, journalistic, academic, and sometimes creative writing. I have written feature stories that were published by a community paper and an international organization. I was also able to write screenplays for short films from a small and independent production, some of which were nominated in small film festivals. 

Does that make me a good writer? Well, that depends on how you define it. But I can say that I do have experiences that may help. I am also a big reader--- Wattpad stories, literary classics, contemporary pop fiction-- so I think I can provide insights to diverse genres.  

Speaking of genres, I admit that I do have my biases. For one thing, my thesis was about horror films so... to horror writers out there, you better watch out (just kidding)! But seriously, writing is a subjective endeavor. You cannot whip out a standard criteria which would work across different genres and contexts. For example, I often see a lot of critiques here on Wattpad forcing a story to adhere to a certain grammatical standard. But language is dynamic. It changes. What's right formally might sound so odd when you use it in casual conversations. And let us remember that most stories thrive on casual dialogues and local colors. When you write fiction, you try to imitate reality to a certain degree to resonate with your readers. You try to make dialogues sound real-- and reality involves grammatical errors, and slang, and other linguistic eccentricities that make people who they are. 

Case in point: Hagrid in Harry Potter (hey there, Potterheads!)

Hagrid is a character that, I guess, has a Scottish or Irish influence. When JK Rowling wrote his dialogues, she didn't follow the formal English grammatical standard. Hagrid didn't finish his Hogwarts education. He lives out there in the school ground's cabin. He's closer to the dark forest creatures than some of the snobbish knuckleheads of the wizarding world. 

Keeping this in mind, it would be utterly ridiculous to make Hagrid speak a perfectly formal and conventional English. He's not an English gentleman. He's a groundkeeper who likes dragons, dines with Centaurs, and befriends giant spiders. He's wild, and so must his language be! When he told Harry that he is a wizard, he didn't say "You're a wizard Harry." He said, "Yer a wizard, Harry". This is how JK Rowling captures the character of Hagrid. She imitates his language in writing, damn be the grammar. 

Of course, this isn't an excuse for grammatical errors. What JK Rowling did was purposeful and intentional. She knew what she was doing, and she knew the story needed it. Good stories immerse the readers to their world. The reader doesn't even notice the words anymore because they only see the images described by the writer. 

But imagine if the writer didn't care about grammar at all. The grammatical errors serve no purpose to the story, not to characterize the cast, not even to add flavor to the local colors. There are misspellings and out-of-place punctuations. It would be very bad. Why? It will hinder the readers to immerse into your reality! They served no purpose at all but to be a distraction. 

But why am I saying this right now? It's because I want you to understand that writing a story is not easy. Sometimes, I see critiques out there, telling people that you have to do this, and that, but not this. I just want you to know that you don't have to follow that. In the end, the decision is still yours to make. It is your story. Only you know what would happen to it. Only you know what you want to achieve. Don't sacrifice your style just because of a critic's criteria. 

And that's what you have to keep in mind as I give you advice. All that I will be able to give you are suggestions. The power to make your story come to life is still in your hands.