How To Critique Someone's Work

A friend or colleague has given you a copy of her work and has asked you to read it. Now, she waits eagerly for your feedback. What should you do?

  1. Find out what the author wants.
    _____Maybe she just wants you to make sure all the commas are in the right place and her subjects and verbs agree. Maybe she is looking for an honest critique of the entire story. She could just want your opinion of the plot. She could just want you to read and enjoy it without giving any critical feedback at all.

  2. The author wants a critique /my feedback. What does that really mean?
    _____Have you ever known a mother who loved her child so much that she never saw/acknowledged the bad things he did? She thinks little Bobby is an angel but you (and everyone else) knows he's the devil incarnate. In fact, if the mother actual saw him about to burn down a barn she would say, "He's no arsonist! He just wanted to keep the little animals warm."
    _____Writer's can be like that with their work, especially newly written work. The plot for the story is in the writer's head, but all of the pieces may not have made it to the page. The writer knows what motivates her characters, but readers of the story may not have a clue. In translating ideas and snatches of dialogue into a story, something could be lost in the translation.
    _____By seeking another's perspective, the writer is trying to gage how successful she was in communicating her ideas.

  3. Your ultimate goal should be to help and encourage the writer.
    1. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of giving a fair and honest critique. If you are part of a writing workshop and someone you don't like is sharing her work with the group, don't let your feelings about her color your assessment of her work.
      • If you think a critique is an opportunity to get back at someone or "knock her down" a peg or two, you are the wrong person for the job.
    2. Don't let love/affection for the writer hinder you either. For example, if you have been asked to check grammar, don't gloss over bad punctuation because you'll think she will get upset.
      • Don't worry about hurting the author's feelings. If you aren't honest with her, someone else will be.
    3. Be honest without being brutal, nasty, cruel, or tactless. Honesty does not require you to be hurtful.
      • "I'm not sure why this character suddenly starting acting different," sounds a lot better than, "What the fuck is that character doing? You can't write worth shit."

  4. If you are commenting on content, make sure you point out both what worked for you and what didn't.
    _____Good, well rounded feedback isn't just a list of problems or suggestions. If you give someone 9 compliments and one suggestion, odds are that she will best remember the one suggestion. Compliments come in one ear and go out the other, but suggestions/questions/complaints get lodged in the brain.
    _____So how can you structure your feedback so that the compliments don't disappear? Whether you are responding verbally or writing a response, the Praise Question Praise (PQP) approach allows you to suggest changes to the author while reinforcing the positive aspects of the work.
    1. Praise
      Talk about the things you enjoyed about the piece first. Maybe you liked the plot, particular characters, a specific scene, etc. Start by pointing out the positive but reserve at least one for the end.
    2. Question
      Here is where you talk about what didn't quite work for you and why. While you can offer a solution, you can not demand changes be made. Your goal here is to give the writer a suggestion, give her something to chew on.
      • Don't make a laundry list of suggestions. Point out two, maybe three things - not twenty-five. Your want to start the seeing the story from a reader's point of view. Once that happens, she should be able to re-read the story and recognize other weak points.
    3. Praise
      Your feedback/critique should end with a recap of what you enjoyed about the story. If you can, also add in one new compliment.

  5. Here are some other tips:
    1. Don't read, make corrections, or try to critique if you are tired or distracted. When you sit down to do this, give it your undivided attention.
    2. The first time you read the work, read it all the way through without stopping to fix punctuation or make notes about content.
    3. When talking about how you feel about the work, give fully detailed explanations.
      • Vague: "I thought the waitress was a weak character."
        Better detail: "The waitress would switch from really nice to really bitchy and I didn't understand why."
      • Vague: "Great Plot."
        Better detail: "Great Plot. Love stories can be formulaic, but the twists and turns you add really make this one exciting."
    4. Realize that the author does not have to agree with any of your suggestions.
      • The character you see as flawed may be perfect to her. In the end, it's her perrogative.

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