RSS Feed Print
Writing a Useful Critique/Review
RJBlain
Posted: Sunday, June 12, 2011 8:55 AM
Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 222


Greetings,

One of the most common things I have crossed lately has been comments on my critiquing style and how useful my critiques are to the writers who receive them. On account of this (and due to the pesterings of one lovely individual) I am writing this little guide on writing a useful critique.

Before I begin writing my guide to critiquing, I think there are a few critical things that need to be understood by both the writer of the critique and the person receiving the critique.

Rule #1: Honesty is the best policy.
Rule #2: Your opinion is yours and yours alone. Share it, but don't force it on others. Anything you state in a review is opinion, no matter how much you believe it is fact.
Rule #3: Facts are an open invitation to be proven wrong.
Rule #4: Kindness is worth more than your weight in gold.

Now, what do these four rules mean? (These are my rules of writing, I don't mean that you have to follow them, but this is what *I* do.) 

First, honesty is critical if you want a good review. If you don't like something be honest about it. Tell the writer why you didn't like it, but also be kind when you do so. Say, In my opinion... or... this bothered me as I read. Don't say 'This sucked' without explaining why you felt it sucked.

I don't like bandying about the word 'never', but I strongly, strongly recommend that you 'never' present your opinion as fact. If it is a grammar rule you are preaching about, the english language has so many exceptions to what are supposed to be 'hardcore' rules that there is almost no point in trying to be 100% accurate on grammar. Grammar is in place to make for CLEAR writing. If the writing isn't clear and the grammar is correct, then I'm still going to say that the sentence doesn't feel right, doesn't read right and might as well be incorrect. I'd rather have a sentence with broken grammar that reads well than one that has correct grammar and doesn't.

Finally, being kind will make a far bigger impression than a short and rude comment. Taking the time to express yourself and your views in a review is important. Take the time to write the few extra words on what you liked. This can provide a much needed place to cling to in the middle of their storm. Accepting a rough critique can be very difficult.

Writing that critique SHOULD be difficult.

Now, why is writing a good critique important?

First, you can improve your writing skills by taking the time to write a thorough critique. The more thorough you are about your review process, the more things you catch in other people's writing. The more things you look for, the easier it becomes to see those same errors in your own writing. Also, the more writing you critique, the more distance you put between you and your own writing. Reading and writing -- as far as I am concerned -- share similar types of memory and thought process. By focusing your writing creativity into a critique, you put data in your mind that separate you an extra step between your work when it was written and when you go to edit it. Not only that, you exercise your mind and your writing muscles. However, when you read for the purpose of reviewing, you NEED to think about plot, you need to consider how to improve sentences, you need to consider editing. This sounds factual but it is 100% opinion -- this is what I've learned from doing it. It may not work for everyone. It does work for me. I get the same benefit of critiquing one or two pieces seriously as I do letting a piece of writing sit for a day. I fill my brain with the story I am reading, and it pushes mine into the background. This lets me approach my story with a fresh look after every review.

Now that I have that out of the way, I want to blabber about the process I review a critique.

Step 1: The first reading.

This step varies, unfortunately, depending on the skill of the writer. Some writer's grab me by the strings of my heart from the first page, suck me into the writing, and do not let me go until the end. These people are few and far between, but they always surprise me when I find them and I'm trying to write a review. For these people, I REALLY have to exercise my writing brain trying to find ways to improve the story they have presented. (Honestly, these are the hardest reviews for me to write, and I always scold them that they should be submitting rather than asking for critiques.) For these people, Step 2 is reading the story a second time.

Step 2: Write all of my thoughts down after the end of a section break or a chapter. By breaking the review process into little bits, I am able to write a better review. I simply mark Chapter One :: in Overall and the other two fields and fill out my opinions there. So, lets say I have a story about a fish.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 until done all sections that I kept interested for. Once I get bored of the story or I can't force myself to read anymore (or I have to go somewhere or do something.) I clearly mark where I dropped out and why.

Step 4: I rate each section overall and assign stars -- and WHY I assigned those stars.


Now, here is an example crit full of nonsense, points I tend to talk about, etc.

Overall

Blah blah, notes I write down before I read, if I am outside of a genre I write, I mark it here... if I'm returning a critique, I may thank them for their reading of my story, etc etc.

Dive in after this is done.

Chapter One ::

Overall, I thought the story of the fish was blah, blah. This part worked well, didn't like this part. Fish as character I liked/hated. If I was hooked or not goes here. Did I drop out anywhere in the first chapter? Was the grammar ok? Was the general storycraft ok? Did I like the general concept?

Chapter Two ::

Was the voice maintained? I'm going to state I dropped out in this chapter. At this point, I just go 'I made it through this far in this chapter, but the actions of a fish swimming in the bowl didn't interest me any more. If I were reading this book as something I bought, I would stop reading here.

Overall, I am giving this story of a fish two stars. All the fish does is swim in a bowl. I'm sure this is interesting for the fish, but you need to find something -- like a conflict -- for your fish. Bring a cat into it, I think this will really help the tension and keep me interested. That said, your grammar and writing style are proactive -- if you take it to the next level and have your fish do something other than swim, you'll be onto something. I'll list a few things I liked here.


Plot (as example)

Chapter One ::

Could I find the plot in the first section or chapter? Was the characters strong, did they move forward? Did I see any plot holes? Did I like the direction the story was going in this chapter?

Chapter Two ::

By this point, the fish doesn't do  anything but swim in a circle. I mentioned this in the overall (I reinforce myself too much honestly) but I really think that the fish needs to have something happen. A cat, a ferret, an evil child trying to flush mr. fish down the toilet -- anything to add variety and keep me interested.

Overall, I felt the plot was the weakest part of this story, so I have to give it one star.

Pacing ::

Chapter One ::

I'll state things like whether or not it kept my attention, where it stopped holding my attention, did I feel it moved too quick or left too much out... I will mention anything about how my reading speed was altered by the writing style -- I might mention how the tension was and what kept me hooked.

Chapter Two :: 

Not much to say here that I didn't mention in the above categories (Or things relating to the section here.) Sometimes a comment on a scene will be very short. That is ok... but ONLY if it is justified.

Overall, I gave this *number* of stars & why.

Finally, I wrap up with whether or not I'm interested in the story for the long term, and relevant comments that don't fit in any other section.

Voila! That is how I write a critique.

Do NOT be afraid to speak your thoughts. Do NOT be afraid to critique even though you are inexperienced. If you are reading, you are experienced at reading. You've read the story. You're allowed to have opinions.

Don't be satisfied with a single line or two about a story, even if you love it. If you love it that much, you should love talking about what you loved to read about. If you're neutral on it, say why. If you hated it, be kind but say why.

Writing critiques that are worthwhile take time, I won't deny this -- this is the reason I'm so behind on my queue... but if you apply yourself to writing good critiques, you will have every tool you need to write good stories as well. Having the vision to help others improve their writing is having the vision to improve your own -- and this is something that CAN be learned if you apply yourself and try to learn it.

Now that I have stood on more soapboxes than I really care to count, good luck and happy critiquing. I hope this helps!

Carl E Reed
Posted: Sunday, June 12, 2011 9:36 AM
Joined: 4/27/2011
Posts: 608


Yep! What she said.

But seriously, RJ has done a masterful job here of pointing out some basic strategies involved in giving a good critique.

By the way, RJ, I agree with you completely that writing a good, in-depth, constructive critique—especially on a polished, professional piece of work—is both time-consuming and something less than easy. It will require multiple read-throughs and extensive note taking. But I also agree with you that doing so will help struggling writers (like myself) hone and polish their own work.

I would only add to your comments above: to those (very few) of you who are barking out "thou shalt not" grammar prohibitions and iron-clad, inflexible "thou must" story craft rules like a Prussian drill sergeant terrorizing raw recruits: please moderate your tone to something softer than sneering omniscience, eh? I would also ask: Who do you think you're fooling?!

As for helping your fellow writers improve in their craft, the best strategy to follow—in this or any other mentoring endeavor—is to engage your subject with an emotional tone comprised of “the three E’s”: excitement, encouragement and empathy.

Which is not to say that you shouldn't be as honest, exhaustive, direct and clear as possible about any perceived weaknesses, incoherencies, outright errors or other flaws in any one piece of writing posted here—far from it; that’s our job as reviewers—but merely that the considerate critiquer should keep in mind the truth of that hoary-old bromide: “a spoonful of sugar helps the [low-starred BC review] go down.”

A final thought: best-selling author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar summed up the quintessence of effective teaching and mentoring some years ago when he wrote: “No one cares how much you know, until they first know how much you care.”

Let’s be good to each other, people!

Lisa Hoekstra
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 1:28 AM
Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 88


oy... I wish I had a printer right now so I could print this out!

I've only been a member for a couple of weeks, but in that time I think my review writing has improved simply by reading other people's reviews. I would add that if you're stuck, find a book with multiple reviews and read through them... get a sense of the tone and details provided by the really good reviews and those of the "bad/mean/unhelpful" reviews... emulate the good reviews and try to avoid sounding like the "bad/mean/unhelpful".

That's how I started building on mine. That and reading discussion posts like these!!
E D Johnson
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 2:33 PM
Joined: 6/11/2011
Posts: 17


I gotta say, this was a really nice post, RJ!

The only thing I could really even consider adding to your wonderful example of the critiquing process would be to enforce a sense of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. I know we want to be or already are professional writers, but I am constantly surprised by the number of people that do not understand how to be constructive, especially when they come across something they just do not like.

I think there are a three huge factors in making a critique constructive:

Focus on the work as presented, not what you think should happen, how you think it should be told. Suggestions are alright to some degree, but really, the author obviously wrote the story with this style in mind. We should work with what is there.

Use specific passages. I know the interface is a little clunky for finding that exact spot where you got lost once you finished it (unless you were smooth enough to book mark it), but if you quote something and say, "This really threw me off, as I was expecting the fish to swim clockwise, but instead he swam counter clockwise," the author can extrapolate much more concrete information from that comment and maybe say, "Oh crap, I meant for him to go clockwise. I'll go fix that!" Additionally, I am really fond of feedback like, "I got a chill up my spine right HERE!" Some times, that is the actual goal, and it is nice to hear that it works. Conversely, if you recognize that that was what the author wanted and didn't GET it, let them know that too.

And lastly, at least for me, I will never say something negative without finding something positive to say first. No matter how much I dislike the work, no matter how hard it was to read, no matter how slow the pacing was. I will find SOMETHING nice to say before I say anything at all. There is also a rare occasion where I can't find anything that needs improvement. I will also make sure I have something in that category before I say something positive. Both components are necessary, or seriously, why would they not be submitting the work, as you said.



Also, I often wondered why people would do critiques for others more than they would seek critiques for their own work. I think you described why perfectly: Practice! Makes sense to me, and thank you for the post.
Stevie McCoy
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 7:24 PM
Joined: 5/5/2011
Posts: 37


There should be karma markers on your post so we can karma the heck out of how this post is totally nessisary to the greater good of critiquing
L R Waterbury
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 11:54 PM
Joined: 4/28/2011
Posts: 60


I'm glad this thread has been put into Featured Discussions. I think it should be required reading for all BC members, both old and new.

As a former teacher, I can attest to the 'praise before criticism' thing, however hard it may be to find something to praise. Nevertheless, some people are just better at finding things to praise. I am not one of them so I have to make an effort. Freud and I would both blame it on a hypercritical upbringing.
RJBlain
Posted: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 12:01 AM
Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 222


This is funny.. I don't pick an order to praise or criticize -- I do it as I see naturally fit, but I DO go out of my way to save good things for the *end* of the critique and end it on a higher note. I save the stuff I really liked about it for the end.
FangsWandsFairy
Posted: Saturday, June 18, 2011 12:09 AM
Joined: 5/9/2011
Posts: 2


Brilliant! I think Critiquing is different from what I usually do, Reviewing. But, I do a fair bit of stuff for writers so I plan to keep this on hand.

The best thing is Kindness. We aren't here to hurt, we're here to help.
Tawni Peterson
Posted: Saturday, June 18, 2011 11:01 PM
Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69


This is incredibly helpful! Thanks for taking the time to writie it all out and share your process.

I echo many of the sentiments here, and find I am learning an awful lot from working on my reviewing skills.
Being relatively new to this community, I am always touched to find that most people I encounter here are kind, helpful and have a general sense of encouragement about their reviews/discussions/posting. Which in and of itself is notable, since it could easily become and enviroment that is cut-throat and cynical.

Thanks for the discusion RJ. Certainly will be bookmarking this one!
Elizabeth Whittaker
Posted: Monday, June 20, 2011 11:48 PM
Joined: 6/13/2011
Posts: 3


This is certainly helpful. I'll pass the link into a friend for help with her crits.
TCLewis
Posted: Thursday, June 30, 2011 5:29 PM
Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 3


Thanks for putting this together RJ. I think my reviews thus far have not been detailed/extensive enough and this certainly helps!
Marcie
Posted: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 5:52 PM
Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 102


Thanks for writing this RJ. Hopefully we can all use this to help give one another better insight on how to improve the pieces posted here and get them finally published.