Critiques
Every writer needs two critics:
-- one who gives only praise, and another who never, ever lies. The praiser will be someone who loves you madly: your mother, probably, or your baby brother. The truth-teller should be someone whose taste in literature mirrors yours, who reads widely, who respects you enough to tell you when something's not working.
-- Monica Wood, "The Pocket Muse"
Some Critiquing Guidelines:
Once you have completed your rough draft of your story (or poem or essay) you will find it helpful to get genuine and important feedback from your peers and not just praise. You will want to know not only what works in the piece you have written but also what can be altered, added or omitted to make your piece work better.
Important Attitudes for Those Being Critiqued
What you write is your own to do with as you like. You are under no obligation to accept the criticisms you hear. You should, however, listen carefully to the comments of your group members and when you start your revision, consider the merits of each critique. They say if one person has trouble with some aspect of your writing, you may have a problem, and if two or three people find fault with the same aspect, you are highly likely to have a problem. It is hard for us to be an objective audience to our own writing, and this is where the value of WGOT subgroups lie.
Never argue with the person critiquing you. Don't defend your manuscript. The person is telling you what she/he thinks. Just say "Thank you!" You will evaluate the criticism and decide if it has merit later. Sometimes we just are not, quite honestly, aware of some of the flaws that creep in. If someone tells you that a paragraph is being too repetitious, chances are you just didn't notice the multiple uses of the same word, phrase or sentence pattern.
Important Attitudes for Those Critiquing:
You can always find something that you like or shows promise. Tell the writer the best things about the manuscript. Point out any particular passages or well-turned phrases that interest or please you. Start with the positive before dealing with the negative.
It is extremely important to be honest about your peer's writing, but you can do so tactfully, gently, kindly. There is no need to be brutal or cruel in your assessment. Try to avoid "value judgments" such as "amateurish," "boring," "pointless," etc., which reflect your taste. Deal with the specific strengths and weaknesses found within the manuscript. Try to make your criticism constructive, not destructive.
How It Works:
Generally, manuscripts are distributed at one meeting to be critiqued at the next. The manuscript should always be double-spaced, and only on one side of the paper. You will need to make enough copies for every person critiquing your work, so check with the facilitator of the group to determine how many copies to make.
When you are critiquing another member's work, first notice what is good. What do you like about the story? What are the strong points? What is well written? What is the point or theme of the story, and how do you feel about it?
Then ask yourself what you think could be more effectively written. Is the plot clear? And clearly developed? Is the character development suitable to the story? Is the setting clearly defined? Is there a conflict which is clearly defined and appropriate to age or reader/listener? Is the dialogue comfortable to read? Is the Point of View consistent? Does the ending contain a satisfactory resolution? Are there any questions raised by the story that are not answered?
Now that wasn't difficult, was it? New members who think they are going to be intimidated by going through this process learn quickly the value of peer group review in improving their writing. And equally as important is meeting regularly with a great group of people who have been down the same road you are now embarked upon.
