Becoming a Critic

Critiquing can be fun. I’m not talking about taking out vengeance on someone’s story because you’re jealous of their work or being straight up nasty because you think your work is that good compared to theirs.

I’m talking about involving yourself in someone else’s writing, helping them become a better author, and seeing where you yourself can improve by spotting strengths and weaknesses in another person’s prose.

Every writer should spend time critiquing their peers’ work. Not only does it allow you to share lessons you’ve learned, but it also teaches you. There’s a saying that goes something like, “Nothing helps you learn something like having to teach it to someone else.”

Critiquing holds great value for the critic and writer alike. Feedback is invaluable to knowing where to go next and for knowing what is good or bad with one’s story. Writers need critics.

How to Do It

1.      Remember, critiquing and proofreading are NOT the same thing. Any English teacher or editor can tell the author about a run-on sentence or the use of “then” instead of “than.” That is not critiquing. That is editing. Critiquing focuses on the story. Tell the reader how the story makes you feel. Feelings are what the author is after.

2.      Make at least one comment per page. Reading a chapter and leaving the pages blank, then telling the reader, “It was good,” is not helpful. Mark every place where something strikes you as off, stilted, or where you like something. Don’t necessarily say, “I would do this or that,” but instead mark, “This is weird. It struck me as awkward and stilted, when I think you meant it to be hip.”

3.      I find that the most helpful critiques are multiple comments per page, and then a short overview at the end of the chapter, either expounding on the earlier comments, or addressing a technique/topic that the writer might struggle with, i.e. weak dialogue.

4.      Be honest. Nothing will hurt the story more than flattery. True, your words might hurt the author. Don’t be unnecessarily harsh, but honesty will only help them become better. Saying only good things cheapens your praise. If you build a standard of truthfulness, the author will be able to trust you when you tell them well done. They’ll know you mean it. Benjamin Franklin said, “Approve not of him who commends all you say.” If you want your critiques to hold weight, you’ve got to be honest.

5.      Give credit where it’s due. I confess that lately, I’ve been a poor critic. I’ve become too proud of myself and compare other peoples’ work to my own. I’ve been thinking too highly of myself. I shouldn’t be critiquing to squelch other peoples’ stories. I’m supposed to critique to help them grow, to encourage them, and to foster them on to better writing where needed. Give praise when appropriate. Critique in a sandwich—praise, give constructive criticism, and end with praise. Even when it’s hard to find the good, let them know that they can get it, that they are still learning, and tell them to press on.

6.      Remember to tell the author if and where their story has touched your personal life. For the past two years that I’ve critiqued, this amazing encouragement has been missing from the feedback I’ve given. And honestly, it’s been missing from the critiques I’ve received. I didn’t know how much it meant to me, until I got two critiques with such support this summer. I attended a live critique group in June (one of my favorite parts of the writing conference that I attend), and my group leader gave me one of the most valuable comments I’ve ever received. He told me that my prose restores his love of storytelling. I’ve been struggling with a cycle of feeling like my work stinks and that it’s meaningless, especially the story that I brought to that critique group. His praise pushes me on to keep writing, even when in a spiral of doubting the quality and purposefulness of my work.

The second time I received such feedback came a little bit later, from my best friend. She had just finished reading my first novel and told me, “The story as a whole—especially the ending—made me put my own life back into perspective and honestly inspired me to be more thankful for my own life.” My friend has not had an easy life. But she went on to tell me that my writing has motivated her to get back to writing.

Those are the things that make writing worth it—when it changes the reader and inspires them to action. Be on the look out for such times, and when you find those spots, tell the author. They need to hear it.

Don’t be afraid to test out your critiquing skills on those who ask for it. You’ve got to start somewhere. Down the road, you may come to disagree with some critiques that you give now. I have. But do it anyway. It’s a part of learning.

A Couple of Tips

·       Try to stick with a whole piece of work from the author. Critiquing a whole book is more time-consuming than a chapter here and there, but it’s a great relationship builder between you and the author. Also, finding someone willing to critique a whole novel is difficult, so be that person willing to make the author’s day by investing the time to care for their whole story.

·       I use Word to add inline comments. Any recent, full-version of Word should have the ability to add inline remarks under the “Review” tab. An alternative option to this would be to add your comments directly in the manuscript amidst the story, differentiating your notes by putting them in bold and/or a different color.

·       If you are the one receiving the critique, be humble enough to accept the critiques that hurt. Remember that someone is taking the time to invest in your story and help you become a better writer. Say thank you and return the critiquing favor. Don’t feel like you must change everything the critic suggests, but you would do well to consider it and/or get multiple opinions. Listening to your inner critic is a great tool as well. If you know deep down that something is off, it’s best to change or fix it. And remember, even when it feels good, “Approve not of him who commends all you say.” – Benjamin Franklin.

Have fun!

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“Nothing helps you learn something like having to teach it to someone else.”

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Don’t forget about the writing challenge, where you can practice building better stories and style, and have the opportunity to have your work critiqued! 

Details: https://thelibertywriter.blogspot.com/2018/08/honest-confessions-and-writing-challenge.html

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September 1, 2018-September 30, 2018