There are ways to critique someone’s work and then there are ways to NOT critique someone’s work. No one wants their work to be attacked. That’s not productive for anyone and only leads to hurt feelings. Always be honest with your critiques, but above all, always be kind. The following is a guide to critiquing.
- Understand the type of review the author is seeking.
- Listen to and read the manuscript carefully.
- Many writers’ groups recommend the ‘sandwich method’: start with something positive, then address the negatives, and end with more positives.
- Do write comments directly on the manuscript or send digitally, if possible; it can be hard for authors to remember what everyone has contributed during a critique session.
- Don’t harp on one point. If you call attention to it and explain why it worked or didn’t work for you, that’s enough unless the author has requested a deep review or asks for more comment on that point.
- When receiving a critique, avoid defending your writing; the purpose of the critique is to provide you with other people’s interpretations of your work. You may choose to accept a given criticism or not to. It’s your decision.
- Don’t avoid giving a criticism because you think it might hurt the author’s feelings. Learn to word it in such a way that it’s a non-confrontational comment.
- Your audience is the author, not the rest of the group.
- Critiques have an important purpose. The author needs to feel that purpose has been met or at least that progress has been made.
- Avoid commenting on the content of the reading. The purpose of a critique is to help the author improve the writing.
