Sharp, Useful Critiques

 HOW TO OBTAIN SHARP, USEFUL CRITQUES 

1, Critique and criticize are not synonyms, Critique means to ANALYZE, identify merits and faws and offer executable techniques that create solutions. Criticize means only to list faults.

2. Set clear goals for your story. "I want the reader to experience a sense of hope as a result of a loss. Also indicate the audience for your work, i.e. "I am writing this as a memoir for my family, or I hope to send this to Outdoors Mag." One requires sentiment; the other a more gcneral --- evcn statistical treatment. (Reader makes suggestions relative to your goals --- not a laundry list of useless feedback.) 

3. Press your reader to be specific as to WHERE in the text (ie Page 3:. graf 4): "I lost track of who was speaking," (We do this well in our analysis) 

4. Be ready to backtrack. (aimed at the writer). Even if a comment does not make sense to the writer, assume something has triggered the reaction. If reader says the ending is weak, the problem could be as far back as the beginning, 

5. Study and Practice: Create your own catalogue of techniques for analyzing someone's work. i.e. "On page 6, the setting is weak."  Or on page 6  I felt urgency and confusion. The urgency was good, the confusion distracted me. Examples follow. 

The second example begins with the readers emotional experience and moves toward an analysis, 

6. Catalogue patterns of success and non success. Pay attention to the emotional reaction of the reader. Then think about how you as the writer created this effect. This will help when you are analyzing other people's as well as your own work.

WORKOUT: 

Try this exercise to develop and hone your analytic skills. It works best if you do it several times, using different articles and published stories each time, 

Write your own story re: the Krispy Kreme arsons. Analyze your own work, but also identify which areas you want analyzed by your Writers' Bloc colleagues.

Diane Brandley 

RE: Critique "Mini" 

Found in The Writer Magazine, January 2009 

By Eric Witchey