EAST BEACH WRITERS
GUILD
CRITIQUE PROCESS AND GUIDELINES
Read it the first time as a reader. After your first reading
write down your general impression from a reader's perspective. Did it makes
sense? Did you enjoy it? What kind of reader would enjoy this piece?
The second time through, read as a writer. Begin making
notes to yourself.
Start with the main focus of your critique. Remember that
your purpose is to give feedback on what needs changing and how to
make it better. A "that's nice" or "enjoyable read" comment
alone is not constructive. The writer has submitted this work for critique
because he believes there is room for improvement. If he had wanted an
"atta boy--that's nice" comment, he would have asked his mother to
read it. Such comments are nice to hear but do not serve the reason for the
critique. Praising the writer when you have enjoyed the work is appropriate,
when done separately from the critique.
Begin your notes with something you really liked about the
piece. Describe for yourself why you liked it. The more specific you can be,
the more it will help the writer, and the more it may help your own writing.
Some areas to focus on:
Characterization…Believable? Sympathetic? Strong?
Multi-dimensional (not flat or stereotypical)?
Balance…good balance of narrative vs. dialogue (internal and
external)
Dialogue…appropriate tags? Natural speech or forced? Avoids “As you know, Mary” attempts to relay
information to the reader?
Pacing…appropriate for the scene (action scenes move
quickly/love scenes more slowly)
POV…does each scene stay in the POV characters reference or
are there slips into another POV character?
Overall readability… was it easy to read or did you have to
re-read things in order that they make sense? Did you enjoy it? Do you want to
read more?
Grammar and spelling…note anything that needs correcting.
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