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written..." remember that you didn't. The writer submitted this work for critique, not a
hatchet job or proof reading. Separate, as best you can, your own preferences and
choices from your attempt at an unbiased critique of the work at hand. Each writer
strives diligently to use their own unique writing voice. Do not expect them to use
your voice. Respect the courage each writer has shown in laying the work bare for
your inspection, while still unfinished. Admire what there is to admire first, and from
that basis, begin to offer comments and suggestions about what seems to be
missing, what doesn't quite flow, what remains puzzling about the work.
Try to imagine to understand the person that did want to write the piece the way it's
written. Try to understand your fellow writer's goals, interests, and quirks, and why
the work is in the shape it's in. With some degree of empathy you may then hope to
offer something truly useful to your fellow writer, and gain a useful shift in
perspective for yourself as well.
Your critique should include information about the following points.
1. Characterization: Did the people seem real? What did the writer do to make
them come alive? If the characters appeared shallow, what might the writer
do to more fully develop a character? Is too much time spent inside the
character's head? Excessive internalization slows the story. If the character is
thinking or wondering about every action, the writer foreshadows the plot and
alienates the readers desire to continue reading.
2. Continuity: When you finished reading, were there loose ends that were left
unresolved? Was there anything that needed further explanation? Were there
any inconsistencies? Did the writer intrude himself into the story?
Do the characters plod through the story? It's not necessary to record each
step a character takes. Can some details be deleted allowing the reader to
take an active role through imagination and inference? Example:
John went to the refrigerator, opened the door, and took out the milk carton.
Closing the door, he went to the cupboard, reopened the cabinet to search
for a clean glass. Finally after finding one, he carried the carton and clean
glass to the table where he pulled out a chair and sat down. It had been a
long, hot, tiring day, and, eager to quench his thirst, John poured drank the
milk.
By the time a reader finished this paragraph he would be screaming, "For
Pete's sake, John, get on with it." Unless the glass of milk is poisoned and
will play an important part in the story, the reader will be justifiably
dissatisfied. The reader will be equally as aware of all that went before if he
reads: After finishing a glass of milk, John.
3. Techniques: Was the English readable? Were there typos, grammatical
errors, misuse of punctuation, run-on sentences, or any other errors that
need correction? You should indicate the kind of errors you found and give
the writer credit for sufficient intelligence to make the appropriate corrections.
While there is no need to point out every error, some should be noted. Be
careful of eyes. Does the writer have a characters eyes dance around the
room or fall to the floor? Does he mean "gaze"? Watch for pet words and
phrases such as: began to; sort of; kind of; very; just; only; that; there;it; a
little; some; laying; I guess; I think; I began; I started. Most of these are
qualifying or non-descriptive words.
4. Format of the Text: Was it easy to read or too difficult to follow? Were the
paragraphs too long or too choppy? Did the author use too many long
sentences making it difficult to follow? Were transitions used skillfully to move
from one point to another or did you have to play catch up to find out where it
was going? Was the point of view (POV) clearly established and maintained,
or was a scorecard needed to keep track of the POV shifts?
One of the common problem areas many writers have is falling in love with
their words. They lose sight of the clutter caused by their verbosity.
Regardless of whether you write short fiction, novels, or nonfiction
contemporary publishers will not accept obese work. It must be lean, trim,
and tight. Emerging writers often feel the need for a prologue or introduction.
The critiquer's job is to help the writer whittle away the excess until the story
emerges as a finished sculpture.
A little boy sat on a stump, contemplating a chunk of wood in his hand. "What
are you going to do with that?" his father asked. "Going to carve an
elephant," the boy said, confidently. "Do you know how to go about carving
an elephant?" "Easy," the boy replied. "All I have to do is cut away everything
that does not look like an elephant." 2
5. Dialogue: Did the words seem natural to the characters and fit their
personality? Was there too much or not enough dialogue? It's okay to tell the
reader some of the thoughts of the main character, but we should only know
the thoughts of other characters through their words and actions, i.e. did the
writer show us the story or did he tell it to us? Whose story is it? If dialect is
used, is it used effectively and appropriately? Were there enough/too many
beats in the dialogue. Was the dialogue used to move the plot forward or as a
weak way of cramming in backstory?
6. Plots: Was the main plot clear and believable? If it is a short story, were there
too many subplots? If it is part of a novel, could it be improved by more
attention to the subplots? Or should it have more subplots? If nonfiction, was
the work organized clearly and succinctly? Did it end where it should?
7. Pacing: Did the plot/subplots move fast enough to keep your attention? Did it
skip around too much to keep track of the characters and plots? If nonfiction,
can it be tightened? Are there enough examples? If so, where and how does
the writer need to improve the pacing?
Are action and dialogue balanced? Characters should be somewhere doing
something while they speak; actions alone will keep the reader at a distance
outside looking in. Pages of description can make your reader lose contact
with the characters. Static dialogue is no better than empty space. Speech
that neither defines character nor moves plot can be deleted. In general no
more than four lines of dialogue should be written without a break: some
action, even a gesture.
8. Conflict: Did the conflict and tension in the fictional plot(s) and subplot(s)
come to a reasonable conclusion? Were you left hanging still unsure of how
or what happened? Was the resolution appropriate for the character
development? Did the writer use an appropriate denouement?
.
PACING:
Pacing is a key to appeal; how well does the reader get involved in the story? Does the action progress
slowly or quickly? How long does it take for the story to be set up? Is the reader drawn into the story from
the beginning? Is it non-stop action or character development? Different readers prefer different paces in
what they read.
MECHANICS:
A beginning writer often has trouble with mechanics and needs help. Sentence structure, verb agreement,
and aspects of basic style are considered here. If a reader feels that there are problems with mechanics,
s/he will specify the problems seen, rather than simply stating that they are there.
Readers react to what they read. Sometimes the gut reaction to the story is more important than anything
mentioned above--especially when the writer is more experienced. Gut reaction can negate nearly
anything, with the exception of flaming another writer.