Imogen's take on writing critiques

Started by Imogen, August 18, 2012, 02:58:26 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Imogen

Imogen's take on writing critiques

1. The stories I will and won't critique
[tr][td]
[/td]
[td][/td]
[td]Woo's and Won'ts / Absences
Stor-E Writers Registry[/td]
[td][/td]
[td][/td]
[/tr][/table]

Imogen

1. The stories I will and won't critique


Hi everyone!

I am Imogen and I have been a member of Elliquiy since 2008. As some of you may know I enjoy writing critiques for the Coffee Corner and Elliquiy’s Writers Group. In this little series of blogs I would like to share my techniques for reviewing and provide some hints and tips.

In the past four years I have had the privilege of co-writing with authors whose level of perfection challenged me to become a better writer. Determined not to be outdone I studied their posts and tried to figure out what made their writing so incredible. I learned a lot from picking their posts apart. One co-writer had a knack for adding tiny details at just the right time to make an entire scene come to life, another excelled in the words he did not use. Every redundancy had been expelled and his post quality resembled a gorgeous bonsai tree; pruned to perfection. All the things I have learned from these writers I keep in mind when composing my critiques.

Of course, to critique you will need a piece to work on. This is the first topic I would like to discuss: how to select a story for reviewing.

First of all I believe a review should be constructive. That means that whatever comments I will make later their goal will be to help the author improve their work. That sounds like common sense, but it implies a series of consequences that help to determine which stories I can and cannot review.

The first hurdle is the amount of effort the writer has taken before she put up her work for review. If it looks as if it’s never been edited and never felt the chastising caress of a spell checker, I will not review it. If the writer doesn’t want to spend time on her work, neither do I.

Another deal breaker is post length. I am more likely to select one scene/story of manageable proportions than a bulk post of epic proportions. I might take on chapters of a novel but when that happens the opening paragraphs must have appealed to me, and given me confidence that my time will be well spent.

The next step is to find the gem that makes the story worth reading. Sometimes there are so many wonderful things it’s hard to choose, but that’s for later. At this stage I am just looking for one thing I can compliment the writer on.

It doesn’t happen often but in those rare occasions I can’t find anything positive or inspiring, I will not review the story. I want my reviews to be constructive, encouraging and honest. Paragraphs filled with criticism are not likely to bring the desired effect. If I am lucky my reader may get to the end, but it’s more likely that she’ll reach the conclusion that either I hate her work, or that she is a hopelessly case, long before the final dot.

Funnily enough, the opposite is also true. If I cannot find any point of criticism I will rarely review the story. If it is particularly outstanding I may write a quick comment but that’s pretty much it.

This is how I make my selections. How do you choose which work you’ll review?

Next time I’ll discuss how I choose the points of criticism I’ll work into my review and which ones I will save for another time or skip entirely.
[tr][td]
[/td]
[td][/td]
[td]Woo's and Won'ts / Absences
Stor-E Writers Registry[/td]
[td][/td]
[td][/td]
[/tr][/table]

vampirehunterd16

hi, my names Cyril and i love to roleplay, i was hoping you had a yahoo messanger i could get ahold of you on and we can rp ^_^ have a wonderful day and joyness to your life!

jouzinka

Hello, Cyril, welcome to Elliquiy. I am jouzinka (people call me jouzi for short too), I'm very pleased to meet you.

I see that you didn't stumble upon our Questionnaire yet. Please make yourself familiar with the Rules of the site, then pick up the Questionnaire and post answers into the Intro forums, so that we may get to know you better.

Also, please be advised that sharing contact information in this part of the site is not allowed as is covered in the Rules. ;)

Looking forward to reading your interesting answers.
Story status: Not Available
Life Status: Just keep swimming...
Working on: N/A

jouzinka

Imogen, I think that you've given a great structure for constructive criticism! I especially liked the point of "in those rare occasions I can’t find anything positive or inspiring, I will not review the story." I think that's a great and enlightening way to say: If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

As for me, I rarely critique or review others' work (and not just writing, art or makeup also) as I don't believe I'm up to par. I may when directly flogged asked, but that's usually carried out in person. ;D

I don't usually visit the Blogs, but I'll definitely bookmark this one. Thanks for your thoughts.

By the way, happy Elliversary. :-)
Story status: Not Available
Life Status: Just keep swimming...
Working on: N/A

DumbLondoner

Imogen

I am new to Elliquiy and I found your article most interesting - it is refreshing to find someone who thinks about ow to critique rather than simply voicing an opinion!

Don't judge

Ciosa

quick question:  Do you write critiques of games in progress, or only short stories and stand alone works of fiction?