The Critique Conversation

One of the most important steps in getting your story, poem or essay submission-ready, is to ask somebody to read it. If an agent or editor is the first person to read your unsolicited piece, it’s generally a bad sign.

You can ask friends and family, but don’t expect an honesty. You can pay for a professional critique, but you probably don’t need to.

One of the best ways to polish your work to a publishable standard is to seek help from fellow writers in a critiquing partnership or group, either locally or online. For me, online is better. The author of the steamy romantasy scenes you just critiqued as gymnastically implausible is not going to turn up in the produce aisle of the supermarket, and you won’t find the writer who suggested you used too many adverbs sitting across from you in the dentist’s waiting room.

Mutual critiquing not only helps you, but it supports other writers, and giving critiques can improve your craft as much as receiving them. We are all too close to our own writing to see the gaps, the confusion, the repetition, the typos, but we might easily spot these things in other people’s work. By training our instincts with other writers’ works-in-progress, we can read our own afresh and more readily see those areas that need attention.

How to get the best from a critiquing partnership or group

The Litopia Prime Directive provides perfect ground-rules, and here are some more specific guidelines for giving and receiving critiques.

On giving critiques:

You don’t need any qualifications to critique. Every reader reaction is equally valid, and different opinions offer different perspectives.

Be kind but honest. If all they wanted was to be told how great their writing is, they could have asked their best mate.

But do nurture their confidence. Highlight the strengths of the writing, the parts that provoked your emotions, the words and sentences you loved, the aspect of the story that had you hooked.

Pay attention to what the writer has asked for. Do they need feedback on theme, pace, character, tension? Or are they looking for sentence-level editing advice? And whether your strengths lie with structure or syntax, think about what you can bring to the process.

Be specific about the good and the bad. Which particular lines did you love? Which turn of phrase jarred with you?

If you feel confused or you lose interest, tell them exactly where. They can then address those areas for clarity or to increase tension.

If it’s a genre you’re familiar with as a writer or reader, you can offer valuable insight on what’s expected. But don’t let genre be a barrier. It broadens experience to critique beyond your normal reading habits, and an outsider opinion is helpful to the writer who shouldn’t assume that every reader is familiar with their world.

Don’t be tempted to fix things. Suggestions can be helpful, but don’t rewrite their work. Your voice is yours; they have their own.

Critique the writing, not the person. The writer is vulnerable enough without blaming them for any perceived personal failures.

“It could do with a closer edit for punctuation” is better than “you don’t know how to use a comma.”

It is important to call-out racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ablism, hate, misinformation, intolerance, etc, but better to point it out objectively in the writing than call the writer a bigot. We all need to grow rather than shut down the critique process in a haze of toxicity.

If it’s an open critique group, don’t criticise other critiques. You may have a different opinion, but it is up to the writer to decide what is useful about a critique. Discord between two or more readers is not helpful to anyone.

Review your critique before you deliver it. Have you been compassionate? Have you been honest? Have you critiqued the words and not the person?

On receiving critiques:

Be specific about what you want from the process:

Are you struggling with structure? Do you want to know what they think of the characters? Do you want them to pick up on typos or grammatical mistakes you might not have spotted for yourself? Or ask for general impressions; that’s okay too.

If you get advice you didn’t ask for, see it as a bonus. And if the feedback isn’t helpful, just ignore it.

Listen or read with an open mind. If the critique feels harsh, put it aside and go back to it with a clear head; it could be the tough love your project needs. It’s human nature to dwell on the negative, but there’s likely to be as much, if not more, positivity there.

Resist the temptation to argue. It’s natural to feel defensive, but successful authors move past this. If the reader asks for clarification about something, then give it, but if you disagree with their reaction, don’t start a debate. Thank them and move on.

If the reader says they are confused or bored, don’t dismiss it as their failure. It’s your job as a writer to make things clear and to keep readers interested; it’s a cue for revision.

It’s still your project. Don’t be railroaded into a direction you didn’t want to take. Keep advice which serves your writing and discard what doesn’t.

Thank the reader for their time and offer to reciprocate.

Remember, it may feel personal, but the only intention is to improve your writing. If you find anything upsetting or triggering, contact the moderator or speak to an impartial group member.

Do you have any top tips for critiquing? Please comment below.

Only you can say when your work is submission-ready, but with the help of a supportive critique group, you can greatly increase your chances of being published.

This article was nurtured with the support of my critique buddies at Litopia.

Rachel McCarron is the Forum Moderator for the Litopia Lab, a free mutual critique service. We’d love you to join us.