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Start crittering

By rowland | Posted: 03 October 2008

Views: 382
Hello every one out there, 

Yesterday I received an e/mail from a writer from another critiquing group I belong to about an appraisal I had given on his work on which at the end I had added this comment. Please don't be too disheartened, the mistakes are the usual one's we all make when first writing and are all easily rectified. 

He wasn't e/mailing me to rebuke me for such a critical review. Quite the contrary. Here are his comments. 


(I want to start by thanking you for finally giving a very constructive critique of John Flasko! I am not disheartened in the least at the many things you found but rather quite the opposite. I have yet to have any critique other than "great story" or "funny piece" which is nice but not helpful. I had not even noticed about the showing instead of telling yet when you brought it to my attention it was like a light bulb. I will be making many improvements to my story and once again thank you so much for taking the time and bringing the obvious yet critical flaws to my attention. 
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Dawson 

Why I raise this is because there seems to be a reluctance for members on this site too get actively involved in critiquing other work. Without it, we are going nowhere. You don't have to be a famous author or have a degree in English literature to be a good critic. So come on lets make this web site work for all of us. Get out your red pens and start crittering.

Regards
All articles on this website by rowland are copyright ©rowland and should not be reproduced without the author's prior written consent. All opinions are the opinions of their respective authors and are not necessarily the opinions of The Writers' Circle.
Comments 
kemmylim
05 October 2008
Yes, I do agree with you w.r.t. giving critiques, but I always feel that I´m not qualified enough to do so... in fact, I am a bit embarrassed to give my opinion (not having done much writing in my life)... I do not want to offend, but because of what you´ve written here  (and your comments on my write up), I will give it a go.

Dear all, kindly forgive me and just forget/ignore my critiques if you find them inaccurate or inappropriate.

Cheerio!
Carl
06 October 2008
I'm sure your critiques will be very helpful kemmylim! I absolutely agree with Rowland. Any critique (even if it is just a few lines) is exceptionally useful to an author. It can be difficult to know how to critique but try the 'critique this article' link above any article of prose and just fill in however much you can.
debcraft
14 October 2008
Hi,
thanks for sharing this. I think most artists/wirters would agree with this. As we strive for the best that we can do, it is the view of others that (for some) that helps validate our work.

thanks

Debra
louise
16 November 2008
I think it's very important not to be "nice", and actively criticize someone's work. You don't have to be nasty, just honest. Being nice it a complete waste of everybody's time.
JD Higginson
25 April 2009
I agree though it is often helpful to highlight both the highs as well as the lows in any piece of work. There is usually some merit to any work if you look hard enough to see it.

JD
JD Higginson
25 April 2009
P.S. I've found that the better you become at spotting the good and bad points in someone else's writing the better you become at editing your own work as a result. There is a gain for both sides when critiquing and it can only make better writers of all of us.

JD
poppy101
25 April 2009
Since coming onto this web site I've wanted to give honest critiques but if i think the piece is really not very good I dont bother purely because i would hate to totally destroy someones confidence.  In the teaching world we try to give two stars and a wish - that means you point out two good points and then one where the author could improve things.  So far I've commented on peoples work if I think they have potential to be really good - i just hope they take it in the spirit its meant because from the bottom of my heart i'm in total awe of alot of these people.

Writer
rowland

Total posts:
105
Roles: Writer
Xabia Alicante, SPAIN
Rowland has been writing for pleasure all his life. His first award for writing came in 1953 aged nine years when he won a UK school story writing competition and has been smitten with the writing bug ... (Read more)