Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, has published three SF novels, four mysteries, and more than 60 short stories in multiple genres, as well as nonfiction! She also teaches writing, and has for many years. Her next novel, Horizons, will be released from Tor Books in November, 2006.
by
Mary Rosenblum
You’ve written this great story, this dynamite article, you’re ready to send it out, but wait…maybe you need to give it to a reader first, just to make sure that everything works. So you give it to your good friend, or your spouse, or your relative. They read it, and you wait with bated breath for their verdict. What do they say? That’s very nice, honey. Gee, I don’t know, it just didn’t work for me. Hey, it’s fine. I just didn’t like it.
You’re left with this sinking feeling….something could be better here, but what? Not one of those responses has really helped you in any way. So how do you give a writer friend a good critique, what do you listen to in a critique of your work, and what do you disregard?
A good critique is immensely valuable. After numerous published works, I still give every single piece that I write to at least one person to read, and often to several readers, if I feel that the piece is not quite working. But what makes a good critique? While line editing for comma placement, typos, and grammatical misconstructions will certainly produce a cleaner manuscript, that is not what is going to sell your story or article. Content is going to sell that piece or cause it to be rejected. Begin with a ‘first read’ through that story or article. Whenever you find yourself wrinkling your brow, wondering who is talking, or why we’re suddenly talking about something that seems off-topic, make a note in the margin. Why is she saying this? Where did this reference come from? The author may answer your question a paragraph or a page later, but this is where most readers are going to go ‘huh?’, and this is also where they may flip to the next story or the next article. If you find yourself losing concentration during a long scene, or a boring account of something that doesn’t seem very important, make that marginal note: Seems slow here. This kind of information; huh? who? why? I’m bored, is going to give the writer information. If you are a typical reader, or more than one reader says the same thing, then the writer needs to fix this.
Once you’re read through the piece and made your marginal notes, think about it for a bit. Were the characters consistent throughout? Did a shrinking violet heroine suddenly turn into an Amazon for the climax? Did the bad guy seem like a cardboard villain? Was the dialogue realistic? Was the ending satisfying? Or did you feel that the story beyond the ending was still unresolved?
If you’re reading nonfiction, did the piece hold your interest, or did you keep reading because you had promised to give the author a critique? Who is the audience here? If you tell the author that you think the audience is made up of teenage boys, and she intends to sell it to ‘Sunset Magazine’, she has a problem. Did it feel long, too short, or just right? What questions were you left with? You really don’t want your reader to walk away with unanswered questions. Were you ever bored? Did you ever think that some information was irrelevant to this piece? This type of comment will help the writer improve this story, or this article.
Don’t forget that you are critiquing this particular story or article. Yes, you may immediately think of a much cooler story that the author could tell, or a much better slant to this article, but that is not what the author asked for, remember? He or she asked you to help make this story better, not different. Stick to the suggestions that will make this story or article work better. After you’ve delivered all the help of that sort that you can, you can suggest that there might be a different approach to this piece. Maybe a female POV would work better. Maybe the article would work better for twenty-somethings than for retirees. But make that an afterward. You were asked to tell the author how to make this story or article better. You were not asked to rewrite it!
All too often, we get caught up in pointing out each and every one of the weaknesses we notice in a manuscript. While that is helpful – if painful! – remember that the writer needs to know what is working as much as she needs to know what is not working. Don’t forget this part of the critique! If the description of the mage’s cave leaves you feeling the chilly breath of subterranean wind on your neck, tell her so! If the dialogue really sounded like a couple of eight year olds arguing, say so! If the ending line of that article about the homeless left you sniffling and looking up local charities, mention it! We all need to know where our strengths lie as much as we need to know what are weaknesses are. Too often we are quick to criticize and slow to praise. Balance the negatives with the positives! Everyone does something well!
So you’ve asked your writer friend for a critique of your own story, and now you have his response in your hands. What now? What do you listen to? What do you shrug and ignore? How do you know when he’s right?
First of all, remember that all critiques are opinions only, even if your critquer is a pro who just won the Pulitzer Prize. That person, pro or beginner, may well have misread your story because he was in a hurry, or misinterpreted it because of personal beliefs, opinions, prejudices, or what have you. Writing is a subjective artform. What works for one person may not work for another person. If you get a critique that does not feel right to you, then by all means, give it to another reader. If both readers make the same point; the character didn’t seem to behave logically, or they felt that the center of the article was very slow, then you need to listen. But if only one reader thinks you have a particular problem, and others do not, you’re probably safe to ignore that person. It’s up to you! YOU know what you are trying to do. We can only guess.
Certainly keep individual prejudices and world views in mind. It is difficult for most critiquers to ignore their feelings about certain types of people, actions, events, and so forth. Someone who is very strongly opposed to something like abortion, may not be able to give an objective critique to a story that deals with that topic in a positive manner. As you give your work to other readers regularly, pay attention to what each person does well. One may nitpick your science. Another may be very hard on your characterization. Keep these personal tropes in mind as you read their responses. I give my stories to different people, depending on what I think the weaknesses of that particular story are.
Remember, above all, that you are the author. Only you know what you are trying to do. Use the information that your critiquers give you, but use it to tell your story. Believe in yourself! I have seen several beginning writers ruin good stories by trying to do everything their critiquers suggested. At the end, you need to decide what works and what doesn’t! Use critiques to improve what you write. They are not judgements, they are information only. It’s your story.
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