How to critique someone's work

CLICK HERE to learn how to give a fair and balanced critique.

You can also check out these tips from Holly Lisle, a writer whose advice should always be heeded. Here's a link to her site.

Quote :

Schrodinger's Rules of Critiquing

1) Critique the writing, never the writer. Never say, "You are..." or "You should..." Instead say, "The writing is..." or "The story should..."

2) Find what is right in each piece as well as what is wrong.

3) Don't say, "This is how I would write it;" how you would write it isn't the point.

4) Remember that subject matter is personal. You don't have to like a story to give it a fair critique.

5) Remember what your biases are and critique around them.

6) Remember that real people wrote this stuff, and real people have real feelings.


Things you may not say while critiquing.

"That's awful."

"That's stupid."

"You couldn't write your way out of a paper bag."


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Schrodinger's Rules of Being Critiqued

1) Listen. The person who is speaking has taken the time to listen to your work, and wants to help you find ways to make it better.

2) Wait until everyone has finished critiquing before making comments.

3) Explain only if necessary. Don't rebut.

4) Take notes.

5) Realize that everything can be improved.

6) Be willing to make changes. Conversely, don't change anything you feel must remain in order to make the story yours.


Things you may not say when being critiqued.

"You're wrong."

"You're an idiot."

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."

What if their mother really was a hamster?

I agree critiquing is a two way street--the writer needs to put their best baby forward (or at least the basics, like spell checked and punctuated) and the critique-er needs to approach said baby with a firm, but gentle hand. Don't want baby to fall off the changing table, but you also don't want baby to have diaper rash. Or for those of you with furrier babies, it's like trying to force feed a cat that nasty hairball goop without causing a cat-tastrophe.

Forgive me, I haven't had enough coffee today.

I have great crit partners that don't mince words, but they also tell me what is working and what is good. All negatives can be demoralizing, but to be a writer you will have to face serious attacks on your work--not everyone is going to be your cheerleader and the faster you realize that it's not personal, the better your work becomes.