Kill With Your Critique ... the Good Way
Writer’s Digest|September - October 2023
You can offer serious, honest feedback without crushing a writer's soul.
Kill With Your Critique ... the Good Way

As The Picture Book Whisperer and Editor for Bushel & Peck Books, I'm regularly invited to conferences to give manuscript critiques. Most recently, I participated in the Florida SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) Critique-aPalooza, and from the feedback I received on my critiques, I scored like a champ. Since these involved 15-minute Zoom conversations with the authors, I already knew that I witnessed how my written and verbal comments were difference-making.

Best of all, no one cried.

You might think that last sentence was left in for the comedic value, but here's the truth-when I started teaching writing at the college level 20-whatever years ago, I did make someone cry. Maybe even a few someones. Why? Because it'd been commonplace in my grad school writing workshops for students to get blubbery during or immediately after a professor's critique. After all, when speaking about critiques, don't we often use words like "destroy," "tear to shreds," and "rip apart"? How can that happen without the writer taking a few-or many!-blows as well?

This all got me thinking: What do I now know about giving critiques that I didn't know then? After serious reflection-and talking to a few dynamite pro critiquers-I offer the following.

DISCOVER INTENTIONS

I used to assume what the author and the story needed. These days, I ask. Small wonder then that if I learn a writer wants a lot of attention on plot, and then I give lots of feedback on plot, they're super happy.

In my college writing workshops, I invite authors whose work is up for group critique to bullet-point three specific things/areas/ideas they'd like feedback to touch upon. Of course, people can and do give more than that, but this guarantees we all have the same primary bull's-eyes.

It's so simple, yet many critiquers skip this high-impact, author empowering step!

GO HIGH AND LOW

Esta historia es de la edición September - October 2023 de Writer’s Digest.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición September - October 2023 de Writer’s Digest.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE WRITER’S DIGESTVer todo
Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.
Writer’s Digest

Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.

Climate change is one of those topics that can throw novelists—and everyone else—into a fearful and cowering silence. When the earth is losing its familiar shapes and consolations, changing drastically and in unpredictable ways beneath our feet, how can we summon our creative resources to engage in the imaginative world-building required to write a novel that takes on these threats in compelling ways? And how to avoid writing fiction that addresses irreversible climate change without letting our prose get too preachy, overly prescriptive, saturated with despair?

time-read
8 minutos  |
July - August 2024
Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers
Writer’s Digest

Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers

WD chats with the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.

time-read
6 minutos  |
September - October 2024
The Horrors of Grief
Writer’s Digest

The Horrors of Grief

Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September - October 2024
The Mystery of Growing Up
Writer’s Digest

The Mystery of Growing Up

New York Times-bestselling author Jasmine Warga tackles a new genre with her signature blend of empathy for her readers, agency for her characters, and the belief that art is the great connector.

time-read
5 minutos  |
September - October 2024
Education
Writer’s Digest

Education

Even if it's not your thing, you're probably familiar with the term dark academia.

time-read
4 minutos  |
September - October 2024
A Do-Over Romance
Writer’s Digest

A Do-Over Romance

Karin Patton, the first-place winner of the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Awards, shares a funny story about secondchance love and a brief Q&A.

time-read
7 minutos  |
September - October 2024
Everyday Wonder
Writer’s Digest

Everyday Wonder

How to mine awe from the mundane

time-read
8 minutos  |
September - October 2024
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Writer’s Digest

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

Unveil the hidden beauty in the facts and transform your nonfiction with the power of wonder.

time-read
6 minutos  |
September - October 2024
Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder
Writer’s Digest

Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder

How to get in touch with Little You and create big new work for today.

time-read
8 minutos  |
September - October 2024
Agent Roundup
Writer’s Digest

Agent Roundup

22 agents share details, about what kind of writing will pique their interest and offer tips for querying writers...

time-read
6 minutos  |
September - October 2024