Three Steps to Writing a Helpful Fiction Critique

With just a little extra effort, it's possible to write critiques that are not only helpful to the author, but improve your writing skills as well.

1.    Critique the manuscript, not the author. A telltale sign that your comments are aimed at the author is use of word "you" (or "your"). Unless your comment is one hundred percent positive (e.g. "I love your dialogue."), avoid "you."

2.    Be honest and diplomatic. Some critiquers take pride in being "blunt," thinking diplomacy is pointless since the author asked for their opinion.

Unfortunately, blunt critiques often read like angry rants, even when the comments are leveled at the manuscript. They may feel like a trip to the principal's office: an angry finger shaking at the miscreant author who dared "force" the critiquer to read such drivel. Here's a short example of a blunt critique.

"This story is adolescent and silly. This was the most unrealistic depiction of people in love I have ever read. The dialogue is jarring and stilted. Really, now, nobody talks like this."

First, what if the story was written by an adolescent? Sentence two is rather meaningless, since, it's quite possible, the critiquer has only read one love story in his/her life. The snide little comment at the end is just that, snide. But the worst aspect of this critique is that it's lazy. Yep, lazy. It's easy to find fault with a manuscript, but hard to work out real solutions for the problems.

Rather than a lecture detailing the sins the manuscript commits, why not challenge yourself as a critiquer and come up with solutions you'd implement to improve the story? For example, if the dialogue is awful, select a section of bothersome conversation, and "show" how you'd write it. It isn't your story, but the author did ask for your help. Help him/her.

Go beyond simply calling the dialogue "stilted." Perhaps the writer is young or perhaps they have a tin ear when it comes to the nuances of human conversation. Your example just might be the "Eureka!" moment they are so desperately seeking.

3.   Critique the manuscript that is before you. In other words, curb your literary biases and critique the story for what it is.

Even if the manuscript is the most cliché-ridden pile of horse pucky you've ever read, resist the urge to utter little gems like, "This is derivative and no editor would buy this type of story," or "You're wasting your time writing this sort of story," or my personal favorite, "You're too talented a writer to write stuff like this." Comments like these are based on sweeping assumptions and offer few benefits.

No one, not even the most seasoned pro, can predict exactly what the market will want. With polishing, the author's trope-heavy manuscript just might be the story that breathes new life into a tired genre. Writing is never a waste of time; practice makes perfect. And finally, a grade school teacher once told Stephen King the same thing: "You're talented. Why do you waste your abilities?" I imagine that teacher is now sitting down to a large helping of crow.

Again, here's a chance to challenge yourself as a critiquer and a writer. Is the villain suffering from a case of "Bwah-ha-ha" two-dimensionality? What steps would you take to turn evil Pinocchio into a real antagonist? What's your approach to character building? How do you make characters leap from the page?

And please, don't "insist" that the author read a book on writing by your favorite author. Take the knowledge you gained from Bob's Big Guide to Fiction and apply it to the manuscript at hand. As with fiction, show, don't tell.

If you find it impossible to put aside your biases and the story is so vile that diplomacy induces a hernia, don't critique the manuscript.

A critique should not be milk and honey. If the author wanted meaningless accolades, he or she would have passed it on to Mom. "In its present form, this manuscript is not publishable," is a perfectly reasonable comment, provided it is followed by constructive methods for improvement. The difference is a critique that leaves the author inspired and humming with new ideas, rather than a critique that leaves them battered and bewildered.

Happy critiquing!