Dipping your Toes in the Critique Pool, Part Two
By Renee Geffken, Coastal Dunes Branch
Continued from last month’s Part One.
In many online critique groups, you must critique three submissions before your writing is critiqued. However, this doesn’t apply in many face-to-face groups. This article is about critiquing for whatever reason.
First, I thank the author for sharing the story with us, and if new to the group, a big ‘Welcome Aboard’ and hope you receive as much help and good advice as I have.
Then explain your weaknesses and strengths as a critiquer (critter). In my case: Just to let you know, I ain’t no good at Grammar. However, I’m awesome at spotting loose ends and implausibilities. Also, I’m a pro at dialogue. I look for ways your characters will engage the reader.
The Grammar Issue: On glancing through the story, you can immediately tell if this will be an issue. If so, help the brother/sister out by finding a few of their common errors and a nice little explanation. Some writers close to submitting to publishers prefer critters to perform a line edit, but all writing should be professionally edited before submission.
Many newbies focus on grammar as they don’t know how to critique, which is understandable, and they will gain more knowledge after their work is evaluated. Newbie! Maybe you wrote a few pieces, but you’ve probably read your favorite authors and genres. All those excellent plots and fantastic writing skills reside within you. Trust yourself.
Loose Ends: This usually applies if you’ve been critting many chapters, and you’ll read something and go… “Hmm, this isn’t right.” Then you do a word find and discover column A didn’t match up with column B. Point those errors out. Authors will love you for it.
Speaking of loose ends,
come back for Part Three in next month’s showcase,
This essay originally appeared in Imprints,
newsletter of the Coastal Dunes Branch.