Read Story And Do Fiction Critique./English – Article writing
• Write down the “What?” moments. You shook your head, didn’t get it, but read on and maybe got it later, maybe not. Explain.
Step Two: Re-read the story a second time, and read the writer’s comments and concerns. Return to your critique, and now directly answer the writer’s concerns and questions. Please write them out again in your critique, so that a reader (like me!) knows what those are and what you are doing to answer them, since each person has different concerns. Step Three: Look again at the checklists and info in your book. Then make sure you have fully covered the questions below in this assignment. Some may have been addressed as you answered the writer’s concerns. Others may be areas that the writer may not have considered, but your feedback will help him or her improve the piece. Remember: the goal is to go beyond simply describing what the writer has done to evaluating its effectiveness and offering suggestions for alternative constructions, paths, images, etc. For example, maybe there is a stunning image in a piece of prose. But that is unbalanced by other images or descriptive language, so it assumes more importance than it needs to have. You could suggest toning it down or you could suggest places where equally descriptive language could be used. You want the writer to not only know HOW to revise the piece but WANT to revise the piece! So your tone should be fair, balanced, and professional. Praise what’s good but don’t overpraise; explain what needs to be improved, why, and how. Here’s how I grade critiques (remember: you need to earn a B on this to make up an absence):
C: (Description Only): You have put some details into your plot.
B: (Description plus analysis of why something works or doesn’t): You have put some details into your plot. I don’t think all of them work very well. For example, you have lots of detail about the house but then don’t use it to make your character or plot work.
A: (Description, analysis, and suggestion):You have put some details into your plot. I don’t think all of them work very well. For example, you have lots of detail about the house but then don’t use it to make your character or plot work. You could improve it by breaking some of it up. So instead of giving us a total description of the kitchen in one paragraph, you could give us some. Then maybe have him drink from a chipped jelly jar and put his old plate into a stained sink. She could pull aside the musty curtains. Have your characters use the details. You can do this with each new room they are in. Right now, you have a big paragraph for each.
Questions to answer in your written critique:
• What would really pull you in and make you feel like you were in the story? What would keep you even more interested?
• How well has the writer paced out her plot? What is the complicating action, the trigger? (What set everything in motion?) Where is the climax for the story? Remember: at the climax, the main character is forced to make an important decision after a series of events have put him/her in this position. If you are guessing at the climax, let the writer know.
• How thoroughly has the writer developed characters? Do you feel you understand well the motivations, fears, and desires of the main character? What more do you need or want to know about the main characters?
• How well has the writer handled dialog? Is the voice always believable? Is the punctuation correct? If they’ve chosen a non-standard form of dialogue, does it work? Would another form work better?
• Where and how can dialog be improved, made more interesting, do more for the story, made more “real”?
• How consistent is the point-of-view? Does it shift? Where? What point of view is s/he using and how effective is it? Why do you say that?
• Does the writer inappropriately shift tenses anywhere? Point them out and explain to him/her how to fix it.
• Where could the writer develop the setting better? What images and descriptions are particularly effective and why?
• Where does the voice of the author or character bother you—seem irritating, unnecessarily angry, whiney, too passive, bored, distant, academic, too personal, too passionate? It might be a sudden change in voice of the main character, where you feel like the writer is speaking to you, the reader, maybe lecturing you. Or maybe a character seems too bland or too over-the-top.
• Where does it feel like the writer is working too hard to make a point or get you to feel something? Is telling too much and not trusting the reader to be intelligent and interpretive? This may be an authorial intrusion, a character who speaks “too much,” etc. Often, it’s a big paragraph describing the main character instead of integrating the material throughout the story. It could be a statement like, “Little did Phoebe know…”
• Point out a place where the writer could SHOW instead of TELL. • Where is the writing most awkward? Mark the text and write about those spots
to the author. • Where is the writer most successful? How does s/he accomplish this success?
What is s/he doing at that point? Step Four: If there’s anything you want to say that hasn’t been addressed by the above, now’s a great time! Step Five: Print out a copy for me and a copy for the writer. Make good use of questions throughout to get the writer thinking, and offer direction and suggestions.
