Elements Of A Good Critique

Anytime someone asks you to give a critique of their fiction, there are some basic things to keep in mind that will make it easier. There are two main areas to look at – technical and content. They should be handled separately if possible, since one is mostly objective and the other is largely subjective.

Technical is the obvious -grammar, spelling, etc. It is also the less obvious such as dropped plot threads or order of events errors. These errors tend to throw the reader out of the story. The technical part should not be treated lightly, particularly since it is the easiest for the author to miss. It is amazing how many times I have typed the wrong word and never seen the error because my mind reads what I intended to type, not necessarily what I actually typed.

Content is more subjective and sometimes difficult to express. You don’t like the way a scene reads, but you may not see why you don’t like it. Things like characterizations, descriptions, and how the story flows fall into this category. It’s important to make sure your thoughts are stated as opinions. There are as many ways to tell a story as there are people to tell it and no one is going to like every approach. Keep that in mind. Also keep in mind the overall intent of the author and their style.

Here is a list of some questions to answer about a completed draft. The list could be longer, but this covers the basics. Most of these will also be useful when looking at chapters too.

Technical:

Is the spelling correct, including consistent character/place names?

Is it grammatically sound in all areas, including punctuation?

Is the phrasing clear and concise?

Does it have strong word choices, particularly verbs? I put this in here because it really is more a matter of grammar than personal writing style.

Is the voice consistent? If the writing is in 1st person, present tense, it should stay that way unless the character is relating something from the past to another character or thinking about past events. Likewise, 3rd person, past tense should be consistent throughout except in actual dialogue.

Is the Point of View (POV) consistent. If the story has multiple POV’s, the shifts must be logical and clear as to just who’s head you are in at any given time.

Does the dialogue flow naturally? Are the speakers clearly indicated through the use of a combination of dialogue tags, gestural pauses, and descriptive fragments as needed?

Are events and descriptions consistent? Unless there are time warps going on, something that happened on Tuesday should not later be said to have happened on Saturday. That assumes one character is not lying to another, of course. Scene descriptions should also be consistent, if building A is to the right of building B, it should stay there, unless a tornado has moved it.

Content:

Are the characters, setting and plot believable within the context of the story?

Does the plot work?

Are the conflicts clear or murky? Are the main conflicts resolved satisfactorily? Note, that doesn’t necessarily mean a happy ending, it means they aren’t left hanging. Even a series will have a sense of closure at the end of each book.

Is the story arc developed in a logical way? Does the story begin at the beginning? If not, is the flashback sequence both smooth and reasonable? (Very few experienced authors can pull off starting in the middle of a story. I have never seen a novice do it, but there’s always a first time.)

Is the author’s writing style consistent? If it starts off humorous and turns darkly suspenseful, there is a problem.

In short, this is where you let the author know what works and what doesn’t work for you as a reader. Remember, it is at least as important to let them know what works as it is to point out problems. What works well is what the author needs to build on.

One thing to understand, it is not necessary to like a book or genre to be able to critique one reliably. Be honest and objective, even when commenting on the merits of a particular approach. I have given crits on books I, personally, didn’t like. I am not fond of horror, vampires or zombies, but I do understand the elements that need to be present and can tell if they are well used or not. I have even encountered a few that I actually liked. That makes it good for me too. I get out of my comfort zone. Sometimes, we get the most help from someone who does not normally read the kind of books we write. There is much to be said for a fresh, uncluttered viewpoint.