Megrim's Critique Crucible
Think you have the reviewing skillz? Feeling pretty good about your approach to reviewing, and want the rug pulled out from under you? Feeling pretty bad about your approach to reviewing, and want an objective outsider to point out all the places you goofed? Well then... Welcome to the Critique Crucible, where your reviewing skills can enter a trial by fire!
There are many great articles in the Knowledge Base for how to approach reviewing, but let's face it--a lot of us learn by doing, and sometimes it takes having an outside party point out your missteps. That's where I come in.
Why should I care what Megrim thinks?
I critique a lot. I've been a member of critique-focused sites, chats, and forums for a looong time. I also have a weekly writing group where we critique each other live for two hours at a time. I fancy myself pretty experienced at this, with a decent feel for what works and what doesn't. Even more importantly, all this stuff varies for every individual, so it's vital to understand how to focus different critique styles for different people. I believe that all reviewers have something to offer, regardless of skill level or background, both of the reviewer and the reviewee.
Why should I care at all?
Believe it or not, you learn way more by critiquing others than by having your own work critiqued. Improving your critical eye will train your inner editor, and then when you turn back to your own writing, things start popping out left and right that you never would have noticed otherwise. Also, improving the general quality of your critiques helps the YWS community as a whole.
How does it work?
->Reviews are submitted voluntarily by the people who wrote them.
->You can NOT enter a review written by someone else.
->The story being reviewed will not be critiqued by me--I'm looking at the submitted review ONLY.
Reviews will be assessed on five axes for a total possible of 25 points:
- Organization: (1-5 points)
Even the best advice can be hard to understand if it's presented in a helter-skelter manner. Whether you use subheadings or simply organize your paragraphs for a good flow, this axis looks at how logically and coherently your review is presented.
Scope: (1-5 points)
You can think of this as thoroughness, but I used the word scope because a good critique mentions both the small and the large, the near future and the far future, the sentence level and the scene level. Attention to detail is great, but we also want to consider long-term plot and character developments. This axis looks at how in-depth and comprehensive your review is.
Sensitivity: (1-5 points)
The author's age, experience level, and specific feedback requests all play a factor in how a piece should be approached. Treating the author respectfully and in a manner appropriate for their wishes and writing level is as important a consideration as the writing itself. This axis is all about the author-reviewer dynamic.
Length: (1-5 points)
This is not a linear relationship! You don't get more points for longer reviews, but rather, having a length appropriate to what is said. A short but poignant review is better than a long review full of filler. This axis examines whether the points were covered sufficiently, while also not full of padding.
Explanation: (1-5 points)
When you make points, it's generally helpful to explain your thinking a little bit. Whether you feel bored, confused, have personal insight on a matter, have grappled with the same thing in your own writing, have a better idea in mind, know of some resources on a topic, or have some examples--as long as you give the author a chance to understand where you're coming from, that allows them to better determine if they should follow your advice, and why. This axis considers whether you've offered good explanations for subjective comments.
How do I enter?
First of all, this isn't for the faint-hearted--it is a cruicible after all! Therefore, so I can trust you've read this and know what you're signing yourself up for, please type somewhere in your post anything to do with dying in fire. (Eg "I hope my review doesn't go up in flames" or anything creative).
- Code: Select all
[b]CRUCIBLE REQUEST[/b]
[b]Your Name:[/b]
[b]Title of Work Reviewed:[/b]
[b]Type of Work Reviewed:[/b] (Chapter, short story, poem, etc)
[b]Link to Your Review:[/b]
[b]Date of Review:[/b]
[b]Any last words?:[/b]
My responses will be posted publicly in this thread, with lots of bold and headings so they'll be hard to miss. Conversation is allowed and encouraged in the thread - there's a big bold header in that template so I can identify requests. Any requests ignoring the template will be ignored in turn.
Good luck!
Gender:
Points: 23295
Reviews: 264