Haha... um.. yeah.
When I critique, I usually don't like going over the whole story. Why? Because the errors are so common throughout the story that I do it the first couple of times and then you're on your own. Mind you, I used to do that all the time, but then my time got slightly limited, and so I can't pay attention to every lovely sentence. Or I can, but I do that with my own story. Sneaky, isn't it?
So yeah.
Writing requires a certain amount of independent thinking, and even if you get a thousand critiques, if you can't critically analyze your story, then it's still going to suck. You should make sure that you get the most out of your critiques. Let's go through the list, shall we?
1. Be able to understand the basic critiques.
If you don't understand what your critiquer says, then it's hopeless. Either ask or have someone else that you trust interpret it. Critiques that you can't understand are worthless, so you should do your best to understand them.
2. Be able to understand BEYOND the critiques.
Sometimes what the critiquer says may only be the surface. I know I got critiques saying, "You should take this out" when I didn't want to take it out at all. Instead, I rearranged the paragraph so that the one thing they wanted to have taken out was put in a position that was less stressed, and it was fine that way.
Other times, some critiquers might say, "This seems awkward." And, if they're good critiquers, they might have some suggestions on how to fix it. But that doesn't mean you have to follow their suggestions completely. The main issue is that you see that there is a mistake and you become aware of it. Critiquers are not God, and any critiquer who claims to be such is an idiot. In the end, you know more about your story then they do. Use this knowledge to smooth out the rough stuff.
3. Look at the mistakes as a whole and not a part.
So, sometimes I point out bad dialogue grammar. Why? Because that annoys me. And sometimes, me being the cruel person I am, just link you to a page of examples of dialogue grammar and expect you to figure out what you did wrong. If it's especially persistant, I might point out an example and correct it.
Your job? You know your weaknesses now -- we critiquers have just point it out. Now you have to correct them. Annoying? YES. But in the end, it's worth it.
4. Don't expect us to hold your hand.
I've had people ask for multiple critiques. That's okay, and most of the time I don't mind. Unless, of course, I find that the person wants me to hold their hand through their story. And then I suddenly find myself minding quite a bit...
I hate repeating myself, saying the same things over again. If I find myself repeating myself, I just quit reading the person's work entirely. Bad? Perhaps. But obviously if you keep on making the same mistake that I keep pointing out, even if you edit it once I point it out again, I have become a crutch for you. You cannot function without me. And that's bad.
Learn independence. We're critiquers... not editors. We won't help you with every single mistake you have. That's what you're supposed to do. True, we'll help you out as much as we can, but if you are unwilling to learn from us, then why should we bother?
5. Learn how to read your own work.
This is very important, but sadly looked over. We're so excited that people actually read our own stuff and we grow lazy. We want comments now, yet we forget to get comments from the most important person -- ourselves.
Learn to read your own work. Read it out loud from your computer, print it up and scan, do whatever works for you. But learn how to read and critically disect your own work. And that way, you'll become a better writer.
Hope this helps!
Gender:
Points: 3891
Reviews: 3821