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Jan 16, 2023 · But it would not matter whether you published criticism in the form of a Goodreads review or a magazine article; whether criticism was transmitted through the written word or the spoken one, in...
- Literary Criticism
Read more about Literary Criticism from The New Yorker
- Academia
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- Literary Criticism
Mar 23, 2021 · A negative critique might be said to be “criticism” in the way we often understand the term “to criticize,” but critiques can be positive too. We’re all familiar with one of the most basic forms of critique: reviews (film reviews, music reviews, art reviews, book reviews, etc.).
- By Anne R. Allen
- Notes For The Critiqued
- Do Keep in Mind The Purpose of The Critique
- Don’T Judge Or Condemn
- Do Use The “Sandwich Method”
- Don’T Make Ad Hominem Criticisms
- Do Listen to and/or Read The Other Critiques
- Don’T Mistake Critiquing For Group Therapy
- Do Know Your Own Blind Spots
- Don’T Enforce Stupid Writing Rules
I often advise new writers to look for a critique group to help them learn the writing ropes and get free feedback as well as the support they need when starting on a writing journey. But critique groups vary widely and some can be dangerous to a writer’s mental health. I’ve written about how Critique Groups Can Help AND Hinder Your Writing Growth,...
Tell your group the genreand audience you’re writing for, and let them know where you want readers to focus: pacing, clarity, dialogue, grammar, repetitions, authenticity, etc.Don’t expect100% praise.Stay silentduring an oral critique, except to give a quick answer to a direct question. Once the critiques are finished, you can elaborate.Don’t argueor explain “what you really meant.” One of the major things a critique can do is tell writers how much of what’s in our heads did or didn’t make it onto the page.Remember everybody was a beginner once, and everybody makes mistakes. It’s your job to help them remedy those mistakes, not send them home in tears. A manuscript critique is not the same as a book review: 1. A review is for readers — to help them decide whether a book is for them. 2. A critique is for writers — to help them improve the piece they a...
Don’t critique as if you’ve recently arrived from Mt. Olympus on a fault-finding mission. Unless you’re actually the Pope, nobody believes you’re infallible, so don’t talk as if you are. Say you don’t like something, not that it is “bad.” Use “I” statements: It’s better to say “I wasn’t interested in your character,” rather than “your character is ...
The human brain can’t take unrelenting criticism. 100% negativity comes across as an attack, and the only thing gained is the writer’s anger and distrust. Start with something positive and conclude with another. Even if a beginner has presented 5 pages of embarrassing classic writing mistakes, use your imagination to come up with something positive...
Critique the writing, not the writer.And remember the characters are not always stand-ins for the author. Avoid calling the author a Satan-worshipper because he writes about vampires. And if you’re critiquing a steamy romance, it’s not helpful to call the author a slut. (Or a harlot, trollop, doxy, chippie or floozy. 🙂 ) Ditto the characters. If t...
If your critiques are done in person, don’t take a snooze during the other members’ critiques. It’s painful to hear the same criticism from two or more critiquers. Plus it wastes everybody’s time. Maybe Sadie says, “I think it’s ridiculous when the vampire breaks into song in the middle of the battle with the werewolves. Everybody knows vampires ca...
Therapy stuff is most likely to surface with a memoir. People may feel the need to tell the author that he was being co-dependent with his second wife, or his current squeeze sounds like she’s got Borderline personality disorder. Resist it. This is true with fiction too. You may not approve of the choices or lifestyles of an author’s characters, bu...
Some neurodivergent people genuinely don’t get irony, sarcasm, or subtext. Satire is not fun for them. The strongly empathetic don’t find violence entertaining or enlightening. And many people have a powerful dislike of certain genres. If you’re one of those people, give critiquing that kind of work a polite pass. You simply aren’t the right audien...
One of the biggest problems with critiquers and beta readers is the belief that there are hard and fast rules that every writer must follow. Of course there are rules of grammar and spelling that are necessary for your work to be read by others. But dogmatic enforcement about silly rules like “You should never use the word ‘was’,” or “Contractions ...
Learning the difference between critique vs. criticism and how to write a critique in a friendly and constructive way are important parts of improving as a writer.
Feb 22, 2021 · Criticism versus Critique. by Tiffany Yates Martin. No creative soul likes receiving negative feedback on their work—no matter what we might tell you, beloved crit partners, beta readers, editors, agents. Yes, we may admit we need it, and that it helps immeasurably to get objective input on what may not be as effective on the page as it is in ...
Dec 13, 2020 · Critiques can sting. People tell us not to take them personally, but we do. That's because the brain is wired to take them as a threat.
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Jan 28, 2008 · Summary. In “Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature” and Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Toni Morrison contributes significantly to the debate about the canon of American literature in general and, in particular, its underlying discourse of what she calls the “dark ...
