Questions tagged [criticism]

Questions dealing with writing criticism, and with receiving criticism from others. Please do not use this tag for critique questions.

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44 votes
15 answers
16k views

What are good places to post your work where it will be read by others?

Seeing this site and reading some of my ridiculous stories that I wrote a while ago makes me want to start writing again. I know I'll be more enthusiastic if I have people reading my work and ...
Claudiu's user avatar
  • 801
21 votes
9 answers
2k views

Something different: Help me find the unnecessary words.

I had a professor, once upon a time, a guy named Jim Guetti. He was possibly the best writing coach I've ever had. You took his classes for the privilege of submitting works for him to gut with a red ...
Satanicpuppy's user avatar
  • 2,399
23 votes
11 answers
5k views

Are "non-readers" useful beta readers?

In my opinion, the best beta readers are fellow writers, partly because they may have insight others don't, but partly also because you can agree to trade beta-reading responsibilities. (This is far ...
J.G.'s user avatar
  • 9,547
9 votes
4 answers
222 views

What things should one highlight as good in beta reading feedback?

When I read people's manuscripts to provide feedback, I can easily identify areas worth improving. However, feedback isn't all that helpful if it makes the writer give up, so good news needs to be ...
J.G.'s user avatar
  • 9,547
25 votes
14 answers
3k views

How to deal with self-criticism?

I write non-fiction articles for my website and a weekly paid newsletter, and I’m doing that for some time now. However, I still struggle a lot with self-criticism, and find it hard to regard an ...
Jura's user avatar
  • 359
16 votes
6 answers
880 views

How to get feedback about the quality of one's fictional writing from friends unbiased by the friendship?

It is a little strange to ask, but are there ways to get feedback from friends about the quality of fictional writing (whether they liked it, not more objective aspects like spelling/grammar/etc.) ...
Daniel Wessel's user avatar
15 votes
6 answers
4k views

How harsh is too harsh when beta reviewing?

I was recently sent a document to beta review, so I transferred it to Google Docs and started making suggestions. Once I'm through the four pages, there's about thirty miscellaneous spelling/minor ...
Ceramicmrno0b's user avatar
14 votes
6 answers
4k views

What to look for when criticizing poetry?

A recent question got me thinking about how to criticize poetry well and I realized I am not very good at it. I can do themes, and that's about it. And I'm not even sure that should be covered unless ...
Summer's user avatar
  • 4,461
14 votes
4 answers
4k views

Critique vs nitpicking

During an in-class activity for my AP Lang class, each student did a cold read of a piece they chose, then all the students provided critique out loud and written on their own copy of the author's ...
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8 votes
5 answers
1k views

Websites for free feedback on stories?

Are there any websites or anything similar where we can get feedback from online readers (without paying for a membership or anything of the sort) for stories and other writings that are not quite ...
Stargazer's user avatar
  • 123
6 votes
3 answers
163 views

Approaches to criticizing short fiction

What is a reasonable scholarly approach to breaking down short pieces of prose? Is it word choice? Is it structure? Is it themes, and how well they are used? Use of symbolism and its efficacy? Meter, ...
Summer's user avatar
  • 4,461
2 votes
3 answers
145 views

Literary criticism handbook

Can you point out some reference books on literary criticism – from a theoretical as well as practical point of view – to hone and systematize my skills, acquired through first-hand reading of lots of ...
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