Unit 1 - Lesson 2: Critiquing Others' Work
An Introduction
Craft:
For this first part of the lesson, we'll be learning about critiquing others' work in a respectful and helpful way. The video we'll be watching was put out by the YouTube channel Reedsy. Some vocabulary in the video centers around the novel publishing world, so there's no need to worry about it!
Some guiding questions to think about as you watch:
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How would you structure your comments to be kind? Would you start out with critiques or with praise?
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Would you want to meet with the person and talk to them face-to-face or would digital comments do the job by themselves?
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How would you like to be critiqued? How can you communicate this to a critique partner?
Think about these question and try to answer them as you watch! The video is linked to the right of this text!
Connect:
Now we'll be talking about what you just watched and adding on some new knowledge!
We understand how to critique someone's work, but what about reading it? Well, this is what we'll be talking about!
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First off, meet up with your writing partner from last time, or a new person if they're absent.
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Make sure to pick out a piece you want feedback on, and clarify to your partner what want feedback on specifically. The pacing of your short story? The rhythm of your poem? Clarifying is the best way to make sure you both walk away satisfied.
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Then make sure you read the entire piece without critiquing anything. This ensures that you're understanding what is being said and how the piece works.
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Finally, leave at least four comments on the piece, and try your best to balance out the good and the bad. Try to leave to comments pointing out things you'd like, and two comments bringing up issues you found that correlate to what the author asked you to look for!
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If you have time, leaving a final note as summary is always a good idea, but make sure you end on a positive note either way!
Create:
This is the final step in this lesson. Now you get to put what you learned into practice!
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Follow the steps above, but this time, choose a longer piece to critique. This could be a longer story, a collection of poems, or a few chapters of a novel you might be writing.
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Ensure that you and your writing buddy have ample time to comment on each other's works. Always clarify what you want feedback on in particular
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After you finish reading and commenting, talk about your pieces in person. Make sure it's a positive chat!
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Implement your partner's feedback, and if you enjoyed their critiques, keep running your writing by them in the future! Critique partners will always help your writing improve!
Good luck critiquing!
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