sincere | Idea Critiquing

(Crossposted to

idea_critique for which it was written -- but a lot of people probably would like to read this, so posted here too.)

Since a lot of people have difficulty giving constructive criticism and insightful commentary, I thought I'd help by writing out a little guide. A lot of these questions will actually be helpful for full stories or drabbles as well, so keep them in mind -- they make a good checklist of questions to ask yourself to find useful things to say. You don't need to use ALL of these, or even ANY of these, when commenting, but if you need help, this is where to turn.

Guide to Idea Critique

How do you like the idea? Does it interest you? Have you seen it before? The first step to refining an idea is discovering whether or not it's worth developing. If you think it's not a good idea, try to explain to the author why; they'd rather hear the honest opinions of the readers than spend months developing a story that nobody is interested in reading.

Do you see any immediate possibilities to flesh out the idea? If not, would more information from the author help? If you can see a way to use the original idea to build a story, then it's probably a good idea! Share your inspirations with the author, and you may be able to help them discover what they want to do with it. If the original idea is too unspecific to provide you with inspiration, maybe you could ask the author questions to help you (and them) narrow the scope of the idea.

What does the idea make you think of? Play the association game. These are elements the author may be able to incorporate. An example: I read gatafairy's idea and thought a "growing up story," and different kinds of partings that she could describe.

Guide to Character Critique

What's your instinctive reaction to the character? Like or dislike? Would you be sympathetic or interested in such a character? Would you WRITE about such a character? If you read a character description and say to yourself, damn, wish I'd thought of that first, you're looking at a GOOD character and should tell the author so.

Do you feel the character is unique in any way -- or, oppositely, that the character is cliche in any way? Chances are that the author would like to know!

How about the character's background? Do you have any questions about it, or how it has affected the character? Is there not enough background? A background without any significant influence may be a sign that the author hasn't thought much about the character. If you push the author to actually think about it, then you're helping them develop a more rounded character.

Guide to Summary Critique

Would you want to read a story like this if you saw it on a book? Do you feel it's overdone or cliche in any way? Does it have an original slant or draw? Many stories are worth reading, but without a unique hook, there might not be anything to make it stand out when the story is over.

Are the characters well-developed by the end? Do you feel that their actions match their personalities, and that those personalities reflect their backgrounds? Sometimes authors are so busy trying to advance the plot that they forget how their characters are supposed to act -- ask about anything that seems suspicious. Consistent development is important in a story.

Do you see any plot holes? If the author needs help filling the plot holes, how would you overcome the obstacle or explain the situation if it were you? One of the easiest methods to helping someone with a plot point is if you put yourselves in their shoes.

Does the ending leave any loose ends that you could point out to the author? Was everything in the conclusion sufficiently established from the beginning? Beware of the temptations of deus ex machina -- make sure events don't just happen out of nowhere. Everything has to have connections in a book, or the events are random, and that makes for a bad story.

What elements do you like best, or least, from the summary? What characters do you like best or least? Or any other opinions on the storyline you may have to volunteer. Possibly the most important part of critique is telling the author how you feel; only you, the reader, can tell the author what the piece looks like from a neutral perspective.