Critique
These are the ground rules for critiquing work:
1 Be kind
Presenting your work for critique puts you in an incredibly vulnerable position. For the critic, on the other hand, it’s easy to get carried away when you’re critiquing work, especially when you feel like you know exactly what a piece of work would benefit from, and inadvertently say very hurtful things.
2 Be specific
Even if you are being kind, you are not doing anybody any favours if you are vague. ‘I think Melanie’s writing is really good’ does not cut it in a critique. ‘I like the way Melanie uses lots of different verbs in her writing so that you feel like you’re a part of the action’ is much better.
3 Be helpful
Critique is not just about naming what is strong and weak in a piece of work, it is also about working out how to go about improving that work.