Review Guidelines

Many new writers feel uncomfortable critiquing another's work.  Here are some questions you can ask yourself as you are reading that will help you give better reviews.
 

Note: These are general guidelines.  Critique each piece on its own merits.  Each genre and every author’s style will have slightly different nuances.  The goal is to help them perfect their voice/vision for the piece. 

Reviews go over better, if you start and end on positive notes.  Almost every piece has something that was well done, and something that you might have changed.  It helps if you can be as specific as possible. For example, Instead of saying, “You’re spelling was bad.”  Say, “Girlfriend is one word, not two.”  And “You’re descriptions were poor,” could be changed to, “I had a hard time picturing the home she grew up in, or how old she was.”

·         Does the story make sense?  Could you follow the story line?  Were there any unexplained plot holes?

·         Think about how the story made you feel?  Was that the author’s intent?  Was it supposed to funny/scary?)  What particular word choices/phrase made you think that?

·         Is the grammar/spelling correct, or appropriate for the situation?

·         Are there sections that don’t serve a purpose in the story? 

·         Are there too many weak verbs?

·         Do the characters involved feel lifelike?   Are their motivations and responses reasonable? Is their speech style consistent? Is there an explained reason for the change?

·         Are there areas that "tell" how a person acts/feels when it would be better to "Show" through dialogue or attention to the characters facial expressions/actions, etc.

·          Is the story original?  What makes it unique?  What makes it potentially boring because you’ve “heard it before?” 

·         What mental images did you create?  Was that the author’s intent?  What areas needed more detail?  What areas were too detailed (made the story drag)?  What areas were perfect?

·         For Children’s, some Poems, and dialogue.  If you read it out loud, then are you tripping on the words?  Where do you get tongue-tied?  What areas were particularly fun to say?

·         For Poems, does it follow the rules for the type of poem it is?

·         For Adult books especially, are any words overused?  Is there a clearer, more direct way to say the same thing?  Could you do that without changing the tone and style of the piece?  Are some areas too blunt/sparse compared to the rest of the piece.

·         For Essays, do they effectively argue their point?  Are you convinced?  Why/Why not?

For those receiving reviews- Remember that even in popular, published pieces, there will be people who don’t “get” it, and who felt it was drab, unoriginal, or some other adjective.  This is normal.  So, with every reaction, authors should think about the responses they are getting, and then re-read their piece.  Do you agree? Disagree?  What might have given them that impression?