Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Critiquing is HARD (way harder than math)

Barbie Doll & VehicleI just got home from my writing class, and since it's 1015pm and I want to sleep, I will be brief.  :)

Today I was the primary critiquer on another student's non-fiction piece and a flash fiction short. I loved the criticism I got on the first few chapters of THE GODDESS OF VENGEANCE WORE PINK GALOSHES (more on that later) so I really want to do a good job of critiquing when it was my job, too. But I felt like my comments were too specific, not broad enough, and not necessarily well-organized or explained.  Hopefully it came across better than I think, but man.

Critiquing seems so much harder to me than writing. Maybe that's why even revising my own work is hard for me!

I'll still be providing comments on everyone else's writing the rest of the semester, just not as the primary critic, so if you have any suggestions or hints for me, I'd love to hear them!

P.S. Does anyone else remember the "Math is hard" Barbie scandal from back in the day?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Ha! I'm a teacher so "math is hard" Barbie was definitely a topic of conversation. Too funny.

I have a hard time being critical to someone's face (maybe in my head, but...). I'm sure it's a great exercise though and it's good to be out of your comfort zone... right?

Old Kitty said...

I find critiquing very hard. I always try to focus on the positives! Good luck with your critiquing!!

What's Barbie done with maths? :-)

How intriguing! Take care
x

Andrea Coulter said...

Critiquing is tough, but it's an analytical skill, so it gets easier with practice. I've noticed my beta readers getting better at giving useful feedback (going from 'something feels off here' to being able to pinpoint what feels off, why and even maybe how to fix it.)

Feedback from a group of strangers sounds terrifying, but really helpful. Maybe I should think about taking a writing class!