Writing Tips: Analyzing Critiques and Reviews

I have received several very helpful reviews on a chapter of a novel I posted. I have not gone over them all in great detail yet, nor have I reworked the chapter that was critiqued yet. I am trying to get a few more chapters up for review. Consequently, I’m reworking those chapters first, using the constructive input received on my first chapter to hopefully polish the next chapters I want to submit next.

I also received ten critiques on a short-story I wrote and posted for critique. I decided to analyze these critiques more thoroughly right away, and apply them to the story. After doing this I intend to resubmit this hopefully improved version to a different critique group.

Here is how I analyze critiques and reviews, and incorporate suggested changes:

It is helpful to group all critiques of a particular piece of writing in one place, along with any follow up emails you have received when asking for further clarification or advice. I copied mine critiques into a newly made folder within my email program. You probably need to determine how long you will wait before going over the critiques. For example in one workshop my work is up for critiquing for a space of one week. Obviously, once that week is over, I won’t receive any more critiques on that piece. I can implement suggestions in those critiques right away. In another workshop there’s no time limit on how long it remains up. I have to decide how long I’ll leave my writing up, and when I’ll go through in detail the critiques received. (I read and acknowledge each critique as it comes in, and also ask for any clarifications in reply emails. Most people are more than happy to offer additional advice, or explain how they worked around a particular problem.)

Wait till all or most of the critiques are in, then review comments made. Decide which reviews you find helpful, and which ones you don’t. I find reviews that emphasize what they liked about the writing, yet offer little feedback on what needs to be improved, generally unhelpful. If you find some reviews either too skimpy to offer much feedback, or too positive (or overly-negative) delete it, or save it in a separate location.

Make a list of suggested changes and corrections that have been made by more than one person. If two or three people agree that something needs changing, it’s worth heeding their advice.

Make a list of areas that you need to work on, such as POV, grammar, dialog. Prepare to systematically research on these topics, with the aim to improve your writing technique.

Note the things people say are your strengths in your writing.

Carefully review any plot summaries received. From these you can determine if your plot is flawed and people are getting the wrong idea. I discovered, for example, that some of the reviewers didn’t ‘get’ the world I had created. They misinterpreted some scenes because of this. I need to make it more clear. My ending was also misinterpreted a couple of times. Again, this shows the need to clarify and re-work the ending.

Work with the easier suggested corrections, things that aren’t really in question such as grammar rules, mis-spelling, poor punctuation. These are usually glaringly obvious and most of the time easy to fix.

Work on one element of style at a time. If you don’t fully understand the problem, research it on line. (There’s a tremendous wealth of information posted on line.) Once you feel you understand the problem go through your entire manuscript and work on that particular element. Focusing only on one area that needs improvement at one time is easier than tackling all the suggestions given in one critique at once.

One way of doing this in a systematic way, (after you have corrected the grammar, punctuation, etc.) is to take one critique and work on the first major thing mentioned. Once you have reworked and corrected your writing, take the second point mentioned from that same critique, and work through the entire manuscript. This way you will most likely correct the main problem-areas of your writing after working through a couple of critiques.

Of course, ultimately there’s no right or wrong way to do this. Just decide what works best for you, and go to it!

Run your writing through a writing program that detects overused words, cliches, passive writing, complex sentences, etc. I found it highly enlightening to do this with some of the chapters I worked on. There are a few programs out there–try a few and see which one works best for you. While not essential, it helped to catch some things that I hadn’t noticed even after making corrections.

You stand to gain from having your work critiqued. No matter how professional your writing, there are always things that need improving. How much your writing improves will be determined, in part, by how you apply the reviews you receive. If you read them and shrug them off your writing is not likely to improve much. If you read the critiques and implement the suggested changes methodically most likely your writing will be strengthened.