Y'know mostly what I don't like in feedback is when a critiquer gets caught up in their own very personal opinions - this has really only ever happened in RL but I've had other students write things like "you shouldn't use these words because I don't know what they mean", "I like your character but he's obviously not a scientist because he talks like a normal person," and "I don't like that she wanders around topless in her apartment (because I'm a prude)."
Then, as you said, I love when a critiquer picks out certain passages that they like, even if it's just to underline a sentence and put a check mark next to it, because often it'll be a sentence I put a lot of effort into. I like when they write down what their own reactions and thought-processes are because at this point I'm mostly beyond needing language correction and more on tone, and how the reader experiences the writing. I don't mind suggestions on better ways to organize sentences, although I have experienced that to an extreme in a poetry class where one student went through every poem and basically re-wrote it using the sentence structure he would.
In art, well, complimenting specifics is the best way to go, and in critiques I usually try to say something along the lines of "I really like how you did x, but the shadows of your y makes it look a little flat." Hearing something like "it's really good" is honestly a bit discouraging (and what most non-artists will say) because that can often be code for "I don't really like it" and can't you find one thing to compliment to tell me you didn't just glance at it?
Otherwise... I basically agree with what you put up there. It's sound advice, and seems like it should be self-explanatory (even if it often isn't).
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Date: 2011-08-11 12:55 pm (UTC)Then, as you said, I love when a critiquer picks out certain passages that they like, even if it's just to underline a sentence and put a check mark next to it, because often it'll be a sentence I put a lot of effort into. I like when they write down what their own reactions and thought-processes are because at this point I'm mostly beyond needing language correction and more on tone, and how the reader experiences the writing. I don't mind suggestions on better ways to organize sentences, although I have experienced that to an extreme in a poetry class where one student went through every poem and basically re-wrote it using the sentence structure he would.
In art, well, complimenting specifics is the best way to go, and in critiques I usually try to say something along the lines of "I really like how you did x, but the shadows of your y makes it look a little flat." Hearing something like "it's really good" is honestly a bit discouraging (and what most non-artists will say) because that can often be code for "I don't really like it" and can't you find one thing to compliment to tell me you didn't just glance at it?
Otherwise... I basically agree with what you put up there. It's sound advice, and seems like it should be self-explanatory (even if it often isn't).