Everyone, be it a writer or someone trying to get an essay done for a class, has looked at their writing and thought to themselves, “I don’t know what’s wrong with this, but something is wrong.”
It’s natural. Sometimes it can be hard to pin down the sentence that sounds just right or find a word that truly fits what you’re trying to say, because it’s not a job you can do alone. Whether it’s a friend looking over your piece, or — let’s be honest — just Grammarly, a second opinion helps polish your writing and works out problems you wouldn’t be able to solve alone. To be a good writer, you must have a good reader.
But as I delve deeper into my writing courses, I find that peers have difficulty critiquing each other’s work. Most disturbing though is that some instructors don’t prompt or enforce critiques at all.
When I say critique, I don’t mean a 30-minute tangent insulting every single aspect of a writer’s work. A critique is a respectful analysis of a piece that identifies areas needing improvement. They are not harmful insults but rather polite suggestions. It could be anything from an opinion on how an essay could be better structured to how a reader is perceiving a piece in its current state and how the writer may want to change that interpretation. It is good not just to develop stronger writing skills, but also for ensuring your work is not putting out any harmful ideas.
For me, I find critiques extremely helpful — even if I don’t like what someone has to say about my writing — because there are still many things I need to learn and improve upon to become a better writer. Which is why coming into a workshop and getting 20 people saying “I liked it” as their criticism is disappointing. I bring my writing pieces in to get an array of feedback of what I am doing well and what I need to work on. Maybe this is masochistic thinking on my part, but I crave criticism on my pieces.
It’s definitely understandable to have an adverse reaction to getting critiques. Recently, when one of my classes was composing a list of requirements for workshops, I wanted “actual critiques” to be added to the list. My professor obliged, but thought it was strange how he’d been hearing more students asking for criticism. He recounted that his experiences with critiques had been quite painful. In the past, it had been much harsher as they deviated more on the side of insults than helpful suggestions, and it wasn’t just the teachers berating these pieces but students piling onto previously snide remarks. The main objection of these sessions: survive without crying.
I had not considered that this hesitancy toward criticism came from workshops of such intensity, nor did I realize how privileged I was to leave the workshop without feeling a need to quit writing entirely. Despite my professor’s experience with these critiques in the past, it has not prevented our class from having dynamic workshops. On the contrary, it has provided me with some of the best constructive criticism I’ve seen in a while.
The strengths of our pieces are highlighted, but we also receive feedback on what we could be doing better alongside the opportunity to ask the class questions about areas of concern within our piece. As a class, we can recognize how to give feedback in a way that doesn’t hurt the writer but also doesn’t shy away from areas that need improvement. It’s what a critique should look like.
Regardless of what situation you are in, or if it is academic or personal, feedback is essential. It is crucial for growth to receive constructive criticism. Just because a piece is oriented toward personal creativity does not mean it should be excluded from an opportunity to produce growth and change. Though as we proceed with critiques, it is crucial to understand how far we have come today and exclude unnecessary remarks you have toward another’s piece. Deep down, no one truly wants criticism, so let’s create an environment where we can critique each other’s work without fearing its reception. Let’s look forward to critiques.
Hailey Furilla can be reached at [email protected].
