Critical Scale

[Katzaniel]

Although each of your stories may be different, it is very helpful to us when someone can post a general outline of what they want in the way of feedback.

 

Are you new here and just want to share your work?

 

Do you have little or no intention to revisit old stories?

 

If this is the case, then you don't want to find your self-esteem shattered by drive-by advice from someone who assumes you want to want to improve, and only means well.

 

On the other hand, if you're a seasoned veteran of creative writing classes and are looking only to get better, then you don't want to be left a bunch of "Great job"s or, even worse, nothing at all for your efforts.

 

Please, read through the following descriptions, and decide which one suits you as a default.

 

If any given story differs from that, you can always indicate as much in a comment preceding or following the piece. ("This one is about my grandmother and dear to me... please, it's a 0." or "I'm entering this to a writing contest... I'd appreciate as much as 4.")

 

0. Just sharing. I currently have no intention of revisiting this story. I don't really want to hear anything, good or bad.

 

1. What have I done right? I don't have much intention of coming back to my story, but I'd like to know whether people are reading, and what sort of feelings the story is evoking. I would also like to hear general comments about which parts are working well so that I know not to change how I'm doing those things.

 

2. Just tweaks. I don't have much intention to do any rehauling of this, but if you've found a grammatical mistake or minor inconsistency, I wouldn't mind your sharing. I'd also like to know whether or not people are reading.

 

3. How can this be better? I have an eye to improvement, though this story in particular may not be revisited. If you have general information about what I've done right and how I can improve, feel free to share it.

 

4. Whatever you've got! I'm not sure whether I'll come back to this or not, but either way I can take a verbal beating on it. If you have any comments at all, from spelling errors to plot overhauls, then go ahead and share it. Please: Don't hold back any comments - let me decide whether or not to ignore it.

 

5. Details for improvement. I have an eye to improvement, and though it may not be immediate I intend to come back to this story. Please share any details that you can about what's good and what needs to be fixed. Again: Let me decide whether it's worth my while.

 

6. The bad, the bad and the ugly. I want this story, over time and revisions, to become the best it can be. Don't even bother with a comment unless you make it worthwhile with specific information about why you liked the parts you did, and what should be improved about the parts you didn't.

 

For example, my own feedback guideline would state that I intend to come back to the majority of stories that I write, though I only really end up revisiting a few. I don't want anyone to hold anything back while reviewing, so a 3 is too low, but I don't want to request a 5 unless I'm more serious about a given piece, so I'd go with 4.

 

I even have a story or two for which I might request 6... but by default, I'm a 4.

 

Keep in mind that 4 is higher than you should freely request - it gives people the freedom to review and offer any advice that comes to mind, but it also assumes that you are able to realize that most of it is opinion, and it's entirely up to you to decide whether their opinion has any more validity than your own.