copyright 1999

Using the below points in your critique group will help not only the author, but also the critiquer grow as a writer.

• 1. Has author taken creative license, or is material well-researched and factual?
• 2. Does author know characters" (Can author answer questions about character without referring- to notes or repling, "I don t know")
• 3. Do characters stay in character: are they consistent in word and in action?
• 4. Does author use over-worked words and phrases, flirts with redundancies?
• 5. Is dialogue natural or stiff and stilted? (Contractions make dialogue natural even if it's the 1600's and in "real life" people spoke the Queen's English it's still hard for a modem-day reader to visually digest.)
• 6. Is dialogue essential to scene, or just there as a page filler?
• 7. Does dialogue flow smoothly?
• 8. If a character has an accent, is it readable and natural sounding? (Do not use phonetics for dialect. Select a few phrases or words that hint at accent).
• 9. Has author inserted unnecessary description or narrative into middle of action scene?
• 10. Does every scene lead smoothly into the next.
• 11. Does every chapter have a high point?
• 12. Do characters react to and reflect on what's been taking place around them?
• 13. Do all scenes move story forward?
• 14. Did author tell you what happened in the scene, or did author show you through character POV and use of the 5 senses.

  Back To Critiquing
  Home