randomslasher:

imaginarycircus:

fiction-is-not-reality:

In bigger letters for those in the back:

As a critiquer, your job is not to “make this piece of writing better” but to understand what the writer wants to achieve and help them to achieve it

I had a professor in graduate school who said his philosophy for feedback was like a doctor’s oath–first, do no harm, which seemed shocking to hear in an MFA program. I’m much happier operating that way and it’s helped me be a bit kinder to myself about my own work. If I need to give someone notes or feedback I try to come up with something that will honestly, constructively help them, but won’t drive them to abandon the baby birds in their nest, so to speak. (Yeah. I know that’s a myth. I’m a writer. It was an analogy.)

This is exactly why I’m so outspokenly against unprompted critique. Unless you’ve been specifically asked to provide constructive feedback, you never know what’s going to do harm to someone’s desire to write. To extend the doctor metaphor, it’s like administering drugs without knowing the patient’s allergies. 

Unless someone has asked you for constructive feedback, the very best way to genuinely encourage a writer is to offer support, encouragement, and praise. If you can’t offer any of these things, then the best thing to do is leave that particular piece of writing behind and move on.