Critiquing: A Gift You Can Give - Page 2
© Kim Kay
Opening: Do the first few paragraphs grab your attention and make you want to read more? Are you sufficiently "hooked?" Did it make the direction of the story clear?
Plot: Was the story clear? Believable? Did the main character have a problem, issue, or situation that was resolved at the end? Are there scenes which do not further the plot? Were there subplots? Did they enhance the story or confuse the reader? Was there enough conflict? Too much? Did it move along at a fast enough pace to keep your attention? Did you feel like there was a "point" to the story or did it wander aimlessly?
Setting: Is there enough description for you to visualize the setting? Is this information scattered throughout or was there an "information dump"? If it was a real place, was it factually correct? Were the names of places in the scene good or cliche? If it was set in another time period, did the characters behave appropriately to that time?
Characterization: Did the characters seem real? Were they flat stereotypes or three dimensional? Was there enough information about the characters so you could get a sense of who they are? Were you given too much background information at one time? Were all the characters similar or did they all have their own unique personalities? Could you identify with the main character?
Sensory information: Did description involve all your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch? Was information simply told to you or was it shown? ("She had beautiful hair." or "Her curly hair, the color of spun gold, fell halfway down her back.")
Dialogue: Did the dialogue sound real? Did the characters say things that were consistent with their behavior? Was the dialogue appropriate to the time period? Did they all speak alike or have their own voice? Was there too much or two little dialogue? Was it clear who was speaking at all times? Did the author use too many or too little dialogue tags? (he said, she said) Was too much dialect used, making it difficult to read?
Point of View: Could you tell who was telling the story? Did it remain consistent throughout? If it changed, was it a smooth transition? Were there too many POV changes? If it was written from the POV of one character, did that person seem to "know" things he or she shouldn't have?
Text: Were there enough paragraph breaks? Were many lines too long or too short? Were there places with too much description without action to break it up? Is it too wordy or does the author make every word count? Are there "fluff phrases" such as "In fact" or unnecessary adverbs? Is it written in active or passive voice?
