Talking about plot this week!

Cary will be talking to us about plot this week, so get ready for that. :)

Also, join the group on facebook!

How to Critique Prose

First, critique does not equate negativity. Focus on the good things they have in their writing too.

Cary talked to us about three broad categories that critiques fall under:

1. Syntax
- Spelling mistakes, sentence structure, grammar, technical details.
If it's a positive comment, mention it.
Unless it affects your reading experience, don't mention it. Those nit-picky details don't need to be brought up in the meeting, you can highlight mistakes / in your comments and email to the person later.
2. Structure
- What affects the flow of the piece and how it fits together. Beginning > Middle > End, how characters are introduced, how the plot is progressing.

3. Style
- Their naming choices, the language they decide to use, how they tell the story. This involves style, voice, tone, etc.

A critique is not an attack on your writing, we don't want to be attacking or defending. We are giving feedback, ideas, advice.

Poetry Critiques

By: Katria Hale

Transcribed By: Cary Carr

The basis of all poetry is the meaning of the words, and how they come together to invoke emotion in the reader.

When critiquing poetry, focus on how each word makes you feel, and what each word adds to the meaning and feeling of the work as a whole.

Look for repeated words and phrases, alliteration, and similar word constructions, as all of these can indicate greater meaning in the piece.

Poems do not have to rhyme in order to be poetry, but they should have some form of rhythm to them.

Example Critique from the Workshop on the Poem Abandoned Farmhouse:
The objects spoke, and it painted a picture of the people that used them. It is figurative language.
Repeated words and phrases: Something went wrong, he was not a farmer, the word “broken”, and words like leaky or empty. All of these showed that something happened to break the farm and the family that lived there.
The overall emotion of this piece is emptiness and desolation. Something went wrong, and everything is broken now.
Alliteration: good, Godfearing man; plum preserves; dolls in overalls; and lilacs and oilcloth.
Source: www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237648