Criticism

Definitions of criticism on the Web:

• a serious examination and judgment of something; "constructive criticism is always appreciated"
• a written evaluation of a work of literature
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• The word critic comes from the Greek κριτικός (kritikós), "able to discern" , which in turn derives from the word κριτής (krités), meaning a person who offers reasoned judgment or analysis, value judgment, interpretation, or observation . ...

I have chosen only two of the four or five definitions of criticism which suit my purpose. When regarding literature or one's writing I prefer these definitions. This is the kind of criticism I wish to have when one is looking at something I have written.

As was pointed out recently, writing is very personal. It is also very subjective. This makes an unpublished writer quite susceptible to harsh criticism. This type of treatment may be enough to convince the scribe that they have chosen the wrong profession with the result that we may lose someone with a great deal of talent .

In my opinion it is important to point out all the positives of one's writing before trying to assist with ways to improve the piece. Word choice here is very important. If you can find things to like then that sets the mood for "constructive" critiquing. I for one am quite willing to have someone point out ways to make an article or scene stronger if first the person making the suggestions has given me a reason to believe it is worth the effort to fix it up.

Although I have been published in newspapers, big and small, I have not written fiction before attempting to write a romance novel. I had no difficulty getting the story down but I have had a great deal of trouble trying to make it a less formal piece. Because I really like the story and have received some encouragement in that regard I may pick it up again to finish editing it. That may not be for awhile for I have been goaded into changing my focus to writing small personal articles in the hopes of amassing a compilation for a book to be published.

Writing fiction is much different from writing fact-based articles. I still have a lot to learn. I am counting on those in my writers' groups and readers to help me by giving me their "reasoned judgment". Telling me what is good and what would make the article go from 'just okay' to 'terrific' would be the greatest way to inspire me to continue.