Comments within the critique should be in the nature of either "This section needs �" or "I didn't understand this sentence," not "You need to."

, State what you thought the story was about and what the author was trying to accomplish with it. This lets the writer know how well he or she was able to communicate the story's key themes to you.
 Identify what parts of the writing and what you liked about them. Point out the author's strengths, with specific examples, such as "I liked the details in your characters, such as giving your heroine the same middle name as her mother, in addition to describing her as being a dead ringer for her mother." Also point out things the author got "right" that seem to be outside his or her strong areas.
 As with describing the strengths, provide specifics in a positive way. Don't say, "This word 'said' in this passage is weak," without an explanation; instead, say, "The word 'said' in this passage is weak because you've established that the character is frightened. You might want to use the word 'quavered' instead."


If you're not comfortable with the genre or writing style, acknowledge it in those points where your discomforts might have an impact on your view of the work. That will let the writer know whether to dismiss your comments or to look for a critique from another person more familiar with the genre or writing style.
 The more complete your feedback, and the more effectively you present it to the writer, the easier and more likely he or she will be to incorporate it into future revisions. How you present it depends on whether you are providing feedback orally, in writing, or electronically.


If you're critiquing the manuscript orally, organize the points you want to make and be sure to cover them thoroughly. Point to specific places in the manuscript where possible and provide the writer with a copy of your notes.
If you're critiquing the manuscript in writing (hard copy), review your critique for clarity and consistency. Give the writer a copy of the manuscript with your markup and comments and a separate feedback document.
If you're critiquing the manuscript electronically, you can do a "Save As" on the marked-up manuscript, accept the marked-up changes on the new copy, and then save it with a different but related name from the original manuscript, such as "ManuscriptCleanCopy." If you're including comments about the manuscript in the email, cut and paste sections of the manuscript into the email where appropriate, using a different text color or font if sending the email in rich text format.
Address your critique to the manuscript, not to the writer.
Begin with a summary of what you got from the work.
Tell the author what worked, and why.
Tell the author what didn't work, why, and suggest how to fix it.
Give the author what he or she needs to refer to when incorporating your feedback.
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