: Re: How does one avoid imposing one's own voice and preferences in critiques? When critiquing another's writing I find myself making suggestions that are clearly biased toward how I would write the

@Debbie451

Vote Up Vote Down

As @what sensibly points out, just because you have an opinion doesn't mean it's wrong.

Mention your biases up front. "I really enjoy rhyming poetry, and free verse doesn't work for me on an aesthetic level. That being said, if you do X and Y, you'll improve the tone of the line." If you don't want to feel like you're imposing, emphasize that your preference is one solution among many, and explain that you are making this suggestion because it's your preference/bias.

As an editor, I often like to ask "What's your goal here? If you want to do A, this is fine. If you're trying to do B, on the other hand, this doesn't accomplish that, and you should try XYZ instead." So you're asking the writer to examine what s/he wants to do with the work, and making broad suggestions of paths to take. How the author executes that suggestion is up to him/her, but you've at least made the person think about the end result.

(0)

Login to post a comment!