13. Constructive Critique Basics

How to Give (and Receive) Constructive Critique in a Writing Group

Beth offers tips for giving and receiving critique in a way that is constructive, respectful, and supportive.

She recommends first asking writers what specific feedback they want and tailoring comments accordingly, using clarifying questions, compassion, and responsibility for communication while avoiding blame, complaining, or unnecessary explaining.

For delivering feedback, she suggests starting with what is working or what you liked, then framing what is missing as “what I’d like more of” to reduce defensiveness; she also mentions options like the sandwich method.

For receiving critique, she advises asking for targeted feedback, understanding genre expectations in the group, saying thank you without defending the work, asking clarifying questions if needed, and keeping only the feedback that aligns with the writer’s “North Star.”

00:00 Constructive Critique Basics
 00:24 Respect and Hold Space
 01:06 No Blame or Explaining
 01:48 What Worked and More Of
 03:05 Ask for the Feedback You Need
 03:40 Set Critique Style and Genre
 05:26 Receive Feedback Gracefully
 06:21 Supportive Culture and Wrap Up

c. 2026 Beth Barany

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Transcript

0:00

Hi, everyone. In this episode, I am going to talk about how to give good critique that is constructive and helpful to the other person So here is what I recommend in being a good critique partner. So there's two things I wanna talk about. How do you handle it when you're the one being critiqued, and how do you offer critique that is constructive and not destructive? So number one, in our group, we ask people to tell us what is it they would like feedback on. So pay attention to what that is, and be deliberate in giving them the feedback that they asked for. Be respectful, and it's the golden rule, right? Treat others as you would like to be treated. If you're not sure, ask questions ask clarifying questions Hold space, meaning you understand, we all understand, how tender it is to have our work critiqued, especially when we offer up critique thinking it's just wonderful, and we get feedback that critiques, that tears apart our writing So hold space for that and have compassion. Also, take responsibility for your method of communication, and if you make a mistake in the way you offer critique, own that. in offering critique, there's no blaming anyone, there's no complaining, and there's no explaining, unless people ask for an explanation. By blame, I'm like, don't make it be someone's fault, your own fault or someone else's fault. We're all doing the best we can here. In terms of complain, if there is a complaint that relates to anything in the way the critique group is run, do bring it up to the organizer as an aside, unless you can state it in a constructive way. Also, don't explain. By explain, I mean if someone gives you feedback, you wanna say thank you. there's two main principles in giving feedback, which is to start off with what I liked. What I liked was, and you tell them what you liked. Everyone wants to know what is working in their pages so they can do more of that. So we want to know what you liked, and also what you thought was working. That's another way of saying it. What I see is working is X, Y, and Z. And then the second piece of feedback that people do want to know, that's why we're offering our work for feedback, is what isn't working, or what is lacking? What is missing? Another way to state that is, what I would like more of is... And that puts it completely in the positive. We're still saying what's lacking, but we're saying it in with positive language, and by positive I mean language that the listener may be able to receive better. If you tell them, "Well, this isn't working," that can put them on the defensive. But if you say, "What I would like to see more of is..." because I didn't see it, and now we're not saying that it isn't working, we're just saying, "I expected to see something in your pages and I didn't see it." Now, how do you ask for feedback when you are the one in the hot seat, or in the critique group, or even with a, just a one-on-one critique? You wanna be up front. When you give someone your pages, you wanna say specifically what kind of feedback you would like. You get to control this. It is your book. It is your creative process. You get to control it. There's been times when I have been in an early draft, and I will give it to my critique partners and I will say, "Please don't give me dibby dabby line edits. Please don't critique the story yet. Please just speak to the characters. Are they interesting? Do they grab you? Do you want to know more?" So ask specific questions. You get to. It's your book Also, you can tell the room or your partner how you wanna be critiqued. you could say, "Throw it all at me. Anything goes." Or you could say, "Please use the sandwich method." something positive, something constructive, and something, positive again. Something like that. Or you could say, "Please just tell me what is working and what you'd like to see more of." You get to guide the critique, and you can always ask if it's an organizer or teacher like myself, you could say, "What do you suggest?" Or if you're not sure Also, it is important to understand the group expectations or the partner expectations around genre. Are you putting your work in front of people who know your genre really well, like you're doing in my group in the Edit Lab? Or is it in front of a mixed group of writers who come from all different backgrounds, some are experienced, some aren't, some write in fiction, some write in nonfiction, some don't even And maybe nobody in, else in the group writes in your particular genre. It's really helpful to know this because we are writing for readers who are expecting something from our kind of book. And if you're in front of readers, writers who do not understand those expectations, they are going to poke at your book expecting it to be something else. And that's okay, too. It's great sometimes to get feedback from people who do not know your genre. and people who are good at that will say things like, "Well, I don't read your genre, but what I noticed is working is this, and what I'd like more of is that." A good critique partner can critique your work even though they may not read, be an avid reader in your genre because they understand good writing craft, 'cause that's what you're looking for as well. Is my material understandable even to someone outside my genre? That is a good test. Also, when you are, receiving feedback, it's really good practice to say thank you after the feedback and leave it at that. You don't need to explain but you could ask clarifying questions. Your job is to receive the feedback and then next use what's useful. Throw away the rest. You are the one who decides. Inside of you is some kind of North Star that is pointing you in the direction of the book you want to write. That's what you listen to. You could receive 10 pieces of feedback and only one piece actually resonates strongly. Do listen to all the feedback and then make a considered decision and discard it if it doesn't work. But you might learn something even in the consideration of that. You're like, "Oh, that's really interesting. I hadn't thought of that, but that doesn't work for my story." You don't need to say all of that though in a critique group. In a critique group, you're just receiving critique, and it's great to just say thank you. Lastly, we wanna have a critique environment here at Edit Lab and wherever you go that feels supportive, that is a win-win. No one needs to lose here. This isn't a contest. This is about how to make your writing better and helping other people make their writing better. So those are some tips on giving and receiving feedback. I hope that's helpful. If you have any questions, bring it to Edit Lab, post it in the Fellowship of the Pen Facebook group, write me a note. I'm happy to hear from you. All right, everyone, see you next time. Happy writing