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Short Story Critique Guidelines
Use this document as a guide to help write critiques.
Talk about the writing, not the writer:
- RUDE
You don't make it clear why this character is relevant.
Your idea is dumb. - BETTER
I'm having trouble understanding how this character contributes to the story.
I think the flying octopus represents how evolution goes in strange directions, but it's not clear based on the evidence in the story.
Exercise diplomacy!
Top-Level Responses
What did the author intend to do?
How well did they do it?
Least important: Was it a good thing to do?
Assignment Parameters: The Basics
Is it the right length?
Does it adhere to formatting requirements?
Are grammar and syntax reasonably correct?
Comma splices (run-on sentences)?
Many spelling errors?
Consistent punctuation problems?
Subject, verb, object (sentence issues)?
Can you figure out what most sentences mean (clarity of expression)?
Does it contain a lot of unnecessary words that don’t carry information?
Filtering words: seemed, thought, saw, wondered, and so on.
Structure
Does the story start with a change in the status quo or movement?
Action? Conflict? Problem?
How are events revealed to the reader?
Scenes vs. narration or exposition?
How much is the writer telling the reader what to think or feel?
Interpreting the action for the reader?
Concealing facts the character(s) would know?
Concealing facts to make something seem more dramatic?
Explaining things unnecessarily?
Is the point of view the best one for this story?
Is it consistent?
Slips into omniscient or out of the POV character’s experience?
Is the scale of the story appropriate to the length, narrative choices, and scenes?
Time frame?
Number of events or characters?
Scale of conflict?
Unnecessary backstory, world building, or history?
Does the story end with change?
Hollywood or easy ending?
Characters
Does the main character(s) seem real?
Unique characteristics?
Realistic actions?
Plausible motives?
Internal motives, feelings, fears, desires?
Do they try to do or change things (exhibit agency)?
Useful dialogue?
Repetitive or flabby?
Too long, too short, or just right?
Part of an important scene that advances the story?
Sounds realistic/plausible?
Reader Immersion
Descriptive details in every scene?
Setting details?
A sense of real, specific locations?
Five (or more) senses engaged?
Not just primary but second-tier sensations?
- Tier 0: “Mary was an alcoholic.”
- Tier 1: smell of bourbon on her breath.
- Tier 2: smell of chewing gum to conceal the smell of bourbon.