It’s not easy being a literary critic. All the words that flow from the pen of poets, novelists, and scientists could be interpreted as critical praise or condemnation. In either case, it’s a lot to wrap your head around.
Some people approach reading and writing about literature with apprehension. They worry that if they don’t like a particular poem, they’ll ruin the author’s feelings by letting the world know their distaste. When it comes to writing about literature, it’s all about you and how you feel about what you’re reading.
You might not like a particular poem because it’s poorly crafted or poorly rhymed. You might not like a particular novel because the writing is forced or clumsy. You might not like a particular play because the dialogue sounds unrealistic. But none of that should matter. It’s up to you to enjoy a piece of art without reservation and let the author know when you do or don’t enjoy their work.
Try A Few At A Time
Whether you’re reading classic literature or literary fiction, you shouldn’t attempt to tackle something too complex in one sitting. Take your time. Begin with easy reading and move onto more challenging texts if you feel confident enough. Consider each work a learning opportunity. When you reach a section of a novel that you find particularly difficult to understand, take a step back and re-read it from the beginning. This will help you comprehend what is happening and give you a better chance of connecting with the text. It’s the same with poetry. Instead of diving in and trying to figure it all out at once, take a few moments to breathe and let the poems soak in.
Know Your Audience
A good literary critic should know exactly who his or her audience is and should tailor the interpretation of the texts accordingly. You don’t want to disappoint your readers by telling them that a poem they enjoy is actually about a dead person or an animal and that they should feel bad for liking it. You want to encourage them to keep reading because you think that their taste in literature will deepen as they get to know it better. Knowing the potential audience for your work is essential so that you don’t disappoint them. Even worse, you don’t want to give them the wrong idea because often times authors are not entirely aware of how their poems, stories, or plays are being interpreted. They might think that certain words and phrases are doing something specific while in reality, their work is having a completely different effect.
Decide How You’ll Evaluate It
You might come across a poem that you think is horrible but in reality, you simply didn’t connect with it. You might come across a novel that you thought was beautifully written but in reality, the characters were flat and the plot was very unimaginative. In these instances, it might be best to decide that you’re not going to form an opinion about the text. You might decide that you’re not going to decide. Instead of throwing away a potentially good book because it didn’t measure up to what you thought it should have been, you can simply decide not to form an opinion about it. Some people choose to write negative reviews because it’s the only way they can be understood by other readers. But if you’ve found a text that you think is poor but didn’t enjoy, it might be best not to review it at all. You can decide that you’re not going to bother with bad reviews either. Instead, you can focus on the positive aspects of the books you’ve read.
Find The Good
A good literary critic should be able to find the good in every text he or she evaluates. It might not be easy at first, but after a while, you’ll find yourself actually looking forward to reading the bad. This is because even though you might think that a particular book is horrible, you can’t deny that there are elements of it that are good. Even the most amazing books don’t always deserve to be called classic and it’s up to the literary critic to point them out. Good criticism should inspire confidence. It should encourage the reader to delve into the text again because even though they might not have enjoyed it the first time around, they might find something new that they enjoy about it.
Avoid Commercialism
If you’re looking to become a literary critic, don’t be afraid to say no to certain offers. Sometimes, people try to lure you into writing about books that they think are going to be popular so that they can get paid. You don’t have to, especially since you’re still in school and don’t have that much money. You might not like the book, but you shouldn’t feel bad about saying no because eventually, you’ll learn to ask for what you want. Furthermore, if you see that a lot of your friends are trying to do the same thing, it might be a good idea to opt out of reviewing those books because chances are, they’re not meant for you anyway.
Take Care Of What You’ve Read
Good literary critics are careful about the books that they choose to read and review. This is because they understand that what they’re reading might have a profound impact on them. If you’ve found a text that you think is very good but might hurt someone, you should be aware that it’s not necessarily your place to point it out. It’s okay to have high expectations for a book since the expectation can make or break it, but you should always be careful not to let your expectations control your opinion. If a book doesn’t live up to what you hope and believe it can, it can still be good. So, try as hard as you can to detach yourself from what you’ve read and form your own opinion. This is important because, in the end, this is your opinion that someone is paying you to read and review. So, make sure that you do your job well and convince them that this is a good investment. This way, you’ll be able to continue enjoying the books you review even when your opinion might be different than what the author intended. It’s a pain for the author to find out that you hated their work after you’ve spent so much time with it. So, try to be careful about how you approach criticism. Make sure that you’re looking for the good in everything you read and that you’re not just going with your first impression. This might be more difficult than it seems because sometimes, we all go through a phase where we just don’t like a certain type of book. It might be difficult to find the redeeming qualities in texts that you’ve never really opened up to but, in the end, this is what it’s all about. You’re a person who wants to share your opinion with the world so that others can benefit from your insight. Even if you don’t like a certain type of book, you can still find something good in it. This is what separates a good critic from a bad one. Knowing how to read and write about something you don’t enjoy is a lot easier than you’d think but, eventually, you’ll get the hang of it. If you want to be able to read and write about literature, you’ve come to the right place because here, we’re going to teach you how to do just that.