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Home ยป Why It\’s Important to Give Constructive Feedback in Creative Writing

Why It\’s Important to Give Constructive Feedback in Creative Writing

Whether you enjoy writing or prefer to stick to more conventional creative arts, there is value in giving and receiving feedback in your work. Being able to assess how you’re doing and make necessary changes presents an opportunity to polish your work and improve your craft.

To that end, it’s crucial to learn how to provide constructive criticism in a way that will benefit your writer’s journey, not sabotage it. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most essential things you need to know in order to effectively provide feedback in a creative writing context.

Know What You’re Looking For

It’s best to start by explaining what you’re looking for in terms of feedback. Different people will have different expectations for a piece of creative writing, so you need to set the right expectations from the get-go. Knowing what you’re aiming for will help you determine whether or not your feedback is actually helpful, and it’ll help you apply it appropriately. Consider this important point carefully, as you’ll be able to determine the value of your feedback only if you’ve defined it correctly in the first place.

Try To Be Objective

Another important thing to keep in mind about giving constructive criticism is that you should try to be as objective as possible. Sometimes people will want to push your creative limits, and that’s a good thing. However, you should never lose sight of the fact that you’re offering guidance, not criticism. Defining your feedback in terms of specific objectives will make it easier for both of you to understand what was actually accomplished during the feedback process. In order to do that, you’ll need to know what your objectives were beforehand, so that you can accurately track your progress. It’s easy for praise to cloud a judgement, so it’s important to keep an eye on the facts, even when you’re feeling generous. Generosity should never be confused with gullibility, in any case.

Focus On The Positive As Much As Possible

Giving and receiving feedback in a creative context is a delicate dance, and sometimes you’ll need to focus on the negative for the good of the process. However, it’s vital to look for the positive aspects of your work, and if you can’t find any on the whole, it may indicate a problem. Problems should never be ignored, but they should never be exaggerated either. Seeing the positive aspects of your work will help you find ways to improve it.

Be Specific

Specificity is another important consideration when it comes to constructive criticism. You should try to be as specific as possible, in terms of both what you’re looking for and how you’re going to communicate it. Being specific will make it easier for both of you to understand what was actually being said, and it’ll help you apply it correctly. The more you can add to your feedback, the better, as long as it’s relevant. The more you can add, the more you can modify, and the better your final product will be. The more you modify your work, the more you can learn, and the better your final product will be. It’s all about the journey, not the destination, as they say.

Give As Much As You Can

Last but not least, we have the issue of quantity. Just because you feel that you have some valuable feedback to offer doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to offer it to the person you’re supposed to be helping. It’s a common issue that people will want to help but not have the necessary time to do so. In order to fix that, it’s important to try to give as much feedback as you can. The more you can offer, the more you can help, and the more you can help, the better your final product will be. Quantity should never be overlooked, especially when it comes to the issue of constructive criticism. It’s all about the journey, not the destination.

Being able to provide constructive criticism is an important skill that every writer should learn. Defining your objectives beforehand and being specific about what you’re looking for will help you focus on the right things, and being able to separate praise from criticism will make all the difference. As long as you look for the positive aspects of your work and try to be reasonable, you’ll be able to improve your craft and define your limits, while still maintaining a creative spirit.