Professional Critiques FAQ
I’ve been providing professional critiques to writers and business professionals for over two years. In that time, many questions about critique services have arisen, and I thought the best way to address those questions would be to write up a frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) page.
If you’re interested in getting professional critiques on any of your writing projects, then you might want answers to these questions before you hire me (or anyone else) to review your work and provide feedback on it.
Professional Critiques Questions and Answers
- What are professional critiques?
- Professional critiques are written evaluations of a piece of writing. They include editing and proofreading, as well as a comprehensive write-up with feedback that is designed to help the writer improve the work.
- How is the critique formatted? Is it all done electronically?
- Yes, it’s all done electronically. You send your written project as a Word document. I will edit and critique it. You’ll get a copy of your document back, marked up with proofreading and editing as well as comments. In addition, you’ll get a written critique detailing the strengths and weaknesses of your piece along with suggestions for improving it. Your critique may also include book, magazine, or article recommendations to help you expand your writing skills.
- Can you edit or proofread too?
- All professional critiques include editing and proofreading. However, I do provide stand-alone editing and proofreading services. These services are available at lower rates than critiques.
- What’s the difference between editing, proofreading, and professional critiques?
- I’ve prepared an article outlining the differences between editing and proofreading. Critiques take editing and proofreading a step further with written feedback that includes recommendations for improving the piece.
- How long does it take for you to critique a piece of writing?
- It depends on the length of the piece that you submit. A page or two will probably turn around in a couple of days. A full-length manuscript could take several weeks. Expect a minimum turnaround of one week. Your quote and work agreement will include a time line, and I will stick to that time line.
- How will a critique help me?
- The editing and proofreading aspect of the critique will help immensely by catching mistakes and typos that you may have missed. The written critique will provide information about any consistent mistakes (for example, if there is a lot of word repetition). This is to help you identify and eliminate any detrimental writing habits. Finally, the critique will include suggestions for improvements that you can make to the piece. This could include anything from ideas for making a character more realistic to suggestions for better word choices.
- Do you critique any form or genre of writing?
- Probably not, although I haven’t turned down a critique project yet. If you send me a piece of writing that I’m not comfortable critiquing for any reason (including the reason that I’m simply not familiar with a particular genre or style), then I will politely (and apologetically) decline your request for services.
- How do you critique creative writing, which is so subjective in terms of quality?
- Creative writing is subjective, and this is a particular concern with poetry, which is highly artistic in nature and therefore the most subjective of all writing forms, in terms of critiques and opinions. However, when I do a critique, I’m looking at concrete aspects of the work: character, plot, themes, language, word choice, grammar, imagery, setting, musicality, rhyme, etc. I will not make suggestions that impact your voice or personal style. In fact, any suggestions about voice would be geared toward making your unique voice stronger and more prominent.
Get More Information About Critiques
If you want to learn more about critiques in general, there’s an entire thread you can read (here), which includes tips on giving and receiving critiques. If you’re interested in hiring me to do critiques on your writing, then visit my Professional Critiques page. Or, you can simply contact me and we can start discussing your project.
> Critiques take editing and proofreading a step further with written feedback that includes recommendations for improving the piece.
Beautiful. It’s like a mentor in action with focus and results. In fact, to me, that exemplifies the idea of, “writing forward.”
.-= J.D. Meier´s last blog ..How To Be a Leader in Your Field =-.
Yep, critiques are very much like working with a mentor (or writing coach). I know that for me, critiques were the best route to improving my own writing, so I highly recommend them to writers who want to better understand how their work will be received by readers. Thanks so much J.D.
Hi Melissa: I think that these FAQ pages explaining the services that you provide are an excellent idea. And I like J.D.’s comment about critiques playing right into the Writing Forward name.
.-= Marelisa´s last blog ..Creativity Primer =-.
Thanks Marelisa! I want to make sure people are clear about critiques — even if they hire someone else for any of the services I offer, these are some questions writers should ask in advance. I’m preparing FAQs for editing and proofreading and there’s already one posted for the writing coach program. It’s all about transparency