August Writing Challenges: Day 21 - Writing a Critique

August. The summer is nearly over. Kids are going back to school. You now have some time on your hands.  Okay, you still have a list of chores a mile long, but let's put writing at the top of the priority list, okay?

I am going to challenge you with a writing prompt every day this month. Are you up for it? I hope so.

The writing challenges will be about a variety of topics and hopefully cause you to dig into your writing toolbox to complete with emotional skill.

Watch out, I just might throw in a fun one, well, just for fun!

For the twenty-first challenge we're going to turn the tables and you are going to write a critique.

Critiques are similar to reviews except they address a writer rather than a potential audience; a critique explains what's working and not working to the author in an effort to help a fellow writer improve his/her work.

In a critique, you start by listing what you liked about the piece. Then, you list the areas that could be strengthened. Don't try to change the piece into what you would have done as a writer; take it for what it is.

Finally a proper critique discusses the work, not the person who created it. Your objective is to use positive, supportive language framed in the context of how the piece could be improved.

Here is your challenge:
Choose a piece of writing and compose a critique. You can use a book, short story, poem, article, or blog post. You will address the critique to the author, but you will not send it to the author. Also, your critique will discuss the work, not the person who created it. The length of your critique will depend on how long the piece of writing is and how deeply you evaluate it.

TIPS: While the focus of this exercise is to evaluate and analyze the overall content of a piece of writing, you should also look for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes as well as typographical errors.

As a change of variety, you could also do this exercise using a TV show or movie, or any kind of story or art medium.

This exercise teaches you to look at a piece of writing objectively and assess it thoughtfully in an effort to consider how it might be improved. Writing critiques helps you build skills that benefit your own writing projects.

Enjoy!