Stop Praising Poor Writing — It Devalues Everyone and Helps No One
Learning to criticize constructively
NOTE: I have been writing most of my life, have taught writing, and have 15 years of experience writing blogs for the websites that I created and managed. The advice given in this article is based on those years of experience. However, I believe we never stop learning, and I am always open to constructive criticism that will improve my work.
“I loved your story. Great work. Keep writing.”
Who wouldn’t want to receive such praise in the comment section under their posted Medium story?
But what if the story receiving such effusive praise is a poorly written piece that violates every rule of Writing 101? What if this story:
Rambles on interminably
Has no focus or definitive theme
Exemplifies wordiness
Jumps from one subject to another
Exhibits poor grammar, spelling, and sentence structure
Misuses “their, they’re, and there”
“your and you’re”
“it’s and its”
Unfortunately, I have been seeing an abundance of these congratulatory, positive comments on Medium on some of the worst writing I have ever encountered.
In misguided attempts to encourage new writers, commenters are doing an injustice to everyone by praising inferior, sloppy, poor writing. They are not helping the newbie improve their skills, and they are diminishing the quality of work that Medium readers deserve. Constructive criticism targets both these issues, as I will demonstrate with examples of my writing that was helped with well-targeted constructive criticism.
What is Constructive Criticism and how does it help a writer improve?
Applying it to writing, my definition would be that it is “knowledgeable targeted advice aimed at a specific word, sentence, or paragraph in the story that explains exactly, with examples, how that piece of writing can be improved”.
Here is an example of criticism from my own writing experience. I posted a story on another platform and asked for feedback. One of the commenters said that paragraph 6 needed to be broken up into smaller sentences or the structure needed to change a bit. This is the paragraph to which he referred:
By the time dusk crept in at the end of the first three days of the project, both Angie and Frank, with jeans, t-shirts, hair, faces, arms, and hands covered in grit and grime, lungs coughing up dust, muscles aching, and arthritic knees and backs screaming in pain, even Angie was questioning the wisdom of her “treasure hunt.” All they had managed to do in three days of physical torture was clear enough debris to reveal a cellar floor. Week after week, they cleaned, sorted, swept, and organized, until five weeks later, both attic and cellar rivaled the best of the behemoth warehouse retailers in merchandise stacked in categories on rows and rows of shelves.
I found it interesting that his comment targeted a paragraph that had bothered me since I first wrote it. Its wordiness ( something I abhor and try to avoid at all costs), niggled at me constantly. I must have re-written it 10 times, and although I still wasn’t satisfied with the result, I let it go and submitted it. This astute reader picked up on it right away.
I took his advice, trimmed it down (“chopped the deadwood,” as my 10th-grade writing teacher was fond of saying), shortened the sentences, and removed a few words. This is the result, which I think worked much better:
By the time dusk crept in at the end of the first three days of the project, both Angie and Frank, with clothes and hands covered in grit and grime, lungs coughing up dust, muscles aching, and arthritic bodies stuck in neutral, even Angie was questioning the wisdom of her “treasure hunt”. All they had managed to do in those three days of physical torture was clear enough debris to reveal a cellar floor. Five more weeks of clearing and sorting yielded attic and cellar shelves neatly organized with labeled and categorized boxes.
Another piece of advice this reader gave me was to spread out my sentences a bit more, so the eye finds more blank space between the writing. He said that today’s readers prefer the space for ease of focus. Again, what was interesting about this comment was that I had been noticing that I, personally, found it difficult to read long paragraphs. It was easier for me to read shorter paragraphs with space in between each. I thought it was my aging eyes, but apparently, it is true for everyone.
I was extremely appreciative of this commenter’s specificity. I felt it was invaluable to the improvement of my writing.
In my effort to emulate the critically positive advice given to me, I tried to pay it forward by offering a constructive critique to another struggling writer. This person asked for an opinion of the opening paragraph of his novel. In my opinion, it violated every rule of basic writing, specifically wordiness and extraneous details unnecessary to the story.
Many other readers agreed with me. We offered him our rewritten versions of his paragraph, explaining in detail, how our improvements helped his story. A few days later, he posted a much improved, edited version of his paragraph, which incorporated sentences from both my version and two other helpful commenters. (I am sure you noticed that I posted my paragraph, but not his. The reason is that I was unable to contact him to ask his permission to print his work.)
Such positive, specific critiques help improve the writing skills of all of us, whether we are seasoned writers or novices striking the keys for the first time.
If you are uncomfortable posting criticism that all readers can view, Medium does offer the option of “private notes” which only you and the poster can see. I would prefer to see polite, specific, helpful critiques in the public comments so everyone can benefit from the advice, but you must do what you are comfortable with.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Facebook Groups, there are a variety of Medium Writers and general writing groups that offer genuine support and critiques, as well as writing instruction. Log onto your Facebook account and type “Writer’s Group” or “Writing Critique Group” in the search bar to find a group that meets your needs.
In summary, if you are serious about helping your fellow authors improve their skills, follow these tips for imparting constructive criticism:
*Be specific. Choose a word, sentence, or paragraph and explain exactly what you think is wrong with it and demonstrate how it can be improved….as the commenter did for me by specifically citing that “Paragraph 6” needed structural changes and smaller sentences.
* Give examples of what will make it better — as I and other critics did by rewriting the part of a piece of work with which a struggling author needed help.
*Advise the use of a thesaurus. A rambling three-sentence description can often be pared down to one dynamic sentence when the appropriate specific words are used.
- Be positive and polite. These are rules listed in every Writer’s Facebook Group, but they are necessary. No writer is going to take your advice, no matter how well-intentioned, if you are rude and insulting about it — As in a commenter who wrote to a new writer, “Don’t quit your day job.”
It is important to note that any comments and criticism of a story should be given only if the writer requests them.
However, if requested, Constructive Criticism, not meaningless praise for poorly written work, is the way to go. It will improve the quality of the stories Medium publishes, benefiting both writer and reader.
© 2022 Joan Gershman
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