You're sure you want to do this? Absolutely sure?
You don't just want to tell them, "I loved it?"
Huh. I take it that the story was good enough to read all the way through, but there were one or two things that caught your attention and yanked you out of the plot?
You still want to mention it to them? Keep in mind that, since these are your recommendations, the author is under no obligation to take them. <g> But you'll have tried, right?
Okay. Since you
made it this far and still want to write them, here are my suggestions:
1. BE NICE. Be polite. Be friendly. Always start out with something you liked about the fiction. Several somethings if there were several, and if you read the whole story, well.... Remember the Mary Poppins' ditty about 'A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?' Ever heard that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar? It applies to feedback, too.
2. Offer the suggestions as just that -- suggestions. (After all, it's not your story; you didn't write it.) Try something like this: 'While I was reading "insert story name here", I noticed [X]. Were you aware that the usual grammar/formatting standard is [Y], according to my old English teacher/the Elements of Style/your source? ' Or, 'When you had [character X] do this, it seemed slightly out of character to me. I don't know if you remember [episode Z] where s/he did...'
3. Close with a thank you or another thing that you liked. Closing on a positive note leaves the recipient in a better mood and more amenable to considering what you said. You took the time to write it; you want them to take the time to consider it, right?
4. Bear in mind: It's their story. They don't have to do it your way. You don't have to read it, either. However, some of my best betas now are people who have written me friendly letters of 'hey, did you know/have you considered/were you aware....' There are some really nice folks out there. Try to make yourself a reputation for being one, why not? Beats hell out of other possible reps, doesn't it? And well, it can get you advance readings of your favorite writers' works....
Do you have other suggestions for how to write helpful critiques? For how to get authors to read them? Do you want to recommend some URLs that might be helpful? Please, write me.
If you want to see an example of how NOT to do it, on the other hand, click here.
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people have considered the phrasings of feedback since 7/25/01.
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