Workshopping and Constructive Criticism

When reviewing and criticizing peers' creative writing works, it's important to understand what constructive criticism entails and how to articulate its principles. Oakland's Creative Writing Club should be a safe, fun, and comfortable place for students to meet, but we also want to push our participating members to better their writing! The club is meant for people to improve in their passion, and that cannot be done without valuable criticism.
We have added some dos and don'ts so that all our members can benefit from feedback.

• Try using the phrases, "This works," and, "This doesn't work." For example: "I like your use of repetition here, it works. But this metaphor is confusing and doesn't work."​​

• Be specific! It will be difficult for the writer to improve if your suggestions are too broad or vague.

• Use compliments and criticisms when giving feedback. Workshopping is most beneficial when the feedback covers the positives and negatives.

• Before giving feedback, ask yourself, "Will this help the writer improve? Is my critique specific and beneficial?"​​

• Do not fear giving criticisms! It does not help the writer improve if you simply tell them what they want to hear.

• But make sure you're not attacking the writer either. Will your feedback actually help the writer or just tear them down?

• Try to stray from what your personal preferences are. For example, if the workshop is a fantasy piece but you only like memoirs, it is not constructive to tell the author, "I don't like fantasy, so this isn't good."

• With that in mind, consider if your criticism is about your distaste or inexperience with the genre, not the actual work. It would be unwise and disadvantageous to give a lot of feedback on a genre you are unfamiliar with.