Midnight Musings from a Maniac's Mind

[T] [R] Reviews or Critiques?

I was really confused in the beginning about the difference between a review and a critique. After all, I saw and read a lot of "review books" on Wattpad that seemed to give writers a lot of (what I thought was) criticism. But then, it hit me. The difference was the audience.

REVIEWS are meant to be seen and read by other readers. It gives you the opinion of the reviewer, whether positive or negative. 

CRITIQUES are meant for the eyes of the writer, so they can improve and edit their own writing. 

Still don't get it? Okay, picture this.

I'm a big, famous author (*yes this is my real fantasy*). I've written a decent manuscript. 

Next, I send it to my agent and my editor, so they can give me constructive criticism. 

When they send it back. I make the necessary edits, and send the final version to the publisher.

My publisher sends a copy of my novel to famous authors/ big reviewers, to get their review. If it's favorable, they paste it in big bold letters on the front or back cover. 

Get it now?

By definition, any comment made – positive or negative – after publication, is no longer a critique; it's a review, because the author can't go back and edit their work!

 Those Amazon ratings? On Goodreads? All reviews, not critiques.

So how does this affect YOU, Wattpad-user extraordinaire? If you know the difference, you'll know what to expect after making a request in a review book vs. a critique book. 

If you want to improve your writing, I would highly suggest you go for a critique, whenever possible. There are several advantages:

1. Critiques are more detailed. They focus on a single chapter or two, instead of an overall impression of your entire book.

2. The good critiques give you suggestions on how to improve. They don't just shoot you down by saying your writing is horrible. They tell you how you can make it better. Maybe add vocabulary? Maybe add more description in this paragraph. etc. 

3. Critiques are impersonal. It doesn't matter whether your critique likes  your story, they usually pay more attention on the question– is your story well-written?

So when should you go for a review instead? I think the best answer to this is when you're:

a) confident that you've edited your narrative as best as you can

b) want to compare your book against others in the genre, without entering a lengthy contest

c) want fresh opinions or eyes

The biggest benefit of a review is that many people read/follow review books. So, if you get a good review, it's likely that you'll attract a large audience. Free advertising! 

I would NOT recommend a review if:

- your novel still needs major edits or grammar fixes. You're almost guaranteed to get a bad review. 

- you get angry easily at reading negative comments. Never request a review expecting positive results. 

Every reviewer is just a person with an opinion. It could be positive, it could be negative. If you go in cocky, overconfident, thinking your piece is beyond perfect–you're setting yourself up for trouble. 

Say this reviewer thinks your writing is trash, you'll probably go ballistic. And by the time you're done–oops!–you've made a bad impression on the entire Wattpad community.

If you can't handle negative comments, just wait until you can. 

I tend to give more of a critique than a review to the books I read! If you'd like to request one from me, head on over to the "Reading Suggestions" page and leave me a comment there! 

Happy writing everyone ~~