{"id":107004119,"date":"2023-06-17T21:21:50","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T21:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/learning-to-love-the-red-pen\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T13:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T18:18:08","slug":"learning-to-love-the-red-pen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/learning-to-love-the-red-pen\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Love the Red Pen"},"content":{"rendered":"

And How to Critique a Poem<\/h2>
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Is There a Difference Between \u201cCriticism\u201d and \u201cCritique\u201d?<\/h2>

Both words share the same Greek root: kritikos<\/a><\/em> \"able to make judgments,\" from <\/a>krinein<\/a><\/em> \"to separate, decide\" (from PIE root <\/a>*krei-<\/a><\/strong> \"to sieve,\" thus \"discriminate, distinguish\"<\/a>.<\/p>

Apparently, the English decided (erroneously) that \u201ccriticism\u201d was primarily a fault-finding exercise, and that connotation has stuck. The French word \u201ccritique\u201d has retained the more objective sense of analysis, identifying both the strengths and weaknesses of a work. <\/p>

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Some may prefer the word \u201cevaluate,\u201d but I would argue that \u201cevaluation\u201d has its roots in the determination of the value<\/em> or worth of a thing, the sum total of its merits and deficits, rather than an objective analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, giving an opportunity for improvement. Evaluation<\/em> is what we do when we choose to buy one apple and not another from the same bin. Evaluation<\/em> is what a publisher does when deciding whether to accept or reject a submission. <\/p>

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Poetry - indeed, all writing - might benefit from a SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (to publication, perhaps). But whatever name we give it, it\u2019s important to recognize what\u2019s constructive<\/em> and what is merely destructive<\/em>. <\/p>

It\u2019s also important to realize that most of us are not expert critics; our judgment is just that - ours. It is not some objective Everyman\u2019s<\/em>. We may accidentally, though with the kindest of intentions, give critique that is not helpful or even representative of what the majority of readers might think. So, ultimately, the decision to employ our suggestions must fall squarely on the writer\u2019s shoulders. <\/p>

Do the suggestions ring true? Have several people, independently, given the same feedback? These are good indications of constructive critique.<\/p>

Are the suggestions unclear, imprecise, or confusing? It\u2019s up to the writer to ask questions until they understand what\u2019s being said. <\/p>

Is the feedback hurtful? Is it mean? Straightforward critique, given without sugar-coating, is not meant to be cruel. It\u2019s up to the writer to consider the source and to recognize that defensiveness is never necessary. Each piece of feedback can be used or ignored. It need not be taken as a dagger to the heart. If I say \u201cThe language is unnatural and stilted,\u201d this is not the same as, \u201cLittle old ladies have no business writing poetry. You should stick to knitting, instead.\u201d <\/p>

The former is intended<\/em> to be helpful. You can work with that. It has to do with your word choices in a particular work, but not with your worth as a human being or as a writer in general. <\/p>

The latter is useless, sexist, ageist, and unkind. Treat it as such - chuck it into the wastebasket and forget it, recognizing that there are some miserable people in the world who desperately want the company of other miserable people. <\/p>

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Smile and tell yourself that perhaps you\u2019ve given their dog a brief reprieve from being kicked. You are a hero! <\/p>

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Somewhere, in between, lie people who truly want to be helpful<\/em> but have difficulty eloquently and clearly expressing themselves, sometimes. They\u2019re trying. They will never improve their critiquing skills if they feel they\u2019ve hurt people\u2019s feelings - they will only get better at it through practice. We might ask them questions and encourage them to be more specific. Odds are, the novice critic is more uncomfortable giving feedback than the experienced writer is at receiving it. They must feel safe if they\u2019re to be honest and truly helpful. <\/p>

The Red Pen<\/h2>

I learned to love the red pen in middle school. My English teacher \u201cbled all over\u201d my first essay. She marked up mechanical errors using proofreaders\u2019 marks. She filled the margins with critique. And I was delighted! I knew that she had taken time out of her day to really read what I wrote, think about it, and to try to turn me into a better writer. In that moment, my love of writing was born.<\/p>

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I briefly took Taekwondo lessons from Grandmaster Dong Won Kang in Oklahoma. \u201cBriefly,\u201d because I was very, very bad at it. But he didn\u2019t just teach martial arts. He would talk to the class, afterwards, and impart life lessons and wisdom. One thing he stressed was that when someone took precious moments out of their own life to help you improve your skills at anything<\/em>, you should take it as a compliment and a gift. You should recognize that out of all the fun things they could be doing with their limited and valuable time on this earth, they chose<\/em> to try to help you grow. He said that to give praise is easy. It costs us absolutely nothing to say, \u201cGreat job.\u201d It takes time, thought, and effort to critique and offer suggestions for improvement.<\/p>

Again, some people have had damaging and destructive experiences involving red pens, and have developed a fear of or aversion to red ink. To them, it represents negativity. It symbolizes their \u201cfailure.\u201d Someone has led them to feel this way, and that someone is a negative and destructive force. Sometimes, it\u2019s as simple as switching from red ink to green or purple. But the only real cure is kindness and trust. <\/p>

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For a tragicomic take on the the dangers of giving critique<\/a>, read Delicate Sensibilities<\/a>. Excerpt:<\/p>

I worked hard to make it that bad, and I am not even 324,567th in line for Poet Laureate.<\/p>

R____, then, was to come along after I posted it and rip it apart \u2014 er, critique it constructively on all fronts, to show the class how it was done. Afterwards, I would graciously thank him, act upon his suggestions, and post my revisions.<\/p>

You may already see the flaw in our plan.<\/p><\/blockquote>

True story. <\/p>

Rest in peace, R____.<\/em><\/p>

Till next time, practice giving and receiving constructive critique. You can use something as simple as the \u201csandwich method\u201d - a few compliments, a few suggestions for improvement, and observations on strengths and opportunities for growth as a writer. When you\u2019re feeling a bit more confident, try this: How to Analyze Poetry: 10 Steps for Analyzing a Poem - 2023 - MasterClass<\/a><\/p>

Or you can grab all your colored pens and go for it, following the suggestions (do\u2019s and don\u2019ts) in How To Give Feedback on Another Writer\u2019s Poem: A Guide \u2013 Ken Craft (kencraftauthor.com)<\/a> <\/p>

I\u2019d rather have benefit of the latter, but that\u2019s a fair bit of work. Start small, unless you\u2019re feeling brave - but start<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And How to Critique a Poem<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1012911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[],"wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-107004119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 23:30:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107004119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107004119"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107004119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137990530,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107004119\/revisions\/137990530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107004119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107004119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107004119"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=107004119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}