~LaMonaca reports:


As a writer, one should always keep two questions (adapted from Raphael's QAR strategy) in mind:


What's in the paper?
-- (What did I actually write?)

What's in my head?
-- (What did I want to write?)

Sometimes answering those two questions is not an easy task. How many times have we heard (or said), "Well, I was trying to say this, but..."? How many times have we been very proud of something we've written, which we thought was clear and precise only to have a reader say, "I don't get it. What are you trying to say here?" It's a frustrating experience - this written communication - but there are many tools to aid us in our attempts.

Editors and proofreaders will talk about your grammar and syntax (among other things); Critical Friends, however, are most interested in your ideas. Remember, the cleanest, most grammatically correct poem or story can still be awful. Writing begins with an idea, an impression - an intent to communicate something important to someone else by bending language to your whim. And, as Critical Friends, we are most concerned with your writing and not only where it began, but also where we can help it go.

This is why, during the first week, we asked for writer reflections on the submitted texts and directed Critical Friend comments to follow a similar reflection sequence. Some of you answered the questions; some of you used to critique offered critique; some of you created your own working questions and answers. But in every case, a conversation began.

During the weekend, ^GeneratingHype and I will be commenting on the submitted deviations and focusing, not on the text, but on the Critical Friend conversations as they apply to last week's goal. In some cases we may redirect the discussions; in most cases, we are going to offer suggestions to both the writer and the Critical Friend about how to turn this conversation into something more productive and beneficial to each person. But it begins by asking questions.



Whereas the Writer is most concerned with figuring out a disconnect between 'what's in the paper' and 'what's in the writer-head' that never made it to paper, the Critical Friend is concentrating on two other queries courtesy of Donald Miller:


What works?
-- (What is working in this paper towards the writer's goal?)

What needs work?
-- (What needs work in this text to help the writer achieve his/her goal?)

When approaching a text as a Critical Friend, the two questions you should have in the back of your mind are akin to Donald Murray's "What works?" and "What needs work?"

Again, these are two deceptively complicated questions. Without a context - without a set of circumstances, prior knowledge, facts, or other hints to help influence the answers - these questions seem incredibly difficult for some people to answer. "How am I supposed to know what's working?" asks a nervous student who's hardly confident in their own writing let alone confident enough to comment on someone else's. "How do I know what needs work?"

The answer is not simple, but it is sequential. And it's my responsibility, along with ^GeneratingHype, to provide a context that all writers and all readers feel comfortable with. Indeed, never forget that the purpose here is to tap into your skills as a Reader - not a critic - and a Writer. If you can read this sentence, then you can be someone's Critical Friend. We can help you.

This week we're going to work on providing a foundation and a context to make all of you better at asking questions. A good question, you see, can fuel a great (and productive) conversation. And you don't have to be participating in the activities to learn something about questioning techniques. In fact, we encourage any writer or reader to apply the hints and help in these articles to comments on a future text. Just be sure to tell us how it went!



This Week's Critical Friend Task


The first hint to teaching anyone how to ask a good question is to be sure to ask a question that someone can answer. To begin, we start with basic, focused questions. Last week we asked you to look at the text as a whole and make general comments on its strengths and weaknesses. This week, we're going to ask you to be a bit more specific.

Step One is to see if, as the reader and Critical Friend, you have any questions about the way the text is organized. How do you know if you do? By asking yourself some questions about the text (instead of asking the writer)!



The Basics


Every text needs a foundation in order to be effective. As a Critical Friend, look back over the text you read last week and concentrate on the very basics of organizing ideas in print. Ask yourself if the text has an introduction, body, and conclusion - a beginning, middle, and end. You don't have to be a SuperCritic to recognize how you felt as a reader. Does it just begin without context and leave you disjointed? Were you confused halfway through because the characters weren't introduced or developed fully? Did it just ramble to an end that didn't feel like an end - or feel very effective? Were you missing something? If it was a poem, did the poem's order make sense? Could you follow it easily? Did the first stanza and all the other stanzas feel like they connected? Was there one stanza that didn’t feel like it connected? Did you feel like a stanza was missing?

Now, we know that's a lot of questions and we're not trying to overwhelm you. Instead, we're asking rapid-fire questions to show you that everyone's reading experience is different and, where you might be confused in the third paragraph, another person might be confused in the fourth. However, any feedback you provide to the writer is valuable because a writer deserves to here the truth from an honest reader - a Critical Friend.

Between now and Tuesday, study the foundation and organization of the text. (If you are unsure what 'organization' entails, please feel free to note your questions to me or ^GeneratingHype) Below we provide very basic questions about very basic parts of the text - things that any reader or writer should be able to ask or answer - but you are under no obligation to ask all or any of them if you don't feel, as the reader and Critical Friend, that they are relevant. These questions are specifically for the Critical Friend (or the Writer) to ask him/herself while reading the text; they are not questions for the Critical Friend to directly ask the Writer. In fact, some Critical Friends may not have any questions they want to ask about the writing. While that is perfectly acceptable, we do ask that you try to find at least one basic question to ask about the way the text is organized, especially if you are unsure who the intended audience is.


Sample Questions: Poetry and Prose

Who is the audience?
Does this text have an effective beginning?
Does this text have an effective middle?
Does this text have an effective end?


Sample Questions: Prose Specific

Is there an introduction?
Is there a body?
Is there a conclusion?
Is there a "hook" or effective 'first statement' that really draws the reader in?
Is there a "clincher" or powerful ending that leaves the reader satisfied?
How many topics, events, or characters are covered in each paragraph? Is it more than one?
Does the text include details? Are there enough? Too many?
Do all the details in each paragraph match what the paragraph is supposed to be about?
Does the order of the paragraphs make sense?


Sample Questions: Poetry Specific

Is there a rhyme scheme?
Is the writer playing with meter at all?
Does each stanza focus on one idea or image?
Does each stanza connect to the one before and after it?
Is there enough by way of details and images to support the idea in each stanza?
Does the stanza order make sense?


_{Note: these are not the only 'basic' questions that can be asked, but they should provide you with a decent foundation for finding 'basic' questions on your own, as well. Note us with any questions!}



Then What (Step Two)


Now that you've asked yourself, as the reader and Critical Friend, some questions about the text, it's time to be honest about your answers. Was every answer positive? If so, leave your writer a compliment about how the text is organized. Tell them something you were really impressed with. Did you enjoy that rhyme scheme and think it really worked for the poem? Was that a really strong introductory paragraph? Tell them! The trick, however, is not to repeat anything you said in your previous comments.

However, if you weren't quite sure about some of your answers - or if you were leaning towards a negative feeling or intuition, as the reader, about some of the questions and how they played out in the text - it's time to be completely and utterly honest with the Writer. Indeed, it's time to tell them how you answered some of these questions. If you didn't think the introduction was great (etc.), let them know and try your best to explain why you think you had that reaction. Don't be accusatory or insulting, but be firm and truthful: Looking back over your text, I wasn't sure about your order here. The details didn't seem to fit with what you were trying to say. Hey, I really respect a good rhyming poem, but I'm not sure it's really helping get your point across. Have you considered getting rid of it? You know, on second thought, this might make a better story than a poem. Have you thought about trying short prose?

You don't have to ask a million questions or leave a million comments for the Writer. As the Critical Friend, we don't want you to get burned out. But if you can come up with one new, constructive comment for the Writer in regards to the basic organization of the text, then we'll be ahead of the game. Keep in mind, also, that these are basic questions. We're not looking for more complicated advice right now; they'll be time for more questions and concerns as the weeks wear on.

If you're not sure about your comment, how to comment, what to comment, what questions to ask, or how to convert your answers into comments - please, please note me or ^GeneratingHype with your questions. This is not an intuitive or easy process for everybody, and we know that. We're here to help you learn, and we're committed to seeing you through this rather long and detailed process.


The Writer's Task

Your task is simply to listen. Don't get defensive. Don't let your ego get in the way. Read the comments, read the advice, appreciate the honesty, and respond to your Critical Friend with the intention of both thanking them and continuing the conversation. If you don't understand something they say or you see things differently, let them know and then (humbly) ask them for advice. For example, sometimes a reader is confused about the order of something. They tell you, and then you explain to them what you were trying to do (what was in your head). Now that Critical Friend might be able to help you figure out how to draw that great idea out of your head and get it down on paper. That's our aim moving forward: to develop a conversation between you and your Critical Friend where you can bounce ideas back and forth and find good suggestions that can make it into your text someday.