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Alex in Hampshire has a useful suggestion for how Sarah from Stirling from AMT195 can damn her friend’s debut novel with faint praise:
I used to take a creative writing class at uni. Every week, we’d have to read other students’ manuscripts and give them some feedback on their work. Now and again, someone would come along and write something that was complete and utter bilge.
I found the best way around this was to start every savage criticism with the phrase “I like it, it’s good – for a first draft”, before pointing out the multitude of stylistic and creative errors they had made.
This had the effect of giving the poor, talentless writer the affirmation they desired, whilst also inferring that they should not in any circumstances show their magnum crappus to anyone whose opinion may actually matter, or the wider world in general.
Misdirection. Very smart.
Answer Me This! Podcast 
November 10, 2011 at 2:44 pm |
The “I think it’s good for a first draft” method works well, assuming you can be tactful in your other feedback.
In my creative writing class this last semester at uni, my tutor tried the “it was good for a first draft” introduction, then proceeded to tell me my work was a heap of shit and not worth the time or effort I put into it.
I was quite proud of that story, and I think I would almost have preferred to be told it was rubbish from the off, rather than building up the pretence that my work actually had some value…
Although, one of the girls in the class said she liked the way the sex scene was written, so that was relatively nice feedback to get. #swingsandroundabouts