This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me...

Critiquing is valuable though most writers would prefer not to have it. But professionals value it, and so should you.

Critiquing is not about a reader's opinion, although it does come into it, it's about evaluating a piece of work as to whether it achieves what is intended.

Most critiquing is about creative works (novels, short stories and so on) and most creative works are intended to produce some sort of a response in the reader (horror, surprise, amusement etc). But does it?

Professional critiquing can take a work to pieces

• Identify its key points and intentions
• See whether it really achieves those intentions
• Evaluate what could be improved to do it better

If you want to know how your work could be honed, contact the Wordsmith now