The ethics of reviewing

[Steerpike]

I have to agree. A tender hearted review, although well-intentioned, is of little value. When I go to critique groups I want people to shred my work. Seeing flaws, regardless of how many or how harsh the delivery, improves the work & helps me grow as a writer.

Another thing a fully honest review does is help an author grow a thick skin. If they can't take a harsh critique then they probably shouldn't be a writer.

I agree with both of you. If you have to go out of your way to water down an honest review with good points here and there, you're really creating a false impression to the author. Your desire to attenuate the impact of the negative comments is going to do just that. But you don't want to lessen the impact of the negative comments, in my opinion. Those comments are the ones that are going to help the author. The positive things you search out and throw in to try to balance things out aren't going to do a damn thing when it comes to making the author a better writer.

If there are positives worth mentioning, then great. You want to reinforce those. But if you are searching for positives just to balance out what is a negative view, thereby lessening the negatives, you aren't doing anyone any favors.

 

[Kit]

Call me softhearted, but I maintain that the majority of people are going to have a hard time truly listening to and learning from a "both barrels" review. They're either going to be hurt and blow you off ("That ***hole,"), or be hurt and develop such crippling self doubt that they can't write a thing without constantly groping for validation, or be hurt and quit writing altogether. If you truly want to help the person improve, you have wasted your time three ways right there. I guess if you don't give a crap about people's feelings (even your friends), two of those have at least accomplished your true personal goal of helping rid the universe of all that evil dross. Congratulations, here's your shiny superhero cape.

If you're one of the rare persons who works hard on a creative child of your heart and actually doesn't mind- and learns in a practical way- from having people skewer it, that's great for you. But one of the valuable things we learn from evoking different characters is that everybody is not us, and they all don't feel/react the same way as we do. It's only compassionate- and practical too- to stop and consider how the other guy feels before you nuke him.

YMMV as always.

 

[Steerpike]

Kit, I think a lot of it depends on the presentation as well. Even if I give a review that is mostly negative, because the work I am reviewing simply isn't well done, I will say it in a way that makes it clear the criticism is meant to be constructive. It is provided with good intentions, and hopefully will be taken that way.

My own feeling is that if I present something that is truly godawful, I'd like to no about it in no uncertain terms, and I don't get much benefit out of someone sugar-coating it.

I do also try to take into consideration the age and experience of the person whose work I am reviewing. The same review might be provided differently to a kid who is just starting out and trying to learn versus someone who has been at it twenty years and should be able to take blunt but well-intentioned comments.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Call me softhearted, but I maintain that the majority of people are going to have a hard time truly listening to and learning from a "both barrels" review. They're either going to be hurt and blow you off ("That ***hole,"), or be hurt and develop such crippling self doubt that they can't write a thing without constantly groping for validation, or be hurt and quit writing altogether. If you truly want to help the person improve, you have wasted your time three ways right there. I guess if you don't give a crap about people's feelings (even your friends), two of those have at least accomplished your true personal goal of helping rid the universe of all that evil dross. Congratulations, here's your shiny superhero cape.

If you're one of the rare persons who works hard on a creative child of your heart and actually doesn't mind- and learns in a practical way- from having people skewer it, that's great for you. But one of the valuable things we learn from evoking different characters is that everybody is not us, and they all don't feel/react the same way as we do. It's only compassionate- and practical too- to stop and consider how the other guy feels before you nuke him.

YMMV as always.

So just to be clear here, the OP stated that this is a friend who has helped him a lot with his writing & has recently published something through Amazon. We're not talking about a beginning writer that should be given the critique with the goal of encouragement in mind. We're discussing how to critique someone's work that considers himself, on some level, to be an experienced writer. Given those circumstances I stand by the opinion that only a truly honest critique is valuable to that friend.
If we were discussing a review for a beginner or an adolescent, then yes, maybe a softer touch meant to encourage would be better suited.

Now, as I said before, this is one of the reasons friends and family often make terrible critique readers. They care about the writer's feelings.

If an experienced writer can't handle constructive criticism & opinions then they're in the wrong business. I understand your empathy & need to deliver critique with a velvet touch but consider if you're doing the author justice by softening your judgment of their work.

 

[Chilari]

It is possible to be honest and constructive while still using a positive tone and seeking to protect a friend's feelings. One does not have to be rude to give detailed criticism. I don't advocate holding back honest criticism out of fear someone will be hurt, but you can be nice about it. You don't need to be brutal to be helpful.

 

[SunshineEve]

Talk to your friend first. You can discuss what you didn't like about the book (and preferably something that you liked, too) and then ask him if he still wants you to write that review. It might give him a chance to explain some things, for example, give you background information about the setting of the story or the characters, or anything else that comes to mind. It wouldn't improve the book or your view of it, but it would show him that you really value his opinion, friendship and, of course, writing.

Plus, learning how to handle criticism is a part of any writer's life. I once printed out a Chapter One of my novel for my read and gave her a red pen with it. There was a lot of red on the pages afterwards, but it was really helpful. Honesty works.

 

[kennyc]

Tell your friend how you feel about it and ask him whether he prefers that you write an honest review or forego the review.

This!



.

 

[Zophos]

First of all, if your friend can even get an honest review from a reviewer that can speak to their use of literary devices, plot development, tone, point of view and perspective, mechanics, title intent, incorporation of minor themes, narrative structure, rhythm, rising and declining action, et al, he's pretty damn lucky. I'd be happy to have a critic who would and could do that and do so objectively, without malice and regardless of personal preferences based on genre.

I've long suspected that many of the 5-star reviews you run across on Amazon are complete fluff and the reviewer is little more than a shill for the writer. I generally refine my search of reviews for works and go straight to the bottom because those are more likely to be easily categorized into quackery or legitimate concern about the book I'm about to buy.

I realize I said hammer the guy, but that was more to stand apart from the rest of the "spoon full of sugar/medicine go down" opinions in this thread. Of course you don't have to outright attack the guy. He's your writing accomplice for goodness sake. You still owe it to him to be objective and truthful. It's your responsibility in your relationship with him to be forthcoming in your reservations about the work.

Concur with Mr. Smith that it doesn't sound like you're talking to someone new to writing. If he's not and he hasn't been living in a closet for the entirety of his writing "career" he should be pretty good at taking criticism.

 

[BWFoster78]

Thanks again for all the advice.

A point of consideration that I don't think anyone has addressed:

He recently published this book. There are no other reviews posted.

Thanks.