#the point is your concrit shouldn’t detract from your overall positive points

[frownyalfred]

“this fic was good except for…” “this would have been great but…”

some of y’all need to learn how to give better constructive criticism and it shows. so here’s a quick rundown.

Give a positive statement. “I really liked how you did X.”

Then — without detracting from the first statement, and only if the author has signaled that they are open to criticism and advice — give your second, unrelated point.

Critical point:

“I noticed how you did Y. That felt a little out of character to me because of Z reason.”

And, finally, follow up with a broad summary:

“Overall, I really liked this, thank you for writing!”

#see how different the tone of that comment becomes? #it’s very different #the point is your concrit shouldn’t detract from your overall positive points #strike the words ‘could have’ ‘almost’ ‘would have’ from your vocal #yes this is a mini rant #I get comments like these all the time these days #and I’m ok brushing it off but baby authors would be crushed #I know I would have #writing #writing things #ao3 #archive of our own #fandom #plz be nice to your authors #we do this for free #/end rant