Questions to Spark Thoughtful Critique

General: 

1. Did you enjoy the story? Do you want to read more?

2. Did the opening lines hook you? The last lines?

3. Did the author use redundant, repeat, or filler words? Too much passive voice? Cliches?

4. How was the balance of telling vs showing?

5. Were there any specific lines that you found funny or compelling?

6. Was the paragraphing effective? Were any sentences or paragraphs too long? Was there a variety of length and structure?

7. Was there any point at which you were confused? What specifically confused you?

8. What general words can be replaced with more specific words (walked > ambled, etc)?

Characters & Dialogue: 

1. Were you able to identify with the protagonist? Did you find them likeable, competent, interesting, believable? What about the antagonist? Side characters?

2. Did it feel like the story had the right POV? Were there any POV lapses? 

3. Does it feel like there’s too much internalization?  Not enough?

4. Was there a good balance of sensory description and character observation?

5. Were you comfortable with the dialogue? If dialect was used, did it work? 

6. Did the dialogue move the plot forward?

7. Was there a good balance of dialogue tags, said-bookisms, attributions, etc. 

8. Did the dialogue feel unnecessary at any point? Was it being used to info-dump?

9. Did each character have a distinctive voice? 

Setting & Description:

1. Did the setting seem real to you? Did you have enough detail to visualize it?

2. Did the descriptions set and enhance the mood, or did they feel flat?

3. Did any section “feel” like an information dump? Did the description feel relevant?

4. Was it clear where characters were in relation to each other and items within the space?

5. Did the setting or description reflect the tension or tone, enhance POV characterization, or did it fade into the background? Could it be trimmed without losing clarity or atmosphere?

Plot: 

1. Was the idea original and/or engaging? 

2. Is there enough conflict to make things interesting? Did you lose interest at any point?

3. Did the story have the right pacing? Did it feel like it was dragging anywhere? 

4. Does it feel like the story starts in the right place? Too late? Too early?

5. Are there holes in the logic or flow of events? Are there any motivations/reactions that don’t make sense or aren’t clearly conveyed? Does anything feel like a coincidence? 

6. NOTE: Don't try to rewrite the author's plot. Your job is solely to critique how well the author tells their story, and to explain what worked for you, and what didn’t.