Sorcerer Speaks about Constructive Critism

Some people just don’t understand the positive reinforcement aspect of constructive criticism – unless the entire work is absolutely terrible (which, don’t get me wrong, is entirely possible), there has to be something that is good about what they’ve written. Try to find that and open it up. Make sure that the author/worker/whoever knows and realizes that they did in fact do something right. Often times, when someone realized that the one specific part of what they did was good, then they can open that up and use it as a basis for doing the rest of their work in that fashion. Constructive criticism can be applied in a number of ways, however the most prevalent way is easily just thinking out what you think of something, putting it down on paper (or on a screen), making it sound educated (with proper spelling, grammar etc..) and posting it. That’s really all there is too it.

The most difficult part of this process is thinking up what you want to say. Basically, there are a number of ways to string your thoughts together on a piece of work. First, you have to think about how this piece affected you. Did it leave you wondering what happened to the characters, did it make you feel bad on the inside, did it bring up bad childhood memories, did it make you have a sudden urge to go cow tipping? Whatever it is, tap into it and put it down, because that is very important. The feelings that people work evokes out of you is pretty important – if someone’s written word can make you cry, then I think they deserve to know about it, because it’s obvious that what they have written is very powerful and moving. Right? Of course right.

RPGClassics supplies a forum for the media section. It is a public forum - posting your work in such a place opens the doors for people to talk about your work, which is a bit different from submitting. It’s a great place for a rookie writer to get opinions about their work. Some people are going to like what you make, others will not. Unfortunately, this is a fact of life that applies to everything, and you’re just gonna have to get over it, assuming you do decide to post any work there. Everyone will state what they feel about your work, and whether or not you like it or not, you should respect other people's opinions about what they think of what you've made. Now, I must warn you – not everyone on RPGC is going to be nice about what you’ve written. Some people just don’t quite understand this whole constructive criticism thing. While I must say, it isn’t a very complicated or difficult subject to pick up and roll with, some people, in the face of art, have to be stupid and nothing else.

On the receiving end of constructive criticism? That’s cool, that means you have completed something and posted it on our message boards, or sent it in to someone to read for you. Now, there’s two kinds of constructive criticism; good and bad. If you’re getting good, solid criticism that seems to have a strong point, good grammar, and gives you tips and pointers on how to make your work better, then congratulations, you have found someone that is worth listening too. However, if you’re getting something completely negative, with incorrect grammar (and even correct grammar – unfortunately, there are some idiots who can type just fine), then throw them on the ignore function, and keep on trekking. You’ll soon find that there are a great number of people, myself included, who love to give out pointers and tips to fellow writers.


To follow up, those of us who are giving the advice, put the constructive in the constructive criticism. That means put some thought in what you're saying, don't be a prick, just say something easy to understand and meaningful to whomever it may concern. These crucial parts of the process make it all worth while when someone makes something that is truly great.

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d Galloway