You have let a good friend read your latest story. They return it with nothing but good things to say. Does this mean your work is ready for an editor to read?

Probably not.

Although praise and sentiment are very worthwhile, they are not what a writer needs most when trying to "polish" their work to perfection. What a writer needs is a good critique of their writing. If you want to be helpful to a writer think about the following parts to a story while you are reading.

What did you think of the story?
Think about how the story made you feel. Did it make you want to keep reading long after the story was over? Or did you just wish it would end? Let the author know your impression of the tale, from beginning to end.

What did you think of the opening?
Did the opening grab your attention and make you want to keep reading until you reached the end? Or did the opening fizzle into nothing? The writer needs to know when a story's opening is good, and when it needs to be revised.

What did you think of the plot?
Did the plot flow well, moving from beginning to end without any hitches? Or were there rough patches that made you stop reading? Let the author know what parts, if any, caused you to want to stop reading.

What did you think of the ending?
Did the ending make sense, based on the rest of the story? Or did it seem rushed and unresolved? Writing a story is more than a beginning and middle; the ending must make sense and tie up the loose ends to be satisfying to the reader.

What did you think of the characters?
Could you identify with the characters in the story and were they believable? Or did they seem like stereotypical characters with no depth? Caring about the characters in a short story is important to the reader. If they don't care about a character, they aren't going to finish reading the story.

Was the dialogue natural and realistic?
When you read the story, did they dialogue sound natural and real? Or did it drag and sound phony? Let the author know if their dialogue isn't realistic or they have too many, or not enough, descriptive tags.

What did you think of the story setting?
Could you see the story's events in your mind while you read it? Or was the descriptions lacking in depth and clarity? The writer should include enough details so you can get a mental picture in your mind while reading the story, without overwhelming you with useless information.

How was the story's flow and pacing?
Did you get carried away in the story, moved alone without realizing you were reading? Or did you trudge through the story and feel there would never be an ending? Let the writer know if the story pulled you through, or slowed you down.

Was the Point of View consistent?
Did the story stay in the correct character's POV? Or did the author "head hop" around? While it's not necessary to be in one POV throughout a story, letting the reader know who is speaking is important. And having a story told by all the characters can be very confusing to a reader. Let the author know how their POV choices affected your enjoyment of the story.

What are your final impressions?
Were there spelling errors, grammar problems, or punctuation issues? Did the author use too many flashbacks, or not enough, to tell the story? Did the main characters spend too much time thinking about what they were going to do, instead of doing it? These are things the author needs to know so they can tighten their work.

Readers react to what they read. Sometimes the gut reaction to the story is more important than anything mentioned above--especially when the writer is more experienced. Gut reaction can negate nearly anything, with the exception of flaming another writer.

Helping a fellow writer improve their work takes a firm, but gentle hand. And it guarantees you'll receive the kind of help you want in return.

Dawn Arkin
http://www.Writing.Com/authors/darkin