Most Common Writing Errors ✔️

How To Criticize A Story + How To Take Criticism

Remember, writers on Wattpad (a majority of them, anyway) are writing for free, and most of them are doing it as a hobby instead of a career they want to pursue. That's just something to keep in mind.

3) Don't Be Overly Nice

You can honestly tell an author what they're doing wrong without resorting to harsh language, but you don't have to sugarcoat things either. You can tell them their pacing was slow. You can tell them their characters acted OOC at times. You can tell them their plot had holes.

There are two sides of the coin: judges/reviewers who are overly nice and judges/reviewers who are overly harsh.

I think this section is self-explanatory. You don't need to say things like "The characters were awesome!" when they weren't. You can point out what you like while also criticizing it.

For example, I like the new video game Starfield. I really like the worldbuilding and some of the characters.

Starfield main quest spoilers

I really like the plot of the story being the multiverse. While I'm getting tired of multiverse plots, I think Starfield took it in an interesting direction where every time you start a new game plus, you have a chance of getting a whacky universe. One universe even has another version of you.

Even though I love this concept, I have criticisms for it. I'm going to focus on the universe where there's another version of you. My character's name is AJ, and he meets another AJ in a new universe. There is some awesome dialogue, and I think the voice actor does a great job bringing the protagonist to life (my character is male, I have not heard the female voice actress yet).

However, there were many missed opportunities.

When you're going to go into another multiverse, the new universe version of you doesn't say anything while the other four NPCs do. So far, I haven't had any chats with the new AJ outside of the same old conversation I had in the beginning. There aren't many new dialogue options despite how awesome of a concept it is to meet another version of yourself.

There are also (to my knowledge) no chances to give the new version of yourself the powers you have despite how you can take him to the temples that grant powers. He can literally stand right next to you while you get your powers, but you can't grant him any. You also can't mentor him into becoming a stronger fighter.

For those who don't know, in this game, the protagonist dies in almost every single universe. You're an anomaly, which is why it would be interesting to see the protagonist take the new version of himself under his wing to ensure he, y'know, DOESN'T DIE???

The protagonist is rather weak in every other universe except for the one you originally play in. So why can't you train the protagonist to becoming stronger? It's said multiple times throughout the main quest that every other version of AJ dies, so why isn't it even touched upon when you meet another AJ?

So while the concept is awesome and I love the dialogue options we have, there are many missed opportunities.

Spoilers over

I understand for those who haven't played Starfield that that was confusing to explain. It's a plot you can't really explain, you kinda just have to experience it.

I'll give a more general example. I like The Last Of Us, the TV show. While I like it, I have my issues with it. For example, I think the relationship between Joel and Ellie is significantly weaker and less impactful in the show than it is in the game. No, it isn't because the TV show is shorter than the game, but because the pacing is abysmal in many places, which leads to the relationship feeling weaker.