Week Six Reflection

August 21, 2018 · by · in

For our second peer critique, we analyzed work by Alyssa and Rob – both different themes (Rob was a film and Alyssa’s was a piece on Coles’ Little Shops) – I still find critiquing quite hard – it’s a fine balance between figuring out ‘good’ advice without being too harsh, I’m a bit nervous for my own piece to be critiqued!

We also had our second session with Alex, to discuss the pieces that we wrote last week (I chose ‘Lick The Star’ by Sophia Coppola) – it was a bit daunting, except for the fact that the piece is anonymously criticised. Important things that I took away from the masterclass was:

  • Always have a title
  • You can probably cut out the first paragraph or the first sentence
  • The indication of “we” and “I” and the impact on the readers (I, speaking for yourself, rather than we which is presumptuous)

My own work critiques:

  • ‘Have a Hook’ (YAY “getting paid, this is a stroke of genius” – not that money is everything, but that is a good sign for me haha!)
  • Bigger picture = really important
  • Warey of phrases such as ‘built the foundations’ (riffing on a genre that was well established)
  • Director’s by surnames (same as actors)
  • Escalation in tone = the audience will react the same

Although I wouldn’t call myself a ‘film critic’ at all (It’s 10000% outside of my comfort zone), I’m pretty proud that I totally didn’t get roasted in this session and that I am still credible (hopefully) to be a ‘writer’, even if it’s not in the food scene!