Domici wrote:
I'm preparing an example of my writing for high level feedback. The deepest goal is to see what I'm doing that engages the reader and what precludes engagement. At this point I don't want editorial feedback. Not that my writing doesn't need it, but I'm looking for more broad brush opinions. The three questions I've come up with so far are:
1. What did you like about the story?
2. What did you not like about it?
3. What are the top couple "you need to improve this" things on your mind?
Are there better questions? Am I barking up the wrong tree?
First of all, a quibble about terminology: "Broad brush opinions" (other than mere personal preferences)
are "editorial feedback." This level of critique is what distinguishes an "editor" from a mere "proofreader," and used to be one of the main selling points of the "traditional publishing" route. (Not that proofreading isn't editing, but it's only the (ideally) last and least intrusive stage.)
But in my experience (having had an English teacher who made us get peer review and urged critique on as high a level as possible, and then both giving and receiving critique on ideas and drafts after I graduated high school), the more open-ended a question is, the harder it is to answer it, so I would recommend giving, say, ten more-specific questions rather than four or so very general ones (though having some open-ended questions is good so that you
get the answers to them if the reviewer has any). If you have any specific place that you think might not "work," for example, you might ask about that. Ms. Hansen's suggested questions are good ones.