In revamping ticon, one of the things we’ve had to cut back on is feedback to unsuccessful writers.

In previous years, we would sometimes give 500 word responses to stories, to give writers some guidance on how to improve their writing.

Giving feedback isn’t an easy process. Good, constructive criticism is a skill that not everyone has, and even those who can do it, many find the process tiring. It can take a lot out of the critic: being balanced, getting the story’s strengths and weaknesses across, and also making sure that the feedback reads as criticism of the story, not the writer.

It can make a 100 metre dive into a glass of water seem easy.

(more…)