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I'm terrible at critiquing poetry. I think it's probably the hardest form of writing to critique. I can read it and tell whether or not I like it, I can write it and know whether it's any good, but when it comes to critiquing it, I don't know what to say.

Thoughts?

That's very true . . . I should've made lyrics and poetry one category because they are very similar. I've never critiqued lyrics before. I don't think I'd be very good at that either . . .

Your avvi's pretty.

The only real work i have a problem critiqueing (sp?) is my own. I can criticize all day long... but I cannot critique.

Erm, call me Voxxxie, or Voxxx, if you please. I think--hope--I'm not vexing anybody.

I would agree, completely. Which is why I always feel a leetle bit awkward telling someone else off.

[ In Nomine Satanas ] Wrote:
like, now all the cities in my story have names that mean "spoon" in various klanguages.


That is absolute genius! biggrin

In terms of the main topic - whatever is hardest to critique must depend on whatever the reviewer reads most. People who are very familliar with prose will probably find it harder to review poetry, and vice versa. Likewise, if you write or read a lot of short stories, you might prefer to review that genre, or poems, but get totally lost with anything that's novel length.
Though I think the whole thing is probably a lack of confidence as much as anything. It's like the fact thaat few people read poetry because it's so closely associated with long hours in classrooms - people don't feel confident or comfortable reading it. Same goes for critique - the more you review a genre, the easier it is to review, just because of practice.

And as for being overly critical of your own work - I reckon Merenwen's right on that 'un. Everyone's really critical of their own stuff (which is wierd, because most people find re-writes an absolute nightmare...)

Well to me, since I've actually had to critique pieces of work before in college creative writing class, I would have to say that poetry and stories are about the same level difficulty.
Mainly it's just noticing what's off about the poem/story or what doesn't fit. As well as finding the weak parts and run on sentences and trying to reword them for the writer so they actually make sense.

I suppose since a lot of you haven't been exposed to a lot of poetry and how it's supposed to flow...(the structured poetry that is) it can be hard.
Mainly you're looking and finding how well the words depict the scenes and emotions. If the words confuse you, or don't make much sense just say so. That will be more helpful than telling the person that it's a good poem or that it needs some work. Point out the parts that drag or seem off to you.

Critiquing isn't hard, it's just taking a piece of work and taking it apart (maybe sentence by sentence) and seeing if it makes sense or supports the idea of the poem.

Though I will say...stories are usually a little easier at critiquing.