How do you handle giving criticism?

diveout

This is a toughie.

A long time friend has asked me to read, edit and give feedback to a script.

I read it and it's awful. It's over written and impossible to track. He also does not give the characters lives of their own.... they are all various manifestations of himself and his own cynicism.

I think he should burn it and start over.

I lied and told him I don't have time to read it.

How do you guys handle something like this?

Brian Lighthouse

Tell him exactly what you told us.
He's your friend yes? Well he should understand that you are not criticising him personally, you are merely criticising his writing.
If he wants to be a writer, he will listen and try to improve what he produces.
If he takes umbrage, well then, that's not your problem.
EDIT:
Just saw he wants you to edit also - ouch! - Don't do it. Tell him you normally charge €180 per hour to edit and because he is such a good friend, you'll do it for €150, and it needs about five hours work. That'll sort him out.

EileenG

Tell him that you are looking for the things which are NOT working in the novel. Then tell him all the problems you see, including things like plot holes, over-writing, under-developed characters etc. But if you think the entire thing should be scraped and burned, don't waste your time on pronoun abuse or minir stuff.