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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40857
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Two things first:

1. Take into account that **you might be wrong** in your assessment. Others (e.g. publishers) might view this text differently. So emphasize that _this is your personal view_. Limiting your criticism to a personal view also makes it easier for a writer to accept it.

2. Try your best to **be helpful**. You were not given the text to review it in the way a professional reviewer would for a newspaper. You were given it to provide helpful feedback, so try to be helpful.

For an aspiring writer, that is, someone who is still learning the craft, the most helpful feedback is one that points out

- a limited number of mistakes

- that can be ammended with reasonable effort.

If your writer friend's text is riddled with plot holes, bad spelling and grammar, wooden characterization, and generally unreadable, you could for example tell them about the plot holes and point them to a few good books to read to learn about plot. In the course of that reading and rewriting, they would also pick up some spelling and grammar.

It is not your job to discourage anyone. Think of a child learning to swim. You don't want to tell that child that they are "doing everything wrong". That may be true, but it will make the child not want to learn to swim. Instead, show them how to do one manageable thing right. And then the next one.

If the writer does not accept your careful criticism and keeps arguing that you didn't understand their writing, don't argue and try to force it on them. Maybe suggest to them to get the feedback from other beta readers. Getting multiple feedbacks is always the best approach anyway.

Original score: 14