The most helpful criticism often identifies a question the work has not answered yet.

Feedback that only registers approval or dislike leaves the maker nowhere to go. The version that actually helps points at a gap: something a reader expected to understand and did not, a decision the work never explained. That kind of comment is closer to a map than a verdict, because it names a place where attention could go next.

When you give notes this week, say what you were left wondering rather than what you would have done. When you receive them, listen past the tone for the question underneath, and decide whether it is one you want your work to answer.