# Critical Response Process > *Critical Response Process* offers a method for giving and getting feedback on creative work, avoiding the challenges and flaws of unstructured critique. RELATED FUNCTIONS: [[Program & Production]], [[People Operations]] Choreographer Liz Lerman along with John Borstel developed a thoughtful, step-by-step process to foster productive discussion about creative works in progress. The process avoids the sandtraps common to unstructured critique, and empowers the artist to shape the type and tone of feedback that serves them in their process. The basic steps of the process are [listed on Liz Lerman's website](https://lizlerman.com/critical-response-process/). But there are also books and other resources to help you form and facilitate your own attempts (see below). ## Step 1. Statements of Meaning Responders state what was engaging, interesting, stimulating, or striking in the work they have just witnessed. Discomforts, doubts, and negative opinions are withheld until the appropriate opportunities occur later in the Process. ## Step 2. Artist as Questioner The artist asks questions about the work. After each question, the responders answer, being mindful to stay on topic with the question. Responders may express opinions, including “negative” perspectives, as long as they are in direct response to the question asked and do not contain suggestions for changes (unless suggestions have been specifically requested by the artist). ## Step 3. Neutral Questions Responders ask neutral questions about the work. The artist answers. Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion embedded in them. For example, if you are discussing the lighting of a scene, “Why was it so dark?” is not a neutral question. “What ideas guided your choices about lighting?” is. ## Step 4. Opinion Time Responders state opinions, subject to permission from the artist. The usual form is: “I have an opinion about ______, would you like to hear it?” The artist has the option to say no. Example questions include: - “I have an opinion about your choice of music for this dance. Would you like to hear it?” - “I have an opinion about how you are using different voices in your monologue. Would you like to hear it?” - ​“I have an opinion about captioning and giving context for documentary photos. Would you like to hear it?” --- ## Sources - Lerman, Liz, and John Borstel. *Critique Is Creative: The Critical Response Process in Theory and Action*. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2022. ([Amazon](https://amzn.to/3Cfqfvj)) - Lerman, Liz, and John Borstel. *Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process: A Method for Getting Useful Feedback on Anything You Make, from Dance to Dessert*. 1st edition. Dance Exchange, Inc., 2003. ([amazon](https://amzn.to/45LD6CE)) ## Tags (click to view related pages) #frameworks #sapling