Critiques and critiquers - Pet Peeves

Speaking of getting CPs and critique groups, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the blog entry "Thanks for the critique, you ignorant cow…" by Lori Devoti at Romancing the Blogs. When I decided to take writing seriously, the first thing I did was join a few critique groups because I felt getting feedback from others would help me grow as a writer. So for the past 9 months I've been at both ends of the critique game. Mind you, a critique is nothing more than another person's opinion about your work. That means their words aren't written in stone. However, it's a positive experience in which one can learn a lot. As a critiquer, I keep this in mind at all times. For me it's important to point out both the good and the bad in a work. I let them know what I like. (Ask my CPs. Carolyne always gets a kick out of my comments 'coz I react to everything in a story. *lol*) Even if the work stinks, I try to encourage improvement by telling the person what's wrong and how to improve it. On the other hand, my WIPs have been critiqued. Most of the time I've received good critiques. (Note: Good critiques doesn't mean that my work is "oh so wonderful." It just means that the critiquers have been kind enough to point out my weaknesses and how I can imptrove them, as well as point out my strengths.) I still have to deal with those who are less than positive in their critiques. The laughable part is that they critique but they never post anything. (What? Are you afraid of not measuring up?) And don't you hate it when someone, who's going to critique your chapter, starts with the "I'm going in without having read the other chapters" line? I know I do. It only means that the critique will be so off the mark that most of time isn't worth reading (except for the grammatical corrections.) Even if you don't critique the past chapters, take the time to at least read them. Oh, and don't get me started on those who don't know anything about the genre they are critiquing. If you don't know about it, do us both a favor and don't critique.