So, summer's here and the fantastic thing about being a university student is the four month holiday I now have. At some point there'll be reading for the course ahead, but hey, I believe in leaving work until the last minute.

One thing I'm going to be doing though is focusing on my writing. I missed out on joining the creative writing course at my university and I'm gutted (even though it's my fault- I only managed to summon up the courage to take creative writing as an option last minute, by which time it was too late because the course had already been filled up long before I had even officially become a student there). So, hopefully deviantart will be the key to helping my writing.



Over the coming months I'm going to be editing a few of my prose pieces already posted here:
Paper Roses- is going to undergo a lot of editing. There's a fair bit there that I'm not happy about so I'll soon be shredding it to pieces and reconstructing it over and over again until I'm completely satisfied with what I've done.
Beaches- a few parts that need tweaking here, mainly things that have already been pointed out by fellow deviants, but there are a few personal changes I'd like to make to the writing style.
Mr Monday- I'm very happy with this one. All I think it needs is some general editing; the last thing I want to do is make major changes that will completely alter the story.
And there are a few older pieces in my gallery that I wrote two to three years ago that I've now looked back on a thought, 'Hang on, that doesn't work.'

There will also be some new writing. I'm currently editing a new prose piece, 'The Last.' It'll probably be posted up in the next couple of days where hopefully some writers here can tear it apart and give me some good advice.

Obviously, I'll be doing my part in return. This free time (well, free until someone decides to offer me a much needed job) will allow me to roam around here and offer suggestions to others who, like me, are trying to improve their writing. It's only fair after all.

Which leads me to...

Question
After looking around the forums, I've noticed the subject of critique has come up a lot. Personally, if I ask for a critique, I expect negative comments. But for me, a critique also needs balance. It's helpful to also know what's 'good' so that I know what I can continue to use in my writing.
What do you expect in a critique? Does it matter if someone completely rips apart your work?