Critiques are very important to developing writers. Edgar Allen Poe and many other great writers constantly critiqued the works of their comtemporaries.

I've read one of Poe's critiques of Charles Dickens and it was very enlightening. Poe had a mathematical mind that missed nothing. He found a grammical error in Dicken's story. Dickens used an adverb instead of an adjective!!

One of the best ways to learn better writing skills is to analyze the works of others. And, often because it happened to me, a story can develope out of a critique of another writer for the same webzine!!

So remember, read but also critique often!!!