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I have been in the very awkward position of reading a friend's writing, it was poorly written, and I would have felt like a dishonest person if I would have told them the truth. What I did was ask questions, then listen really well, as a good friend should. As in, "I read the part about 'xxxxx'; was it fun to write that part? Or, "Wow, the page that told the story of your experience with 'xxxxx' was so sad...was it hard for you to write about that time in your life?"
Also, recommending a writing group is a good idea, I think. Years ago a friend and I started a writer's group for women poets. It was a critique group, so everyone participated in reading each poem and making suggestions.
The group was more successful that my friend and I ever imagined it would be. And there was a natural order to it. Those who really loved writing poetry and had a gift for it stayed; those who didn't drifted away.
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