Noticing Newbies

Writing reviews . . . It is SO hard!!

I want to write reviews . . . because I want to be reviewed.

I want to write reviews . . . because now that I have done a few, I realize what a great tool it is to improve my own writing.

I am really self-centered here, eh?

When I first started writing reviews, I only rated/reviewed an item if I could easily give it 4-5 stars. I am uncomfortable giving someone less than a 4 star rating. My initial way to cope with this discomfort was to simply not rate/review any item that I considered average or less than average.

Reading some articles about reviewing, motivated me to change. I branched out and wrote reviews for some items that I considered "average" - it is probably the most challenging writing I have ever done!!

One problem, I find myself wanting to rewrite the item that I am reviewing. When I read something that I rate as average, I tend to see it as a rough draft and I want to polish it up.

I am really struggling with how to make suggestions for improvement . . . truly communicating what I mean . . . without rewriting. I suddenly find myself having much greater appreciation for my English Comp teachers!

I do not make any of my reviews public. That is just toooooo scary for me!

And how could I EVER give a piece less than a 3???

Help!!

---------- ruwth