Seeing how this is my last newsletter for the year 2023 - I have some projects waiting to be done - I figured discussing reviewing might be the best way to end this year's endeavor.

Reviewing: You can love it and hate it at the same time.

When a review is a must it may not always be fun. The item you have to review might not be something you usually read or there's a lot of work to be done on the item you have to review. One thing you must do is understand the writer's perspective. The words you read are their thoughts, their effort of putting pen to paper so to speak. You have to find a medium of good and bad and even it out in your review. You're a writer which means this shouldn't be hard to understand.

What should you look for when reviewing?

You can structure your review however you'd like. Whatever you're most comfortable with. Also, remember that the review is also a reflection of you and your personal writing. Do your best. Here are a couple of things to focus on when reviewing:

Hook
Scene setting
Action
Dialogue
Thoughts and/or feelings
Structure
Imagery
Overall impression
Technical and editorial considerations
Suggestions
Things you liked
Things that might need improving
Conclusion

You're free to do a line by line review, but it's not recommended unless requested. I do a little bit of both depending on what I'm reviewing. Most importantly, try give a review that the writer can use for editing if there's a lot to fix. Praise is great, wonderful, always welcoming but we are all learning and praise doesn't get us far. That's why you should balance your review with the good as well as the bad. Be harsh only if requested.

If you go to https://www.writing.com/main/my_feedback/action/rrs/noimgs/1/minlen/1000 you can see public reviews done constantly and you can see everyone else's structure of their reviews. A clear and precise review helps the writer in many ways. They can easily find what they need to work on.

When your review is written in a single large paragraph, it's harder to figure out what you're trying to tell the writer and those kinds of reviews can be easily overlooked. I tend to reward reviews on the review page when I have time and I'll skip all the ones that are under 1000 characters. While for poetry it might seem like a long review, story reviews should fly through the first 1000 characters and then some.

You might be an old timer here or a new member but as you start receiving reviews you'll learn what type of reviews you prefer and that's the kind you should also give. I'm not a judge on reviews - I appreciate every single one I've ever received because of the time it took - but we all have our own personal preference. Start with that and expand your reading and reviewing knowledge. Not to mention, it will also improve your personal writing skills.


I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving and all the upcoming holidays!

'til next year!
~ Gaby