  Contests & Activities
This week: Compulsory Reviewing for Reviewing Group Edited by: Annette  
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There was a day, last week or a decade ago, that you typed "writing" into your search engine. You wanted to show off some of your poems, short stories, or maybe even get feedback for a whole novel. You found Writing.com.
On this site, you found all that you searched for: Portfolio space, helpful reviewers, encouraging groups, style and grammar lessons from peers. Nothing prepared you for the amazing bounty of: Contests & Activities! |
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Compulsory Reviewing for Reviewing Groups and Review Shops
What does really hide behind the colorful templates and emoticons?
I recently received a review for an item that had lived (forgotten) in my portfolio. It was a copied prompt. One line of text that very obviously was marked as a prompt, not written by me, only stored there. The review was massive. A whole template had been filled in to let me know an opinion on an item that was not.
A few years ago, I had won a reviewing package from a reviewing shop. I got five reviews, all containing the same non-descript line for my piece, followed by the phrase "Keep writing" copied enough times to bring the review above 250 characters. When I asked that person why they sent me those reviews like that, they said they "wanted to save their fingers." What they were saying is that typing a text that was giving me an actual critique to my writing was too long. In order to fulfill the "package," they simply wrote one text and copied and pasted it into the reviewing box of five pieces.
I also once had a story for which I got some good reviews, but I didn't want to display it any longer. In order to keep the reviews that were attached to the item, I deleted the text and wrote instead "keeping this for the reviews." I got a review for this piece, a pretty long review, that told me the reviewer wished they could read my piece.
Why am I lamenting these cases? Each of these reviews came to me through reviewing groups or reviewing shops. The members were preferred authors and one was even a moderator and owner of their own reviewing group. Each of those reviews was sent not in an honest attempt at sending me critique for something that I wrote, but for the sole purpose of collecting another review reward.
Now, I am going to be the first to admit that when I sent out reviews for reviewing groups, I would look for short pieces. Poems, 55 word stories, haiku, just about anything short I could find. If or when I came across a piece that wasn't quite a "piece of writing," I either moved on or sent an email.
When you are looking through a member's portfolio to review for rewards, you are by no means required to review their latest effort at an epic novel, but your review should follow a few basic rules:
 Review something that is indeed a piece of writing, not a place holder of some sort.
 Read the whole piece, not just the first paragraph.
 Give the writer an honest assessment of their piece.
 When using a template, delete the parts of the template that you have to answer with n/a. If it's not applicable, why is it there?
In a conversation with fellow Writing.Com member Steev the Friction Wizurd  about reviewing non-items, he sent me this excellent text about nothing. Enjoy.
Here's my review of your blank item...
This was a marvelous example of minimalism, a brilliant example of the current buzz phrase "less is more". I especially like the way you kept the tone neutral throughout and let the reader find his own emotional response to it. I found myself rereading it several times, each time noticing something I had missed before, like did I remember to lock my car door, and, did I pay the cable bill yet?
All in all, a wonderful experience and hopefully a harbinger of the direction your future work will take.
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| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1735780 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1426495 by Not Available. |
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In response to my last newsletter "Be a Gracious Contest Entry Reviewer" I got the following replies:
Bonnie wrote: Thank you for showcasing my contest. I fully agree with you on this newsletter. We are not in the business to damage fragile ego's but more to encourage writer's of all levels to write. And it may just be a prompt from the contest that stirs the muse.
I like to review my contest entries with the help of my fellow judges. It is the least we can do after someone has take the time to enter. It doesn't have to be an in depth review. I tend to look at the creativity first and the rest can be learned through writing.
Thank you
You're welcome for the showcase and thank you for your comments on my newsletter.
ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy wrote: Wonderful newsletter...clear, helpful, specific, motivational... great. Thank you. ann
Wow. Thank you!
Quick-Quill  wrote: This cam just in time as I have to review this week for the NaNo prep. I am bothered by the fact you say to ignore the blantent grammar errors and such. If that is the only entry you're stuck, but what do you choose, content over technical? I may love a story but if another story doesn't quite connect with me but is better written should we choose the better written story? What does that say to either writer? I'm stuck!
I don't quite agree that I said to ignore blatant grammar errors. What I meant to say is: don't make those the sole basis of your rating for a story. In every contest, there are going to be different rules. In a NaNoPrep environment, where it's about hacking out plot ideas for the first draft of a novel, grammar and spelling (as long as you can read it) should be secondary. If you're reviewing for a once-a-month contest that asks for one good story, grammar and spelling should count for more since the writer has time to get his/her story reviewed and polish it before submitting it. In the end, I usually go with my gut. Has a story touched me on some level? Has it created an emotion in me? Has it made me think about it later in the day or even the next following days? Is the story in and of itself something that I liked in some way? Those are the things that will make a contest entry place with me. On the other hand, if the grammar and spelling is so offensively wrong that it impairs my reading enjoyment, then it won't place. It will make me feel as if the writer is simply dumping their story on me and expect me to "fix" it for them through a thorough review, which is disrespectful not only to a reviewer, but also to the writer who is not respecting themselves. Unless they say upfront that they are aware of problems and specifically ask for help. This is appropriate in the review request pages, not necessarily for a contest entry. Again, the "The Writer's Cramp - Poetry Week!" and NaNoPrep entries should be read with less stringent rules in my mind.
Jellyfish Merry In Morocco!  wrote: Hi Giselle - I agree with you here and try to be "gracious" as you put it with my reviews for "The Holiday Contest". The odd typo/spelling mistake/Americanism etc etc would certainly not put me off from placing an entry if I felt the theme/context/imagery and so on were worthy. My main gripe is the entry not fitting the theme - although if I enjoy the entry for its own merit I will still give a nice review - but just point out it does not fit the prompt of holidays! 
If an entry obviously has nothing to do with your prompt, then it's not a valid entry. The writers who get a review from you are lucky. If somebody writes right past my prompt, I usually don't send them a long review. I might make a short commentary on what they have, but also make it clear that the piece is not a contest entry. If I know of a contest that asks for that type of story, I might include a link to it in my review so that the writer can submit it there.
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  wrote: Just have fun. "Invalid Item"
Of course.
An apple a day....  wrote: Excellent advice, Giselle, on contest entry reviewing and reviewing in general.
Thank you for your kind comment. 
T.Wrage wrote: Thank you for your letter on reviewing the stories placed in a contest. I agree with you wholeheartedly. As a writer with a rather odd and off beat style, one that I have had a difficult time categorizing, your letter concerning how to review was well put, and I appreciate it.
Not every writer writes like a school book teaches us to. Some of us, find our voice through a different avenue. Not everyone will understand why I write the way I do, but those that get it, enjoy it for what it is. And I can tell you it rarely makes the grade academically, but what lies underneath, is well worth delving into.
Thanks again for your letter in here, it did not go unnoticed.
You have to be true to your own style first. As long as you know that it is not for everybody, you'll be successful with those who 'get' you.
Pepper  wrote: I think reviewing is about balancing the constructive criticism with the positive feedback. That's why I divide my reviews into sections that include strengths, suggestions, and a section for grammar. This allows me to point out those things that make the professor in me shudder, but still allows me to let the reader know I found something of value.
That sounds like a perfect template for a balanced review.
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Contests & Activities: November 20, 2013 Issue [#5964]
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