If you send someone a review saying, "Your writing sucks!" or even more amusing, "You're writing sucks!" - Well, of course they are going to reply back with equal nastiness! They could also report you to the site, and get your reviewing privileges taken away. (whoops!)

My personal advice on this would be - treat the person as if they are your boss. Even if, on the inside, you are saying, "Oh my goodness, this is TERRIBLE," on the outside you would be gently guiding your boss a different direction. "Well, we could try that, sir. OR we could try this other idea..."

Now, I'm not saying you should lie - don't get me wrong. Just be gentle. Don't tell them, "Oh wow, this is so great!" if it isn't great. Don't tell them you greatly enjoyed reading the story, if you really hated it.

Here are some more examples of Dos and Don'ts in phrasings:

Say "The lack of commas, or misplacement of commas made this story hard to follow for me." rather than saying, "Your comma usage is attrocious. I'd suggest taking a class to learn where they go." or "You are missing multiple commas."

Say "This story has a plot that I have seen many times before, so it doesn't keep my interest as well as it could if it were more original." rather than saying, "This plot is unoriginal and boring."

Neither lies - they say the same thing. But they say it in a way that is much easier for someone to swallow.

Sometimes when we get on our little negative trips, we completely forget to include the positive. Just because someone has terrible grammar and spelling doesn't mean their characterization or plot are horrible. Just because someone has terrible characterization or plot doesn't mean they don't have good punctuation, grammar, and emotion in their story. It really can't be all bad - it can't. Surely, one thing can be complimented on, even if it is that the story has an awesome title.

Well, compliment it! Whatever it is, compliment it. But be honest - don't tell them something is awesome if it isn't. Pseudo-praise helps no one, it feels insincere and forced. Find something that is truly awesome, and tell the person it's awesome.

"Show, don't tell" is something that I see in many reviews, but rarely is it explained to anyone. As such, it becomes something that people hate to see, because they simply don't understand it! Giving them a few examples might greatly help them understand what you mean, when you are speaking of something specific.

For me, I'll use the above phrase and give a way it could be better explained:

You wrote: The tacos were hot, and they smelled good. I couldn't wait to tast them! - As a reader, I'd like you to SHOW me the taco is hot, rather than just tell me it is hot. For example, As the server brought out the plate of tacos, I could see the steam rising into the air. When the scent filled my nostrils, my mouth began to water. I couldn't wait to taste them! Visually, now, I can picture the smoke rising into the air, and I know it smells good because it made the mouth water. It gives my imagination more to chew on.

If you want them to use past tense instead of present tense, show them. If you want more description, show them what you mean by giving more description. If you want them to use active voice instead of passive voice, show them an example of what you mean. It doesn't mean you need to go through and change every single instance - give them an example or two from their own writing, and then they can see what you mean and examine the rest of the story themselves.

I gave an example above of someone just saying, "You are missing multiple commas." If I were the person receiving the review, I'd likely go, "Oh. That's nice. Where?" It doesn't really help. Instead, explain why the comma is missing, and why it belongs there.

Just as an example, let me use apostrophes, and forms of their, there, and they're:

They're dog bit me! - In this case, 'they're' should actually be 'their'. They're is a conjunction of 'they are'. If you replace it in the sentence, "They are dog bit me!" does not make sense. Their is possessive - "Their dog bit me!" is the correct way to state this sentence, since it is stating that the dog belongs to them.

It seems like a lot, and I know not everyone is a teacher, but this sort of explanation both tells them why something needs to be changed, and allows them to possibly prevent the same mistake in the future. And like was already mentioned above, this doesn't mean it is necessary to fix EVERY mistake in the entire item - give a few examples, then let the person try themselves. If they care, if they want to improve, if they want the help - they will do it. And take ownership of it. AND learn from it.

Some people are afraid to hurt someone's feelings, and so they give every item they review the same rating. Or they elevate the ratings - even if it needs a lot of work, they still give it a 4.0, because that's the lowest they feel comfortable giving out, or they feel that getting below that is an insult. It's not! The rating is actually (in my opinion) the least important part of the review. If there is enough meat in the review to support the rating, someone (hopefully) will understand the rating they are given.

A 3.0, according to the site, is labeled as 'average'. Many have misunderstood the point of 'average' in this definition. It does not mean that it should be the average rating given out by reviewers and raters - it means that an average piece of writing should earn a 3.0. Writing that is below average should be given a rating below that. 4.0s, 4.5s, and 5.0s should be saved for excellent writing.

Ratings are all subjective. Some people may believe something is awesome, and give it a 5.0, while others think it is mediocre and give it a 2.5. That's okay! Just like you may not like the exact same movies your friends do, or the same television shows, or even the same music, you'll have different opinions on writing. Strangers will certainly have different tastes.

Now, this doesn't say to give an excellent item a 2.0 simply because. Give an item what they deserve. This also means - if something deserves a 5.0, goodness, give it to them!