Why I Rate Items the Way I Do

When I read an item, if it has a lot of errors, but is a good story and the story really comes across, I give it as high a rating as I can, but offer suggestions on how to improve the appearance.

If I don't get something out of the piece I'm reading, I don't rate it at all. If we have to tear someone's story all to pieces in order to show them their mistakes, I feel we're discouraging them rather than encouraging them.

I try to consider the source of the writing. For example, a twelve year old wrote his first piece and placed it on here. He made a lot of errors, but was in the process of making corrections with some help from a family member.

One reader mentioned that there were a few errors that needed correcting, and she listed them by category. This gave him a chance to search for the errors and correct them. That was very encouraging.

Another reader practically rewrote the story. At this, if I were a twelve year old, I'd be devastated.


As for myself, I'm older and feel that I am more mature. If someone reads one of my stories and gives me a low rating, I want to know what I need to do to make it better. I feel I deserve an explanation even for a 4.5 rating.

I want to know about my typos, but my main concern is that I'm getting my point across in my story, especially since most of my stories are for teaching aids for children.

I'm afraid I took the long way around to explain why I don't give low ratings. If your story is good, I feel that I can give you a high rating for that, along with a suggestion for corrections.

Not long ago, I made the statement that lots of folks on here write for therapy and/or pleasure.

I was told that if a person was writing for therapy or pleasure, perhaps that person doesn't belong on this site.

That attitude truly bothers me, because I write for both therapy and pleasure. When I write a story and a child (or an adult) learns something about Jesus, or receives a blessing from what I've written, I find that to be a healing ointment for me. It's such a pleasure to share my thoughts and feelings with others.

I've also been told by a therapist that if a person needs therapy, he/she should go see a therapist. I think what I said was misunderstood, so let me try to explain.

When I use my writing as therapy, that's just what I'm doing. If something is bothering me, and I write about it, I find that to be good therapy for me. Not what the reviewer thinks, but the fact that I'm getting it off my chest.

If I'm depressed, and sit down and write a humorous story, I tend to feel better as I write. I call that therapy. Whether the reviewer laughs or scoffs has nothing to do with it.

Some women have to stay home all the time. This can become a bore. But, when a woman gets involved in writing, this does away with some of the boredom. That's good therapy.

I'll go a little farther. I love to fish. There have been times in my life when just escaping from my household duties and going to the pond was the best therapy in the world for me. However, I didn't expect the fish to be my personal therapists. Neither do I expect the reviewer to be my therapist.

I have a friend who writes on this site. She makes quite a few typos, and sometimes misspells words. But she has some of the best stories you'd want to read. When she's engrossed in her writing and sharing her stories, she forgets about her disabilities for a while. That's therapy.

Of course, some of those stories are memories that I share with her. But until she started putting her stories on here, my memories were stored away, somewhere deep inside.

I've been through a lot in my lifetime, and as time seemed to get away from me, so did a lot of my childhood memories. Those memories are important. They're what has helped make me what I am today.

Because of writing.com, I feel more like a whole person than I ever have.

When you visit my port, if you see errors, please, by all means point them out to me. But in the meantime, let me know what you actually get out of anything you read. If you find no errors, but get absolutely nothing out of my stories or articles, then I've lost the battle. It would be like trying to drive a beautiful, shiny, new car without a motor.

Thanks, and may God bless you.
Grandma Penny