Improve Your Reviews

Improve Your Reviews
By Kelly L Greene

Now I may not be the best reviewer, but I’m fairly certain I am not the worst. Writing.com has provided useful information about how to give better reviews but I feel there is room for more.

There are a few different types of reviewers. Those who try to give honest feedback and those who try to hit 250 characters so they can get some gift points. Ok, I might be exaggerating, but there are many of us out there whose reviews could use a little help. Most reviewers try to sum up what they think could be improved on the piece when they should spend a little more time giving honest, helpful feedback focusing on their writing strength(s).

One of the keys to giving excellent reviews is to focus on one of your strengths and review the story (article, poem etc.) based on that. Let’s say you know a lot about spelling but your weakness is plot, then your review should focus on the spelling in the piece you are reviewing. It will make giving reviews easier on you, so you’ll have more time to work on your portfolio and the author will appreciate the quality feedback!

Another helpful tool is to develop a template for you to use when reviewing a piece. Incorporate WritingML which will give your review a more professional appearance as well as making it easier to read. Here is a short example:

A Review by [Your name]

Were the characters believable? [Your Answer Here]
Were the characters well developed? [Your Answer Here]
Was the dialogue believable? [Your Answer Here]

Additional Comments:

And save as is. When you need to use it, just copy and paste it to where you’d like it and fill in the answers! It’s that easy. It may take awhile to develop a review template you like but when you do it’ll be a time saver!

Remember, focus on your strengths! Avoid your weaknesses and you’ll give quality reviews that authors appreciate.

Kelly L Greene


*I plan on creating more similiar pieces, which is why this may be a little short. Since I have so little space, I may have to just expand this article, but I would like to do it in more of a newsletter fashion. We shall see how it all works itself out! Thanks for visiting!*

**PLEASE NOTE: When this was written years ago it was extremely helpful to others. I realize things may have changed over the years at Writing.com... I have no plans to write a new article as I rarely am able to visit the site at this point.**

**PS: I must respectfully disagree with the reviewer who said that spelling and grammar aren't very important... They are sooo important, especially for anyone who has hopes of getting published. A pair of fresh eyes, can spot spelling mistakes and grammar errors often times better than an author, who's no doubt read their piece over and over again. Please reviewers, continue to point out these mistakes to authors! They appreciate it!!**