Reviews... Good God What Are They Good For?

Better than War, that's for sure! Wrote this quickly while Donovan is in the bath. Opinions welcome, please and critique ...

Why and what are reviews good for and are they helpful?  These are  questions posed, I don't use that word everyday, posed .. asked, posed.. either or, these are the questions.

Everyone who writes here hopes for a review.. more than one is nice.. It is like the ending of my writing for me. To hear what others have to say or share if they have felt or been through something like it.

When I first came here almost five years ago, maybe four, we had subscriptions to writers we liked reading, the writings were on our profile which made it much easier to see new writing by the subs The reviews were always there it was a review for a review... which is only fair.

The reviews I received were so helpful. I was not such a great writer and still am not but I am better.
I was told less words were better for poetry. I was told to watch typos and grammar.. I still have trouble with that.. still I do better. These days most of my reviews are helpful. When you put your writing out for all to see, bare your soul you hope someone will read and tell you what they think. Some of the worst reviews to me are, "Cute poem", "Loved it"... this does not help.. and not many of us want to hear our poem was cute unless it is meant to be only cute.

I don't offend easily, but when I see someone review a friend's work in a harsh way I take offense. These people I call snobs.. They use million dollar words and you might have to be a psychic  to understand some of the obscure poetry.. yet, they come and review  in a harsh and ugly way.. there are nice ways to get your point across and be helpful... I have had people ask did I think some of my writing was worthy of top writing. My answer was no .. and it was not because I had read so many stories and poems so much better and rated them as such .

I am making this too long .. as I always seem to do.

Reviews are needed, wanted and useful. They help us become better writers, give us confidence and make us feel our writing was not in vain. If no one reviews why bother to copy it from word pad and add it to writing? None.

Review , be honest and say in an intelligent respectful way what you find wrong with the writing and how it can be improved. Young writers need to be read with care. Sometimes an email is best. Never discourage younger writers as the writing is good therapy and much better than other things they can be doing.

We need to be kind yet helpful too .. praising bad writing is not going to help the writer become better.. and I can say I have done this in the past. As for me, I had to learn to review .. and still do. I love reading on this site it has many talented writers that honor me here and there with a review.

Peace All

Author's Note

I used 'Good God" in the title as i think in music so often- and thought of 'War good God what is it good for " so there ya go

Reviews

[RDOriginal]

I've only been a member of this site for just over a month and from the beginning felt that as a writer the reviewing process is a vital part of writing. At the moment my balance of 101 reviews to 60 received is about right - it's a give and take community after all. If you don't look at loads of different styles and things that might inspire or act as a warning on what not to do then how do you progress?

There are some really good reviewers on here but as you say "cute poem" or the phrase "loved it" followed by a bunch of smilies to pad a 'review' enough to get 2 rather than 1 point is a waste of time.

I'll generally take about 10-20 minutes to write a review because much less than that doesn't give enough time to understand the piece and pick out good techniques, things that work and give my opinion on ways that might improve it (and I always couch these as suggestions, there's nothing more insulting than providing a critique that rubbishes a piece of art just because you don't like/get it).

I guess I've not yet had the misfortune to run into a pretentious critic because of my short term on here but I have run into a couple of people who've written a meaningless one sentence review of my work and then flooded my inbox with read requests - 27 requests in one day from 1 person is perhaps bordering on the parasitic! That's more than a week of writing reviews at the exclusion of anyone else!

You've stirred up some real emotions with this article, great job!

Rich

ps: In summary, this review can be summarised as, "itz gud, : ) xxx"

[TL Boehm]

I remember when I first signed on here - the reviews were wonderful - it seems that people are more selfish now - sending out read requests but not returning the favor.

[Gandré]

A nice article you wrote about this topic and thanks for entering my contest. You know - I am here now for almost 4 years, I was a prolific writer and I think, nobody posted here more works than I did, it was good for me and I had great times, I learnt through writing and I learnt through reading. But now I have to say ....artworks and poetry are subject to personal judgment. Reviews were often not requested but they had to be accepted. Even when requested, one needs to accept the review - even it sometimes was hurtful for me (especially, when the admin featured my work and then someone ripped it off and I wondered - is it honest or is it envy or what is it.... I had to accept. that's the consequence of getting public with our writing. There is no right to demand a review. In real literary scene books often are ripped off and the writers, too; they pay the price of being published. Sure, I understand what you mean, it is the case when people deliberately post malicious reviews.... to me, when the criticism has got a certain background reference then the posted review might be accepted in this form even it turns out negative for the writer. and: should the writer be disappointed - he can delete it. We have different ability in terms of the level of our writing and we have different taste of course. It is quite usual, with the experience and exercise our standards might shift, even upwards. Well, you speak about the respectful way......... I experience lots of plagiarism which the non plus ultra of disrespect behavior - and it is the reason, why I don't post anymore.. I know I said it many times and then posted... but now I have exams, I don't have time anymore.. but I read here.. Well, what is respect, honesty and politeness.... that's another topic. Apparently, we all here understand this differently. 100 p thanks for entering the contest, Chloe.

[Wicahpi]

I personally suck at reviewing, but when it comes to young people,
they need encouragement, not harsh mean statements (which I have
seen) Makes me crazy, because they could be out doing drugs or stealing,
or simply running the streets all night long instead of writing; being creative.
Kudos to them for taking pen to hand or fingers to keys and writing it out!
This was good advice for all who read it and should be taken to heart!
Well done; expressed in simplicity.

[Eagle Cruagh]

Geezzz, you wrote somethng I can identify with.
Good girl .
Usually I write trash and if peole like me they will tell
me what neat trash it is. I know and you know the
truth of our talent, but it is nice to see some thought
put into a nice review.
Agree, the people who tear you to pieces are just snobs,
or worse. The only real argu;ments I have had here are with
people who tore up some other person`s writing, that pisses
me off. Tear up mine, but don`t discourage people who need
a little encouragement.
Sorry I have not found stuff on your page to write about, but
then you don`t write a lot about drunk cowboys and people on
the reservation.
Good work, Chloe--- please do more rants.
----- Eagle Cruagh

[Wolfwind Words]

Well Chloe... I believe that you um... have um...well all I can really say is "Good Job!".....he he... No, seriously. I totally agree with you on everthing you've said here. We all have left those famous one line reviews at times and it always comes around on us, cause we see more of them ourselves.

As this is a subject that could fill many pages... I'll keep thing simple and add this to what you have writen above.

1. When reviewing...don't rush it. Take your time with each piece and let the author know what they did good, what you thought could be improved upon and how a poem or story effected you. These are things that a writer wants to know, for it indeed helps them grow.
2. If you short on time, stressed, mind in another world or simply can't relate to the work you're reading...then don't review it. When you try to review quick.. you end up not offering the author all you are actually seeing.
3. As for the writer...Make use of the authors notes section when you post your work! Let the reader know what you are looking for specificly in a review. That allows a reviewer to narrow their focus on what they should be looking for.

Thanks for posting this Chloe!
Hugs!
Wolfie

[Helen Woodward]

Well said Chloe, I have been in and out of here a lot in the past four years and I agree with you whole-heartedly, particularly regarding obscure poetic verse, it is at times impossible to understand, but I will then ask for explanation of text because how can review be productive if the reviewer has no idea of meaning?
Review and comment is of the utmost importance...we all need feedback...if we are serious writers.
Loved this timely piece/kudos my friend :-)

[Coyote Poetry]

I believe review are useful. On this site I learn what I do too often incorrectly when I write. I received a lot of help from kind people. I believe we need to motivate the young writers. Some of the young writers are so talented. I give them praise in e-mail. Writers like me who been writing for many years need a strict and detail person to tell me to keep the poem in the same tense. Reviews allow us to know we are being read. Life is a learning experience.
Coyote