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 Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:06 pm
Reviews
We all want them. But how do we give good ones?
There are two answers to that question, one simple, one more in-depth.
A Simple Review:
Simple reviews are simple. Believe it or not, the review system is not in place solely to stroke authors' egos. Reviews function as a way for other prospective reader to decide whether or not they also want to read the story. (That's why reviews are publicly viewable.) So, remember that you're writing your review not only to the author, but the rest of the fan fiction public as well. A simple review tells what you liked and what you did not like. Easy as that. Just two simple lines. Example 1 I liked how you portrayed Watson here. It was very true to his character. I didn't like Holmes. He felt OOC. He's a difficult character to write.
An In-Depth Review:
1. Look over the piece carefully, make sure you understand the purpose of the writing, and have carefully covered the writer's needs, and ways they can improve.
2. Begin with a positive statement. Each piece of writing has a strong point, be it structure, characters, wording, or simply a good idea.
3. Be honest and open about your criticism. Remember that you cannot give useful criticism if you are holding back in concern for the writer's feelings.
4. When giving constructive criticism, try not to direct your statements at the writer. Instead of saying "Your characters were pretty pathetic. You didn't make them seem real to me at all." say "The character's seemed weak, they didn't seem believable enough." -then elaborate on why.
5. Make sure to inform the writer that these views are merely your opinion and not the views of everyone who reads it-nor do you believe them to be.
5b. Try to be as objective as possible. Do not let bias judgement get the better of what you are trying to do which is ultimately to help the writer.
For example, if you're one of those people who can't stand religion in writing, do not tell the person that their story sucks simply based on the fact that it talks about religion, or magic, or politics, or mint chocolate chip flavored ice-cream, or any of those other controversial themes. Understand? Good.
6. Make sure to cover all of your primary concerns, accordingly. Some things, as you (hopefully) know, are more important (to you) in writing than others. For me, the main points of concern would be characterization. Are the canon characters in keeping with their canon personalities? That may not be the case for you, you might feel that correct punctuation, types, spelling errors, etc. are a higher priority.
7. Do not make generalizations about a piece of writing. When giving a writer advice on how they can improve, make sure to be as specific as possible. Do not say “The sentence structure is weak.” This is of little help to the writer, and does not tell them how they may improve their writing.
8. Be diplomatic when giving criticism. Say things like “Possibly” and “perhaps” rather than “should be” and “needs to be”. Do not tell the writer that things have to be a certain way-it is not your job to tell them how they should write, especially not simply to fit your tastes. Instead, tell them it might come off better that way, or it could make it seem more interesting. Not it WILL make it seem more interesting.
9. Try not to be overgenerous with your praise. For every nice thing you say, make sure you tell them something-if not more than one something- that is wrong and may be improved. Avoid lavishing the author with senseless praise.
This will undoubtedly over-inflate their heads, and they will most likely get the idea that their writing is perfect. This is a hard truth but nobody’s writing is perfect. And there is ALWAYS something to be improved. Saying “OMG! ThiS IZ TEH BESTEST THING I EV4 READ! I LUV IT!” is in no way helpful. In fact, it’s rather idiotic. Especially if you type like that...
10. Plan things out before you type them. Do not jump in headfirst just to hit the enter button and realize you forgot something vital. THINK BEFORE YOU POST! First impressions are important. If you say something about a person’s piece in a complete “I’m an *@@($@” sort of way, the odds of anything you say actually being considered AFTERWARDS are pretty slim.
11. Also, remember organization. Everything is organized. You room, your writing, your desk where you do your writing...everything. And like everything, your comments should be just as organized and well thought out.
Discuss:
What constitutes a "good" review for you?
What constitutes a "bad" review for you?
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:14 pm
A good review is generally one that while it can praise the story, but can also give constructive feed back. Like great fic keep it up I look forward to the next chapter,but you may need to go back and edited it a little more. Something like that lets you know that while it was good you need to go back and edit it some more so its easier to read. If you don't realize it and only get only reviews like great fic then you won't know till someone decides to be a jerk and says something like worst fic ever you should give up while your ahead because it need lots of work.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:31 pm
For me, a good review consists of compliments and encouragements. Though this doesn't happen too often, I enjoy when they tell me what I'm doing right, what they were feeling when reading, etc. Also, though many people may disagree with me, I find it great when they tell me what I need to improve me. It make me consider the reader's perspective and overall improve a fanfic.
A bad review, in my book, is one that is a blatant flame. Especially the ones that don't tell me how I could improve or what I'm doing wrong.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:03 pm
For me, a good review will specify what the reviewer liked about the story/chapter and to keep up the good work. A good review will also offer helpful comments and advice along with the likes.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:21 pm
First post has been edited.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:06 am
A good review for me mostly consists of what the others pretty much said. I love when people say great job on a fic or ask to hurry and update. what would really help me is telling me what I could do to do more justice to the characters or find ways of describing things better so that all of my stories aren't just useless character chatting and no detail. but that's my take on it.
Also when giving good reviews things that constitute it for me would be good descriptions of characters and their actions or certain scenes. Grammar and spelling is a good thing as well but if you miss a words or some little things I just accept it as they were excited about getting the story up and happy they finished it. I know that's me a lot. so that's my take on giving and getting good reviews.
Far as bad reviews go. I don't think I've ever given a bad one, I try to keep it as positive a one as I can to help them out because I don't want to be that person that goes oh your fic sucks and you have no idea about the characters they would never do something like that and such on. I've gotten bad reviews before and its things along that line that kind of made me stop writing the fic and not go back to it, or seek some other place for my creative outlet. Its fanfiction if you wanna make something that's impossible to happen well use my old fic idea from Ghost in the shell. Basically Togusa was going through a rather difficult divorce sought comfort in Motoko they had a little night of passion and regardless of the fact that Motoko stated she couldn't bear children, I chose to make the impossible possible and give her a child between her and Togusa because at that time I was a bit of a stickler for that particular pairing, and I had never seen it done before.
Needless to say yeah that one bad review kinda made me stop writing it regardless of the fact that I had a nice explanation as to why it could happen and why Togusa and his wife despite the fact that they had a very loving relationship in the anime, had to get a divorce and how Togusa was going to handle being in Section 9, handling a divorce and dealing with becoming a father for the third time, while on Motoko's side she dealt with being able to handle her duty as Major, the possible consequences that came along with the act she and Togusa performed which resulted in her pregnancy and how she would cope with being the first full prosthetic cyborg to bear a child.
Ok that was long but that's my opinion.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:43 pm
As a reader, I would just like to say that it is sometimes difficult to come up with things to in an in-depth review. Sometimes a chapter leaves a person so flabbergasted that there are no words and all one can say is just "Update soon" or "Oh my god, why did you post this?" (depending on the author/story).
Also, remember that the average reader is still in their teens. You guys are asking a lot from a group that is still LEARNING how to think for themselves.
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Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 8:52 am
Ren LehCrow As a reader, I would just like to say that it is sometimes difficult to come up with things to in an in-depth review. Sometimes a chapter leaves a person so flabbergasted that there are no words and all one can say is just "Update soon" or "Oh my god, why did you post this?" (depending on the author/story). Also, remember that the average reader is still in their teens. You guys are asking a lot from a group that is still LEARNING how to think for themselves.The bolded/colored part is mostly what I'm replying too. This is a very valid point. Most of the active writers and readers within the greater fan fiction community are still learning to think and formulate their own opinions. However, it doesn't take much to figure out if you liked something or didn't like something. Most kids do know what they do and don't like -even if they may not know WHY they do or don't like it. That's really all they need to say if they choose to review. "I liked this. I didn't like that." Its not that hard.
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2014 8:43 pm
Ren LehCrow As a reader, I would just like to say that it is sometimes difficult to come up with things to in an in-depth review. Sometimes a chapter leaves a person so flabbergasted that there are no words and all one can say is just "Update soon" or "Oh my god, why did you post this?" (depending on the author/story).Also, remember that the average reader is still in their teens. You guys are asking a lot from a group that is still LEARNING how to think for themselves. As a writer, I think that those types of reviews are perfectly fine. I'm completely okay with readers being so shocked that that's all they can post. What drives me insane, however, is when a reader goes through the trouble of favoriting and following me/my story, but can't be bothered to tell me how I did. Renkon Root This is a very valid point. Most of the active writers and readers within the greater fan fiction community are still learning to think and formulate their own opinions. However, it doesn't take much to figure out if you liked something or didn't like something. Most kids do know what they do and don't like -even if they may not know WHY they do or don't like it. That's really all they need to say if they choose to review. "I liked this. I didn't like that." Its not that hard. I agree completely. I feel as though there is no valid excuse not to review. As a writer I don't exactly look for originality in reviews. It's a review; I'm not expecting someone to write the equivalent of a research-level review; I don't expect a thorough analysis that could be part of an esteemed research paper. I just want to know what my reader liked; if they liked anything at all.
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2014 9:26 pm
Violent Crow Ren LehCrow As a reader, I would just like to say that it is sometimes difficult to come up with things to in an in-depth review. Sometimes a chapter leaves a person so flabbergasted that there are no words and all one can say is just "Update soon" or "Oh my god, why did you post this?" (depending on the author/story).Also, remember that the average reader is still in their teens. You guys are asking a lot from a group that is still LEARNING how to think for themselves. As a writer, I think that those types of reviews are perfectly fine. I'm completely okay with readers being so shocked that that's all they can post. What drives me insane, however, is when a reader goes through the trouble of favoriting and following me/my story, but can't be bothered to tell me how I did. Renkon Root This is a very valid point. Most of the active writers and readers within the greater fan fiction community are still learning to think and formulate their own opinions. However, it doesn't take much to figure out if you liked something or didn't like something. Most kids do know what they do and don't like -even if they may not know WHY they do or don't like it. That's really all they need to say if they choose to review. "I liked this. I didn't like that." Its not that hard. I agree completely. I feel as though there is no valid excuse not to review. As a writer I don't exactly look for originality in reviews. It's a review; I'm not expecting someone to write the equivalent of a research-level review; I don't expect a thorough analysis that could be part of an esteemed research paper. I just want to know what my reader liked, if they liked anything at all. I agree entirely with Crow here. As a writer it drives me INSANE when someone goes through the effort to favorite and follow my story but can't even leave a "good job" or anything. A good chunk of my motivation for writing is that someone reads it or likes it. If no one tells me, it takes away some of my motivation and also doesn't even let me know if I'm doing anything right with my story.
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