Sugarray77
Poet Rating
Rank: 26
Short Works Rating
Review Stars
Rank: 173
Reviewing
Just to chime in on the discussion... the requirement to come up with 150 characters for a review for a very short verse can be daunting. I do admire those reviewers who have written a complimentary phrase that they use at the end of their reviews to add to the character count and also end on a pleasing note. I have found that they genuinely review the piece in the first few lines before adding the 'canned' closing lines. Although I am not one of those, yet, I have thought about using a 'canned' closing to my reviews to get the count when reviewing a one line poem, or very short Naani, or other short poem. A prose piece merits a full and thorough personal review. What do you think??? Craig???
Melissa
RE: Reviewing
A short and sweet salutation at the end is nice. I dissent strongly from any suggestions at eating up the word count, unless the work being reviewed shows clear lack of effort. I used to agree, maybe for the first year. But I work very hard on my writing, and it always feels like a let-down to get fluff back in response. If I can't wrack my brain to come up with enough useful review material to earn the member bucks for a review, I just skip the piece.
You can comment on: syntax, flow, presentation, grammar, structure, redundancy, tone, storytelling, intrigue. For rhyming poetry, there is rhythmic form, phonics, variety, effective alliteration, visual presentation (font, image, layout). For prose there is plot, efficiency, pacing. This is just off the top of my head. How could one possibly run out of things to talk about?
CD Richards
Poet Rating
Rank: 110
Short Works Rating
Novel Rating
Review Stars
RE: Reviewing
Sometimes there is too much to talk about, and that is where it can become a fine line between crushing someone's confidence and providing helpful advice. It's not always an easy decision to know how far to go.
I don't think it's safe to assume that everyone who writes here really thinks they have room for improvement, or is willing to accept fair criticism.
Ironically, someone who is a far better writer than myself can also be hard for me to review, simply because there may be nothing in the way of improvement to suggest, and there are only so many ways to say "Amazing!"
