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"People do not deserve good writing, they are so pleased with bad." Ralph Waldo Emerson |
The Art of Reviewing
As a fanfic author, I love receiving feedback whether in the forms of Author Favorites/Alerts, Story Favorites/Alerts and, my personal favorite, reviews. Reviews are the highlight of my fanfic day. Knowing that someone is enjoying my creation or that it helped them laugh after a bad day or helped them feel something is a wonderful thing for any author.
The things I love more than those are constructive criticisms.
Authors are not perfect. Even well-established, famous authors have editors, people who read over their work and point out flaws or suggest ways to better. It’s why betas exist and betas are excellent at catching most typos and errors (provided the beta is not your best friend with the same lack of spelling and grammar as you—but that’s a MMoaM on something entirely different). But, the reader can also play an important part by addressing flaws, providing suggestions and just helping the author.
I’m going to take it upon myself to teach you how to review, both praising and criticizing.
Praising
The second is the type of review I love to get. It makes me grin. They point out what they loved, refer to the story and still say that they loved the story. They only make the author even happier.
Bottom line: When praising a story, point out specifically what you liked (e.g. characterization, word choice, plot, etc) and why.
“Your story is excellent! I love the humor in the piece and the characters seem so alive! The plot is really engaging, too. I’d never read a story like this before and it makes for a refreshing change. However, I noticed that some of your paragraphs didn’t flow very well. Try shorter sentences beginning with dependent clauses to introduce new points. Also, use short sentences when describing action. It gives the impression of action occurring faster and adds to the suspense. That said, I can’t wait to find out what happens next. Rosalie won’t just let a comment like that go by, will she? Update soon!”
This is my favorite type of review to receive (challenged only by the second praise example as I love having my ego stroked). It is known as constructive criticism. Not only does it address strengths but also weaknesses. It also provides suggestions as to better the writing. Not only did this person take the time to read and review but he/she also decided t point out the flaws and give suggestions for betterment, in essence, helping me be a better writer. That kind of feedback cannot be beaten.
Constructive criticism is excellent. However, many confuse it with flaming. A well-rounded critique is the best tool for the betterment of an author. A flame is just stupid.
“This was so stupid! How dare you do that to Edward? You’re such a horrible writer.”
To that add your personally favorite curses, perhaps a few misspellings, ten dozen exclamation points and question marks as one alone is never enough, etc.
I think it’s hysterical how the flamers typically have the worst spelling, grammar and posses an inability to express themselves in writing than the authors they’re flaming. It’s probably because good writers and reviewers don’t flame.
So, in summary, point out the best aspects and why they are good. Critique the story by mentioning aspects that can be perfected and some way sin which that can be carried out.
Don’t worry. If the story is anything like “I’m yours”, there is no need to mention the inexistent positive. Cheerfully point out all the flaws and ways to fix the same.