What does reviewing mean to you?

Tearing people's self-worth to shreds until they're a pool of tears on the cold, hard ground.

Jk.

No, but in all seriousness, I just find it so fun. You get to read some brilliant pieces of writing, uncovering some real gems in the process, and help people by doing so. As someone who has no idea what they want to do with their mess of a life, reviewing has pushed me in the direction of editing and publishing. Some of my best YWS friends have arisen from me reviewing their work (or vice versa), so that aspect of it is pretty awesome.

Telling people they can do better and giving them tips on how to improve themselves.

For me reviewing means several things. It means helping someone else to do their best, really thinking about what makes a piece good, and stars. lol

Well, at first it was points and stars. But slowly, it became something of fun and a bit of addiction. Now it's the same as writing something for my pleasure and my pleasure only. The best part is, by doing something I really enjoy and love, I get to help others.

Sometimes, I wish I could get a WHOLE day or week only to review and do nothing else!

I LOVE REVIEWING!

Reviewing means writing for the sake of liking and helping to me.

I'm not that good at reviewing, as I believe that the only one who has any say in the contents of a story is the author. Butttttt, seeing as it's the only way to get points to fund MY writing... I view it as a necessary evil.

.

Reviewing is a great way to give feedback to authors and also learn as the reviewer what works and doesn't work in writing. By noticing issues in strengths in someone else's writing, we can more easily recognize it in our own. It's a good way to build dialogue about a piece, and learn to read more deeply. Which can bring about both deeper appreciation and criticism of a piece than if you're reading a piece without the intention of reviewing.

This raccoon thinks that reviewing is pretty great! And it's excellent that YWS has such a strong culture of reviewing and people genuinely wanting to help each other with their writing.