Young Writers Society

Salutations, everyone! I'm Knight Luna, better known as Raven or Luna. I am here with my friend Noelle. Now, just a few minutes ago I was talking to Noelle about this idea I had. It was a very random idea, one you come up with while... drinking tons of sugar. I decided to tell it to her. She liked it! So, we would like to share it with you all!

A lot of people have different reviewing styles. Some like to keep it short, others have their reviews be longer than 4000 characters. A lot of people like to use code, some go tens of reviews without using the quotes, spoilers, italics, and bolds.

Several reviewers might be discouraged right now; they might not want to review because they don't know their style. That's where you come in. By telling us how you review, you can help someone find their own style. So, what are you waiting for?

How do you review?

Hey, Raven!
I love this idea. I think it is a great way to encourage people and bring out "the reviewer" in ones. So, for all you who haven't found out how you write reviews, here is how Traunt reviews:

Firstly, I greet the person. Depending on if I know them or not, I use different greetings. Hi is the usual.
Secondly, I tell the person what I am going to do. Perhaps I'll say I'll help with the plot, discuss characters or do nitpicks.
Most commonly, I do nitpicks and add little plot advise as I go along. I think Plot is the most important as when you write a piece, you don't always notice the plot holes or things that contradict other parts and whatnot. So try to mention that.
I always fo nitpicks. It is quite unusual when I do not. It helps me think about what else I am going to say about plot and characters.

Also, I HAVE to use codes. I feel as if my review is scruffy if I do not. One time, I went overboard with underlining and changing color and italics. More often than not, I use bold and italics, and always quotes. It helps lay out and present your review clearly to the writer of the work.

At the end, I put "yours sincerely" to be professional. It is like my mark - unique to me. It sort of tells everyone, "this is Traunt, she is reviewing this work". It makes you you. Stand out. Be yourself. And RELAX. Be casual with your reviews. Don't be all "this is wrong. This is stupid". Compliments are must.

And this Traunt signing off!

Interesting question, Raven! (a.k.a, my little sister)

Hmm, I do try and structure my reviews the exact same way, every time.

Like Traunt, I like to start mine off with a bit of a greeting. Usually just a Hi! Cricket is here! kinda thing. It makes me seem almost light hearted, I like to think. Next, I try and say something positive and comment on the general storyline. I don't like starting off with negative, as I've always felt that would make the author clam up and not want to listen to what I have to say later. After that, I try and find something that I think could be worked on. Like something big in the piece, such as a big flaw in their grammar that doesn't really require nitpicking, or lack of description, or even the show don't tell. I usually just try and find one little thing to help them improve their overall writing.

Then I go into grammar nitpicks, typos, and phrases that didn't make much sense to me. I try and highlight the parts out and make it very obvious what I mean by everything. So I would say that I'm one of those ones, who use a lot of code in their reviews.

Once I'm done with nitpicks, I give an overall of what my general impression of the piece was. Like a summery of what I thought of the piece as a whole, maybe go back to highlight some of the main things that I think can be worked on, and so forth. Once I'm done with all that, I'd say my reviews tend to be around 3000 to 4000 characters. But that also depends on the piece. Sometimes they can shorter, but that's the usual average.

Anyways, once I'm done with it all I usually say something like Keep writing! and sign off. That's how I write my reviews. Hope that was helpful. ^-^

~Cricket

*prods thread* Come on everybody! Tell us how you review, so that we can all figure out our different styles.

I like to start out with a brief summary of what I liked about the piece. Then I do a list of overall things that need work, explaining each one as I go. I usually don't do a ton of grammar nitpicks because I feel like they should be able to catch most of it if they just read it through a few times. If they keep making the same grammar mistake, though, I will point it out to them.

I also like to say how I reacted to certain characters and such, so the person knows if they come across how the person wanted them to.

If there's not a lot of plot and stuff that needs to be worked on, that's usually when I go for the grammar nitpicks. I use quotes sometimes, but I'm not that practiced with the code so I don't do it very often.

Writing a review and who you are as a reviewer doesn't mean you are limited to a certain style or format of reviewing. The work and style of the writer (as well as the kind of person the author is) determines the kind of review they get - or at least that is what I have come to think.

It took me a long while to find my "groove" in reviewing, and I constantly struggle to re-find it as I go along. Poetry has always been difficult for me, and I think it's just the unknown and vague that make us feel uncertain about our reviewing talents (which are just as defined and hard-won as that of writing). It's somewhat like writing an actual work - be it whatever you do as a writer. When I sit down to write a review, I don't have a certain format I go and check off as I type. No, it's more of "how do I feel today/night" kind of thing which fuels the style of the moment.

I can say that there are only two things that never change with my reviews. The beginning of the review is always began with Timmy here, and ended with the sign-off I have become known for - Darth Timmyjake. Everything else depends on what I spoke of earlier, changing with the writer and my current mood.

That being said, there are a few things I attempt to always have in my reviews - no matter what. I'll just go through them.



So with the works I do reviews for, I don't generally have too many issues concerning the technical side of things. But I always try to go through and find at least one comma or some such missing or in the wrong place - that sort of thing. I don't really think that the author is going to edit their piece in a frenzy and add that missing comma, but I do think it helps the author remember for the next piece and make that mental connection to add the comma in their next time they come across something similar.



So this is something I see as very important, as I have always seen the characters as one of the most important (if not the most important) part of a piece - no matter what it is. If something is out of character, then I like to mention it and tell them what I think the character might have done. Or if the character does something I really like, I will talk about it and both compliment the author and the character on that.


So I feel strange saying this, but in all honesty, I fly by the seat of my pants while I review. I just go as I read, saying what I think will help the author and just having fun while doing so. I tend to pull up small things and spend a long while just talking about them (sometimes for even half the review), especially if I think it is an important part to talk about.

As with everyone else, I start my review with a greeting. If you have read any of my works or posts, you will quickly realise that I have a formal and slightly verbose style of writing. Therefore, I begin my reviews with "Salutations." or "Greetings." but usually the former.

It's interesting to see how many people have specific styles, which is good, but it is also not a bad thing if your reviews vary from piece to piece. I write my reviews the same as timmyjake does - however I want to.

Depending on the piece, my reviews can be anything from 2000 to 8000 characters, with or without coding. The really long reviews (6000+ characters) take a lot of time to write, so I only write those when I have ample time and only want to write a few reviews that day.

I generally read the piece through once, so I know what the story entails and develope a general opinion of the work. Then, I read through the story a second time, but I review as I go along. If I encounter something that needs to be addressed, such as an error, or if I like the one character's response, I tell the author how I feel about it and elaborate.

Grammar Nazi that I am, technicalities are the first things on which I comment, but I ensure that my review does not contain any spelling or language errors as well, since that would be hypocritical and akin to serving food with dirty hands. However, you should include commentary on other aspects of their writing as well - if the author had wanted a lecture on language, they'd have requested one from their English teacher. Characterisation, dialogue and a story's setting are important, and more important still, the story's plot. If you find a problem with any of these, point it out to the author, since they will probably appreciate it more than being informed of a typo.

I almost always use coding. If I encounter a spelling error, an awkward sentence or a particularly juicy paragraph, I use the quote coding to differentiate between what is the author's work and what is my commentary on it. Sometimes I use colour in the quotes to indicate what is wrong and then briefly explain why, but other times I simply quote the text and explain without colour.

Finally, while reviews are supposed to inform authors of their work's faults, they must also praise the author for their successes; nobody wants to get a review which only contains criticism, so a few complements will not be amiss. And above all, NEVER insult the author or tell them you did not finish reading their work because it was boring - courtesy is the word of the day. If the work truly is boring, inform the author in a gentle and polite way, explain why and suggest a solution. And while there is no law against writing serious reviews, try not to be too serious; a friendly attitude can bring you further than you might think.

And finally, have fun! If you don't enjoy reviewing, you will quickly tire of it. If you find reviews exhausting, remember to take a break every now and then. Go to the toilet, eat a sandwich, chat with a friend, and then tackle the Green Room or All Literary sections with renewed vigour!