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YWS Review Training Camp



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Sat Aug 27, 2022 10:50 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



YWS REVIEW TRAINING CAMP SEPTEMBER 2022


INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this year's YWS Training Camp. Here you will experience some review adventures and learn which review methods are the easiest, as well as many tips for a better review.

The focus of the camp will be to learn or get better acquainted with some new review methods before there are some challenges you will have to solve. At the end of the month you should have a better overview of different methods of reviewing and some new insights on how to optimise a review.

OVERVIEW

In the course of the weeks we will focus on several review methods and present some examples. But the camp is not only about learning, it is also about introducing ourselves. Questions related to reviews will be distributed, where you can exchange ideas with each other.

From the second week on, there will also be a pad where you can meet for some more tips, but also to ask questions or just to chat. The Camp starts on September 1st.

THE CHALLENGES

There are two types of challenges; the weekly Large Challenge and the weekly Short Challenge. Both differ only in the tasks that are set; in essence, the challenges remain the same. Of course, there is also something to win; the one who writes the most reviews gets a lot of points! :D

For the Large Challenge it looks like this:

1st place: 1,000 pts
2nd place: 500 pts
everybody else that succeeds in completing the Large Challenge: 200 pts

For the Short Challenge it looks like this:

1st place: 500 pts
2nd place: 300 pts
everybody else that succeed in completing the Short Challenge: 200 pts


Of course, you can do both challenges, but they have to be entered separately. The challenges do not have to be done separately each week, but all challenges have to be entered in one post until 1 October at 6 am.

The challenges will always be displayed on a Friday of the week, starting with September 2nd.

Subscribe to the thread to get all the new posts! If you have any questions, just ask them here or write me a PM!

Thank you all for your participation and interest and hopefully you will have fun!

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Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:22 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



Welcome to the Review Training Camp! A warm welcome to all of you who have found your way here and for those who are not here yet; don't worry, you can start whenever you want.


The aim of this camp is to have more knowledge of how a review is written at the end of the month, but also to have an idea of what the reader thinks of a review and how you can improve your reviews.

For this month I have chosen three different methods that we will focus on.

For today we start with a very simple review method;

the Positive Review.


The Positive Review is a review that is very easy to do because it has the same structure as other reviews, but the focus is more on the good and positive in the story. This means you can choose which areas to use, such as characters, plot, structure, etc... to include everything possible in the review.

This is the basis of a positive review. It should also help to indirectly make the writer aware of what things are less good, and what things the writer needs to work on less clearly.

Let´s take an example to show you this Positive Review with an actual review! :D You don´t need to read through the complete review, so I picked out some examples of it, to make it more clear.

I thought the imagery formed a cohesive pattern, first with the camera imagery (VHS reel/ over-exposed/ saturation) and then with the sea imagery (pirate’s barrel/ shells). Additionally, I like how the rhyming ‘shells’ is at the very end of the line. It kind of highlights that that image is going to become important later, when it is compared to “dumbbells”, which really conveys the message of heaviness.


You can see very well here that in this review (of one / several poems) Lim has focused here on sentence structure and sound, and here emphasises what is particularly there.

I think these are really well-done mash-ups! Some phrases are distinct enough to tell they came from different sources, (for example “antennae-first into the moon” vs “so inspiring and mundane”) but are still able to tell a cohesive story or show a contrast in their own poems.


This is the general summary of the review, and you can see that it goes back to the core of what was explained earlier in the review to show again what is special here.

A positive review doesn't necessarily have to consist of all sorts of good things, like just paying attention to the characters or something, but you can pick out anything that catches your eye when you read it (for example, was that dramatic moment well described or does that character's performance just fit well into the story).

The main thing is to stay within the framework of the review, not to write spam. There will be a post about this later on Review Spam.

GENERAL

In summary, Positive Reviews consist of good (and several) points in the literary work that the reviewer has noticed positively.

This method is recommended if you have been following a story for a long time, where you want to try not to always go into the same thing.
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:26 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



CHALLENGE TIME

There are two packages of challenges during this month. A longer challenge, and a shorter challenge. For the participation on all 4 challenges of one (longer / shorter) challenge, one can win points.

But to get to the top, you first have to do a small challenge!

LONGER CHALLENGE

Week 1: Write a review for a short story and a novel from the Green Room by using the Positive Review Method! (1 review)

SHORTER CHALLENGE


Week 1: Write a review by using the term “Secondly” correctly.


To participate, you have to post your review here in this thread! Good luck. For questions, you can write me a PM or directly in this thread! :D
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:27 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



INTERACTIONS

Even if you are not writing a review or just coming here to look, at what we have, maybe you want to show a bit about your reviewing style! Is there anything that you really like about your review style? Anything you want to share here, so others can maybe take inspiration? Write your comment here in the thread!
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:43 pm
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Liminality says...



Hmm I guess if there's one thing I like about my reviewing style, it's that I tend to cover a bunch of different aspects fairly evenly. Using review templates definitely helps with that, though it's also about paying attention to the little details (which is why I like taking note of my reactions on the first read) :D
she/her

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Have you met my friend, The Story Review Template?
  





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Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:02 pm
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Hijinks says...



I like that my reviews have a balance of zoomed-in feedback and zoomed-out feedback! For example, zoomed-out feedback might be describing the overall mood of a poem or my interpretation of the whole work, whereas zoomed-in feedback would be pointing out specific images/phrases I loved or spots where the tone felt off. I always enjoy when reviews have a bit of both, so I try do to the same in my own reviews!
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

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(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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455 Reviews



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Reviews: 455
Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:47 pm
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Hijinks says...



I have an entry for the "shorter challenge"! review
When you're faced with something you don't understand, I think the most natural thing but also least interesting thing you can be is afraid.

-- Hank Green

they/them
(previously whatchamacallit and Seirre)
  





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Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:18 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



Today we are going to look at the following type of review, the

Review Sandwich


Who doesn´t like a nice sandwich with its favourite topics? Who doesn´t want to taste the joy of something good? But in every sandwich, there is a tomato (Note: I don´t like tomatoes). But in general, something like this, shouldn´t be the end if you really love your sandwich.

The same goes with the Sandwich review. Just like several topics, you really like and don´t like so much, a Sandwich review usually has some positive attributes to the literary work before going to something, that is not so positive. It is important, especially in this section, to be as nice as possible.

Returning to the example with the tomato; even if you don´t like them, and it is hard, to accept it, you should still write something, where you think, the writer can improve, without being directly confronted.

Finally, as in every sandwich, you return back to something positive or you start your overall conclusion.

Let´s look at an example:

Firstly, something I liked about the chapter was that the characters’ emotions felt real and in line with their motivations. For example, I like that in the beginning, it shows through the dialogue that Emerald seems to have gone and done some thinking on her own.


We see here right away that Lim starts off with something positive so that as a reader of the review, you get right into it. It's good to include examples, like here, so that it becomes more concrete.

Something I think could be improved would be the opening and ending lines of the chapter. I thought the first line was a little ambiguous.


In this sandwich we have now arrived at the tomato, where Lim explains what was not so good compared to before, but also helps how to improve it. Having the tomato in the sandwich and ignoring it is easy. What is important here in this point is to also state why one thing is less good.

Overall, I thought the best part of this chapter was seeing the characters try to figure something out together. I always love a good moment of teamwork or cooperation, even though their situation seems hopeless.


Here we are at the end, and there is another short summary. You can make a sandwich review as long as you want, always staying between the positive and the less positive.

GENERAL

The Review Sandwich is particularly suitable for improving one's own skills. It helps not only the reader of the review, but also the writer to focus on their own work.

This type of review is a little more difficult than the basic one, but not as difficult as the upcoming review method that will be presented.

Next week we'll take a quick look at review spam and how to avoid it, as well as the final review method.
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:20 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



CHALLENGE TIME - WEEK 2


Just like last week, we offer two different challenges.

LONGER CHALLENGE


Write two reviews on literary works in the Green Room, by using your least favourite style of reviewing!

SHORTER CHALLENGE


Write a review with five different quotations without spamming!



To participate, you have to post your review here in this thread! Good luck. For questions, you can write me a PM or directly in this thread! :D
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:21 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



INTERACTIONS

There are a lot of different review styles out there. Some are shorter, others are longer. What do you consider a good review in length? Should it be expansive or short? And have you ever written a very long review? Maybe you want to share it here?
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:10 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



For this week, we are going to look at some different types of reviews.

This time we look at different templates of reviews.

It's not always easy when reading a literary work how to write a review. There are many different ways to do it. That's why we'll briefly introduce some of them here, to give you a little insight into what else you can write when you're at a bit of a loss.

A lot of templates exist, like the review, that focus more on the story, which is good, especially for chapters or more on the technique, like the grammar or the overall flow of the story with the description and the pace. There are a lot of niches to find, to write a review. Maybe you want to focus more on the interactions between a character and the environment or the overall evolution of the structure over a longer period of time.

These templates all have a bit of the same structure, which is presented here in more detail for further information.

The steps

In general, there are three steps, to follow:

1. Step one: You should write an intro and give a first impression. This encourages the reader to continue on and see, that there is something, that shines over the rest of the work.

2. Step two: The focus here is different depending on the review you write. If you prefer to write about the overall story, it is good, to include some critics about the characters or the setting. If you want to be more into the general grammar, you could focus in more detail on things that have improved over time, or if it is a new work, you have read, what you think, the writer has to improve. Of course, it is always good, to write this part also a bit like the Review sandwich from before. Instead of only focusing on just good or just bad things, a mix of both is always the best choice.

3. Step three: Here we come back to the overall conclusion. It is good to write a bit of a summary, maybe with something that you really enjoyed or something you think might happen later.

You can also write a larger review, where you do not just focus on one thing, but on several, like in the example.

Example

We look at an example of Lim, where we have two of these templates combined in one.

First Impressions

I had a couple of surprises this chapter! One was about the topic Zoltar wanted to talk to Emerald about. For some reason, I’d thought he was going to ask her indirectly about the gem, but instead he offered to help her and revealed his true intentions.


Here you can see right away that the review begins with the first impressions and with a detail from the story. Here it is up to the writer what to write. You can choose a few scenes or just one that you liked.

Plot


Lim separates the different parts in the review, where you can see again that there is a focus on two directions ; the plot and later the descriptions.

Description

Something I think could be worked on is the description of the characters’ internal emotions. I like how vibrant and specific you are in describing their gestures, such as “Emerald sighed and swept her tail around to curl over her talons”.


Also in the second half, it shows that you can write a little intro, and then go deeper, into some examples. As always, it is important to try to describe clearly what you want to show.

General

In summary, this type of review is somewhat more demanding than the others because in many ways it combines different methods into one. It is a more difficult review to write, but if you start small, you can go deeper.
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:12 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



CHALLENGE TIME - WEEK 3


Just like the last two weeks, we have new challenges! :D

LONGER CHALLENGE


Write three reviews (it doesn´t have to be only Green Room works) by using a review template!

SHORTER CHALLENGE


Write a review that has at least 3 times the word “chicken” in it without spamming!
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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1232 Reviews



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Reviews: 1232
Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:13 am
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MailicedeNamedy says...



INTERACTIONS

Sometimes there are days when you don't feel so good and, accordingly, you don't feel so good about writing a review. Maybe you've had one of those days. Is there a review that you would rewrite in retrospect? Something you would like to add or expand on?
Reality is a prison and time is its guard

I´m just a random girl with gentle manners

Every bad voice in your head was once outside
  





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Reviews: 542
Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:56 am
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Liminality says...



From Week 2:

There are a lot of different review styles out there. Some are shorter, others are longer. What do you consider a good review in length? Should it be expansive or short? And have you ever written a very long review? Maybe you want to share it here?


I personally like receiving medium-length reviews! I'd be happiest with a 500-600-word-ish review. That's also the number I try to stick to when I write reviews, though I tend to shoot for 650-750 instead when I quote longer passages to comment on. I did once review someone's entire novel that was posted in one work and that took me a long time, but funnily enough, just by estimating it, it's about the same length as the one I wrote for this poem. THOUGH I think the one with the poem looks longer because of the quoted parts - I quoted just two things from the novel.

Sometimes there are days when you don't feel so good and, accordingly, you don't feel so good about writing a review. Maybe you've had one of those days. Is there a review that you would rewrite in retrospect? Something you would like to add or expand on?


I wish I could re-review one of the earliest works I reviewed on the site, The Chase! I think my review on that one could have been much more in-depth and thought-provoking, just like the story, which continues to haunt me from time to time to this day. Go read it :D, though be warned it does involve animal death
she/her

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Have you met my friend, The Story Review Template?
  





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Sat Sep 17, 2022 4:01 am
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alliyah says...



Even if you are not writing a review or just coming here to look, at what we have, maybe you want to show a bit about your reviewing style! Is there anything that you really like about your review style? Anything you want to share here, so others can maybe take inspiration? Write your comment here in the thread!


I think I'm usually good at finding something about a piece that "works" and identify it in a way that the author can replicate it again.

ie. it's great to say "I love this line"

but I think it's more helpful if you can dig a little deeper into "I love this line ... because it applies imagery in a creative way / is so emotionally expressive" etc.

I think I'm also good at overinterpreting poems; which sometimes can maybe give the writer an idea with which to expand their piece.

Sometimes there are days when you don't feel so good and, accordingly, you don't feel so good about writing a review. Maybe you've had one of those days. Is there a review that you would rewrite in retrospect? Something you would like to add or expand on?


For sure! One of my favorite poems on YWS I didn't really "get" the first time I read it - and wrote review saying as much; and I reference it all the time since them. It's a poem by Rook that is one of my faves. There are other times that I write a review without reading like the author's note or the other reviews posted, and interpret it one way and then realize I was wayyyyy off base and sometimes which I could re-do. :] Sometimes in these occasions I comment with a "WHOOPS: I JUST REALIZED! ... [clarify my point]" or I edit the review if not much time has passed.
you should know i am a time traveler &
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but i have promised to return
  








I can't understand why people are frightened by new ideas. I'm frightened of old ones.
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