Young Writers Society

Pretty simple question— why do you review! Pick your top reason, and if you don't see it on the list, explain below.

I chose "other" because I review for multiple reasons. It really improves my writing, it's fun, I like to think I'm helping people- stars are pretty, as well!

Kinda like what Holy said above. I like helping writer's with their works, it's fun (when I actually try to review), and it gives me a chance to place my thoughts onto the review. Also, I love the stars and points!

I waffled between Other and Helping others with their writing, and ultimately chose the latter. While there is no denying the selfish reasons that fuel some of the reasons of why I review, those reviews are often not grounded in the desire to earn another star or points or jump the leaderboards. The selfish reason is strongly tied to helping others with their writing and it is this:

I review because of the feeling of pride and accomplishment I experience upon completing what is, in my opinion, a valuable review.

I think that is more closely tied to helping others with their writing.

I want to put an asterisk to my pick "To help others with their writing" because, while I do love love love helping people improve in their writing, I also look like a hypocrite because I don't review nearly enough to say something like that. So, while I love helping others, I don't review much here. Mainly, I dislike how formal and rigid the review system is.

I'd much rather open up a wfp and sit down with the writer and have a conversation with the author. I want an area where we can both fangirl about the same stuff, theorize about what's gonna happen later on, and toss critiques back and forth to improve the work. I did this with some people (my biggest memory was with @ScarlettFire where we sat down and roughed out a solution to a plot hole in a chapter of hers) and those are the times I remember. Those are the times I cherish.

For me, it's really a combination of improving my writing, getting reviews in return, and helping others.

I try not to do it just FOR review stars, but hey, they are pretty good motivation as well!

Me--like Holy, I have multiple reasons. Both to help others with their writing, to improve my own. If I'm near to earning a star, I tend to review more xD

I admit it. I review almost entirely for points, so I can have other people review what I'm writing. Still, I approve of the review system (except that one time I ended up with 199 points...). I think it's kind of necessary for this website to work as well as it does. Sometimes I just feel like reviewing, and sometimes I'll get attached to a story and review every chapter of it, but for the most part, I review for points. And review day. Reviewing definitely improves my writing, but I'm still working on finishing my novel, so that takes the top priority.

*Mostly* to help others with their writing, but also when it's Review Day I want to jump in extra, and then also to help keep the Green Room down (even though it's kind of difficult these days)

and sometimes to procrastinate because I'm supposed to be revising and I just can't do it right now, so Reviewing! I could say "because reviewing makes me a better reviser," which is probably true, but let's be real, it's because I prefer reviewing other people's stuff to revising my own (most of the time).

Why can't I click all the options!! When I joined YWS my sister was already a member and she was the writer and I just wanted to be able to read her work. Thus I didn't write all that much but enjoyed reading what other people wrote and just trying to help them out. As I continued to review I realized, wow this actually really helps me see the flaws in my own writing.

I try not to look at how many reviews I need for my next star as this always discourages me. I also enjoy getting badges from Knights of the Green Room -- but I have a ton of reviews I need to write before that happens again! But in a nutshell I review because I feel like it improves my own work, I enjoy reading and interacting with other writers, and sometimes to get involved in the contests or Review Days.

Now? I write reviews to help people. With my spare time. Which is limited, so I don't review much anymore.

When I was reviewing constantly? I did so because of competition.

I am suuuuuuper competitive, and the idea of getting the most points on YWS was super cool when I was younger. When Nate made it so that the points disappeared every... week? month? -- I was totally crushed. (Note: points do not disappear anymore. This was in ancient YWS times.)

Then, Nate came up with the review stars. Dude. I was so pumped about that. But as soon as he revealed this new feature, I maxed out with five red stars. So, I made more review stars and begged Nate to put them up. So he did. And then I maxed those out fairly quickly too. So then he gave me pigs. That made me happy.

I also reviewed constantly because the leaderboards. There was one time where @Hannah and I were totally vying for the coveted first place position for the week. She had sixty reviews for the week... I upped it to seventy. Then she upped it more. Finally, I won at ninety reviews for the week. Hannah was super cool competition because she made me WORK for it, man!

I also totally dug the featured member bit. For about a year, I was featured member... mostly because nobody changed it. But, that was okay with me.

I also did it to improve my own writing. The more I analyzed writing and looked at what worked for some people and what didn't, the more I realized that I was able to improve my own writing and to make it better. Teaching someone else is a great way to improve because it reinforces the lessons learned. I felt like I was getting better. That made me pumped and I did more!

I also did it because I wanted to get reviews in return. I posted a lot of things in my younger days, and I noticed quickly that if I gave high-quality, critical reviews to people, they either wanted to return the favor and give me high-quality reviews or they were so ticked off at how super critical I was that they wanted to tear apart my own work and rip it to shreds, just like I did to their work. My own works got a significant amount of attention that I don't think they would have gotten if I had not been reviewing a lot... we're talking about a review ratio of about 23:1, which is incredible since I was a very prolific writer back in the day and I posted everything back then.

I also did it because I was bored. Being a homeschooler is a lonely life at times, and doing all of these things sounded like a great idea that would bring some meaning to my life because...

I did it to help people, ultimately, and every thank you that I've gotten for my reviews brings a smile to my face because it means that I've been helpful and another writer might become wonderful and inspired for something that I've had a tiny hand in, and that makes me happy.

I'm not gonna lie- I'm a point hoarder. So what? Honestly I just love always having the ability to publish, so I keep my point count above 400 constantly. I'm currently at 1069 points, for anyone who actually cares.

Reviewing to help others better themselves and their writing is most definitely why I review. I'm not very needy regarding points, and I certainly don't review for them, at least, not as a main reason. I have multiple reasons, but I think that the biggest reason is helping others and helping the author. I don't think a lot of people realize that this is another's work they're critiquing another's work that they poured a lot of time into.

A lot of people tend to shy away from reviewing by this fact, but I think it's even more reason to. It's amazing and important. Doing it to get reviews in return is also a wonderful thing, since you communicate with the person you just reviewed. There's this feeling of sonder that there's someone on the other side in both cases of reviewing and being reviewed, and I think that's beautiful.

Oh, also I try to remember to do a couple reviews whenever I post something of my own, because it's polite. I feel like I haven't done as well about that lately, though. I should get back on it!

I mostly just feel bad for not being very active. :p I don't think I could ever really help most of the writers on this site, but it makes me more critical and aware of the various elements of my own writing.