After you read an item on Writing.Com, you have the opportunity to submit a review to the author by using the Review Box located at the bottom of the item. Depending on the item settings, you will be able to send feedback in the form of a rating, review or email comment. "Rating/Reviewing Preferences"  details how to make an item rateable versus not rateable and the impact each choice will have for reviewers.

The rating of an item is based on "The Star Rating System" , which is a one to five rating scale with five stars being the highest rating available. In addition to rating the item, you can include a response detailing what you enjoyed about the item as well as suggestions for improvement. Reviewing is an extremely important part of the Writing.Com community. Helpful, honest reviewing helps our authors improve their talents and is beneficial to everyone involved! For more information on reviewing, please see "Guidelines To Great Reviewing" .

Content Ratings of Reviews
The content rating of a review (both public or private) must be equivalent to or lesser than the content rating of the item being reviewed. For example, if the item being reviewed is rated 13+, then the review itself must be at a 13+ rating or lower. If the item being reviewed is rated E, then the review must be kept within the E-rating. For complete information, please see: "Content Rating System (CRS)" .

Your Own Review Format
Developing your own format for reviewing can be a great asset. Determine the aspects of writings you like to focus on most, then create a short outline to follow and start reviewing. Following this process will help keep your reviews honest and consistent. As your experience grows, you'll find ways to improve your format and your skills.

Make use of "The Review Tool"  to create custom review templates. Using the template system makes the time you spend reviewing much more about the item you're reviewing, rather than about repeatedly formatting your review.

Reviewing Incentives
Writing.Com is a community of writers here to help each other improve. While helping fellow members is certainly "good karma", the site offers plenty of incentives to help you make reviewing a daily activity. "Daily Review Rewards"  and "The Review Mixer"  are provided by Writing.Com while many others are provided by the various groups within our community.

Make Reviewing a Daily Creative Writing Exercise
Remember, reviewing grows your own writing skills unlike any other writing tool. Critically analyzing and reviewing others' writings makes a writer stop and think about what works and what doesn't. Putting that into words and communicating that to another writer, ultimately helps the reviewer to improve his or her own writing skills. So while reviewing is about helping others, it's also a valuable way to help ourselves! 1