Rate and Review

         Do you drop ratings on people without any reason and run? Do you think it's fun like the game children play: "ding, dong, ditch"? Just as people weren't happy about you ringing their doorbell then running away, people don't appreciate it when you drop a low rating and run away.

         Everyone is qualified to write a review. Don't believe me? Read "Are You Qualified to Write a Review?" . Still don't know where to begin in a review? Check out "Guidelines To Great Reviewing" . If you can read a piece and rate it, you can and, more importantly, should review that piece.

         We aren't asking for much. You can say what you found or what you didn't find. Did you see any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes? Say if you did or if you didn't. Did you like the piece? Did it bore you or leave you wanting more? Did you laugh? Cry? Did it make you mad? Do you not feel anything at all about a piece? Let us know!

         Furthermore, you should try to make sure that your rating and your review match each other. Use the review tool. Write your review and base your rating on that. If you find yourself saying "This is great and I wouldn't change a thing", the rating should reflect that. "Don't change a thing" does not go with a 4 star rating. It pains me to see a very low rating with no rhyme or reason as to why. If you think something is great and you wouldn't change it, rate it appropriately. (i.e. Don't say this is great, I wouldn't change a thing and I'm giving you 3.5 stars for it. That doesn't make sense!) If you think a piece is perfect, give that piece 5 stars. It's okay!

If you have a whole list of things that are wrong with a piece, it's littered with typos and grammatical mistakes, it doesn't quite make sense, and you can't list everything that needs to be fixed; give it one star but please be encouraging. Tell them it's fixable and they should keep up with it and offer to take a look at it once they've made some changes. Regardless of the review or rating, you should be honest, encouraging, and respectful.

         Your review of a piece is just as important, if not more so than the number of stars you give it. Your review doesn't have to be perfect, smart, brilliant, or insightful. It should be your opinion, what you thought about a piece. So, next time you go to rate a piece, think about the piece and make sure to review it too.

Need more?

Check out "Lonewolf's guide to Reviewing"