%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |   A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
|
Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| The Reviewing Rant It’s a complex matter, reviewing. So difficult, in fact, that we all work out our own method to deal with it. In my case, I limit myself to reviewing only those pieces that I think pretty good. So of course the ratings I hand out are high on average. There are a few around who will give an honest review wherever they land but I’m unsure how much good they do. Not everyone wants to be published, after all. And we’re not editors so can be expected to approach things differently from the purely commercial viewpoint. Our personal taste matters. You won’t find me reviewing Romance, for instance; it’s not an area I would claim any expertise on. Equally, I tend to disregard reviews from those who think poetry has to rhyme. We need to face the fact that we’re all different and write from different motives. I don’t write for publication, although I’m prepared to state that I write better than some I’ve seen published. Others write as a hobby or because they can’t stop themselves. And yes, there are those who desire to be published but they’re thinner on the ground than you’d think. Trumpeting a publishing record is no guarantee of a shoe-in to the position of perfect reviewer. To many of us, it’s irrelevant. We just want to know whether you enjoyed the piece or not. I would even go so far as to say that professional grade reviewing is destructive to good art, whether it be painting, writing or any other. Consider the fool’s game the critics have made modern art, poetry and classical music, and you’ll see what I mean. The best advice I can give to those wanting to review in WdC is go ahead, do it and work out your own special technique as you go. It’s like writing in that way; you learn what suits you best and then get on with it without bothering what the next reviewer’s up to. Word count: 332 |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
I've always remembered that episode and thought that was a fun idea.
Quite good is quite a good compliment 
As someone who just reviewed an item in your port, I can't help but wonder, Did I pick an item that you'd throw out? 