Hideous Reviews I Never Gave

Ok Chris, this HAS to be a very dangerous idea you have here and I love it. *grins* Of course I'd say beware the rant mode activation button you've created. I haven't stumbled across anything today that's truly bugging me but I've got plenty of held-tongue-syndrome built up over the years and this forum is looking lonely in it's early beginnings. This seems like the perfect place to let rip so how about I go ahead with a few.

SLANG != WRITING (!= is a programming term for 'does not equal' or 'is not' or 'differs')

Seriously people! Language is an art form. It's created with the purpose of giving our cultures means with which to communicate. However, it can hardly be effective if you're obliterating the language with various slang and abbreviations. Tiny segments of text for every expression you could ever think of that offer no sense to what is meant is NOT communication. In a community of writers ALL members should show an appreciation for their tools, words being the primary of any writer.

The web is such an easy place to get lazy in. We see it in chat rooms and emails all the time. I admit to using the shortcuts in some chat but rarely. LOL, TTYL, BTW, OMG! All of these shortcuts are acceptable when talking directly with friends in conversations that fall to the Messenger Archives or Chat Room Database and is never seen again. But when you're writing an article, or a story, or poetry please, PLEASE leave these in messenger/chat.

CAPITALIZE

That's right, the beginning of sentences, proper nouns and the pronoun 'I' should ALWAYS be capitalized. Give these words the respect they deserve and give YOURSELF the respect too. Too often I see utter laziness in writing, reviewing, emails, blogs, etc. Where people, I won't call them writers, don't make the effort to correctly capitalize their work. In fact some are so significantly and blatantly not-capitalizing that there are ZERO capital letters in the entire works. Sure, this worked for ee cummings who didn't even capitalize his own NAME but for the rest of us we can't bluff on sheer talent alone. Take advantage of all the things that can give your work leverage, present the best front and use capitalization appropriately.

To further that, DO NOT SHOUT!!! Do NOT capitalize every single letter of every line or paragraph. Yes, capitalization can be used for effect but please, sparingly. It's not effective if it's over-dramatized.

PROOF READ!

At least once! Train your eye to be aware of misspelled words. Capture those errors before you ever blast them at readers. You should be confident that you have done your very best efforts to make sure readers see work you can be proud of. NEVER subject your readers to un-proofed work. It's smacks of disrespect and is completely unprofessional. What's that I hear? You're not interested in going pro? You are at least interested in writing WELL aren't you? You ARE interested in being read aren't you? Then respect your readers and at LEAST look over your work with a fresh eye once.

SAY SOMETHING WHEN YOU REVIEW!

Ok, so it's not really writing but I deal with reviews every day and I'm on a crusade to encourage readers to give more informative reviews. You don't have to study the form or be all knowledgeable in technique to give a good review but PLEASE offer some meat in your review. Saying, "It was brilliant, I loved it. You rock!" Is nice to hear but if you've rated it a 4 I'm going to wonder what went wrong.

Reviews that are helpful express the emotions a work made you feel. Which parts you enjoyed, anything you didn't enjoy or understand, anything that left you confused. Did you like the characters? Did you find the plot absorbing? Did the words flow well together? Did you enjoy reading the piece? Would you recommend it to friends? Is there anything you think should be changed? Could you absorb the information? Is there too much or too little?

Notice that NONE of those points involve technical aspects. They are all entirely opinion. Writers want to know what YOU think, not what common belief would have us work with. Reviews are an audience poll, we collect our target audiences opinions and work with those.

If you DO know and have experience with the technical aspects, have been writing for extended years, got a degree in English, are a professional editor or proof reader, etc. then you are also welcome to add comments relating to grammar and structure. If you're not a pro then be careful to be 'right' when you state any suggestions because if you make a mistake and correct something that is already accurate you're going to look a bit silly and you might just confuse the writer further.

Reviewing isn't difficult, give your opinion and stick with the facts that you KNOW! One final point is PLEASE take care to write your reviews with encouragement and respect. Writers are people, not pieces of paper. Proof read your reviews. Always ensure that there is positive AND negatives instead of being abusive or fluffy.

DONE? FOR NOW!

Ok, I think I've vented, a little. *grins wickedly* I did warn you Chris. But I should perhaps be thankful that I've got a good grasp on language and can even rant with a degree of respect. Of course all of my ranting assumes people are intelligent, which is not always the case. I guess I give them the benefit of the doubt and hold people to a high standard. Thank you for the freedom of expression. It's lovely to be able to release this in an environment where it doesn't have to be directed at anyone specifically.

I hope the forum captures the attention of other frustrated, writers, readers, and reviewers on the site. Of course, it could be opened up to more than just reviews, like the review the reviewers aspect and community spirit and appreciation too (forum etiquette etc.)

Overall I think it's a brilliant idea Chris. I'm looking forward to visiting to see what others vent/rant about and I expect from time to time when I'm biting my tongue and hunting for the red X close button I'll find my way here instead. Thank You!

Have fun and keep writing,
Yours truly,
Rebecca Laffar-Smith