Writing.Com General Discussion

I've actually had that happen very recently. I got a nice and helpful review with criticism and suggestion and I was very grateful, so I wanted to return the favor and found myself looking at someone who had gotten poems published and was well known and had a lot of fans of his works and many titles and rewards and such.

Cue me panicking that anything I say would be dumb and probably just having to do with some professional thing I didn't know about.

But, I figured, I went there for a reason. If every criticism or suggestion I gave ended up useless, oh well. Reviews are gifts, not commands. And I think everyone enjoys getting to see that someone reviewed something of theirs, even really good well established authors.

So, I did anyway, reviewed two of his poems while panicking and rambling the entire time because I was way out of my depths and I got very kind responses back. I even was able to, through that, learn a few new things and talk to the other author about stuff and get recommendations on things and all around a good experience.

I'm not saying that's what's going to happen every time. But if your review comes from a place of good intent and you are respectful and kind in it, go ahead and give them that gift. Even if they can't use it, getting a gift is always fun.