Writing.Com 101

The Review Tool

The Review Tool is linked from the review area at the bottom of every reviewable item for Basic members and above. It provides a pop-up, full size review box with additional tools including a character counter, WritingML icons for easy formatting, and a spell check function. Also included are rotating "Review Tips" above the review text area, a link to the WritingML help page, and a link to "Guidelines To Great Reviewing" .

Your personal review tool allows you to manage your Review Templates and existing Draft Reviews. It can be accessed by selecting "My Account" under site navigation and clicking on "My Review Tool."

Storing Review Drafts
Run out of time to finish a review? Use the Review Tool's Store Draft feature to save it for later! It can be accessed by selecting "My Account" under site navigation and clicking on "My Review Tool." You can also pull up a draft review of any item by clicking on the Review Tool link from the review area at the bottom of the item.

Use the Store/Edit button to save your draft review, but continue editing it. For longer reviews, this is a handy way to make sure you don't accidentally lose what you've written in the case of an internet outage, browser crash, or any of the other things that can go wrong.

Review Templates
Many reviewers build a template to help them structure and format their reviews. In addition to saving time, other reasons for using review templates include:

To use the same comment, or link the same reference item, in more than one review.
To organize your review using a predetermined structure and WritingML.
To remind you of the elements you want to consider in your review.
To help you remember to include encouraging remarks.1
To include an item link suggestion for reciprocal reviews.

Even if you don't review often, a template is a useful thing to have. In fact, especially if you don't review very much it can be helpful. It will remind you of structural things like plot and character that you want to consider when sending a review. 2

Recommended Reading

1. Guidelines To Great Reviewing
2. Creating Review Templates
3. Template Talk 

Footnotes
1  Get into the good habit of using a custom tag-line of encouragement within your reviews. Including "Write On!", "Keep Writing!" or something unique and individual within your reviews goes a long way to motivating an author. We know you mean it, so don't forget to say it!
2  Written by The StoryMaster and Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈