Reviewing with River

I've enjoyed reading the responses so far, and look forward to more!

As for myself, my answer is the same across the sub-questions: I study comments I get in reviews, plus I read a lot.

For instance, when I get a comment in a review that introduces something to me I was unknowingly doing wrong, I research it. I don't just fix the instances of it the reviewer pointed out and move on; I do what I can to make sure I have an eye out for that kind of thing in the future. That helps me see it in my other writing, and it makes it practically pop out at me in the items I review.

Just as an example, way back in the day when I was new to the site and to writing, a couple of awesome reviewers helped me with my ignorance about dialogue tags. They gave me a few examples to go on, and showed corrections to what I'd done--enough to show me that I was doing it incorrectly and how to do it correctly.

Those comments also sent me to do my own research. Those reviewers opened to the door to me doing dialogue tags correctly, but I would have only known how to do them correctly in the kinds of examples they gave, which were (of course) based on the specific items of mine they reviewed. My own research from there, showed me a lot more than they had time or reason to teach me. It also made it all "stick" better, which led to me being able to see that kind of thing in others' writing and even be able to explain it.

So in a nutshell, my main learning method for A, B, and C has been getting reviews and doing further research based on the comments therein. And reading. A lot. Because I very much agree with gingerlyme, in that I believe that the vast majority of fiction is written for readers, not for peer reviewers. And even though most peer reviewers are readers, I'm talking about the...attitude, I suppose, with which one approaches a story for review.

I find myself forgetting how to be a reader first when I'm reviewing something with a lot of technical problems. I do my best to go back once I get that out of my system and add in comments from more of a reader's perspective, but sometimes I forget, or feel like I already did it. It's probably my biggest struggle, currently, but only on those items that need quite a bit of editing.

Now I fear I'm just rambling! Thanks for the topic, paddy1. And thanks for the forum and presentation, River!

Chy

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