Reviewing with River

Ooh, a multipart question. Righty-ho, let me tackle them in order.

A. Have your writing skills improved by reviewing other WdC members?
Heck yes. Reviewing other people has vastly improved my writing, and made me rethink what makes a good story altogether. I began reviewing on WdC, and learnt the art of reviewing by reviewing reviews (although these weren't sent, I was just figuring out what made a good review better than its lesser kin). Most of my reviews are performed privately, which is why it looks like I've done so few.

B. Do you make a practice of reviewing daily?
No. A good review could take four hours to write and edit. Some are much quicker, for sure, but I have limited time and don't want to fill it not writing. Long reviews are often done over several days. Real life caught up with me in November, and I don't think I've written a review since. I don't want my troubles filtering into a review and the recipient doesn't deserve that.

C. Do you have thoughts to share on this topic?
I prefer an informal style of reviewing rather than a rigidly structured approach. I like to think of the review as a conversation between myself and the author, one where the author should be nodding sagely at everything I say rather than standing up and arguing their corner. That means getting the tone right and admitting to my own ineptitude as a writer.

Reviewing reviews really helps. Firstly, it helps me to improve my own reviewing skills. Secondly, it exposes me to the thoughts and ideas of other reviewers who saw things (in the piece being reviewed) that I did not. It's like doubling up on the free mentoring WdC offers.

I must admit I hate seeing the piece being reviewed, copied in whole into the review. I copy just the sentence(s) that I wish to address, and possibly a sentence or two prior to that so the author can find it easily in their manuscript.

Reviewing is like writing. Stop for a while, and you lose your edge. It's been months fo me, so I've commited myself to writing at least ten this month (that'll surprise the people in the Novel Workshop group ).