| Cage Wire | Ver. 1.0 |

Why review?

I think many people have wondered this question. Why is it so important to review? It's only one review, right? That isn't much. But to an author reviews can mean either frustration and muse-killing, or happiness and bouts of inspiration. Inspiration produces more frequent updates and better stories. Feedback from readers has always been one reason I write. I mostly write for fun, I write because I want people to enjoy my stories and tell me that they DO enjoy them. If I don't think people are enjoying my stories, I don't see much point in writing. It can be fun, but only if I know people are appreciating my hard work. All this depends on the types of reviews I get. No, not how many. I'd rather have only a handful of good, thought-out reviews than hundreds of little one-liners telling me how 'cute' my writing is and if I'll update fast.

My point is, be a good reviewer. If you truly like a story, truly like and and honestly can't wait for it to be updated...tell the author! How is he or she supposed to know if you don't tell them? And I'm not saying write something like: "nice story update plz!" because that's pointless. It makes you look stupid. It's frustrating to get after all the hard work a lot of authors put into their writing. On average I spend about two weeks on and off on one chapter alone.

Now, do you think I'd like it if I spent so much time, so much work, so much thought on something...only to receive pointless, four word reviews? No, I don't. I want to know if you really, truly do like my story. I don't want praising reviews, I want good ones. I want you to tell me what you think of my writing style, or my character development, or my plot, just as long as you put time and thought into it. Anyone can write a four word review. It takes a thoughtful person to spend more than thirty seconds or less on a review. And do you know what? Chances are that that kind of review will encourage the writer more. The bottom line is, if you can't say something more than 'nice story plz update!' or 'how sad. cute story' don't review at all.

Here are some examples of basic do's and don'ts of reviewing:

Do:

Offer constructive critism. When I say constructive, I mean write about what you do like AND what you don't like, but be sure to suggest how he/she can fix the problem(s). Put some honest thought into it and not just write two-sentences.
Be honest but not brutal. There's a difference between telling someone how they can improve and telling someone how bad their story is. Encourage them to write more and get better, don't flame the daylights out of them and expect them to get better. That's not how it works.
Write at least a paragraph for a review. Put time and actual thought into what you say. Tell the author what you honestly like about their story and point out a particular scene or piece of dialogue.

Don't:

Use netspeak. Please, use the extra second or two to type out the actual word! I can't tell you how irritating it is to receive reviews in netspeak.
Go off-subject. If you're talking about a scene in the chapter, stick to it, don't jump to another scene in a different story or previous chapter. If you're making comparisons it's okay, but only if making (nice) comparisons.
SPAM in your review. Don't talk about this new shirt or this great song (unless you really know this person and he/she doesn't mind) because the author wants you to review their story not your CD or clothing =P

Have any suggestions? Either E-mail me or send a message in the shoutbox