A friend of mine is asking for help to improve his writing abilities (I told him to either talk to his teacher or join a forum like this, but he's very shy) and he told me to review a story of his. I'm not very good myself, so I don't think that I can be of much help, but I would like to help him out. I was just wondering if some of you would like to review his story and write down what he needs to improve. I'd just like to inform everyone that you don't have to read it if you don't want to, it's just a friendly request. For those of you that would like to read it, it's on bladerunnercontest.com under the name Joe Eibert.

(He joined the contest to see if he could beat others, but I don't know if he can or not. Probably just wanted to prove something.)

Don't be afraid to be blunt, either. He needs to learn and sugar coating things won't help very much. Anyway, only constructive criticism, please.

I don't mind checking it out. Is it a forum and can I comment on the story itself?

I went to the site you indicated, but didn't get very far because I refused to install Flash Player.

For my part, I would feel more comfortable offering a review if he would join and post samples here. He should probably not post his contest entry, but rather something else that exemplifies his writing style.

The people who post reviews on this site do not, as a rule, possess any special credentials that qualify them as "expert" reviewers. We are only people with opinions who are also trying to improve our own writing. By putting effort, and open minds, into reviews, we become better reviewers and also better writers.

Take a look at some of the reviews here, and see if you think the atmosphere of this forum achieves the right balance between directness and compassion.