Basically, my review consists of the persons story in quotes, with my writing in bold. I don't like to point out grammatical errors to much, because everyone has so many of those. Basically, I point out weak words, awkward sentences, and words that can be cut out.
My English teacher always says, "When in doubt, cut it out!"

Then after I finish inside the quote box, I will write a 150-200 word paragraph explaining basically what I thought of the story as a whole. If there was something I noticed a lot of, I will say it in the concluding paragraph.

That is basically how I review.


-Thomas

It's a good approach.

Personally, I usually prefer to only extract examples from the authr's workto illustrate a reviewing point, but to mostly post my own thoughts about the piece. What I focus on depends on what I believe can potentially result in the greatest improvement. If it's spelling, punctuation, or grammar, I'll focus on that, especially if there is a recurring pattern to the errors.

I too am more likely to suggest removing things rather than adding them. I think I use the word "simplify" more in a week than most people do in a year. :)

I think that is an excellent approach to writing, but that's just me. I also, go by the rule of simplifying, not over-killing

When I was taught to review creative work we were encouraged to divide our thoughts into two sections: what works and what isn't working. I think that it's very important to congratulate a writer on what they get right as well as flagging up areas for improvement. This is especially true when dealing with new writers, as criticism with no encouragement can create difficulties for them in terms of finding the motivation to rewrite.

When I was taught to review creative work we were encouraged to divide our thoughts into two sections: what works and what isn't working. I think that it's very important to congratulate a writer on what they get right as well as flagging up areas for improvement. This is especially true when dealing with new writers, as criticism with no encouragement can create difficulties for them in terms of finding the motivation to rewrite.

This is exactly how I review things as well. Even though I have no reviewed too many things so far. It just consisted of a few movie reviews and some my professor wanted me to do on a few stories he had lying around to improve my writing.

I too am more likely to suggest removing things rather than adding them. I think I use the word "simplify" more in a week than most people do in a year. :)

Same here, always improving something.