I had an incident where I'd written a very long and thoughtful review for a story that had no reviews, and then when I was posting it, the thread had been closed. How can I be sure that a thread won't be closed? Now, I try to read all the reviews the person has posted, but I still can't really tell if the post is valid. I don't want to discriminate new members (being fairly new myself), but this makes it a bit difficult. I don't want to use half an hour for a review and then be unable to post it. But I would like to be able to post reviews fairly promptly. So my question is: what is a long enough review. Two thoughtful sentences? Three? Four? Seven? When do I know that the two reviews are valid and I can start reviewing that person's story? I hope this is the right place to post this.
A solution to that is to write your review somewhere else (Word, TextEdit or whatever word processor your use) and then copy paste it. As for length, I don't think there's really a rule to that, some critique the whole piece, paragraph for paragraph, and others just give a few pointers and overall thoughts. It's a personal decision.
Yes, I did copy/paste it. That doesn't really make me feel any better. Now it's saved somewhere, waiting for that person to possibly return to do the job correctly and then post his story. I would like to know the so-and-so length of a review that is required so my future reviews won't suffer from the same unfortunate fate.
I know what you mean, one of my first reviews here and I wrote a lot for it, but it closed and doesn't look like it'll ever be opening. It kinda sucks when that happens because you put a lot into your post only for the person to take it and never come again, or never even read it at all - and never come again. I don't like to shun very new people either, but like Cogito says some just come in for praise and then ditch, so I try to stay cautious. I think that the length of your post really depends on how much you need to say, however much that may be, but it can't be something short like "I liked it it was funny".. or something. I'm not an expert on this though!
There are quite a few reviews that are short but point out specific problems in a piece. As an example, mammamaia often posts very succinct reviews that require few words. Other times, though, people come on here and just write random manure to get their reviewing credits up. Very recently, a member posted ten new poems and lyrics, and put up generic comments and responses on her own threads to build up the count in order to flood the Review Rooms. The only time threads are locked is if it is clear that the person only slapped down a couple 30 second review in order to put their own stuff up. Usually they have a post count or 3 or 6, and never go anywhere else on the site. It's unfortunate that sometimes someone will be right on top of new posters and putting in good effort to review their work, when in fact the writer in question has no interest other than to proudly proclaim, "Look what I made!" and try to gather praise. That, in fact, is why those threads are closed - so members don't waste their time on pieces from newcomers who only wish to take. Unfortunately, we can't always het them locked down quickly enough.
A decent review/proper review. Is a review that at least tells the author of the piece why you did or didn't enjoy a piece and if you feel that a certain area could be improved upon, why and/or how.
Or at least a review that indicates the person READ the story or poem and formed an opinion based on that. We've even had members post things like, "Great poem. Loved the imagery!" a week after the poem was removed by the poet!
I think "closed" threads do the members a valuable service. It respects the time and good will of those who are willing to participate according to the rules. As far as wasting one's time by reviewing, only to discover the thread has been closed, wait a day or two before investing much time in a "new" member post. The moderators seem pretty quick to identify those who have not met the requirements, and, I've noticed, they lock a thread conditionally...if the new member completes the required terms, then the thread will be re-opened. That's fair. So, I tend to wait a day or two. .....NaCl
I'm sorry, I'm laughing after the last comment. *must stop laughing* Okay, so I'm safe to review if the review seems like the reviewer has read the actual story/poem and has formed an opinion about it and seems like she/he is going to stay here a bit longer... I'm sorry, I'm still laughing. Young people these days. EDIT: I wrote after Cogito... my comment was meant for that post. Sorry about that NaCl. I didn't notice your post until now. This is why quoting comments is a good thing <= note to self! And NaCl, your advice is very good, but I know how sad it is to wait for those two days for someone to comment. I would like to be able to do that immediately. I have a bit better idea of the review-requirements now. Maybe I'm able to post reviews without this problem rising again. Thank you everyone.
