On things
Some thoughts46 total reviews
Comment from Dolly'sPoems
You might rattle a few cages with this post but in general terms I agree with your opinion here. I have personally received some amazingly helpful reviews that have improved my work and filled me with confidence and when a review does that, then it is work its weight in gold. Is the drawing a picture of you? love Dolly x x x
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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You might rattle a few cages with this post but in general terms I agree with your opinion here. I have personally received some amazingly helpful reviews that have improved my work and filled me with confidence and when a review does that, then it is work its weight in gold. Is the drawing a picture of you? love Dolly x x x
Comment Written 08-Jun-2023
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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Many thanks for reading, Dolly. Yep, that's pretty much what i look like. lol G
Comment from Jay Squires
I've always enjoyed reading your wisdom on the ins and outs of writing, both on FS or the creative process, itself. I particularly enjoyed your take on committees. Wow! I just read that you have 11 seals. Whoa, Nellie! You qualify to have some pointed opinions on the whole process. I've submitted three (one being about 15 years ago -- which was roundly, and soundly despised by two members and described as a work of genius by a third), and had one that was awarded the seal.
The rating system is what it is. The only thing I hate about it is when it allows for obvious copy/pasters who write the same generics for all posts, and those reviewers who verbally rave over something and then give it 3 stars without an explanation for their rating.
Anywho ... you did a marvelous job with this post, G.
Jay
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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I've always enjoyed reading your wisdom on the ins and outs of writing, both on FS or the creative process, itself. I particularly enjoyed your take on committees. Wow! I just read that you have 11 seals. Whoa, Nellie! You qualify to have some pointed opinions on the whole process. I've submitted three (one being about 15 years ago -- which was roundly, and soundly despised by two members and described as a work of genius by a third), and had one that was awarded the seal.
The rating system is what it is. The only thing I hate about it is when it allows for obvious copy/pasters who write the same generics for all posts, and those reviewers who verbally rave over something and then give it 3 stars without an explanation for their rating.
Anywho ... you did a marvelous job with this post, G.
Jay
Comment Written 08-Jun-2023
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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Many thanks for checking this out, Jay and your thoughts on it. i find the seal process quite valuable, if you get some good critique back, which is most of the time. It's one of the only ways of getting decent feedback these days. Many thanks
G
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How many did you submit to get 11 seals? Do you remember?
Comment from Jim Wile
I really appreciate your thoughts on these subjects. I agree with all of them, although I've accepted the common approach of rating mostly 5s in the rating system. Whenever I rate less than 5, I always give a good reason for why I thought the submission needed work, often with a suggestion on how to improve it.
I especially liked your point about the reviews that mention nothing about your work as just being a chance to spout off/and or being a money grab. I don't mind hearing other people's take on something I've written, but I expect something to be said about my post that they are supposedly reviewing.
I couldn't agree more about those who take offense when you try to make a constructive criticism. One lady wrote a long piece with far too many commas in unnecessary places. I pointed this out as politely as I could. I rewrote one particularly bad sentence for her eliminating all commas (she had about 6 in the same sentence). I mentioned that I had also put it through a grammar checker to make sure what I had written was correct. She replied that my response was offensive to her because she had MS (which I had no way of knowing) and she didn't remember all the rules. She also bragged about having been a teacher and castigated the soulless grammar checker I checked my work with. She preferred dealing with real people, not some machine. She ended by pointing out that my grammar needed improvement because I ended a sentence with a preposition. That finally pissed me off and I gave her Winston Churchill's reply to that as being the type of arcane nonsense up with which he would not put.
Your points are very well thought-out, and your reviews are always appreciated by me. When I first joined FS, you gave me some very good advice on how things work around here that I was very appreciative of.
Please keep your excellent writing coming as time and desire allow. Jim
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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I really appreciate your thoughts on these subjects. I agree with all of them, although I've accepted the common approach of rating mostly 5s in the rating system. Whenever I rate less than 5, I always give a good reason for why I thought the submission needed work, often with a suggestion on how to improve it.
I especially liked your point about the reviews that mention nothing about your work as just being a chance to spout off/and or being a money grab. I don't mind hearing other people's take on something I've written, but I expect something to be said about my post that they are supposedly reviewing.
I couldn't agree more about those who take offense when you try to make a constructive criticism. One lady wrote a long piece with far too many commas in unnecessary places. I pointed this out as politely as I could. I rewrote one particularly bad sentence for her eliminating all commas (she had about 6 in the same sentence). I mentioned that I had also put it through a grammar checker to make sure what I had written was correct. She replied that my response was offensive to her because she had MS (which I had no way of knowing) and she didn't remember all the rules. She also bragged about having been a teacher and castigated the soulless grammar checker I checked my work with. She preferred dealing with real people, not some machine. She ended by pointing out that my grammar needed improvement because I ended a sentence with a preposition. That finally pissed me off and I gave her Winston Churchill's reply to that as being the type of arcane nonsense up with which he would not put.
Your points are very well thought-out, and your reviews are always appreciated by me. When I first joined FS, you gave me some very good advice on how things work around here that I was very appreciative of.
Please keep your excellent writing coming as time and desire allow. Jim
Comment Written 08-Jun-2023
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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I have to admit that I don't like grammar checkers very much myself but I have studied the rules myself for a long time! the only one I use as a basis is the one on word. Not a fan of grammarly at all! lol
i use the ratings system and tend to get muted for it. i also get muted because i don't tailor my reviews based on who the writer is either but I'm ok with that. lol
Keep well.
G
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I use a grammar checker called Quillbot. I don't pay attention to everything it suggests, but it is good for catching inconsistencies, and things I should have caught myself. That's how I use it.
I personally am not offended by an honest rating as long as the reviewer states a reason for something lower than a 5. None of us are such experts that we can't learn anything from an honest review.
Comment from barbara.wilkey
Thank you for sharing. I agree with the competitions. I'm not sure why we have them. I attempt to write an honest review each time. A few times, I got yelled at because I did. To be honest, I gave these people the five stars, which I should've, and still got yelled at because of the corrections I suggested. I was told they weren't interested in correcting their writing, they just wanted to write. I wanted to reply, 'Then don't post for reviews.' I didn't respond at all. Your point rang out loud and clear.
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reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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Thank you for sharing. I agree with the competitions. I'm not sure why we have them. I attempt to write an honest review each time. A few times, I got yelled at because I did. To be honest, I gave these people the five stars, which I should've, and still got yelled at because of the corrections I suggested. I was told they weren't interested in correcting their writing, they just wanted to write. I wanted to reply, 'Then don't post for reviews.' I didn't respond at all. Your point rang out loud and clear.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 08-Jun-2023
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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Yep, I get a lot of that kind of thing but I don't change. lol many thanks, barbara
G
Comment from royowen
I guess I've been here a long time, the reviews here are vastly just reads of your work. and it's always been the same, I've had a record one star, two star, three star reviews from people that have loved my work heh heh, go figure. But I must admit, the few genuine critiques I've received early in my journey here, sorted out my work, beautifully written my friend, blessings Roy.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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I guess I've been here a long time, the reviews here are vastly just reads of your work. and it's always been the same, I've had a record one star, two star, three star reviews from people that have loved my work heh heh, go figure. But I must admit, the few genuine critiques I've received early in my journey here, sorted out my work, beautifully written my friend, blessings Roy.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 08-Jun-2023
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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I had loads of critique when I first started and it was invaluable. many thanks as always, Roy. G
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Yep
Comment from lancellot
This well written and you give some sage advice as well as things to think about. I will have to disagree with is the committee part, especially the Seal of Quality folk. I have had many dealing with them too. They did grant me one. But, all it takes is a look at the works awarded seals, and it becomes clear which genres or categories of posts are NEVER granted a seal (Never since the site began). This is also true of site contests. We all know what type of content in a story or poem will get your work ignored by all the committees, even if the site allows it. And if you often write with that 'type of content' the committee members remember (They've told me in replies) and will refuse to vote for you. Complaining to Tom about their bias does nothing.
Notes:
There's [a] handful of folk on there who plough through everything sent to them no matter how...
-missing word
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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This well written and you give some sage advice as well as things to think about. I will have to disagree with is the committee part, especially the Seal of Quality folk. I have had many dealing with them too. They did grant me one. But, all it takes is a look at the works awarded seals, and it becomes clear which genres or categories of posts are NEVER granted a seal (Never since the site began). This is also true of site contests. We all know what type of content in a story or poem will get your work ignored by all the committees, even if the site allows it. And if you often write with that 'type of content' the committee members remember (They've told me in replies) and will refuse to vote for you. Complaining to Tom about their bias does nothing.
Notes:
There's [a] handful of folk on there who plough through everything sent to them no matter how...
-missing word
Comment Written 08-Jun-2023
reply by the author on 08-Jun-2023
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Many thanks for checking this out, Lance. I did get frustrated a while ago with contests and just stopped entering them. When you read a lot of the entries, some piece seem to get bypassed that are much better than the selected winners.
No problem with a disagreement about sections of this at all. lol