This topic, which includes writing motivations, goals and the aim, art and worth of reviewing has been taken to the forums: "Welcome - come on in!" - "what we write and where". Hope to see some of you there, some good honest conversations going on.
I toil, I know - but one day I have aspirations of wriggling free from this world of commerce and earning enough crust to wile away my days just tap, tapping away. In order for this to happen though, you should know, that I need you. Not in the literal sense; my wife provides emotional support, I have re-established contact with my parents and have a solid, if occasionally immature base of friends. I need you though - to tell me what you think of what I write, I suspect I am not alone. It has to be admitted, that at times my prose wavers pendulous over clumsy, average and captivating but you have to appreciate, I do not know this; most of everything I post here, is done so with the expectation Stodder and Houghton will be kicking the door down the very next morning. You will probably be sat there thinking, what do I know? Well the truth of the matter is: lots, the very fact you're reading this means that you are infinitely qualified to tell me what is wrong with what I write, because you love to read and that is about the only qualification I can imagine a critic of writing can need. So, next time you pass by something I wrote, whether clumsy, prosaic, wonderous or riveting; dear reader, please let me know what you thought. |
Written by Cindersarella (73 comments posted) 5th January 2007 | I liked this, not necessarily your best piece in terms of literary contruct. However its strength lies in the originality of the idea and the way you presented this. The value of a good idea is often overlooked.
Content wise I think what you say is very true. Hearing criticism is undoubtably hard on our ears and ego. But I think if we are all honest we would prefer constructive criticisms rather sychophantic back slapping or even worse no feedback! How else are we to progress and achieve our goals?
What I do find amusing though is when people begin to review the reviews and forget about the original piece! We are all entitled to our opinions and that for me is the beauty of this forum. 
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Written by fellpony (2924 comments posted) 5th January 2007 | OK ... Here goes. I know we must all pass over some work and don't comment. In my case, it's often because someone has already written what I would write about the piece. However, in spite of the tips that are shown under the review pane, we often don't write helpful things, do we?
I know we have careful proofreaders here: ones who will spot the spelling/grammatical errors such as:
"your reading" (should be "you're reading", ie contraction of you are)
"wile away" is usually "while away", and "wonderous", "wondrous" -- I think?
In this piece you are saying things that are very important but using too many words! Let me give you an example of how you could tighten it up.
Paragraph 1: "I toil, I know, but one day I have aspirations of wriggling free from this world of commerce and earning enough crust to wile away my days just tap, tapping away."
How about:
"I toil in the world of commerce, but I have aspirations: I want to wriggle free, to while away my days just tap, tap, tapping out a web of words."
Take out things that you say twice, or fasten them together; then add a more definite end to the sentence. Alliteration helps too of course ... w, w, w.
Nuff?
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Written by Phil (8763 comments posted) 5th January 2007 | I've just reviewed one of Fellpony's pieces and commented on the commercial aspect of her work and how we could all learn from it.
What she advises then, ought to be heeded, but I can't help thinking that changing your sentence structure changes you. Much of what you write is very good, even better. You even have your own style. Is giving up the 'us' in our writing worth it to court Stodder and Houghton? -Probably worth a go.
Your/you're is a recurring error Johnnie.
Keep tapping.
Phil | reviewing, and reviewing ...
Written by fellpony (2924 comments posted) 6th January 2007 | This looks like a question to discuss on open forum, don't you think -- Johnnie and Phil? I have started a thread on "Welcome - come on in!" -- called it "what we write and where".
I have been to read some of your other stuff Johnnie and lots of it is very good so please don't be upset at anything I suggested. It's only an idea. However if someone else looks and learns a trick or two, we are all doing good for someone, I hope.
Sue |
Written by Fledermaus (4146 comments posted) 7th January 2007 | I agree with you that not all criticism has to be positive and that it can be very helpful to give an honest opinion. I noticed that especially Gerald and Oli are very good at giving very clear feedback and I certainly appreciate that, for if they say it's bad, it's probably bad, but when they say it's good, it's certainly good.
Writing is one thing, but reviewing is an art on its own  | ...on the other hand
Written by Cindersarella (73 comments posted) 7th January 2007 | I feel quite strongly that specific individuals should not be flagged up as giving good/bad advice.
Surely it is that if someone has taken the effort to read your work and formulate an opinion we should hold them in equal regard.
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