It's a subject that comes up often in one way or another, and it seems to have been a hot potato for some. I know I've blogged and shared my thoughts about reviews a few times, and I think we all have various different idea's and ways of reviewing. So what is a review really?

Well, I think it is fair to say that there is no hard or fast rule to what a review is. In many ways it is simply just feedback from a reader to a writer right? In terms of its definition a review would be seen as a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary. So should a review be wholly technical, based on the content and its presentation, or should it include your personal thoughts on the content of the story.

For me, I guess reviewing a story is about sharing with a writer my thoughts and feelings in relation to how the text has influenced me. See I am of the opinion that criticism is a two edged sword, and each of us react to it differently.

I've worked as a Beta with a number of different writers on GA, and had a number of different reactions to my feedback when it is presented as a critical opinion of their work. In the same way, I've had people leave reviews of my own work, and people message me with critical assessments of my work. For me personally, this has been a brilliant learning tool in that it has been wonderful to hear someone has enjoyed my writing, flaws and all, and other people have taken the time to write to me on a one to one level and try to help guide me on issues and improvements I can make in my presentation.

So this is how I've come to approach my own reviews.

Firstly I think it is only fair to offer a review of something I've read, even if it is just a few lines to say I enjoyed it. But in terms of a public review, I tend to leave a comment about the content and how I've interpreted things. I think a public review is about supporting a writer, and sharing with others your thoughts and feelings about the plot, characters and how things are unfolding. But strictly speaking this is more feedback than a review right?

A lot of writers here on GA use a forum link for discussion about their story. I for one have never actually gone to a forum link to leave comment there for a range of reasons. Firstly I don't like tracking off from the story itself to another area to leave my thoughts. Also a forum strikes me as a place where discussion is open to anyone's participation. Is that feedback or a review, or more a way of encouraging a debate about something within a story?

I know a couple of people have mentioned that within the GA review system there is no way to respond or discuss a writers response to a review you've left on a chapter. I am not sure that I see a forum as the right place to carry out a discussion, but see nothing wrong with responding to a comment from a writer by way of a personal message, and thus carry on a discussion in this way.

In terms of critical feedback I don't think there is anything wrong with dropping a comment as long as it is content based and not personal. But interpretation of critique is a funny thing, and often without meaning you can cause offence with even the simplest of comment, so personally I find that critique is best shared in the privacy of a one to one discussion. That is just me.

As for rating....

I know two writers have complained to me that I don't always click like on a chapter when I've read it. Now see the thing is, I'm a fairly active member of the forum community and in much the same way you use like within the world of social media to indicate you've enjoyed or agree with something, I rapidly use up my like allowance within the forum area. This means when it comes to rating, like is not something I use for a story I've enjoyed.

However, there is a star system within the writing area that allows you to leave a more realistic rating of the level of enjoyment that you've had from a chapter, it is just frustrating in that you have to return to the top of the page within a chapter to use it, before clicking the link back down at the bottom of the page to go on to the review area. The star systems means you can rate a chapter from 1 to 5 and thus leave a far more accurate assessment for other readers to see the rateable value of a story. In this way, via an anonymous rating system we can easily see if a story is good or bad. Now personally to me this makes so much more sense. It gives us a real chance to rate a story on being good or bad, and produce a real gauge of the content and readability of the writers work. Maybe I am wrong in this view of the rating system, but of all the things available to us to review a piece of work here on GA, it is for me, the better way of doing it.

We are really lucky here at GA in that we have a really well thought out system of being able to interact with a writer. We have multiple ways of offering feedback on a story. We have any number of ways of sharing our thoughts and feelings, is it not fair that we do more of it? Maybe I am just completely off the mark, but personally for me, it takes me a few moments of my time to share with a writer how their works touched me, and I just wish more of us would do it. I know I like feedback when I get it, even the private messages that tell me my work was crap. It really is a whacky old world out there, and there are so many different opinions on this issue. I guess there isn't an real right way or wrong way, it is what is good for you. One thing is for sure though, we should all partake in reviewing a whole lot more.

Thought for today - "We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing." - Billy Graham

Song for today - Set My World on Fire by The Feeling