Post by LadyRiona on Jun 21, 2007 18:13:52 GMT -5
Well I could honestly come up with a snazzier title if I wanted to, but alas...I did not.
We seem to be going off topic along these lines in another thread in the, believe it or not, Off Topic Discussion area. I don't know about everyone else, but I have a lot to say about this topic. So tell us about your general habits when reviewing stories and searching for new fodder for your brain, or whatever you want to about this topic....
When it comes to stories with me, I'm incredibly picky. When searching on FF.net, I usually compare the amount of reviews versus chapters and then the quality of the summary. Sometimes, it's just the summary that pulls me in, if it's just a single chapter story. So upon clicking into a story, I don't read it first. I check the format of the story, the punctuation, the dialogue, everything grammar first. One main thing that really disuades me from reading a story (but not always a definite "no") is when someone does a quote like this:
"It's in the cellar." He said.
From years of taking writing classes, it should be like this:
"It's in the cellar," he said.
Now if the person wanted to write it like this, it'd be fine:
"It's in the cellar." He said this quietly between shivers.
That's just a huge pet peeve of mine and has great influence on what I read, combined with the sentence structure, capitalization, how the characters are written, and, most importantly, the PLOT. So I'm a tough cookie to please when it comes to stories....rest assured, when it comes to characterization of original characters, I'm a whole world more lenient.
Now when it comes to reviewing for me, if I do decide to review, it's never a short, sweet, "Great job, update soon" if it's an updateable story. I HATE those reviews with a passion but still accept them. So anyway. Whenever reading, I make mental notes of a misused or misspelled word, some point of grammar that isn't quite right (using "and" instead of "to" in particular instances is another thing that bugs me...). If I thought a particular thing could use some work in any way, shape, or form, I let the person know via reviewing.
First, though, before coming down on them with the (few, since I'm so picky) things I noticed, I tell them about their good points. Description, way of wording things like the original author if it's fanfiction, their grammar, etc. In essence, I "butter them up" for what's to come. And alas, that "however" does come in which it's, "you did great...however, this needs work."
And I let them know that I'm telling them this in hopes of trying to aid them, not at all flaming them or being mean. Like the other day, I read two awesome stories for Howl's Moving Castle and I was on the edge of my seat, practically, with the plot because it was so good! (If anybody wants links, I'll gladly provide.) However good they were, there were still some tiny things that needed work that I noticed....
Anyway, that's probably enough monologuing for now. But all of this being said, I am in no way saying that I am the perfect writer, I know all when it comes to writing stories. No, in fact...I'm a very passive writer a lot of the time. I might have good mechanics, but my plots could be better thought out in advance, the words could be more interactive, etc....so yeah. Just wanted to say that I'm not holding myself as a high and mighty wannabe author. I'm here to hopefully help other people get better mechanically and to surpass my style of passive writing.
So shutting up now. Anyone else's thoughts?
EDIT: Because I was a dummy and forgot "this" in the correct form of dialogue. xD
We seem to be going off topic along these lines in another thread in the, believe it or not, Off Topic Discussion area. I don't know about everyone else, but I have a lot to say about this topic. So tell us about your general habits when reviewing stories and searching for new fodder for your brain, or whatever you want to about this topic....
When it comes to stories with me, I'm incredibly picky. When searching on FF.net, I usually compare the amount of reviews versus chapters and then the quality of the summary. Sometimes, it's just the summary that pulls me in, if it's just a single chapter story. So upon clicking into a story, I don't read it first. I check the format of the story, the punctuation, the dialogue, everything grammar first. One main thing that really disuades me from reading a story (but not always a definite "no") is when someone does a quote like this:
"It's in the cellar." He said.
From years of taking writing classes, it should be like this:
"It's in the cellar," he said.
Now if the person wanted to write it like this, it'd be fine:
"It's in the cellar." He said this quietly between shivers.
That's just a huge pet peeve of mine and has great influence on what I read, combined with the sentence structure, capitalization, how the characters are written, and, most importantly, the PLOT. So I'm a tough cookie to please when it comes to stories....rest assured, when it comes to characterization of original characters, I'm a whole world more lenient.
Now when it comes to reviewing for me, if I do decide to review, it's never a short, sweet, "Great job, update soon" if it's an updateable story. I HATE those reviews with a passion but still accept them. So anyway. Whenever reading, I make mental notes of a misused or misspelled word, some point of grammar that isn't quite right (using "and" instead of "to" in particular instances is another thing that bugs me...). If I thought a particular thing could use some work in any way, shape, or form, I let the person know via reviewing.
First, though, before coming down on them with the (few, since I'm so picky) things I noticed, I tell them about their good points. Description, way of wording things like the original author if it's fanfiction, their grammar, etc. In essence, I "butter them up" for what's to come. And alas, that "however" does come in which it's, "you did great...however, this needs work."
And I let them know that I'm telling them this in hopes of trying to aid them, not at all flaming them or being mean. Like the other day, I read two awesome stories for Howl's Moving Castle and I was on the edge of my seat, practically, with the plot because it was so good! (If anybody wants links, I'll gladly provide.) However good they were, there were still some tiny things that needed work that I noticed....
Anyway, that's probably enough monologuing for now. But all of this being said, I am in no way saying that I am the perfect writer, I know all when it comes to writing stories. No, in fact...I'm a very passive writer a lot of the time. I might have good mechanics, but my plots could be better thought out in advance, the words could be more interactive, etc....so yeah. Just wanted to say that I'm not holding myself as a high and mighty wannabe author. I'm here to hopefully help other people get better mechanically and to surpass my style of passive writing.
So shutting up now. Anyone else's thoughts?
EDIT: Because I was a dummy and forgot "this" in the correct form of dialogue. xD