Reviewing Newsletters Archive

A Reviewer's Intention - by Lotusneko

Konnichiwa, WDC readers! I am pleased to be the editor of this issue of the new Reviewing Newsletter. The subject today is Reviewer Burnout and Pen Name ’s tip of the month for making reviews more helpful.

Reviewing, even cursorily, takes time. There are only twenty-four hours in a day. Most members of WDC work and/or have family obligations. Why do we choose to spend that valuable time reviewing? Think back to your newbie days (present newbies excluded). What did you want to get back from reviewing others’ work? Did you hope to receive reviews of your work in return? Did you want to be showered with Gift Points so you could load up on Stories.com (I age myself) T-shirts and mugs? Thinking of the present, have your reasons for reviewing changed? As a new member, maybe you eagerly checked your mailbox after a hard day of reviewing and found it empty. Did you get burned out on reviewing because you felt it was a waste of time? Today, do you review more or less than when you first joined?

There are two main categories of intentions for reviewing: 1) Self-Gain and 2) Altruistic. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to be rewarded and appreciated for your hard work, reviewing out of a desire to help others is much less likely to lead to reviewer burnout. It is pleasant to receive GP’s or Comments for your items, but if they are few and far between, you are not hurt. The best reason for reviewing is the e-mail that says “Thank you. You really gave me some good pointers. Feel free to come back anytime.” Ah, interacting with others on the site, meeting new people. You never know where this will lead you. When I joined five years ago, I never thought I would be nominated to write a newsletter.

Tip of the Month: 1) Take a moment to let the person know where you saw their piece. If you saw it in a Newsletter, tell them which one and the date. I wish I had a dollar for every person who thanked me for telling them, because they had no idea that their piece was featured in a newsletter.

EDITOR’S PICKS

Here is a challenge. Right now, read and thoughtfully review at least two of these picks. Do not delete the newsletter after reading just the editorial. These are sheer reading ecstasy, and great examples of their genres of short story & poetry.

ASK & ANSWER this is my first newsletter, so I have no feedback or questions for which to respond. Love to hear from you, so holler at me about Reviewer Burnout, or any other reviewing topics you would like to see covered in the next newsletter!

~LOTUSNEKO

E.B. meets Muffy and Rye  (ASR) My entry for THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS...I took 2nd!! #723533 by DragonWrites~The Fire Faerie~

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The Girl with the Cobalt Blue Eyes  (E) There is just something about a girl with blue eyes. #954936 by Fyn

ASK & ANSWER

Since this is my first issue, I have no questions to answer. But I would like
to hear from you regarding Reviewer Burnout or anything else WDC-related.


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From Parade Magazine article 3/11/07; "The Most Unwanted Inventions" - Television - "For the greatest promise betrayed," explains Bob Altman of Mount Pleasant, S.C. "TV has desensitized the world to violence,; reduced political discourse to sound bites; fostered short attention spans, sendentary lifestyles and crass materialism; and demeaned women and fathers."