Reviewing Newsletters Archive

Adopting a Reviewing Persona - by Lotusneko

REVIEWING NEWS & VIEWS

Konnichiwa! This month we will look at "Reviewing Personas." Is adopting one right for you? My last three issues included interviews with WDC Review Ghouls, a Halloween reviewing activity that asks WDC reviewers to adopt a spooky persona and interview as that individual, not as themselves. The Review Ghouls activity sounded like a blast, a carry-over from Halloween, when we wear costumes to express a part of ourselves we are too shy to reveal during the other 364 days of the year.

But why should the fun stop when Halloween is over? We put our costumes away until next year, but WDC lends itself to adopting a costume of sorts, a Reviewing Persona that allows us to critique in a different fashion than as just our plain old selves. Who can we be? Maybe a legendary fictional character, or a lesser-known character whom you admire. Or a general category, such as Goth or Emo, a celebrity, or even a character from one of your stories.

Why shouldn't you continue to review as just yourself? Why go through the trouble of masquerading as someone else? There are several benefits to adopting a persona. First, we all have the reviewer burnout from time to time. Being someone else brings an aspect of fun and excitement to hum-drum reviewing. And, I would think hard not to respond to a review from someone like, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Second, we have a chance to create a really cool sig to use with your Persona. Did you see all the cool sigs the Review Ghouls used? I requested the image numbers so readers could see how attention-grabbing the sigs were. There are many sig shops on WDC to help you create an artistic and memorable sig for a reasonable amount of GP's. Third,, if you get tired of one persona, there are many others to choose from.

Last and most important, reviewing as someone else will almost literally allow you to see things through a new pair of eyes. You will find things in the work that you did not notice before. Adopting a persona takes imagination, creativity, and a little courage. All of these things are important in the writing world. Who knows where being someone else will take you in your creative writing as well as creative reviewing?

I will try this idea out. I am currently mulling over a few Persona ideas. One I keep coming back to is Sherlock Holmes. If you get a review from the "great detective," it might just be me.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Support a U.S. Soldier in his writing endeavors by reading this charming, true account.

Rambo's Gate  (E) ture story about MPs and an Afghani guarding a gate #1484963 by MattyJ145

Impatience in waiting, something we all do.

Waiting, Waiting 1-2-3  (ASR) How long must I wait? #477289 by Kenzie

Biting pencils and writer's block:

Bite Marks  (13+) The bad habit of biting pencils #1102908 by Joy

ASK & ANSWER

This month's question is: What Reviewing Persona would you be?

TIP OF THE MONTH If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. - Joseph Campbell

REVIEWING NL FEEDBACK FORUM Comments on ideas for a future newsletter? All the editors and readers meet here. Join in! "Feedback Central"   by Storm Machine

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“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” - Ursula K. LeGuin