Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Reviews for Advanved Writers

Check it out....

Before I get into a new type of review format for advanced writers let me plug something I read here recently that was a fun read….Go to Hatsuda’s port and read The courtship of Chizuko. It is an absolutely delightful read.

Reviews for Advanced Writers

The Bad Cop Review:

This is another type of review I have been considering….It is one that will only be offered to those I am acquainted with who agree in advance to accept it. I am out of the unsolicited review business and will only offer to do one of three types on a selective basis. These are the Structured, the Bad Cop and the Second Edit Review.

The Structured Review requires no elaboration…It has countless variations in criteria and I will pick and choose from these in the formats offering the best examples. The second Edit I have already explained. These will be used in cases where the recipient is an advanced writer who sees the merit in this approach.

The Bad Cop will be a Structured Review that is slanted heavily towards areas of improvement rather than a balance of positive and negative. The idea is that most serious writers do not need to be stroked. They know what they do well and the energy of the review will focus instead on areas of improvement. It is an intermediate approach between the Structured and Second Edit.

In some cases the review will focus on a macro deficiency the writer has….I could be something like active and passive voice, showing and telling, using emotions and senses….If an area such as this is clearly evidenced then the review will hammer at getting the writer’s attention.

Once the reviewer sees no glaring macro problems any longer then the focus will shift to a line by line analysis which include overuse of modifying words and clauses, passive voice, grammar, spelling, sentence and paragraph structure, POV, transitions, contextual word choices, resonance, subject verb agreement to mention but a few. Once the review finds ten deficiencies it will be terminated...the writer will be invited to address these and if they want it resumed they can so respond. Ten shortcomings seems about right for a single dose.

What the review will not contain are the host of caveats, indirect recommendations and disclaimers that are common to the structured review.

The Bad Cop and Second Edit review are for advanced writers that come to writing.com with a serious commitment to improving. For those who are not as advanced, committed, or emotionally ready there remains the Old Standby….

The point that needs to be stressed is that writers will have an opportunity of accept or decline an advanced review and if they can't deal with it....there is the established mechanism to fall back on.