Amygdalia's Blog

On reviewing

I’ve shied away from reviewing for the past few years. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I struggle with finding the right balance in a review. Sometimes it’s simple – a lovely piece with a few grammatical errors, or a comment on how to make the work flow more smoothly. But other times the piece is so flooded with grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and simply poor writing, that it’s painful for me to tackle.

I’m a people pleaser, at heart. I want to make people happy. But in the long run, would it make someone happier to receive a glowing review for a piece that needs a great deal of work . . . or to receive constructive criticism with an eye to what works in the piece? I simply cannot do it – a glowing review for a piece that needs an overhaul is not honest, and it’s not within the realm of what I can do. And it’s not helpful. A writer who comes to the site might be just looking for fun, and an outlet for their creative energies. On the other hand, a writer may be looking for truly useful advice on how to create a publishable piece of work.

The question is – how does one know whether an author is simply looking for a “cute piece” type review, or a run-through of what would make the work shine?

I’ll be honest – I know I’m not the most polished author, but at the same time I know grammar, and I know spelling. The undisciplined years of reading until my eyes felt like they would fall out of my face served me well. I know what good writing looks like, although I may not be able to create it 100% of the time.

So, as I said . . . I’ve shied away from reviewing, when in reality I should be doing far more of it than I am. Parsing the work of others can also help me figure out what I need to do with my own writing.

It’s time to get myself back on that horse, and figure out how to create the proper balance in those reviews. Giddyap!