Ratings from The Sandbox

Rating & Reviewing from the Sandbox

Introduction

I’ve noticed a couple of people here on WDC that have items in their ports which explains how they rate and review. While I strive to return a return for a review, sometimes I am not successful. Sadly, there's just not enough time in the day. Items I do review are contest entries in my SHOW OFF YOUR BEST, BARD'S HALL, and BEST OF THE REST Contests. I also give out reviews for those items I'll be including in my DRAMA NEWSLETTER. I also give out MISC reviews as time permits.

That said, I thought it would be nice to add such an item in case anyone wonders why they got what they did from me. Just keep mind everyone has their own system and their own standards and what works for me might not work for someone else. I try to be considerate, kind, and honest here in the Sandbox.

Picky & Choosy



If you happen to find my port, pick a story and review it, I will DO MY BEST to go to your port. When I do, what I usually do is make selection to read, print it off and read it at work when I have down time so when I get back on the computer, I can go straight to your port and R&R.



My Rules as time permits

Rule #1 – If you check out my port, I'll be my best to check out yours, but I make no promises. It may take a day or two to get to it, but I will check it out.

Rule #2 – I look for items that attract my interest. What interests me? I’m looking for supernatural, romance/love, character driven stories, but I don’t “lock” myself into those either. If you’ve got an interesting hook, I’m there. I’ll download the story and read. If I’m impressed, I’ll spend some serious time in your port, checking you out, and will review more than one piece.

Rule #3 – You’ve got to hold my interest if you want me to hang out. The writing has got to be clean, crisp, and snappy.

Since this site encourages honest, polite, and helpful feedback, I strive to deliver. If I think the writing is poor, 2.5 or lower, I usually don’t R&R because there are some people out there who would #1 genuinely be hurt, #2 or think that I was being mean and they would hit my port in revenge and give one of my items such an undeserving rating. I’m just being honest with this. I’ve seen it happen to a couple of writing buddies here on WDC. Those 2.5 along with the “tone” of their review hurt people’s feelings and I’m not into that. If anything, I might send a separate email if I thought it would be taken in the honest spirit its given. I can’t stress enough to READ the guidance WDC gives on rating and reviewing.

Rule #4 – You want that 5, make me excited about your work. Draw me into your world – keep the plot straight and stay true to your characters. I’ll know if you’ve captured their voice or if they’ve captured yours. When it comes to characters just don’t STATE why they do what they do, elaborate why.

What I look at:

I want everyone to know that I review based on the following editing points:

Point of View
Characterization
Sound
Dialogue
Mechanics
1st 3 Paragraphs
Descriptions

I go into the review from an "editor's" point of view. While I am CANDID and HONEST, I also try to be very encouraging. I try to point out your weaknesses and strengths and it's never my intent to give you a "useless" or "unhelpful" review.





Thoughts on Rating

If you’ve got a couple of mechanical errors (grammar and punctuation, spelling…) but I found your work held my interest and got me excited – I’ll give you a 5. I personally think it’s a cheat to give a 4.5 based on mechanical errors only.

If I give you a 4 or a 4.5 I thought you wrote well, but there was something missing in the story itself, plot, pacing, time and setting, characters not fleshed out enough, that didn’t excite me the way it should.

If you get a 3 or 3.5, I try to give casual feedback with helpful hints. Things that I look for here – too many mechanical errors, dull dialogue, slow/fast pacing not balanced, do you start with action to draw me in? Can I “root” for the main character? I think the work is still good but needs a little bit more attention to detail.

Show me the GP’s, Merit Badges, and Awardicons

I usually give out GP’s to those works that did hold my interest and I liked. The more I liked it, the more GP’s I’ll give out.

If you’ve spent some serious time hanging out in the Sandbox and read one of my novel length stories, “REMAINS”, “TWILIGHT”, “TORMENT”, or “FLAMES” and made it known to me with some feedback, I’ll give you a merit badge for “Reading.” I do appreciate you having you here!

If I find a story in your port that BLEW ME AWAY, I will give you an Awardicon. Examples of some stories I’ve given Awardicons to include:

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #956712 by Not Available.

The Wake of Madness  (18+) A girl struggles to overcome the dark truth of who she is. #960979 by Stiggles

Look to His Like  (18+) A spicy, fun tale of what happens when a modern woman goes husband-hunting. #1018758 by KateG

What I appreciate the most though is honest feedback worded in such a way not to insult me. I had one scathing critique that really hurt my feelings (not here) and while it did have some valid points, it hurt to weed through all that negativity to address the valid points. Be honest – not obnoxious.

Here are some items on Rating & Reviewing that I think are helpful:

Guidelines To Great Reviewing  (E) Writing a detailed review takes time. Follow these guidelines for best results! #818872 by The StoryMaster

Excuse Me?  (ASR) Replies to reviews can be frustrating and confusing. #940608 by Vivian