About Reviews on AFF

This is just my two cents worth regarding ‘reviews’ on aff. If you’re a reviewer or you open a ‘review shop’ here, don’t mind me (and don’t get butthurt.)

When I first started out as a writer, I was rather fascinated by reviews. I would click review shop after review shop, scroll through them, admire the stories who got ‘high marks’ for their stories and then I’d be a little jealous.

Then, I move on.

Recently, due to boredom, I scrolled through these review shops again. And I just find everything wrong.

There is a marking scheme! Gasp! Is this a college essay I’m writing? Is this a research paper? Oh no! Gasp!

So the reviewer would give a mark based on the title, poster (gasps again!), grammar, characterization, plot, originality (gasps!) and writing style (GASPS.)

If you think this is a flawless marking scheme, you are dead wrong.

Poster. Okay, if I was trying to make a movie sell, then a poster would definitely be included. But I’m writing a story! I’m writing fiction! Do you see novels having pictures in them? No! Only on the cover. Okay, let’s say Fifty Shades of Grey, even though it’s really an novel. Do you see a picture of Anastasia and Christian on the cover? Laughs. No. Does it still sell? Yes! And why does it sell? Is it because the front cover has a picture of handcuffs or masks and whatnot? No! It’s because of the content. So why are makes given for the freaking poster?

Originality. Typical reviewer: Oh hey I see some similar elements in your story compared to other stories, therefore I’ll have to deduct marks in this section. This is typical bull I see. Every story is taken from another story. There is no ‘real’ creative here. Do you see Korean dramas really having a totally different plot? They all follow a basic structure anyway. It’s like the Korean version of Romeo and Juliet. The only really original thing I’ve heard so far in my puny short life is Waiting for Godot. Every story must have a similar element when compared to other stories. I’m not saying it’s entirely impossible to have something really original. I’m saying that the chance of that is unlikely.

Writing Style. Gasp. How do you judge a writing style? Someone enlighten me. Please.

You don’t actually have to have a complete plot to write something good. If you’d look at saltnpaper’s Anatomy, it’s just snippets of two characters’ lives. There is no complete plot. And yet, it’s still mindblowing in a way.

And trust me, I’ve seen marking schemes with grammar taking 30/100 points. Laughs.

I guess, at the end of this post, what I’m trying to say is:

Writers, if you ever receive a review that says your story , don’t believe them, even though they are mostly right 75% of the time. Ask your readers instead. Your readers are the most accurate reviews you can get. Most reviews are bull because of this stupid thing called the marking scheme.

reviews. Ask writers (the good ones) for help. Ask your readers.

What do you guys think of reviews? Share!

CHEERS~

Comments

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Wonachan #1 Jun 18, 2014 12:19:02

Never requested for one. Asking people their thoughts is better.

eyelovegg #2 Jun 18, 2014 11:27:34

I never ask for one, so i dont know. But then after reading this, i will never ask for one..

peachysoo #3 Jun 18, 2014 11:15:55

I also dislike the fact that review shops take requests for people that have already requested to have their review done by multiple shops or have gotten multiple reviews already done for the story they are requesting a review for. It's one thing to have maybe 2-3 reviews done for a story, but once you're getting past 5 reviews for one story, then I think review shops should reject those requests (Heck, even at the 2-3 review mark, they should reject those requests). I just don't think it's fair for someone that genuinely wants to get a review done and hasn't got one yet has to wait weeks to months at a time for the people that have already gotten more than 1 review for their stories, but keep on requesting because they feel the need to have hundreds of people read their fic because they can't get some actual readers in the first place. (I don't know, it just kind of irks me to see people with 5+ reviews on one story keep on requesting for reviews for that same story, filling slots up at review shops where those slots should be automatically given to authors that haven't gotten a review done in the first place. If the first 5 people haven't said what they wanted, then the next 100 probably aren't going to say it either. And I think it's pretty selfish to take a spot away or make someone wait up to weeks at a time to get one measly review done who have never actually gotten a review for their story done before. But this is just my thinking.)

peachysoo #4 Jun 18, 2014 11:15:49

Most reviewers aren't that great and should probably just close down their shops because of how they review. I've only come across a few reviewers that actually are good at what they do and can actually give good advice. These reviewers are also people that I know spend time on their reviews and write essay length reviews instead of the 10 lines or so that a lot of reviewers like to give. If a review is 10 lines or less long, then that person should just disregard it because 10 lines isn't enough to say much except 'I liked this part' or 'I didn't like this part.' Point systems should not be used and if Grammar takes up a good portion of the review, then that's not good either, because while grammar is important, it's also the easiest thing to improve on and actually see results within a short amount of time if you work on it. But things like character development and being able to plot well, minimizing plot holes, is a lot harder and is usually something that never gets looked at very much.

Personally, I'm not too keen on reviewers because I think a lot of them don't know what they are doing and don't have the knowledge or skills to make their opinions worth much. If they wrote well and had experience, then I'm more inclined to put weight in a reviewer's words, but usually, a lot of them don't write and if they do, they aren't the best writers out there. (This is a reason why I don't do reviews, because while I think I'm a decent writer, I do not have the knowledge or skills to tell others on what they should improve on, unless it's really basic like POV changes or gaping plot holes.) So really, of the reviewers out there, probably only like 5% are actually good at what they do and can give sound advice, while the rest, it's a bit of a toss up.