The style which you follow is extremely important when it comes to reviewing, and I believe it is something that needs to be cemented well and kept consistent through your journey as a reviewer.

My initial suggestion would be to say, ‘Be formal’, but that may be stretching it. After all, as important as it is to try and keep reviews as formal as possible, it may not be entirely possible or necessary all the time.

There are, however, some things that should most definitely be avoided.

First and foremost: emoticons. I understand the tendency and temptation to place a few smiley faces here and there; writing a review does feel like you are speaking directly to the author of the story, and therefore, it is natural for our informal and colloquial nature to want to seem more conversational and “easy-going”. However, the usage of emoticons automatically diminishes the level of professionalism and legitimacy of your review. Sure, fanfic reviews are no professional department, but… how should I say this… emoticons can, in some ways, make you come across as though you aren’t taking the review very seriously. I admit to have been guilty of scattering one or two smiley faces in my past reviews, especially the earlier ones. Essentially, emoticons are not absolutely forbidden (though I really am tempted to say that they are), but it is best to avoid them at all costs and use them as sparingly as possible. Preferably not at all.

Next up: abbreviations. These include things like ‘LOL’, ‘OMG’, ‘ROFL’, ‘IMO’, ‘TBH’, ‘BTW’ etc. These are obviously hard to avoid, considering that the youth of our generation simply use them without even thinking anymore; they’ve become almost “acceptable” in the modern language. But, again, avoid them. They, too, make your review seem unprofessional and lacking in authority. However, I personally deem ones like ‘e.g.’ and ‘i.e.’ acceptable; this is open for debate, though.

Another thing, though this may just be me being extremely nitpicky: try not to shorten, abbreviate or alter the characters’ names. For example, turning ‘Jonghyun’ into ‘Jjong’, ‘Kyuhyun’ into ‘Kyu’, ‘Taemin’ into ‘Taeminnie’, ‘Leeteuk’ into ‘Teukie’ etc. Also, try not to use nicknames when mentioning the characters, like ‘Dubu’ or ‘Fishy’, even if it’s pretty obvious who you’re referring to, unless this is the name that is employed consistently by the author themselves. In short, try to refer to the characters in the same way the author does; that is, if they use ‘Jinki’, then you should try to use ‘Jinki’ instead of ‘Onew’.

And then we have the asterisks and slashes and hyphens used to imply action or movement. I personally like to refer to them as ‘stage directions’. (Is there a correct term for them? Please enlighten me.) This includes anything like ‘*hugs*’, ‘*drum roll*’, ‘-smiles-’, ‘-le glomps-’ (don’t ever use ‘le’ in this context; it’s acceptable in comments and blog posts or whatever, but not in reviews), ‘/flails’ etc. The reasons for not using them are exactly the same as the ones listed above, and they also apply for any other form of informality.

You don’t necessarily have to sound like you’re writing an official legal document, but make the effort to sound mature and sensible. So, aside from the points raised above, don’t slot in random and excessive jokes where they are not needed, or suddenly break out into song when a word that reminds you of something comes up.

I now bring your attention to one of the biggest and most widely faulted aspects of reviewing: objectivity. I cannot emphasize this enough, my fellow reviewers.

Be objective. Be, be objective.

Make that your personal slogan for reviewing or something, if you must. This means no biasness or prejudice. I may be stretching it a bit by saying ‘at all’, since we are humans and humans are naturally prone to being biased, but this is the one area that needs the most attention.

You cannot deduct points for characterization because the author made your favourite Jessica unnie a bit of a b*tch. You cannot throw a tantrum in the review because the author killed off Donghae, your beloved oppa. You cannot mark down the plot because Key did not end up with Jonghyun, but became a couple with Onew, and defied your OTP. You absolutely cannot, will not, and shall not be basing your review on the foundation of your personal wants and expectations for the story.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I have seen instances where reviewers have literally said things along the lines of, ‘I didn’t really like your characterization, but I like SHINee, so I’ll give you full points xD’, or, ‘I didn’t give you full marks for the plot because 2min didn’t end up together (sorry, they’re my OTP)’, or, ‘Everything’s pretty much perfect, but I don’t ship EunHae, so no full marks. Sorry.’ (Note: the examples used are purely made up by me based on similar statements I have seen. I am not, in any way, pointing out any particular review or reviewer.)

It is fine to voice your opinion and thoughts on the story, but when you do, you must mention explicitly that this is your personal opinion. Just put ‘I personally think…’ before your statement. It’s that simple. And as much as it is acceptable to do this, it should not become the backbone against which you base your marking and advice-giving. Also, don’t overdo them; personal opinions are, in the end, your personal opinions, and the point of asking for a review isn’t necessarily to ask if you loved their story on a personal level.

Another extremely important area of reviewing: grammar. I’m confident that this isn’t the shadow of a tiny bit of a Grammar Nazi within me speaking: correct usage of grammar should always be employed when writing up reviews. This section should be pretty self-explanatory. There’s no point ranting on about how the author has bad grammar, spells words wrong or doesn’t use ‘a lot of big words’ when the reviewer is spelling ‘a lot’ as one word and switching between tenses. This may be harsh and, well, slightly rude on my part, if you so wish to say, but if your skills in English aren’t at least decent, then you really shouldn’t be reviewing.

That was pretty callous and brutal for me to say, and sometimes this is how you need to be when reviewing. Sometimes, there is no point sugar-coating and waffling on, trying in vain to rack your brains to make the sentence sound nicer than you intended. Of course, I’m not saying that reviewers should all be mean and nasty, but don’t hold back on the truth because you think it will hurt the author. Sure, it is important to consider their feelings, but remember: they are the ones who asked for the review, and therefore, they should be prepared for whatever the reviewer has to say, which includes criticism. If you think they need to know the truth and that the truth will help them step on the road to improving, then get it out there. Don’t be afraid of coming off as mean if you think what you’re pointing out is fair and will help the author. But, of course, try to word it nicely and respectfully; there’s a difference between bashing and constructive criticism. I’ll touch on this again in a bit more detail in the next chapter.

Reverting back to the part where I mentioned ‘big words’. A lot of reviewers believe that they are obliged to incorporate many sophisticated words, use complex sentence structures and abuse the thesaurus in order to make themselves appear more credible. However, though some people will believe that you are literate and intelligent, others may simply disregard your big words and move straight on. The result is that you fail to communicate your message, because not everyone has the time and patience to grab themselves a dictionary to look up every single word they have not seen or do not understand. We, as humans, are lazy by nature. Therefore, be direct with your word choice and method of communication – get straight to the point, and don’t dawdle on unnecessary details that the author of the fanfic most likely doesn’t have time to care about. You also risk the possibility of making a fool of yourself if you’ve used a big word incorrectly.

Some reviewers like to quote other reviewers in their own reviews. I guess this is acceptable, in some ways, if done sparingly. But most importantly, you absolutely must have received the nod of approval before you go on to copy and paste their words. I’ve had this happen to me before, and the person approached me very politely and kindly asked if they could use one of my explanations on random insertion of Korean words/phrases. I cannot reiterate enough how important it is to have obtained permission before using their words; without their permission, it is plagiarism. Yes, copying and pasting parts of reviews also constitutes plagiarism. If you send them a message and they do not reply, that does not mean you can go on and use their words because ‘it’s not my fault they didn’t respond’. No reply should be taken as a ‘no’, even if it was a mere incident of them not seeing your message. And if the reviewer tells you that they do not wish for their words to be used in someone else’s review, then it is vital that you respect them and follow through with their wish. If they say yes and specifically ask for you to give them the proper credit they deserve, then it is imperative that you do so.

I would talk about the importance of the review layout and appearance, but that often gets altered by the author if and when they post the review, anyway, so we have little control over it. Just remember the basics: don’t use inappropriate fonts or bright, blinding colours/highlighting, make sure your text size is legible, and try to separate your points by using paragraphs or dot points so that your review is more reader-friendly. Also, just like a fanfic, no random use of Korean words (like ‘ne’, ‘arasso’, ‘gwenchana’ etc.).

That’s pretty much all I can think of at the moment. This is a bit of a longer chapter because there was so much to cover, since this is perhaps one of the most important aspects of reviewing. Who knows, I might suddenly remember another point I need to make and come back to add it in, in which case I’ll notify you all via the story feed.