Shall I Compare Thee to an Author's Work?

These days, I just give more general comments about what happened in the fic/chapter. It's really all I have time for. And it makes reviewing less of a slog if I don't focus on the small parts of everything but on the more general quicker side of things.

Whether my review is more praise or constructive depends on who the author is. Like some authors I know are looking to improve, and I'll make sure to find something to point out that I feel they can do better. But other authors are either too new that I don't want them to get scared off/confused or are just writing for the sake of writing that I'd rather they just know that someone is reading than having to worry about the nuances.

Yeah I too mostly give my thoughts what happened in the story/chapter. I think I tend to be giving more praises than criticism, only once in a while if I feel something is off like pacing or characterization I'll point out. I don't worry too much about grammar unless I see someone making the same mistake again and again.

I don't get to review things often, since I don't have a lot of free time and can't catch many things at their start - which would make it much easier for me to comment on something regularly. However, I do like to give and receive a mix of both. I'm not just gonna grind on someone if everything isn't perfection (since I'm hardly a shining example), but I'm not going to drown anyone in praise either, regardless of how good it actually is.

I make mental notes as I read when I find inconsistencies in character or the story, then go back after the fact and re-read those points and search (if I can) for any supporting evidence. I guess what I look for most in other people's writing are the things that I know I personally have issues with, since when I read other people's stuff I'm trying to absorb their process in order to apply it to myself in hopes of becoming better.