Why don't you review?

[DarkIceForever]

So as the title says. Why don't you review. This isn't strictly for people who don't review. There are a lot of writers who post their writing online, but don't really contribute much to the section. They just post and run. As I like to say.

Is it time? Do you hate reading and like writing? Do people's stories annoy you to some extent? This would be a good time to blow some steam off without metioning names. What are some examples that really prohibt you from reviewing another person's story? Do you read a story then hate it and back out without saying anything? Is it really too much of a chore to flat out say I dislike your story because it doesn't appeal to me?

As for me I really don't like reviewing fictons that are heavily chaptered in. I like to progress with the author as it goes along. I really don't like spending time reviewing a whole fiction because I miss small details. I tend not to review much because I feel I can't contribute useful information other than my personal take on the story.

But I do like to review author's stories who are new to the site usually because I know something that could help them in the long run.

 

[Astinus]

I don't have the time to review as often as I would like to. And even when I do have the time, I just don't want to read Pokemon fics. I've been reading Pokemon fics for years, and I'm getting tired of them. (Plus drifting away from the fandom itself.) So sometimes it just feels like a job reviewing here, which is how I look at it some days.

Because I don't have the time, I don't read a lot of fics that are long or have a lot of chapters posted to them. It would take me months to catch up to a fic, and by then the author would have posted several more chapters that I would want to read. Or, on the other hand, I could finally catch up to the fic and be ready to write a review, only to find that the author fell off the face of the Internet.

There are also times when I read a story and realize that I have NOTHING to say about it other than "yay" or "meh".

There's other reasons, but I'm too tired to even go into them.

 

[psyanic]

I surely haven't read as many fics as Astinus has, but I do not feel that interested in reading fics anymore. Even longer, engaging stories are hard to keep up with due to a general lack of interest.

When I first started reviewing, it was almost fun. It was nice to know that I was learning how to write as I dissected literature. But now, there's no fun. Maybe it's because I'm more knowledgeable about writing than before, or it was my general interest waning. Either way, reviewing has become a chore.

What makes reviewing even more of a chore is the fact that most new writers that need help or reviews have the same problems. Fics tend to have trends that are highly noticeable, and I severely dislike reading them. It's come to the point that I hit the quote box and review line by line rather than actually reading through for a few stories, because of how predictable they become. That is not how anyone should be reviewing, and I really need to break that habit, but it's still an issue. I digressed. Anyway, fics tend to have the same problems, a lot of which could be solved by reading the Writer's Resources thread. People don't spell correctly, can't form correct grammar, can't establish characters, etc. You don't even need to check out the Writer's Resources when you can read a book and follow an example. I'm not saying plagiarize it, but study the prose of the novel. Take notes on the characters, plot, and everything else. If more writers did that before they even dived into fanfiction, I feel that most problems would be eliminated.

I find myself typing the same thing for most of my reviews nowadays. There are the same analogies and examples, yet no one bothers to listen or doesn't understand. It gets worse when I have to repeat myself in another review. The process kills me. I understand that people need help, otherwise, why would they post their story online in the first place? But when the problems are the same, it gets annoying. (Before I even planned a story, I searched through the Internet and the library on writing proper prose and establishing characters. I've always thought it to be good to plan ahead and prepare. What bugs me is that some authors dive in their story without a plan at all, which is evident by reading what they write.)

Reviews are everything. They mean the world to authors, even if they're misinformed or incorrect. It's good to know that someone is reading your story and liked it (or hated it) enough to leave at least a comment. To me, stories can be monotonous to read. Sometimes I have to force myself to continue. Other times, I leave the story up in one of my many tabs and forget about it until the next day.

So yeah, that's a gist of why I don't review as much as I used to.

 

[Astinus]

I agree with psyanic about the monotony of reviewing. It feels as if I'm saying the same thing over and over in reviews. Because what I'm saying is such basic information (like using spell-check, punctuating dialogue, poo poo that's easily looked-up by either Googling or reading a stickied thread on this very forum), it gets disheartening to be saying the same thing over and over.

But it's like if I don't want to say the same thing in my reviews all the time, I'd have to read the longer fics, which other times I don't feel like doing.

It's a tricky business, this game of reviewing. Which I think falls into every kind of reviewing, not just fanfiction.

 

[Sgt Shock]

What? Sgt Shock is alive!

Reviewing for me is a reward for the writer as well as some strong pointers here and there. The reason I don't review as often as I should is because I feel like it has to be somewhat earned. I have to see a certain degree of dedication. That is mainly why I don't review the first chapters because I feel like I have to get to know them to judge where they are going. Also, I don't want to jump to conclusions.

Reviewing can be fun if the writer interacts as well. I have told several people things in their work and they won't listen. I feel like I'm talking just to be talking sometimes. That discourages me from writing my normally lengthy reviews to just anybody. Most of the time, I know fan fiction writers don't really think about the fundamentals of the writing process. I have no passion to point out those. They should be something that the writer themselves go out and take initiative.

So, ultimately, I have to be impressed. I know it sounds rather bad, but I feel like it is more rewarding to the viewer when they see a good half a page for their effort. So, I don't hand them out as often.

 

[DarkIceForever]

What? Sgt Shock is alive!

Reviewing for me is a reward for the writer as well as some strong pointers here and there. The reason I don't review as often as I should is because I feel like it has to be somewhat earned. I have to see a certain degree of dedication. That is mainly why I don't review the first chapters because I feel like I have to get to know them to judge where they are going. Also, I don't want to jump to conclusions.

Reviewing can be fun if the writer interacts as well. I have told several people things in their work and they won't listen. I feel like I'm talking just to be talking sometimes. That discourages me from writing my normally lengthy reviews to just anybody. Most of the time, I know fan fiction writers don't really think about the fundamentals of the writing process. I have no passion to point out those. They should be something that the writer themselves go out and take initiative.

So, ultimately, I have to be impressed. I know it sounds rather bad, but I feel like it is more rewarding to the viewer when they see a good half a page for their effort. So, I don't hand them out as often.

I wouldn't be surprised if a sheer number of dedicated authors who post and review follow this in someway. I like that, in fact I may just adopt this method of reviewing.

I just don't want to read Pokemon fics. I've been reading Pokemon fics for years, and I'm getting tired of them. (Plus drifting away from the fandom itself.) So sometimes it just feels like a job reviewing here, which is how I look at it some days.


I agree with psyanic about the monotony of reviewing. It feels as if I'm saying the same thing over and over in reviews. Because what I'm saying is such basic information (like using spell-check, punctuating dialogue, poo poo that's easily looked-up by either Googling or reading a stickied thread on this very forum), it gets disheartening to be saying the same thing over and over.

Wow, being on this section must be taking its toll. If it was up to me I would have threw in the towel already. Luckily you sound dedicated, but I wouldn't blame you that you've gotten to the point of 'why bother'. I tend to think that the same mistakes would come from new members that post.

I remember when I first posted here I had the mistake of not spacing. After being here for almost 8 months, I've seen the same mistakes over and over. Mostly from new people of course, they don't space their stories.

Anyway, fics tend to have the same problems, a lot of which could be solved by reading the Writer's Resources thread. People don't spell correctly, can't form correct grammar, can't establish characters, etc. You don't even need to check out the Writer's Resources when you can read a book and follow an example. I'm not saying plagiarize it, but study the prose of the novel. Take notes on the characters, plot, and everything else. If more writers did that before they even dived into fanfiction, I feel that most problems would be eliminated.

Moreover, I remember I studied the Writer's Resources after my first failed fiction I posted on PC. I felt I couldn't post any work without knowing the basics first. After a while I started picking up few books and did the exact same thing. Eh, seems that I like Stephen King now. Werid how I discovered new things just because I wanted to write my version of pokemon.

When I was a new writer I did jump into fan fiction without knowing what hell I was getting myself into. But If people really did like to write all of this would obviously be second nature. I know it was for me. Although, If I knew the basics beforehand I probably would have created a better quality first fan fiction. Since I was a newbie I was eager do post whatever I wrote. I noticed I've only posted very few fictions for the 8 or 9 months i've been here. Only because I feel there is more I need to know.

So, I guess a reviewer must be able to tolerate a lot. I agree though, if people knew the basics first, then maybe, just maybe, FF&W would have better quality fan fictions. Then reviewing would be more fun and less of a hassle. Somehow I hoped to get more dedicated and great writers on here so we could really let out more opinion and concern. It is a community after all.

 

[Dragonite Ernston]

I don't have the time to review as often as I would like to. And even when I do have the time, I just don't want to read Pokemon fics. I've been reading Pokemon fics for years, and I'm getting tired of them. (Plus drifting away from the fandom itself.) So sometimes it just feels like a job reviewing here, which is how I look at it some days.

Because I don't have the time, I don't read a lot of fics that are long or have a lot of chapters posted to them. It would take me months to catch up to a fic, and by then the author would have posted several more chapters that I would want to read. Or, on the other hand, I could finally catch up to the fic and be ready to write a review, only to find that the author fell off the face of the Internet.

Man, you've pretty much summed up, point for point, my entire experience reviewing fanfiction (as well as the whole "drifting away from the fandom" part). (You won't find much of it here; I don't post here very often.)

Although in my case, sometimes it's just because I'm simply totally uninterested in the subject matter, and my mind literally will not let me read on in a fic.