Reviewer's Guild Forum Interests

Chris Bighorse	Interests 15 Years Ago I really like Short Story, Flash Fiction, Poetry (all kinds), and some books. These are sections that I think that I can excel at in reviewing and hope to remain part of the same theme. Poetry is by far my favorite genre, mostly free form and prose. I have a little trouble in reading and reviewing poems that have a standard form and rhyme scheme although I try really hard to objectively review these poems. As a side effect I really don't review these types of poetry and am saddened to admit that I'm pretty elitist when it comes to reviews. I don't review if I can't find anything good to say, which is bad because it doesn't help the writer at all in bettering his/her skill. I'm really taking a huge turn with my interests in short story and essay. I used to like fantasy and sci-fi (I still try to fit in a few here and there), I'm being pulled more into the non-fiction aspect of writing. I really like articles about nothing in particular at all, ramblings I guess you'd call them, and I don't know if there's any technical way of reviewing these types of writings.
Jake Donald Stephens	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I'm partial to books and sometimes short stories...It seems most people on this site will read the first chapter of a book, give it a positive review, but then never move on to the second chapter. I've come to accept this, along with the fact that I'll never be hugely popular here, since books are all I write. Well, everybody has their own taste, and I can't expect my stuff to appeal to everyone. What bothers me is the fact that Writer's Cafe is largely nothing more than a silly popularity contest, instead of a place to better your own writing and help others better theirs, which is what it's supposed to be. Still, I'm not all complaints. I think I HAVE actually gotten better since I've been on this site, thanks to the few and hard-to-find people who actually know how to give constructive advice and criticism. But I'm supposed to be talking about "interests"...Well, I don't write poems, but I will read them (if I have to). I think poetry is just as challenging to write as books, maybe even more so, and I'm very impressed when I come across a great poem. I'd rather read stories and books, though, preferably horror, fantasy, and sci-fi.
Toni Prehoda Kahler	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I have a light background in formal poetry, such as sonnet, free verse, haiku and so on...so I feel I could review the structural aspects of most formal poems with confidence. I prefer to dig into short story ficiton, free-flow poetry (actually any/all poetry) and short discussions/ramblings. I am easily overwhelmed by long (more than 1 page) ramblings. I would want to be paid to get into someone's book---so time consuming! Maybe could handle a chapter.....I do enjoy character development....... (What is flash poetry? I am new to that term. Also emo poetry? - please enlighten.....) My forte lies in catching emotional significance, in sensing and recognizing metaphor, in speaking to what is fresh, what carries meaning. I easily recognize structural cleverness and the use of language-sound tools, and like to speak to those aspects of a peice. Also I love digging into rhythms, obvious and subtle. Typos, verbs tenses that don't match, confusing language and so on jump out and shout at me, so I have to be careful when addressing construction mistakes, as my first instinct is to want those gone. I love to meddle, but am sensitive to how a writer might react to that, even when they have asked for a critique. I want to walk softly when reviewing. Me as writer: I am not easily offended by a reviewer's comments---I have strength of purpose when I write, and am apt to miss my own blunders. If the suggestions don't match my inner path, I'll ignore them; if they jive, I use them. In college, I endured a lot of tough digging, pruning and weeding in my writing and art---and found it highly stimulating to creative growth. So----prune away!
Dianne	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I love to read! I've been reading since I was six. I read just about everything except poetry and now I've started reading some of that. I enjoy short stories, books, novels, essays and philosophical pieces. It's probably easier to say what I don't like reading and that is seriously negative writing like suicide, drug addiction and hate based rants. So I don't read those in any form. I'm not put off by books so Desert King, I'll be over to take a look at your writing. My education has been very non-traditional, so I don't have the formal background that a lot of people do. I just know what I like and what I don't. I know nothing about poetry so as much as I'm enjoying reading it here, I'm not likely to give decent feedback on it. I wouldn't be able to distinguish a sonnet from a haiku, but I'm sure I can do some research and at least learn to recognize the basic forms. I like the idea of identifying ourselves with The Reviewer's Guild in our signature or on the last line of the review. Then again will we only identify ourselves for the "official" group reviews or would we use it at all times?
radian7	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I like reading and writing short works, flash fiction/ nonfiction/ haiku and other short poems. I am reading books on creative nonfiction, use of techniques for a desired effect , and other books about improving one's writing quality. I am practicing what I am learning and enjoy recognizing merits in the works of others.