Writers wanting Reviews.

Well... here we go again. 

This past week, probably 4-5 days ago, I completely blew up (I didn't mean to, I lost my patience) at a member here on this site. I've been reading and reviewing his work since I joined WritersCafe (6 months?). While his ideas are phenomenal, his level of writing is terrible. I've repeatedly tried to help him, but I would have better chances of helping my wall improve. He disregards everything I say about writing and continues to stand by his "My writing is the greatest and I'm the best" mentality. 

Now, I'm not calling anyone out. I have no desire to start a war on here. What I have a problem with is the fact that these type of writers refuse to listen to the help other members here have provided. I try to be fair and honest with my reviews. I'm not here to sugar coat anything to make you feel better about yourself. If I read something, I will say what I mean, regardless of how you feel.

It seems as if some writers on here refuse to accept any criticism and blow up whenever someone points out their flaws. When I see a story, chapter, poem, etc, I expect to see some kind of effort put towards the grammar, punctuation, paragraph structures, etc. Instead, I see these stories, and they honestly look as if a first grader has written them. 

I've actually had this one particular writer private message me and ask why I was so rude. Wait, I was rude because I told you that your writing needs improvement? Slow the train down for just a second. Who in their right mind expects to receive 100% positive reviews? Even professional authors, who depend on their work to sell, don't receive completely positive reviews. 

Everyone makes mistakes, it's part of being human. Duh. I've been writing for almost ten years now and I still make mistakes. Just this week, I spent almost five hours writing one chapter that was just over three thousand words long. And guess what? There were still mistakes and I still wasn't happy with what I put forth. But, though I may not be completely happy with what I released, I know for a fact that my writing is readable. 

If your readers take more than a few minutes to read one sentence because it's so jumbled and confusing, you need to stop, re-read your work, and revise it. 

I believe almost anyone can be an author. It completely depends on how hard the writer wants to work towards bettering themselves and in turn, bettering their work. 

I can honestly say that I have more private and practice stories than I do actual chapters that I've released. Doing writing exercises every day actually improves your writing skills. I know there are authors out there that will argue with me saying they write everything by hand before they have to type it out on a computer. I do that too. Actually, sometimes I find it helps to write down little ideas here and there, and then find a way to incorporate those ideas into your stories. 

I do hate having to resort to being a complete b***h to get my words across. I try to be friendly and helpful, but when six months have passed, and the best you can give me is misused commas, and claim you've improved, you need to stop. Seriously, stop. 

Some of these mistakes I see make me scratch my head and ask myself: Are they for real? Is this a joke? 

My BIGGEST pet peeve with writing is when someone writes a conversation and the conversation between two characters take place in ONE SINGLE PARAGRAPH. NO! Stop it! Do you realize how confusing that is? Each and EVERY character needs their own separate quotations, and they need their own "paragraph". 

Or, a conversation takes place, the structure is great! But... oh, no. Here we go:

"A character says something," so-so said. 

Said so-so, "This is hard to read."

Why do authors abuse the word "said" so much? There are a million ways to describe a character speaking. You don't necessarily have to say they said anything, describe what the character was doing after a sentence, what they felt/feel about the person they are interacting with, etc. The word said should always be used sparingly. 

Or, when an author feels the need to repeat a character's name over and over in the same sentence or conversation. If there aren't more than two characters having a conversation, you do not need to repeat that character's name six, seven, eight times... It get's old and repetitive very quickly. 

I am by no means an expert at writing and I may never be an expert. But, I do know the basics and rules of writing. The basics are taught in Elementry (Grade School) School. How can you be an adult and not know the basics? At the very least, proper grammar. 

Well, that was quite a rant. I do apologize for sounding like a nagging, bitchy wife. But, after some of the messages I've received from one particular writer here on WritersCafe, I felt the need to express myself. 

Anyways, kudos to all the fabulous writers here on WritersCafe and I hope everyone has a fantastic time writing!

Cheers,

S. Diane. L.

Reviews

[Soot]

My first question why so serious. This is not professional web site. People are here sharing their writing more like hobby. If you give honest review and that person not take it. You should move on. I recommend you to more focusing on your writing . Then just wasting time on someone who don't care. We should not be so judgemental and nobody is perfect. Some people will never learn basic rules of grammar but not just cause they are lazy but cause they have learning difficulties .Like for example dyslexia . Dyspraxia etc. Be well and take it easy .

[JamesTleBourn]

Hey Diane, I hope you are enjoying yourself in quarantine (maybe?). I agree with most everything you said in this, but I just had a small point that I wanted to make. It's fine if you disagree, I just wanted to hear what you had to say about it.

So, you talk about writers abusing the word "said" because there are so many other options that are more unique and descriptive. I do acknowledge that you see that as a room for a creative expression; however, I slightly disagree. Wouldn't you say that a good writer should be able to convey the tone in a dialogue without depending on a plethora of dialogue tags? It ensures that the writer set the tone well enough in the words themselves that a specific dialogue tag isn't needed.

Also, doesn't just saying "said" keep the reading smooth and moves things along quickly? That way the writer doesn't have to stop their train of thought to be surprised by an oddly specific dialogue tag?

Anyway, I just wanted to hear more about you opinion on that, and I hope we have a productive and respectful discussion.

James

[Tim]

I know the writer you were referring to in the beginning of this story. My only thoughts about that are you have to recognize that there are some people with problems. And I mean real legitimate problems that can't be helped by anyone on a writing site. In cases like that, I move on, knowing it's a waste of time.

I'm also familiar with the other points you made because I see them too. Yet, I say nothing. I've learned there are people who simply want to hear the good things about what they've written. They may also wind up blocking you if you visit them more than once to point out an error they've made.

Again, I've learned.

This is a well delivered rant and worthy of applause.

[Taz]

I agree whole heartedly people should be grateful for constructive criticism, I know that I always am, especially with spelling. I am bad at spelling, only being 16 and all.

[aj milton]

#agree

If we put our work up on here we are automatically inviting comments and reviews. Of course writers have the option to switch off reviews if they feel particularly sensitive.

My own view is to encourage creativity first, and worry about editing second. But like you I quite often point out some formatting/editing suggestions when I review a work. So far nobody has taken exception. Maybe I'm just lucky.

The reality is those who will not make the effort to learn grammar, structure and basic editing techniques - will never be successful as *authors* in the longer term.

Although they can happily continue as *writers* in forums like this which are (and should be) positive and tolerant to beginners.

I am a fairly recent member here, but I'm happy that the majority of people I interact with are positive and receptive. I hope I am too! I guess you can't please all of the people all of the time. Oops my online editor missed another cliche!

[matrixmark]

Can I just say, I have 6 words for this piece - I know exactly what you mean.

And fair play to you for putting this out there.

Mark.

[spawn82]

I agree but if a man is passionate about his story and it's a good story then he can take a writing course all the other stuff will fall into place.if he's proud of his story he's got a lot to be proud of if he's good at his plot and his charthers I have known people who have great grammer and there stories still suck