To My Friends In WritersCafe.org ~

A letter to you...

To My Friends In WritersCafe.org ~

 

To be a friend, is to be honest. If I say something to you, it is for you alone. I don't say the same things to everyone in the Cafe. I give honest reviews, with tact. If I review you, know that my review is authentic, not copied and pasted, or filled with false flattery. False flattery is lies, and quite frankly, I have more respect for my friends than that. We are here to learn from each other, and lying is not conducive to the learning process.

 

Ratings and badges in the Cafe mean nothing to me. I do not review, to get reviews. I do not give high ratings, to get high ratings. In fact, I have turned that feature off on my writings. I am inconsistent with my activity in the Cafe, and disappear at times. This does not mean I do not respect my Cafe friends, it means that I respect my home life and for whatever reason, it demands more of me at any given time. I have five children and they take precedence.   

 

I believe in constructive criticism, and welcome it. Constructive criticism does not consist of negativity. I can point out an error in grammar or something I do not understand, without belittling the reviewed. Constructive is defined as: a positive building up process. I do value the reviewed's feelings and if I hurt them in any way, please let me know. I am not here to judge, or be judged, I am here to learn and sometimes, teach. I do not respond to negativity, it is unworthy of my attention. Any person who comes off as negative, will be ignored completely.

 

Every writer here, is important in my eyes...

 

God bless you all...

 

Imogean~    

Reviews

[R J Askew]

It's tricky isn't it...the balance between saying what we honestly feel and not wanting to offend or hurt in any way. Yet to flatter falsely is terrible. But some people are more sensitve than others in the nature of things. But from what you say I think you are a very honest reviwer and that is of vital importance here. The points system dilutes the reviewing process as many people are tempted to review positively merely to encourage others to do the same to them.

[Phill Oz O'fee]

I share an affinity with all your comments - so further words are unnecessary!

God's Blessing
Phillozofee

[JohnL]

First, I am sorry you are having a hard day. Let's hope the problems soon pass and you feel better. Let me introduce some sincere comments to try to give you some cheer. I have read the message above and it cheers me to think of people like you with an attitude of sheer, practical commonsense toward reviews and points and all the other accolades or the reverse that attend with such sites as this. I want people's genuine helpful criticism - some of which I accept, some I don't. I give on the same terms. Points are of no interest - they must help some, so fine but I don't want them. Elsewhere, you give advice and pointers on writing. Again positive and helpful; something from which less experienced writers can really benefit. This is how a Cafe such as this should be, and it is noticable that, broadly speaking, we have a level of writing which is above average.
Don't worry about reviewing my work unless you feel so inclined, but please read some. I try to keep it cheerful (most of it) because so many people work out their angst in poetry. I try to work out my joy (plentiful) and just occasionally my sadness (also available, but mostly kept private). What a rich treasure we have in words. And how important it is that we learn how to use them well. Badly used they are a blight; well used, a blessing.
God Bless
John

[TL Boehm]

smart words - I've seen you close your account - I should have read this earlier, because now I understand why. There are charlatans here at the cafe, but there are also those - like you who write for the joy of writing and read for the joy of reading. That is the way it should be. Kudos to you.
peace.

[AK]

Constructive "feedback"... Where would we be without it???

[Clint Hale]

It is nice to see someone feel this way, and also share their view of it. I believe a lot of people can get too caught-up with reviewing others just for their own benefit.

[Ken Simm.]

A well written and interesting explaination of your intentions here. I admire and agree with all of that.

[I Am THE LADY POET]

Nice Letter to all us writerscafe friends. I feel the same.

[Greg B]

Well said. As the subject of my book, Father Joe, asked me in an email this week, "Flattery and flatulence, do they originate from the same source?"

[Jennifer]

Honesty is a very good thing. I feel the same way. I won't cut copy an paste when I review. I only paste what I write so I have something saved of my work. :)

[Eagle Cruagh]

My apologies!
I have read this several times and thought
I had given it a review. My mistake.
The statement that your writing is only for the
reader and not for everyone is a little, no, it is very
confusing to me, but the other reviewers seem to
accept it so it must be my limitation.
Nice writing, as usual.
RATE: 100%
---- Eagle Cruagh