What's up everyone?

Alright, so let's get down to business.

Review.

So yeah, a few of us wrote some really nifty exercises. Now what?

Well, we have to review our work, right? We need to find out what we did well and what we need help on, right? Absolutely! This whole purpose of this group is to find some meaningful review that isn't just "Derp, it was good," or "Eh." We want some serious talking, and I mean about things like diction, symbol construction, and all the meta-story stuff. Syntax and grammar is cool and all, but that isn't really review: that's a proof-reading issue.

If we want to get any better at our work, we need to know what our strengths and weaknesses actually are. Whether it's passive voice or the overuse of standard sentence structure, we ought to know what our issues so that we can--you know--do something about them.

Writing is an art. When people whine about the small grammatical issues and other nitpicky crap, they devalue the actual essence of a story: the messages, the symbols, and the characters themselves. Sure, I love a good semicolon or two, but when a story is beautifully constructed, I could care less if they added a conjunction.

The point is this: I want this group to review in a way that speaks to the artistic nature of literature, rather than just all the mathematical stuff. Talk about symbols! Talk about characterization! We can deal with grammar issues later; for now, just talk about inner-workings of the exercises...

So here's how it'll work.

If you did an exercise and put it in the document, I am asking that you converse with the person above you and the person below you. Get to know one another--you can learn so much from them if you both respond truly to the other persons work.

Remember to highlight the good in their stories too: just because we have to critique, doesn't mean we should ignore the things we like. Heck, even if it's "cupcakes", do your best to find what the author has a talent in--you know they're good at something, so find it. The goal here is to get people to continue writing; simply bashing someone can only convince them that their work is without any substace--a label that can very easily convince an aspiring writer to quit.

I know I've already talked to some of you, but it was probably not the best I could do. If I haven't reviewed your exercise or if you want me to take another gander, I'll be happy to do so. Just drop a message in the thread.

Since my post was the first post, and have no one above me, should I converse with the last person who posted, since they would have no one below them?

293594

Yep... and considering that there were only 3 posts since Criticul and I were somewhat smothered, it looks like you've got 2 assured partners XD

Oh, and I can do a deeper review if need be. I feel a bit guilty about missing the first exercise.

Um, hi.

I'll try to have a post up for the exercise soon, and I'll review AAAAAAAB's post since mine would be at the bottom. I'm pretty busy right now and my first choice for the exercise didn't turn out as I thought it would but the second is looking good...I hope.

293641

It's fine if you aren't doin' too hot. We're all here to assist!

293641 I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

This might seem foolish of me but I wasn't certain if we were to post our reviews in the forum or not, so I PM'd AAAAAAAB and Sukasa my reviews of their work.

Is it up to the individual writer? Do we all post everything in the forums to ensure maximum open communication? Beats me, but I have a copy of both reviews so I can paste them in here...if that's alright with you.

Edit: My own submission is nearly complete; I should be able to submit it today.