Reading and Rating

Robert makes a good point. If I were to e-mail a writer suggesting how he/she could improve their work, I'd feel awfully patronising. I mean, what the @!#$ do I know anyway? There is also the danger of a complete idiot e-mailing their advice and the writer taking up the suggestions and suppressing their own natural ability.

Granted, I agree with you. I still think though, and It's probably a 50/50 issue, that writers who open themselves up on this site to being critiqued want just that. My work is a mush to me, so its always nice to learn what people enjoy reading and what they don't.

ps: Karl I am reading and enjoying your stories a lot.

This brings up a good question: Does a * out of 5 rating really make you want to improve? I think that it does the opposite and writers who could become great, never write again. I am the king of the * out of ***** rating. I have so many like that. I find it is quite funny. Why do people rate a story or poem with 1 star? Isn't it supposed to be about constructive criticism? I don't see how that one star can make you want to do better. Anyway If you wanna give me a one star then that's cool. But I think an email is much better than any star rating. Oh- Andrew you emailed me once, thanks for that. Buh Bye kids

i think from the point of view from the person receiving the rating, an email would be nice, but the point made well above is that offering that sort of advice requires a firm foothold or more in ones own ability. i give up..... maybe though a better system for critique could be thought of and put in place.

i would like to know if my writing is crap but i'd rather know why than to just be told someone doesn't like it. Also i wouldn't put my stories on here and ask for them to be rated if i didn't want some feedback. But if you think about it not as many people will rate a story if it's not that great. So if lots of people have read it but very few have rated it then it might be a sign. Then again it might not be i'm gonna shut up now cos' i don't know what i'm talking about i only joined a couple of days ago!

What I try to do is to tell writers what I particularly liked about the story and why, and if there's a line that didn't work for me, I tell them that too. That's not setting myself up as any sort of masterclass - I'm commenting as a reader, not a writer. I think the stars are useful for a while, but after I found my feet here, I stopped looking at them. I know which of my stories particularly suck, and I apologise to anyone who had the misfortune to read them, and I know which I think work alright. I could cheerfully lose the whole star system. If something doesn't really grab me, I don't tend to vote, purely because the voting mechanism is quite time-consuming on my computer ('We're sending you back where you came from now' 'We're still sending you. Hang on, just a sec') And 'canIputmynamehere' - being new to the site doesn't mean that you don't know what you're talking about. The forums are for everyone, not just those who have a lot to say for themselves.

Thanks Roy, Your work's not so bad yourself. For a South African kindergarden teacher from Taiwan, you certainly have an interesting imagination. Do you find the kids are helpful in this respect? Getting back to the point of discussion, I think it's more important just to enjoy our writing than to worry about stars. My writing tends to be very opinionated in places, and anything I write could be totally wrong, but this is how I see the world around me. I don't write to make you like me, though I hope you do.

Well said, Andrew and Karl both!

*

I usually do - am I one of the odd handful that actually bother to do this?

I agree with Mark. I only rate four or five stars. There are many people who disagree with me, and they do indeed have a valid point of view - constructive criticism can only help us - but I just can't find it in my heart to knock someone who's no doubt proud of their work. They will, after all, have spent a lot of time on. If something doesn't grab my attention, then I simply move on. For me it would feel like a cheap shot to rate them with a one or a two.

me too, tho i also give things 3 stars sometimes. some stuff may well only merit one star, but we don't know the circumstances or background of the authors behind them...perhaps a one or two star rating may discourage people who are capable of going on to write better stuff too...

artists in every field have their work critiqued and if its crap, it gets slagged off. i don't hold the view that a bad rating on ones work would be devastating. the 'my details page' gives you the option of not being rated should you not want to be. i think that a one or two star rating and perhaps some emailed guidence would propel someone capable of writing better stuff to do so.

I think this is a difficult area.Personally I would agree with roy that I would rather receive a 1 or 2 star rating and e-mailed guidance than no rating at all.A writer needs constructive feedback, positive and negative to progress,and while i recognise the need for sensitivity, nobody can thrive on apathy.A site like this can inspire us to progress-it would be a gross representation of the artistic world without some form of criticism.We're all grown ups!I think we can handle it!

Well how about this then. When you have read a poem or story and you scroll down to rate it, it is all ready on 3 stars as guide line (yes) so if you can not be bothered to rate it it will get 3 stars anyway, unless you rate it, that way poeple will have to rate it. Good or bad idea....? If I write crap I wanna know. Load of tosh thinks I do, but hey I can take it. One * muzzy

and why not be sensitive enough to write an email? The point of this site, i think is to back each other up as writers.yes, a one or two rating should be explained as perhaps should a five.

I have a confession to make (oh, gawd, I hear you all cry). If I like something, even marginally, I give it a five just for effort alone. Writers ego's are notoriously fragile and need, I feel, to be encouraged and nurtured. If I'm particularly impressed with something, I send an email to the author. If I think something's total crap, I give it nothing and move on, rather than a 1 or 2 which might shatter a dream. Having said all that, I rarely look at my own stuffs ratings and, as regards stars etc, seem to have the hide of an elephant...

wouldn't one need an enormous confidence in one's own ability as a writer, to email a stranger and tell them how to improve their work because at the moment it merits only 1*? i agree that constructive criticism is useful for all of us, but i think a better way would be the critiqueing service, if there is sufficient interest.