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adrian
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Hi, I don’t know if I’m missing something but I am getting confused. I've just joined this month and I've got relatively positive feedback that doesn’t match with my scores e.g I have consistent comments about rounded real characters etc, but then when I check the score, that area has been marked low. Is this some sort of tactical voting or are people just trying to be kind in their written critique? Either way it is unhelpful and I’m not sure where I go from here. Can I opt out of the scoring (competition) and just request honest feedback? Any ideas?
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sulcus
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Quote: adrian, Friday, 26 Aug 2011 16:17Hi, I don’t know if I’m missing something but I am getting confused. I've just joined this month and I've got relatively positive feedback that doesn’t match with my scores e.g I have consistent comments about rounded real characters etc, but then when I check the score, that area has been marked low. Is this some sort of tactical voting or are people just trying to be kind in their written critique? Either way it is unhelpful and I’m not sure where I go from here. Can I opt out of the scoring (competition) and just request honest feedback? Any ideas? the only way you can opt out of the scoring system is to offer to swap Free Will reads. But most here are reluctant to spend reading/reviewing time on something that won't elevate their scores. But some will. especially look for people who write same genre as you. Or you could do as I do and just concentrate on the critique's words and ignore the scores. The motives behind such discrepancy can be various, those you say, plus ignorance of how the system is supposed to work, the fact that reviewers are not professional critics, plus the nonsense of trying to rate words/literature in numbers and even then only out of 5. If people say they'll never give 1s because it's too mean or 5's because nothing is ever perfect, then they're only marking out of 3. It's a nonsense. Don't get hung up on it Good luck
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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adrian
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Thanks Sulcus, that's helpful, I guess my problem is that I put more weight on the negative scores than the possitve comments, and really I just want to improve my writting. I should say I am very grateful for the comments that I have received to date. Thanks for the reply.
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F L Burrows
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Hi Adrian, As Sulcus said, you need to be rather philosophical about some of the scores - and so too about some of the comments you get. (That said, unlike Sulcus, I instead opt to be not at all adult about some of the stuff that comes my way and prefer to poke fun at it on the board.) Prepare for contradictory or at times plain ludicrous advice. Or suggestions to write a werewolf saga because the reviewer prefers that, rather than the children's sci-fi you've penned. I'm afraid that, just as we have such elevated minds such as Sulcus on here, so too there are the dregs of mankind present. So yes, there is tactical voting as well as votes by those angry that someone has just given them a bad review. There will at times be useful and constructive criticism that helps you discover something about your own writing. There will also be plenty of flattery. But also gird your loins against the spelling Nazis. They're like a swarm of locusts. More to the point, not all their corrections will necessarily be correct. That said, it can be a laugh at times. Main thing is to remember that you're not writing to please the reviewers. So resist ending up writing what they like, rather than what you like. Anyway, enough of my bla bla... p.s. if you get the chance, tell Sulcus he knows nothing about Asterix 
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suestales
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Thanks F.L. That all seems sound advice, not sure about the asterix bit though  All the best.
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sulcus
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Quote: F L Burrows, Friday, 26 Aug 2011 21:06(That said, unlike Sulcus, I instead opt to be not at all adult about some of the stuff that comes my way and prefer to poke fun at it on the board.) Quote: Oh it's how you thank people on the thank you thread. That's where I used to derive my double-edged fun... And I don't mean a simple "Thanks but..." thank you.
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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PERRY
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A good book is a good book.
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sep4475
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I think it was Joe 90 that said that the words were the reviewer being polite, whereas the score is actually what they thought about your work! He was saying it tongue in cheek, but I think there is a point that the scoring does have an element of anonymity, and therefore they can afford to 'let rip'. People say you should ignore the scores, but I'm not so sure. They may turn out to be more of a guide to the truth than we imagine. Edit: I cant get my emoticons to work? No real loss.
This post was last edited by sep4475, 05 Sep 2011, 12:17
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ajblack4567
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Ha! You're lucky!! So the written comments don't match the score? My written comments of late don't match anything on this earth. This is my latest (and last ever review): The internal ideas of the story is obsessive, the conditions are applicable to human of that range that is the middle aged or old widower. The lady is of his daughter's age and non willingly suppressing his character, its intention is good. The condition is helping to the controversy of the adult mind. The dialogue has very good language sense, if I have to say the truth of living placid is mendling the vast isle of ideas. The sense of situation has good respond to the mutual condition of the story. Good luck with your writing, the success drops off without the edition I suppose, keep trying. "the truth of living placid is mendling the vast isle of ideas"??? Sweet suffering Jesus, I can take no more. Much as I've put off saying it, I no longer have any confidence in YWO to provide me with anything of substance, let alone of use, through the review process. So another great idea ruined, unfortunately. I'm fed up spending ages annotating and writing up PROPER reviews and receiving this garbage back. I don't want/shouldn't have to run to Ted to get 2 out of every 3 reviews removed, and for these reasons, regrettably I'm out. PS I presume Ted and the other site elders appreciate that the site has completely gone to Hell in a handcart?
My story, 'An Encounter' - as improved by YWOers - is available in this anthology: Speech Bubble Magazine Best Of Issues 1, 2 & 3 ebook
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Anna Hunt
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Quote: ajblack4567, Monday, 5 Sep 2011 14:37Ha! You're lucky!! So the written comments don't match the score? My written comments of late don't match anything on this earth. This is my latest (and last ever review): The internal ideas of the story is obsessive, the conditions are applicable to human of that range that is the middle aged or old widower. The lady is of his daughter's age and non willingly suppressing his character, its intention is good. The condition is helping to the controversy of the adult mind. The dialogue has very good language sense, if I have to say the truth of living placid is mendling the vast isle of ideas. The sense of situation has good respond to the mutual condition of the story. Good luck with your writing, the success drops off without the edition I suppose, keep trying. "the truth of living placid is mendling the vast isle of ideas"??? Sweet suffering Jesus, I can take no more. Much as I've put off saying it, I no longer have any confidence in YWO to provide me with anything of substance, let alone of use, through the review process. So another great idea ruined, unfortunately. I'm fed up spending ages annotating and writing up PROPER reviews and receiving this garbage back. I don't want/shouldn't have to run to Ted to get 2 out of every 3 reviews removed, and for these reasons, regrettably I'm out. PS I presume Ted and the other site elders appreciate that the site has completely gone to Hell in a handcart? Oh no - don't go! I've had a similar review from the same reviewer. Several friends (ex ywo members) roared laughing and suggested I contacted Ted so that he could be aware of this reviewer. If Ted gets lots of feedback about a particularly poor reviewer, it will be helpful to him in running a good site. It's important for him to know that a writer's time is scarce and we don't like it being wasted by wally reviews, so please contact him. I've had quite a few say such nice things including 'you should be in the top ten' but then the marks they give make that an impossibility. But, and it is a big but, there are those who have put their finger on things I've had my doubts about in the writing and it is their confirmation of my own concerns that points me in the direction of what needs doing. I reckon it's about 40% who match marks with words. Anyone else want to give their %? The reason I hope you will stay is that you clearly have integrity. Having raised this point you are unlikely to be a scheming flatterer marking low. We need you. The worst thing though is that, because of the lottery of reviewers, not all good writers stand a chance of getting a professional review - let us hope that the professional reviewers look beyond the top ten.
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Scores don't match written feedback
26 Aug 2011, 16:17
