How To Write A Review ✔️

COMMON ERRORS

As a long-time contest host who gets all the tea from participants expressing their grievances over certain judging practices, here are some common errors I notice from reviewers.

1) Taking off points for no reason

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen contest judges give participants a 9/10 in grammar only to say in their review that "The grammar was flawless."

Where did the point go?

Did it grow legs and run away?

If you say the grammar is flawless, then it is a 10/10. If there are errors, then deduct points. Don't deduct points if there are no errors.

I had someone give me I believe it was an 8/10 in grammar only to say "There wasn't a single error." I would have won with those two points. Where did the points go? Did they go take a vacation in Narnia?

So, yeah. Don't take off points unless you're willing to explain it. Even if it's just a small explanation, give it. Even if it's an explanation the author may not like, give it. Especially for things like grammar that are more objective and have clearer "rights" and "wrongs."

2) Taking off points for personal preference

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen contest judges take off points from a book's plot for the sole reason that they don't like the genre. By that I mean, taking off points from a sci-fi book for the sole reason that it is sci-fi.

Now, look, people are way too harsh on reviewers for subjectivity. Guys, art is mostly subjective, and while there are objective qualities to take away from it, a review is always going to be someone's personal opinion. So please stop bullying reviewers for these types of things.

But that aside, the point is, if you don't like a genre, don't take off points for that. It's not the author's fault you don't like comedies but are reviewing them. I personally don't like comedies at all, but I end up judging a lot of rom-coms. Plenty of them have been winners in my contests, too, because I judge based on the story, not personal preference.

There have been times people writing about topics that genuinely make me uncomfortable (not in a good way) have won in my contests because it's not about me, it's about the author and the story. I signed up to review it, so I review it fairly. That's the least I can do, considering my reviews take a while and people are... mostly... patiently waiting.

Please make sure to state what you don't want to review. Don't force yourself to review anything you don't want to review, otherwise that won't help the author, and it'll just make you feel like you're wasting your time.

Long story short, don't take off points because "I don't personally prefer sci-fi" or something of the sort. Try to be more analytical about it, because at that point it'll just feel like "I don't like giving perfect scores so I gotta bs an excuse to take off points" rather than an actual fair review.

3) AI... sigh

I am so. flipping. tired. of talking about AI. I work in AI for 10-40 hours a week, so I think it's safe to say when I clock out, I want to be done with it. So let's make this quick.

Most AI detectors (not all, but most) will tell you the percentage chance of AI influencing the work. So if you get a result that says 20% AI, then you're good! That's a low percentage, meaning a low chance AI impacted the work in any way. Though some people seem to think all AI detectors mean 20% of the text is AI written. While that may be true for some detectors, most go based on chance, not definitive this is 20% AI written.