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Apr. 19, 2005 Constructive criticism on books and articles is something that should be standard to any reviewer of any type of work. In discussion with my colleagues, we’ve come to a conclusion that at times, reviewers do not seem to really do their work—review. Being a reviewer is a very critical and important job. It’s not to be taken lightly. You form and shape the way books and articles are written for the public to read. Therefore, a reviewer should not take their job mildly; do not throw your anger at a piece of work. Do not become unprofessional in your review because you despise what you reviewed; rather, do not give your opinion at all. If you are biased to one type of thinking, maybe you should not review. Being unbiased is one key factor in producing good reviews. Unbiased criticism—it is what has helped me in my own personal writing and has made me stronger. I am a stronger writer, and a stronger person. I’ve learned a lot from it. I appreciate the, “Hey, you need to work on your grammar a bit more,” or the, “you need to delve more into the character.” I don’t appreciate the, “Your work sucks.” I’ll absorb it from a friend—that’s who I expect to dump something like this on me. I don’t expect them to be from a professional. However, if a reviewer stated this I would say, “If you want to insult me, just tell me that you refuse to give me a review”. End of story. If a reviewer just has to say something, the best thing is to say, “It’s not my cup of tea.” We all have the right to the freedom of expression with regards to our written works in North America—which is a wonderful thing. Really. I believe it’s a wonderful way to get your thoughts through to the public. There are people who will read it, and there will be those who don’t. I say again; if you don’t like what you read, don’t bother to finish it. If you read it, and don’t really like it—even hate it—the best snub to an author is to say you will not give it a review. Period. If you commence to trash an author, please do not give up your day job. You might start to throw at me, “Freedom of Expression.” Yeah, sure, express your thoughts, viewpoints, no problem. Just do yourself a favor; don’t do so in a way that I or the rest of the literate world will view you as having an anger problem. You’ll just loose credibility. If you want to be respected as a great reviewer, then learn to criticize with couth. Read examples of good reviews like the ones in the New York Times Review of Books, the Globe and Mail and other credible review newspapers, magazines and websites. To be a good reviewer, you have to train; it is just like any other job with responsibilities. As a reviewer, yours is a responsibility to the public, the publisher and to the author. We expect the best from the publisher and the author, so why not the reviewer? When you send your child to school, do you not expect the best out of the teachers that teach your child? A reviewer is in such a position and must maintain integrity and respect in order for their review to be respected. In a nutshell, reviewers out there, please take your job more seriously. I thank all of those reviewers who already do—you’ve made my writing, personally, much better, much more wholesome. To those who said they would not review my work—I respect that. But to those reviewers which do not know how to review and blatantly trash an authors’ work without being constructive; either train yourselves to become better reviewers, or ship out. There is already too much anger in this world. Till next time. ------------ About the author: Barbara has been writing short stories for the enjoyment of friends and family for years. She has published three books, Collection, Collection II, and Pawn: A Novel. Barbara lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and enjoys writing, reading and tending to her other field: accounting. Websites: http://www.barbaraannamarjanovic.com http://www.authorsden.com/barbaraannamarjanovic Email: blueswan28@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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