Originally posted by jeanne
My two cents on the issue of reviews and marks.


Also the very idea of reviewing/voting is a chore. We're in this for pleasure (well, pain, too). Don't bash me (or rather, do, please). I'm just enunciating fact. Very few people log on a BDSM site with dedication and the public good foremost in their minds.

However, on reading a story I may feel the need to convey emotions in my own words, to be scathing or effusive, sarcastic or obscene, whatever. The 'review-vote' format is not quite the right one for that because it's a no-feedback, fire and forget thing.
Why should reviewing/voting be a chore? Why can you not "convey your emotions in your own words", as you say, in the review? Writers DO want to hear your gut reaction, and if you write something interesting or provocative, most writers, I think, will respond, either publicly or privately. I would agree that just selecting a '7' or an '8' or whatever may leave you feeling rather unfulfilled, but the review box is open-ended. You can say as much or as little as you want. And, if you feel that you have been overly scathing, effusive, or obscene you can always edit the review later.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the reviewing format , I just wish that more readers would take the minute or two (or thirty, if they wish) to let us ink-stained wretches know how we're doing.

I believe that it was Marcus who suggested the ten phrases that accompany the numbers 1-10 in the rating system. For the most part I find them very helpful as a general guideline. But they're not the Ten Commandments. If you think a story deserves 8 pts on a scale of 10, give it an 8, regardless of whether the text that accompanies an '8' rating is an exact reflection of your sentiments. You can always explain your reasons more fully in the review box.

Seriously, I think that when most authors get the system e-mail that tells them "Madame X has just reviewed your story" their pulse rate speeds up a little. It's not quite Christmas morning, but it's close. Sometimes when we unwrap the 'gift' {i.e. see the rating} we're a little (or a lot) disappointed, but when that happens we can all comfort ourselves with the old saying that "it's the thought that counts". At least the reviewer bothered to take the time to let us know that he or she had read the story into which we put a lot of effort. 99.9% of the readers do not take the time to do that. We really do treasure that one/tenth of one percent (if that) who do.

Boccaccio