Oh Look, It's Sunday · 3:45pm Jul 12th, 2015
Yes, I know. Shut up.
So, in keeping with my claims from the last blog post, I'm going to be doing my weekly blogs on Sundays now. Why? Because they are the only days I'm guaranteed to be off. Combining writing a blog with my daily reading, the writing of reviews and the writing of stories is particularly difficult when you only have three hours in your day to do everything on top of non-pony things, so this seemed like a decent solution. In time, I also intend to move my review blog to Thursdays, as I tend to have a little more time on those and the review blog is far easier in the overall. It'll also spread out my activity in the week so that I don't go with nothing happening for ages.
Speaking of reviews, I've finally decided to make my review schedule public! I'm using the same GDocs spreadsheet I do for my writing schedule and author scoring, which can be found here. It's pretty self-explanatory, but for those who want it spelled out:
I plan out my schedule five weeks in advance of the current reading. Note that's current reading, as in where I'm at with the reading, not the review writing. You'll notice that the current week scheduled is for Monday the 27th, which is a good two weeks away. That's because I've already read and reviewed all the stories for the 13th and 20th and am just waiting for the dates to roll around for publication. Stories colored in green have been read and a review has been written for them; stories in yellow are the ones I aim to read next. For shorter stories, this is usually within the next 24 hours. Longer stories should be done within the next few days to a week, length depending.
In addition, I've been fine-tuning what kinds of stories I read each week, and by now I finally have a proper plan in place. This is now indicated by the 'type' column of the review schedule. This new format will officially start on August 17th and I'll be scheduling all my reviews after that date appropriately. Each week will consist of: two RiLs, or stories on the last page of my To Read list; one requested story; one Re-Read, or a story that I've read before but never gave a review for; and one sequel to a previously read story.
In the event that I have no requested or sequel stories available, those slots in the schedule will remain open (???) so long as that week is the last one currently planned. If I finish a week and set a new one, any sections in the last week's schedule labeled as ??? will be filled in with RiLs. What this means for you: if you want to request a story and get it into that slot for the last scheduled week, you need to let me know before I finish the current week's readings! I will not push your request into a closer week that has RiLs over the Request slot.
In other words, the top four weeks are locked down. What you see is what you get.
In other news, I've been thinking about offering my services to the Pleasant Commentator and Review Group as a commentator/reviewer. I'm still on the fence about it, so I'm looking for outside opinions. If I did get accepted, it would mean taking away another RiL from my review list and adding one PCaRG story to my list every week. My bloated RiL list would continue to balloon, which makes me sad, but I'd also be speeding up the rate that the group gets reviews out to people. (And no, I'm most certainly not trying to speed up how fast someone gets to Audience of One in the group! Whatever makes you think that?)
Of course, it would also mean they might try to force me to meet a certain standard. On one hand, this is annoying at best as I don't believe reviews are made better by obligating the inclusion of certain criteria. On the other, getting some serious feedback on my reviews from people who do them regularly can only make my reviews better. I'm in this because I want to see people improve, after all.
On that note, if there's anyone in said group that would like to give me advice on how to improve my reviews or (better yet) a good idea of the group's requirements and expectations, it would be much appreciated.
Alright, I'm done. Reviews coming out tomorrow!
PS
Yes, my Twilight-level of organization freakiness means that anyone who wants to request a review from me will be waiting a few weeks by default. To alleviate this, I make an offer: anyone who requests a review from me may also opt to receive the review in private (either by PM or a direct link to the appropriate GDoc) as soon as it is ready.
PSS
No stats today. I figure they won't have changed much since Thursday anyway.
Twilight would definitely be impressed by that level of organization. That's a neat system you have in place though, and kudos to you for reading and reviewing so much content. :)
I've only received one review from the 'Pleasant' group, but looking at their general format and approach, I'd think you have more than enough depth and content to your reviews to fit in with their system. They generally strive for both rigor and fairness in their reviews, which you consistently provide in your reviews anyway. So, I think you'd be a good addition to their group. :)
I have been seriously neglecting the PCaRG lately. I should get back on it =P
Wait... Erasure had a song out OTHER than "Always"?
I may take you up on your offer for a private review, after I complete my next one shot...
My review I already set in stone, so it's whatever.
I do think you be a great fit for that group though
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Heck, you should see my rules for earning my follow. Anyway, glad for the vote of confidence! The only thing holding me back is the knowledge that my RiL is getting a little big. At this rate the RiL wait could literally fall into years for units.
Not that not joining the PCaRG would make it any faster, really.
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Yes, I agree 100%.
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Erasure had a lot of decent songs in that particular album. I didn't care much for everything else they had to offer, though.
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Well, that's two votes in my favor.