My Little Reviews & Feedback 499 members · 849 stories
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Azure Drache
Group Admin

Hello my fellow members of My Litte Reviews & Feedback!

So today I think it is really time to make an actual example review instead of just describing it, don't you agree? A step by step guide how to create a review and of course examples to each step. I will use my own very first story on Fimfiction as example, since I am very well aware of its flaws and strengths. Also it gives me the giggles every time I remember how bad my writing was back then :twilightsmile:

Shall we?

Oh one last word before we start, this is how I would write a review, it is not the only way or maybe even the best way to write one. Just a guide I think may be helpful.

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The embed function
First of all, one should embed the story they have reviewed. It is a very useful tool from fimfiction that allows you to link the story in your review and also allows the reader to see which story you are talking about. Also it provides the info about the tags of the story, the word count, etc on first look.

To do so, you can use the little icon with the camera at the top bar while you write or copy your review into the fimfiction textbox. A popup should show up where you simply put the url of the story into. Just go to the mainpage of the story you review and copy paste the link to it.
The result should look like:
[XXXembed]https://www.fimfiction.net/story/325848/the-phantom-of-canterlot[/XXXembed]
Just without the XXX - I only added that so I can show the code for you.

Example:
If you did everything right, the result should look like this:

TThe Phantom of Canterlot
Twilight has a new book about the history of the noble houses of Equestria. But the history of one of these houses is quite different from the official history of Equestria…
Azure Drache · 137k words  ·  43  6 · 1k views

Don't worry about mature stories by the way, if people have not enabled them, they can't she the embed story either. So you can just embed any story.

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The Summary
The second step is writing a summary with your own words about the story. The author has to attract readers, exaggerate and make the description sound like their story is the best on Fimfiction ever. Your job as reviewer however is to honestly tell what you think it really is about. That can be a simple thing like a slice of life story telling about a day at the spa with Rarity and Twilight, or something complex like a story with a dozent different protagonists trying to save equestria from an ancient evil while also having a romance or two.

You can't really do something wrong here. Just tell your honest opinion about the stories focus. Let your readers know what they can expect to read about. It is not about the quality or the skill of the author yet though, just an overview about the content.

Also it should be said that you should keep your summary as an overview and don't spoil, for example, the ending of the story.

Example:
The Phantom of Canterlot is an adventure story, mixed up with some detective work and kind of spy elements later on. The story takes place in different points of time in Equestria from 700 years in the past till today.
The main Characters are Princess Twilight Sparkle and an Oc named Burning Snowflake, a pegasus with some magical abilities that reminds a bit of dragons.
Twilight discovers that one noble family claims to have the heritage of Burning Snowflake, a pony she only knew from some older comic books and never thought could be a real pony. Twilight's chapters are written in the style of detective novels and take place in the present where she tries to find evidence, or the absence of them, about the existence of Burning Snowflake. They are filled with dialog, and deal with Twilight's new responsibilities as a princess.
Burning Snowflakes chapters however, are written like adventure or spy books. They started 700 years in the past and moved along Equestrias history. The focus is clearly on worldbuilding and action in them.

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More detailed analysis
After the summary, it is time to point out what the story does good or great and also what should be improved. The real Feedback for the author and info for the reader if it is worth their time to read the story if you will.

I suggest to start with something positive, authors put work into their stories and positive feedback is feeling great after all. After reading their story, what stayed on your mind about the story that you really liked/enjoyed? Has it great dialogs that are pleasurable and interesting to read? Or maybe awesome worldbuilding that lurks you to read further? What about the storyline? Is it entertaining to read along? All that you can mention now! Let people know what you deem worthy to say about the story.
Though, this is also the place for well minded critique. What did the author need to work on? Maybe little things like spelling or punctuation? One of the characters needs more development or feels boring? It could be something big though too, like if the author lost track of his own story and missed something that kills the whole plot of the story or makes it nonsense.
You have to be honest here and tell as well the good as the bad parts. People want to know how the story is, and the author wants real feedback about their work. They can only improve if you tell them what they did great and where they may have screwed up.

Example:
The Phantom of Canterlot has a very rich worldbuilding and is kept lively and believable due to the many well designed characters. Also it has some deeper emotional moments through the story and doesn't hesitate to deal with more complex aspects of the show, like Twilight's possible immortality. Also the difference between the calmer dialog focused chapters of Twilight and the more action orientated chapters of Burning Snowflake are a great benefit to the story.
However, the writing ability of the author matches in no point his creativity. We have an very inexperienced writer here who isn't a native speaker and you clearly can see that in his writing style. Not only is the grammar and punctuation sometimes a mess, but also is it filled with mistakes and errors you could expect from a new author. Unnecessary mentioning who is speaking or acting are all over the place, even if it is only one character present or holding a monologue. Also the author gets lost in worldbuilding or other sidetracks sometimes which makes some of the scenes quite boring and unentertaining.
- I surely could extend this list, but it is just an example ;)

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Rating 
This part you can see in summary of your judgement of the story in numbers. It is an overall comparable system between the stories you reviewed. Don't worry about what others rated the story, this system must only be consistent for your style of reviewing.

Now, to judge fairly, we have to look at what the story is about, or in other words its tags. Is this romance story really filled with love you can feel? Or is that comedy story really funny or at least humour orientated? That's for you to judge now. Imagine a horror story that is filled with comedy or a romance story that only gives you the creeps...

Also, take a general look at your reading experience. Have you been entertained? Had you a good time reading it? (! Don't judge by your preference here, if you don't like romance that much, don't reduce the points just it wasn't a story for you, be fair!)

And last but not least, what else do you think should affect the rating? Bonus points for something very special maybe? Or reducing the points due some grave errors perhaps? It is up to you! Just don't forget to give reason to your rating.

Example:
Adventure: 4/10 Yes, there was some adventure in this story, and it was mostly entertaining. But, the quality of the writing style was holding it back and broke the immersion at some points. Also it had some very stretchy worldbuilding sessions.
Mysterie: 7/10 The mystery parts were good. Some teaser of greater mysteries here and there and also some progress in solving them. Some variety in locations as well in time as in places like castles, cemeteries, underground caverns also benefited the story in that aspect.
Entertainment factor: 4/10 Sadly, even with all its strengths, the inexperience of the author as well his lack of understanding of english phrasing as well as the lost of focus through the story made this read more work than pleasure.
15/30 5/10

- Again it is just a short example. You see with this rating the author (me in this case ;) ) knows what to work on and how the story scored in general.


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Additional Feedback
After writing all this about the story you reviewed, this place is well suited for additional words. You may thank the author for a good story you read, or give further advice that didn't fit in the review elsewhere. 

Example:
Dear author, I would advise that you seek further help from pre-readers and editors. What you have created here is a good start, but it needs more work on the technical side as well as a second part of eyes on the progress of the storyline in my small opinion.

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And that should be it, a guide on how to write a review. I hope this was useful for some of you, and have a great day!

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