To all fanfic authors on site,

I don't know whether you guys have been following the discussion in 'Posting in Fanfics' or not, but it came up that it might be a nice idea if the mods were to elect someone (or maybe a few someone's) with a good grasp of English (grammar, punctuation etc) to agree to read each submitted fic (new ones mostly...there are way too many here to reasonably expect a person to read through all the old ones that have been inactive for a while, unless they really want to, of course! ) and post a critical review of it. It won't be flaming or nasty or anything like that...the review will look at punctuation, grammar, spelling, that kind of thing and, if you want, a look at how the plot seems to work out too. Hopefully, it will help to improve the quality of the fic, make it more readable and enjoyable, and hopefully help people learn some things too!! And good language skills are always going to be useful.......

It won't be a mod doing the reviews, because it was agreed that we've got far too much going on as it is, but we were thinking of maybe holding a competition or something like that to judge skills....after all, it's no good someone offering the review a fic for punctuation if their own skills are questionable at best....

So, post your thoughts here.....we'll let this run for a good fortnight or so, give you all a chance to post, and then we'll take it from there....

At least it will ensure that all new fics get reviewed......

There would alway be an option for you to say that you don't want a critical review, of course, and that's fine. After all, there are things, like the Collaborated SPELL thing that are not attempts at producing great literature, but are just written for a bit of fun, so there won't be any pressure on anyone......

Anywho....let us know what you think.....

ok i had something writhen befor but i change my mend no i don't want a review

I voted yes, (well no surprises there,) But, maybe we could have it review optional. Where as you post your chapters you say at the beginning if you want the appointed person(s) to give it a general 'go through'

We should definately stay away from flaming people. The last thing we want to do is discourage.. That would be in general, just plain nasty.

Oh yes, of course it will be optional!! The last thing we want to do is start discouraging people!! I mean, most people ask for reviews anyway, but they could specify whether they want a critical review or just people to post if they liked it, you know?

Certainly nothing flaming...I wouldn't stand for that and I'm quite sure the other mods wouldn't either. I'd just delete them, I wouldn't even leave them there because it just creates bad feeling, but as long as it's constructive and put politely, then I'm sure it would be fine.

I certainly don't anyway...I've had good reviews of my fic and I've had some bad ones (well, not bad exactly...just pointing out things that could be improved) and I'm always glad to get them cos it helps you improve it for your readers.

Dana, how long is a fortnight? Lol. That's twenty days right?

I don't know if I really count as a "Fanfic author" because I haven't updated in around (*counts fingers*) two weeks. But I think part of the reason is because I have no idea how to improve the story and yes, I think it'd definitely help to have a critic. (No, definitely not a rude, flaming one)

It sounds like a wonderful idea! (I'm glad you guys brought the idea further from a single teeny suggestion. ) There are probably some good fanfics that are not read, and definitely deserve the chance to be given a try.

I hope the mods have an idea of how the contest would work. So, the moderators are judging? Worry about that later I suppose. . .

So how exactly would it work? Maybe we have a pinned topic for this critic and people will post requests?

I'm for this idea 110% and I hope other people support it too! Of course there'll be a choice whether or not your fanfic will be reviewed, but having a critic just ensures that writers have at least one good review that may help them improve. . .

Nah, a fortnight is two weeks, Joe. So that means I'll be closing this on the 5th December, my time...GMT.

From the poll results so far, it's looking as though most people are in favour of the idea so if the result remains the same on the 5th, then we'll organise a competition or something....I dunno....I'll have to speak to taks and doomed about it. I guess it'll be a competition to write a short HP fic or maybe a short editorial like the ones on the main site....something like that....it'll make for some really enjoyable reading anyway!!

And I agree, Joe....it would be nice, I think...coz it would ensure that everyone gets a review then....provided they want a critical one, of course.....

(BTW, guys, just to clarify something...I get the impression that people are nervous about this. There's really no need to be. Critical does not mean criticism.....critical can be good too....it just means an assessment, that's all....not pointing out every single little thing that was wrong.....there's a big difference... )

This is a great idea and I believe that if given the option many writers might opt to have someone here read and review. This would help the not so serious writers that do not like to bother with a serious beta.

Great Idea Guys!!!!

Great idea I must say, me being one of the “not so good spelling and grammar people”, I think it will improve how people write and pick up things that the word processor doesn’t always find.

I think this is a great idea because it could help people improve their writing skills.

To those who may be nervous about critical reviewing, let me just point out that whoever gives your story a critical review is not going to come right out and tell you it's bad. This beta reader will want to help out and boost your confidence, not tear you down.

Yeah, the general idea is not to go out fanfic bashing or flaming anyone. It's more giving a constructive critiscism. It's a good idea I think, but then again I could see why some authors might possibly be against it.

I think this is a great idea, I'd really like to have someone read my story and give a critique... check for grammar, consistency with the books, how much the plot makes sense, etc. I'm very excited to receive feedback about my writing! Also, I'd like to review somebody else's story; there are some very good ones on this site, and I think it would be really fun if we could all help each other improve.

Mmm....well the end of the poll is approaching rapidly and it's beginning to look as though most people here are in favour of having someone to read over their fics and offer a bit of constructive criticism.....

So....

What does everyone think of the idea of having a competition? The person with the best, most well-written short fan-fic piece gets the job? Or something non-fiction? Like a character study, an editorial about anything HP-related that you like....something along those lines?

What do you reckon, taks? Seeing as how we'll be judging it......

Just one person, or should we elect two people, do you think? Just to share the load out a bit, you know....

For me its okey with critics, it's exiting to see how people like your story, you have to tolarate some critic I think.
I havent wrote a fanfic yet but I'm working on it!
you'll see..

I'm glad so many people liked the idea, I personally thought it would be nice for people to have reviews of sorts for their fanfic. Anyways....

Yeah, I think that there should be two people for this, we don't want anyone to be crushed by the fanfics you know, that wouldn't be good, they might not every come back up.
I think that a competition is really the best way to do it. Perhaps just a short fanfic type piece and all to show that they have good grammer, spelling, knows how a story should flow, etc. Although, maybe they should do a sort of mock critique... I'm open to any ideas from anyone, really...

I think maybe..

*A short paragraph/page of fanfiction.
*A mock critique just to show that you can actually be nice about it. Perhaps get someone to write a fairly average/poor story and then see how people would respond to it.

Perhaps thats what the applicants need to do both. To show that they can punctuate and they can be nice and polite. As well as critical.

Yes! We want a person (or persons) who has wonderful skills when it comes to this, time on their hands, and can critque the fanfics without being a total jerk about it. We don't want anyone to be discouraged by someone's remarks...

Yeah, taks, that idea sounds good to me...to see a short critique of someone else's work. The only thing with that is that if we post it here, then once the first person posts a review, that might - to put it politely - give other people 'ideas' on what to say when they post their own critiques, which wouldn't really be fair on the first person. But I still think this would be the best idea, so what if I get hold of a short paragraph that one of my lecturers gave us all last year on examples of good and bad grammar (think it was from 'Eats Shoots and Leaves') and then people PM us a short list of all the things that's wrong/right with it and then, in addition, they write a short paragraph of their own, just to show that they can string sentences together themselves too - and that part can be posted on the forums.

What do you reckon?

Yeah, that sounds really good. It seems fair and makes sense to me.

I think that P.M-ing the authors would be the best way to do it, it saves embarrassment too. So who’s going to pick the two people, as Tanks said they will have to have time and very good at grammar and what-not (unlike me!). I know of a few names I’d put forward who have picked me up on grammar and spelling before, thought its not hard if you read my fic to pick up mistakes…its full of them.

Catch chaz laterz!

Toni

I guess since it's after the 5th this poll has already been closed, but I think it's a great idea to have people review other people's fanfics. I have never written fanfiction before, and I know that I would benefit from having someone read and review my fanfic. I wouldn't mind having the review posted on the thread, but I know that some people would probably rather that they were sent a review via PM, so it really doesn't matter to me.

Sincerest apologies, guys....I haven't forgotten about this, it's just that I really haven't had time to sort things out for this the past week or so, but thankfully, I've done it now!!

Yes, I'm going to close this thread now because it's clear that people do want a formal reviewer here so what we'll do is arrange the person/people for the job, and then we'll figure out what's the best way to do it - whether people would rather be PM'ed or have reviews in the thread.

Keep an eye out for the competition thread then!!