Review Circle Interest Check

[Moni]

So a few months ago I floated around this idea of having a review event for written works in light of the fact that written work doesn't really get read a lot here. Life is too busy, and while we'd all like to read each others' fiction, it's really hard to do so. How this would work is that each participant picks something of theirs that they really like, or think others might like, and put it up for reviews!

"But Moni," you might ask, "how is this any different from just putting something up?"

Well, we turn it into an event where everybody chips in something of their own, and also everybody has to review a certain number of things that get submitted. x) This can either work Secret-Santa style or Warm-Fuzzy style, but most likely somewhere in between.

(Secret Santa style is like, self-explanatory, you give your stuff, get one review, give one review. Warm-fuzzy style is that you submit your stuff, review everything everyone else sent, and get reviews from all participants--but that isn't tenable if people don't have enough time unless there's a small number of participants, which is likely for something like this? Hybrid style would be like, give out your piece, do X amount of reviews, receive X amount of reviews.)

This event is not really analogous to warm fuzzies in that you have to say "you're awesome!" or something to that effect but it's not a critical markdown event either--which would possibly be called "cold sharpies?". The purpose is to give reviews on works that show you've really thought about it some; they should be no less than a paragraph and comment on something substantial--less "I like this!" and more "The character dynamics/message/plot is X because Y."

There would probably be restrictions on the type of content--as in, you can't really submit fiction that requires the knowledge of a body of fiction beyond very basic stuff. So like, if you submit an Avatar fanfiction, you have to be comfortable that it'll make sense if someone is given a rudimentary 100-word summary of the franchise. Neopets is probably exempt from this because there's an almost certain chance people were once in that fandom, and it also opens up doors to Neopian Times stuff *points at forum name*, so eh. Length might also be limited, but I feel that's a "how much are you willing to read?" thing.

Is this a good idea? Bad Idea? WORST IDEA? How do you feel about it? What do you think? Tell me below!

[Celestial]

I think this would be great! =D Ideally, doing it Warm Fuzzy style is best, but depending on life and busy-ness, Secret Santa might be the way to go.

[Moni]

Thanks for your input Celestial!

To be honest, I think warm-fuzzy style is definitely in the realm of possibility! I don't imagine so many people showing up as to make that unbearable, and I'll be sure the deadlines are reasonable. ^^

[Shinko]

I might be interested in something like this, though I'll have fun wrestling with whatever word limit is set because I am Very Verbose. (As anyone who has collaborated with me can attest.) Warm fuzzy style is probably doable s'long as we have a pretty open window. XD

(Though maybe the thread title could be something more indicative, or people might not actually read to see what you're proposing. XD)

[Twillie]

Yeah, this sounds interesting to me too! If it goes the Warm Fuzzy route, perhaps, depending on how many people join in, they could be put into smaller, more manageable groups? So like if nine people signed up, then three groups of three could be made so everyone would in the end get two reviews while giving out two, and it wouldn't be as overwhelming to get done.
But between Secret Santa and Warm Fuzzies, I think I also prefer the latter style, so that people can get more rounded feedback on their piece.

I'm also wondering, would this be limited to just written pieces? Because while I'd love to participate, I really don't have anything purely in writing, nor do I have anything in the works as words aren't my primary medium of storytelling. If I were to put up drafts of my comic series, would that still fit in with the event?

[Moni]

Shinko I'll try not to be super punishing of lenghtier writing--no limits like 4,000 words, for example--I think it'll be based on what people feel comfortable reading. The average reading speed is around 300 words per minute or so--so an hour reading continuously is 18,000 words, or about 0.36 of a 50K NaNo thing, so that's possibly a baseline to work around, but I'll be sort of probing participants. If we end up splitting into groups, I might organize them by how much volume they're willing to read.

(But my title is so mathematical! It's the average of Warm Fuzzies and Cold Sharpies!... but yes, that's a good idea.)

Twillie Yeah, or I could do something like a "spiral" system where not everyone reviews everyone else's work but a fraction, depending on how many people join.

I guess I can open this event up to any narrative-like structure, as long as it has some sort of writing behind it (like, dialogue in a comic or a script or something), so comic drafts are fine! It doesn't have to be prose necessarily. The distinction I'm drawing is here as to not cast the net too wide, because "storytelling" can get very esoteric at times and can be very difficult to review. x)

[Twillie]

Yeah, spiral system might also be an option, all depending on how many people there are to work with. On that note, are you planning on this being a one time thing, like a big event, or something that would be recurring, similar to Warm Fuzzies or the like?

And yeah, if I were to participate, I'd make sure there'd be enough to give someone else at least for them to review x3 Since yeah, the line can get fuzzy, plus it's probably good to keep in mind the different participants' interests in case they're not as comfortable reviewing a medium they're not that familiar with.

Do you think it might be an option for those giving something to review to add in prompts or preferences on what they'd like feedback on? Like "I'm not too worried about grammar edits right now, but I'd love to hear how well I portrayed this one character's inner thoughts?"

[Moni]

Twillie I don't know? I just want to see if people will participate in it once before I make any grand plans to make it a recurring event, but idk if this goes well I'll be happy to hold more of them.

Yeah, that's a thing. I guess it's "up to discretion", but in a comic's case, even a script with a panel layout could work, or a sketchy thing, it doesn't have to be parfait.

Yes!! I plan to include a little blurb like that. :-)

[Huntress]

I'd tentatively be up for this =D And I'm particularly up for non-storytelling medium critique, because that's always been the bulk of what I've reviewed anyway, so if there was to be a separate art-review group or somesuch then I can pad 'em numbers.

[Thorn]

I think that would be nice! If it's posted publicly I probably won't have much to contribute (I keep most of my less-awful work off the forum in hopes of oneday seeing Publication), but I still think the idea is cool

[Liou]

Would there be a possibility of offering reviews without being reviewed, or are reciprocity and the "circle" aspect too integral to the concept?

[Moni]

Huntress If there's enough interest for it, sure! My original idea was more "okay submit a thing that has any sort of writing behind it." But if people are interested in a non-narrative version, or even an art version or something, that's cool!

Liou and possibly Thorn

Well, since I called this "Lukewarm Dullies," originally, the circle isn't supremely important. I'm fine with people participating without chipping in something of their own as well, since similar things happen in Warm Fuzzies.