Reviewed!

Friday, Jun. 11, 2004 3:56 p.m.

I got my first review. Read it here. 63/100. Basically, bleah. This is what I get when I ask a 14-year-old to tell me what she thinks about me.:-) As a teacher I should know better. I asked for it, so I'm not going to shoot her down. Anyway I did get some helpful feedback regarding my layout, and I've tried to neaten it a bit, as you can see.

Lessons learned from this experience:

  1. Do your research. Don't beg for a review from just about every review site there is. You want a reviewer whose opinion will matter to you. Find out who the reviewers are so that you know what to expect. Otherwise you will get upset if you get labelled "boring" by a kid reviewer for raving about Nina Simone and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.


  2. Know why you're asking for a review. Some people are hoping that a good review will give them a wider readership, some want validation, some are fishing for compliments and some expect confirmation of what they think they already know. Your expectations determine your response to the review. It's not worth it flipping out over a review. Manage your expectations.


  3. Unless you think it's an essential part of the Diaryland experience, don't bother getting reviewed. I've tried doing a couple for Jeri's review site, and I've come to realise what a time-consuming and sometimes incredibly dull task it is. All reviews are impressionistic (based on the reviewer's reading of 10-20 entries, on average), and if you have few interests in common with your reviewer, chances are they're not going to like your diary. Why place your self-esteem in the hands of a stranger?


  4. There is no such thing as a bad review. Even if someone says your diary really sucks. A review is an opportunity to learn something about your writing style and the kind of audience you appeal and don't appeal to. You don't have to please everybody, and if you care to please anyone at all, it should be the people who read you on a regular basis, in spite of the bad review you got.

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Older entries
Ramadan - 08 October 2006
Where I Have Been - 03 October 2006
Baby Talk - 10 August 2006
6 Weeks of Separation - 16 July 2006
Unacceptable Rudeness - 21 June 2006