Ever wondered what the members of this club felt, experienced, crave, value, want, need, aspire to, suggest, advise, go about things or just speak out on?
These are all actual responses from our fabulous members, these people are real and inspiring. They are knowledgeable, talented, big-hearted and they have a lot to offer. We are extremely humbled and honored to have them and you will greatly benefit from their passion and endless love and support!
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To date, I've always found the comments left behind by the members of the club to be extremely helpful. They do point out the flaws but also add in suggestions that can help the chapter improve.
For me, being in the Rebel Book Club has always been a good experience.
xxx
I would say honesty should be the only policy when it comes to reviews. There are ways and ways of telling someone something needs to be improved and or cultivated, however, and I think this is especially prudent when it comes to reviewing the works of someone who is fairly new to writing or even writing in their second language.
That said, I do think some people can fall foul of over-reviewing, whereby they nit-pick at things that aren't necessarily ripe to be changed. I think if you've enjoyed someone's work and struggle to see flaws (from your point of view) then tell then such. Don't make up things you think should exist in a review, as many authors take the comments they receive seriously.
But yeah, fire that harsh truth cannon all day long ... it's the only way people can hope to get better.
xxx
Whelp, I for one, just had my book reviewed by all the club's members and got slammed with comments. And I could not be more grateful. I got loads of help on awkward phrasings, sentence fragments, and where to better separate my paragraphs for clarity. Oh, and commas. Lots and lots of help on commas. I also got feedback on what works for some readers and what doesn't work for others. And even if a person didn't particularly like what I wrote, no one said "This sucks," and left it at that. They pointed out why something didn't connect with them and suggested ways to improve. It's feedback. On an early draft of a story. My writing's allowed to have problems just like others are allowed to point those problems out or voice their opinions. And though it's hard not to take it personally (writing is so very much a part of the writer), it is needed if you want to get better. So I couldn't be more thrilled with this club and the great lengths its members go to give insightful and beyond helpful comments.
xxx
I don't know if I'm a sadist or what but for me, I prefer the honest truth. When I get comments that gush about my work it doesn't make me as happy as much as a tough critic does. To me, it shows that they really thought about my work and often its how I find out things (holes in the plot) that I didn't consider when writing. Not to say I don't like hearing positive comments but I think you said it really well...I joined a club to be critiqued. I'm not here to be praised. It's the only place where I expect to receive helpful pointers.
