Darth Writer is my father! Why didn't anyone TELL me?!
May 07 '01
The Bottom Line Walking that fine line between snobbery and ignoring the helpless – I’ll talk you through how to advise newbies.
I remember my first few weeks here at Epinions – can’t you? It was fun, it was fresh, it was all so new! It was also a time when most of us didn’t have a clue. I’ve been reading through my old reviews, and they were such a joke! They were never as bad as most of the junk (I could use a stronger word if I chose) that floods the Just-In today. But they were not high quality. They were simply mediocre. Entirely worthy of the Helpfuls (Recommendeds back then) that they got.
But if someone had just taken the time to drop me a comment or email explaining how things worked at Epinions, described what goes into a really good review, or even just pointed me to the “What to do when writing a review” category, I would have found my groove so much faster than I did. I don’t mean to complain, because I now know what works and I have known for a while. But it would have meant the world to me for just one person to have reached out and said, “You’ve got to start writing better quality reviews, and here’s how to do it.” I thought I was writing pretty good; in my naivety I thought Helpfuls were awesome. I never knew that there was a whole world of better writing out there, waiting to be explored.
If you’ve been a writer who was incredibly good from the start, you won’t be able to understand this phenomenon; but I’d guess everybody else will be able to nod their heads in agreement. A simple word of encouragement and constructive criticism is so welcome to a writer who truly wants to write well at Epinions.
So why are there still so many awful writers whose 120th epinion is as bad as their first? Maybe because nobody took the time to tell them.
Take a good look around the Just-In section and you’ll find as many SH reviews and editorials as Hs and VHs. This is not to our credit at all. I’m not someone who considers Epinions their whole life and thinks the world will blow up if the site is dragged down by bad writers, but I wouldn’t want to see this site end that way. I’d rather it go out in a shower of glory saving the galaxy or something (been watching too much Star Wars). It hurts to see so many 101 word reviews coming in, and most of the time there are no comments on them and no emails to the writers (as far as I know) explaining what they doing wrong.
Nonetheless, I know where you’re coming from. I’m there myself. You can’t stop to tell all the newbies how to write great reviews. There are so many of them, how can you devote hours to training every single newbie who comes to call? And it’s kinda cheap to write a stock paragraph and paste it into the comment section for every lousy review you read. So WHAT DO YOU DO?
Well, don’t worry, I’m getting to that.
One of the biggest gripes I have about helping newbies is that it seems like all the time you invest doesn’t pay off. I’ve written quite a few comments urging new writers to take certain steps in improving their writing…only to see more epinions of theirs, as poorly written as ever, flooding the Just-In. Do they ignore the advice I stopped to give them? Was I too condescending? Did I sound like a know-it-all? Or are they just too stubborn to change?
Well, you can’t waste time trying to puzzle out questions like that. You have to decide, will you be a go-getter who uncompromisingly helps those who desperately need helping? Or will sit on the sidelines, complacent in your knowledge that you refuse to “cast before swine”? It’s your choice.
Just remember that if only ONE person that you stopped to help takes your advice to heart, then all your time has been well spent. Congrats! You’re making Epinions a better place, one member at a time.
How do you break the news to a newbie gently? You’ll have to decide on a type of comment that suits your personality, and vary it for the individual person. It is cheap to cut and paste one comment for a hundred reviews, but it’s common sense to have some basic phrases and personalize it. Most SH reviews will have the same characteristics that make them Somewhat Helpful – very short, almost no information at all, and occasionally wandering sentences or a useless story. It’s fine to use the same straight talk about this, but you should make some encouraging comments about their style (or something that was done well in their review) and customize, like suggesting aspects to cover on the product they’re reviewing.
An example of a helping-hands comment is: “Looks like you’re new to Epinions! If you want to improve your writing, try adding more detail about the product: the things you liked and didn’t like about it, and describe those pros and cons to the fullest! You could make a list of the aspects you want to talk about, and make a heading for each one and then write about it. A good resource for learning how to write at Epinions is the What to Do When Writing A Review, which you can find at the member center. Good luck!”
Now, notice I didn’t say, “You didn’t have anything useful to say about the product. Start writing better or you’re doomed!” A wee bit gloomy. I try to couch my advice in the friendliness, most non-threatening terms I know. I usually do this by writing whatever immediately pops into my head, and then reading it over when I’m done to see if I would welcome or dread a comment like it on my own review.
Here are a few additional tips as to how to treat newbies and their writing:
1. Take the time to explain things. If someone looks like they’re struggling and want to improve, help them by all means! Especially if they sound intelligent and promising. When I read my old reviews, I can’t help thinking, “These aren’t that bad…if only someone had told me what I could do to make them better!” That’s who I want to help the most – the promising writers who simply need a word from someone more experienced. And they are the ones who deserve encouragement and advice the most.
2. Have sympathy pains, and act accordingly. Think back to your first half a dozen reviews. What would have helped you the most to know back then? That is probably what you should be telling newbies when you give them advice. Don’t think that these guys should know automatically what to do. If nobody points them in the right direction, they will have to learn the hard way what makes the cut and what doesn’t.
3. Be kind but instructive in your comments. Talk to them like you would have liked to be talked to as a newbie, for heaven’s sake! Someone who’s only been here a week is still a human being with feelings. Even if their writing stinks, don’t say their writing stinks. Tell them instead about the areas they could improve in and encourage them in the aspects that they did well in. And ALWAYS wish them good luck or the best or something like that.
4. Choose who you help carefully. There are simply some people who I think are not worth helping at Epinions. They are arrogant, rude, and retaliatory even to kindness; they ENJOY being really bad writers and committing all the other crimes mentioned in madtheory’s “Diary of an Epinions Loser.” Or they’re the “a a a a” and/or plagiarist crowd who are obviously here to make money without doing a stitch of true work. Immediately put these losers on your Block List and spend your time instead with the new writers who are eager to improve.
5. Finally, don’t feel too bad about not helping every single newbie. You can’t rescue the world; you can’t save them all. You shouldn’t be responsible for bringing every new member up to speed. But you can make a difference just one or two members at a time. That’s why I want every person reading this review to help someone out today, just one person if that’s all you have time for. Write a comment telling them about the standards Epinions has for good reviews, and how they can achieve those standards. Say a hundred people read this review and follow my instructions. That’s a hundred newbies who have been helped today! Maybe one of those will go on to become a ptiemann or a Grouch, all because you took the time to give them a lift. I’d say that’s worthwhile. How bout you?
(Closing remark: at this time there is no Epinions member to my knowledge with the name DarthWriter or any similar name. In no way does the title of this epinion reflect on anyone who so might choose that name for their Epinions handle. And I had no specific person in mind when writing tip No. 4; it was simply a general observation. I don’t want anyone to get the impression that I’m slandering…or is it libeling? I can never remember! Anyway, just want to let you know that I didn’t write this with defamatory purposes. ;-)
So take the time out to help someone! You’ll be giving two people a lift – the newbie and yourself.
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Epinions.com ID:
Greatpilgrim
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Victoria
Location: FL
Reviews written: 272
Trusted by: 704 members
About Me:
April 25: My computer has now officially been broken for 10 days. WAHHHH!
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