Fish Tank Story Comment Guidelines

Important! The copyrights to these stories are held by the authors. Do not redistrubute anything you find here outside The Fish Tank!

Note that comments and critiques are to be given freely, and authors have the right to use any suggestion, in whole or in part, at their own discretion.

Once a story is approved by the moderators, you have three weeks to join in the fun. Read the story and reply to the story by posting with your official comments. Our ubiquitous official story comment guidelines are:

1. Make two positive remarks.
2. Make two suggestions for improvement.
3. Try not to repeat.

This is what we call our 2+2 review. If you want to review a different way, that’s fine too. Just remember to temper any of your suggestions with some positive remarks.

Be specific. Ideally, cite examples. Note that it will be a lot easier to make comments early on, before all the obvious points are taken. If you get in late and are having a hard time coming up with something that hasn’t already been said, keep trying. Ideas come from the strangest places, and even if your suggestion isn’t itself useful, it may spark the author’s imagination and inspire a change that is useful.

The good points you make serve a few purposes. First, it keeps The Fish Tank from reading like a slam-fest, which could make people angry. Second, it helps you learn to identify what is good about a story, which you can then use to identify what is good about your own stories. And third, it lets the author know what works well, so he or she can leave it alone when he or she makes changes.

Besides your official response, you can also post follow-up comments to other members’ comments. Follow-ups can be on any subject: questions, agreements or amplifications, disagreements, or even tangential discussions about writing techniques in general. Note, though, that a follow-up post is not the same as your “official response,” so be sure to make your official response too!

Be courteous. If you take the effort to comment, you might as well be heard, and being a jerk is the fastest route to being ignored. If we see insults or extreme rudeness, we will send email requesting that you be polite. If there is a pattern of abuse, your account will be terminated.

Note, however, that many people here are actively trying to improve their ability to communicate. Some speak English as a second language. Try not to take offense where none is intended.

We do not expect everyone to be an ace reviewer on the first day. Jump in, do your best, and work on improving from review to review. Pay attention to other reviewers and notice what you like or dislike about them. When writing your own comments, emulate the people you think are effective.

The best thing you can do for an author is to give your personal impression of the piece. He already knows how he feels about the story, and he knows what he is trying to get across. But he now wants to see if his points have trickled through to you, his audience.

It is common for people’s impressions to differ. With readers of varying nationalities and drastically different backgrounds, we sometimes see a wide range of opinions. This does not mean that one impression is wrong and another is right. Impressions are impressions. The real difference between a good reviewer and a bad reviewer is not the quality of the impressions; it is the ability to clearly and tactfully communicate those impressions.

So do not expect to agree with the comments of every other reviewer. Disagreement is OK. Honesty is more important than unanimity. If you disagree with someone, just make a special effort to be polite.

Note that these are only guidelines, not hard and fast rules. If the guidelines get in the way of giving good feedback, don’t follow the guidelines just for the sake of following the rules.

For example, some reviewers will do a line-by-line review, where they make a comment on every sentence of the story. Sometimes they’ll mention a grammar error, sometimes they’ll mention an especially effective passage. These line-by-lines are not the best way to critique a first draft (it would be too much work), but they can be very effective at putting the shine on a final draft.

Unsure how to proceed? Here are some things to try and some questions to ask yourself as you are reading.

1. Stop and think about how the story “felt” to you. Was it sad? Was it funny? Did it turn you on? Now re-read the story and see what it is in the writing that made you feel that way. Note particular passages where the feeling was particularly strong.
2. How was the plot? Did the author build any suspense? What was the climax of the story?
3. How much action was there in the piece? How much exposition?
4. Did any of the characters seem particularly real?
5. Who was the main character? Did you care about him or her? Did the character change in any meaningful way during the course of the story?
6. Were there any particularly good physical descriptions?
7. Was there any dialogue? Did it seem natural?
8. Look at the language used. Did the author use any similes or metaphors? How do the similes and metaphors relate to the point of the story? Did you notice any cliches?
9. Were there places where the grammar was unnatural or confusing? Did you ever have to re-read something to figure out what it was about?
10. Were you able to visualize the setting of the story?
11. What was the pace of the story? Did it move slowly in places? Was it over before you knew it?
12. What point of view is the story told from? Third person omniscient? First person? Was the point of view consistent? Were there inappropriate shifts in point of view? Did the narrator ever say things that the narrator shouldn’t know?
13. What did you think of the voice the narrator used to talk to the reader? Was it consistent? Was it appropriate to the story?

Last but not least, we prefer that non-writing discussions be kept out of the story discussion forums. If you have questions about rules, complaints about other members, or other issues not related to the the story (or writing in general), we request that you take them to a more appropriate venue. If you’re not sure where to go, E-mail us at fishtank@desdmona.com and we’ll direct you to the right place. If a discussion goes too far afield, the moderators may intervene.

Further Reading

• Fish Tank Member Guidelines
• Fish Tank Story Guidelines
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy