Weed 'em and reap (Writing a Good dooyoo Review)

Member Name: The Operator

Product:	Writing a Good dooyoo Review
Date:	15/10/01 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Look...

Disadvantages: and...

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In answer to a few comments, I've added a bit at the end.
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I think I'm just about at the end of my tether. As tethers go, it's quite a long one and it's taken me a long time to reach it but I'm there.
Hang on, let me re-write that so that some of you can understand it.

"i think im just abaut at the of mi tetha. As tetha's go its quiet a long one and its taken me along time..." you get my drift.

Listen. I'm not as tolerant or as nice as jillmurphy; I'm not as pedantic as mykreeve or alkaliguru either but I'm getting fed up with very poor spelling and punctuation. I find it very difficult to read. If the op has been written carelessly it tells me that maybe the author hasn't really considered the subject properly and has banged something out for the reads. That's all. Not "thats all". There's an "i" missing. It's what the apostrophe's for. Alkaliguru wrote a very good (very long, too but still very good) opinion on all things apostrophic several weeks ago. I would advise go find, read and take heed.

Do you know what's even worse? Making a spelling mistake in the title. I mean, come on. If you want people to read you and you can't even be bothered to check the title then you deserve all the SUs and NUs you get. Notice - "SUs" - no '. Plural, they don't have anything.

I'm not perfect. I make mistakes; howlers even. I am guilty of once or twice spelling definitely with an "a". When you get to 40, you're allowed the odd indiscretion as along with the hairline, my education is disappearing into hazy fug of which I have only partial recall. Spelling has become habit and like most people, I have some bad habits. You are also allowed to disown the "subject verb object" sentence construction which we were all taught in
the first year at big school. Sometimes, even jillmurphy starts a sentence with "And". Ummmm! Telling... (only three dots - any more aren't allowed, really. It's the law.)

The biggest enemy to happy reading is the damned spellchecker. I know it's an easy target but they can't spot the difference between 'martial' and 'marshal', 'bare' and 'bear', "stair" and "stare" and others. They're called "homophones"; spelt differently but sound the same. A "homonym" is like "reading" and "Reading" (as in the place down the M4), they've got the same spelling so aren't quite as important. But your very 'umble spellchecker can only see if they're spelt correctly, not used correctly; can't even see if it's in the right place in the sentence. Of course, I will sometimes offer advice along the lines of try using one but, well it is the easiest means for most people to get it right.

I don't use a spellchecker. I have got one but it's in Appleworks and it takes millennia to load so I have something much more accurate. It's called a dictionary; a big fat book full of words. It involves a little effort as you have to have a vague appreciation of the order of the alphabet in order for it to work properly. If you're very clever, you can keep it on your desk and not even have to get up to use it like I do. It's very low-tech but what it does have which is really really helpful, are definitions. It will help you loads - not all spellcheckers have definitions. Try one, they're not expensive. Amazon do them, they're good at books.

As for actually writing good opinions, I feel no more qualified than the next person to offer much advice on that score. We all have our own styles which have evolved as we gain confidence. I wouldn't want to tamper with that.

I suppose the only advic
e I could offer is try and find something new to say. Personally, I don't read other ops on a subject as I don't like the fact that I may just become too influenced by what others may have said. I want the words to be mine and mine only. If you can't find anything original to say, make sure you convey your enthusiasm for your subject through wit or humour. Mind, those two things are different. Try and include personal experience. There's nothing worse than reading a review of a sports car by a teenager who's never been nearer to it than the pages of a magazine. Believe me, it does show.

There are categories within dooyoo which really serve no other purpose than as training pitches. Every now and again, a new writer will appear and bang out 15 opinions in a night on obscure and outdated computer games with no thought about content or value to the reader. Let him go on. He'll soon see people get bored. Still comment though. Likewise, top tens and football categories. If you're new, try learning your craft in these areas. You won't upset too many people and you'll always get a few constructive comments. Once in a while, a well timed comment may hit home and a new star will be produced. We've all seen it happen.

I suppose that's the end of the rant. I'm sorry if I've upset those people to whom content is more important than style but really the ethos behind dooyoo is that consumers can get in and read about things. If the review or opinion they're reading is poorly written what on earth will they think of the site? And that's the revenue gone. Think and think hard, if you want to keep this thing going, use it properly and don't abuse it for the sake of it.

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