I’ve had a membership to the Online Writing Workshop (SF/Fantasy/Horror branch) since about the time it started (2000-ish). In that time I think I’ve posted maybe four things and written a whopping 30 reviews. I have obviously not been a particularly helpful member of said workshop, but I figure the monthly membership fees are my penance for procrastinating.

Now that I’m trying (once again) to fail slightly less at chasing my dreams down and mugging them in dark alleyways– I’ve logged back on to try and be productive, which means I have to leave reviews.

I am terrified of leaving reviews.

I am not an expert at writing, or plotting, or grammar, or in-depth discussions on thematic parallels between the protagonist’s underlying motivations and the prismatic diffraction of the sunbeams on the third moon of said protagonist’s gaseous homeworld. So I’m a little leery at leaving feedback for people who presumably know what they are doing.

In the past I have compensated for this by a) mentioning I have no qualifications beyond ‘random reader of things’ and b) giving massive amounts of feedback in the hope that some fraction of it is useful. So far I haven’t heard any negative responses to my reviews– but I find myself checking the posts to see if any of the other reviewers agree with me. Or if they don’t.

Which means I will probably spend today waffling over the idea reviewing something… and then snag something short to start with. Hopefully.

I am such a wuss.