Important edit: Because I'm a moron I didn't realise there was already a circle of reviewers post which can be found here. This thread can be considered defunct and left to die

You've written your story. You sit back to enjoy the praise. Then you watch with horror as it plummets to the bottom of the forums, with nary a comment.

You see, the truth of the matter is is that there are an awful lot more people willing to write stories than comment on other peoples stories, and even then it tends to be a short "I really enjoyed, can't wait for the next one!". While such comments are a boost to ones ego, they don't do much in the way of improving the quality of later instalments.

Reviews, and I mean proper reviews, are the life blood of little forums like this. And if you're not prepared to review others work, then you should be prepared for others not to review or comment upon yours.

In order to encourage more in the way reviews, I would like to reintroduce:

This is a nifty little thread that gets people reviewing others work. If you want your work to be reviewed, then you review the suggested piece by the last reviewer above you, and then post a link to your own story to be reviewed.

Simple, no?

However, it is important that it actually be a review, and not simply a comment. You're trying to get to the heart of what worked and didn't work, and how it can be improved. A solid review should take a good deal of thought and consideration. Feel free to phrase your review anyway you like, but try and keep it constructive; if you point out a flaw try and suggest some way of improving it. If you're stuck for what to say, think about some of the following things;

• Plot - Did the plot points string convincingly together? Did it suffer from any Deus Ex Machina? Did you care about what was happening? Was it well paced?
  
• Characters - Did the characters seem convincing? Interesting? Were they Mary Sues? Did they seem to have their own internal lives, thoughts, goals? Were you able to easily distinguish each character? Did you want to punch them in the face? Care about what happened about them afterwards? Did it seem like the characters were strapped onto the conveyor belt of the plot, or did the plot arise naturally from the action of the characters?
  
• Dialogue - Did the dialogue flow? Did each characters have their own unique voice or did all the characters sound the same? Did the characters who knew each other sound like they knew each other? Did the dialogue tick-tock between characters?
  
• Exposition - Did the wording of the prose flow? How was the use of language? Did you think the author appreciates the English language? Did the writing evoke the appropriate response - did the exciting bits feel exciting and the calm moments calm?
  
• World - Does the story evoke the Star Wars Universe? Does it do so convincingly or does it just seem like fan service? Is there a sense of history - of previous events having occurred to bring the character here? Do the characters have a sense of history about them? A cultural context?
  
• Theme - Is whatever theme the author is exploring seem well considered? Were there conspicuous gaps?
  

Also, no cheating. No "I know I haven't written a review, but can you just look at my story?", or "I didn't review the last posters work, but I wrote this review one time, so maybe you can look at my stuff?" or anything like that. Ze rules vill be enforced!

So good luck and getting reviewing!

Well, to start things off I reviewed Kalenath's first episode of the Love, Force and Everything: Shades of Grey

Up for review my little piece Ducal

There's already a Circle of Reviewers post, if you'd like to participate:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=1416