SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Summary:

Simple overview of how to write quality concept reviews!

SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 01 Jan 2019 07:15

Welcome to the Ideas Critique Forum!

This is where newbies and veterans alike come to shop their concepts around until they have something that they're ready to write into a full draft (or use to revamp an existing draft). This is where reviewers come into play, since we have a lot of widely read community members who remember thousands of SCPs!

If you'd like to help authors polish up their ideas and potentially think up the Next Best Thing, here are a few things to keep in mind!

1. Tell the author what you liked (or didn't like) about their idea, and why.

2. Tell the author what you think they should fix or do next, and why.

That's pretty much it!

Click to show some more detailed instructions

• Give the author a direction to follow!
  • Just saying "needs work"/"needs more"/"has potential" and leaving it at that is vague and unhelpful because the author doesn't know what specifically needs work or has potential.
  • Just saying "I like this a lot" / "I don't like this" is also too vague. What specific parts were good and can be kept after edits? What parts are weaker and can be trimmed?
• Make sure you know what the community wants!
  • SCPs don't need to be dangerous or scary or capable of ending the world to be successful. Be familiar with the current site standards and what the community is expecting in an article of quality.
• Be aware of forum activity!
  • If you're not inclined to write a thorough review (i.e., covering concept, execution, a few examples of specific fixes, and so on), please hold off on making the first post so a more experienced reviewer can address the thread first. That gives the author a more accurate gauge of the potential overall audience response.

For some reading to get the creativity engine running, consider:

• http://www.scp-wiki.net/essays-on-style (a bunch of authors talk about how/where they get their ideas!)
• http://www.scp-wiki.net/ideation (a bunch of different ways to explore ideas!)
• http://www.scp-wiki.net/things-what-do-a-thing-an-essay-on-things (a bunch of ways to handle the classic "thing that does a thing" SCP formula!)

We've also got the Reviewers' Spotlight, which shows off great pieces picked by prominent reviewers for front-page fame!

Remember, reviewers can shape a concept from "meh" to "holy #%$@!!" You speak for a portion of the audience when you respond to an author, and play a key role in the development of the site's material and canon. Best of luck with all your reviewing endeavors!

Last edited on 13 Jul 2020 04:44 by Zyn Show more

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 14 Mar 2019 03:49

Noting that per the new Draft Forum policy: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-10629348/new-draft-forum-policies

Before they can ask for forum feedback on a draft, first-time authors will need to get their concepts "greenlighted", either in the forums or IRC chatrooms, by two experienced reviewers from these lists:

• Butterfly Squad Roster
• Authors' Pages (or someone who meets the requirements for an author page)
• Reviewers' Spotlight Archive
• Meet The Staff

Put simply, a reviewer has "greenlighted" a concept if they state straightforwardly (or when prompted) that they believe a draft of the premise would be successful on the mainsite, and/or that they think the author should progress to the drafting stage.

If you would like to join the Butterfly Squad Roster of reviewers, please send a wikidot message to (Zyn) stating your interest. You will be prompted to provide a set of examples of recent forum critique you have posted; consistent activity across at least a month is ideal for Roster consideration.

Last edited on 07 Mar 2022 07:15 by Zyn Show more

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

BlueJones 15 Mar 2019 14:58

Gonna sound like a dumb question but does this mean we would have to re-present our ideas for tales and skips for the greenlight? Take me drafts for Anderson and the Broken Masqurade canon for instance. Would I have to go through the I&B forum to get it greenlit?

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 16 Mar 2019 09:02

In the eventual draft threads, just provide a link to the ideas threads and note that they were posted and replied to before the new policy was instated.

Last edited on 16 Mar 2019 09:02 by Zyn Show more

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

ShroomDispencer 02 Feb 2020 11:58

Do you have to be a critter to critique in the threads?

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

F15H35 02 Feb 2020 13:01

As the saying goes, "Everyone's a critic."

You can critique on any thread you want so as long as your critique is of high quality. High quality being: Helpful feedback that isn't vague and that it addresses flaws and strong points of an idea. Additionally, also telling if the idea is a common trope and has a pitfall.

Basically, no. There's no such thing as "needing to be critter" to provide critique.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 01 Jan 2019 07:16

Do you have questions on how to handle giving conceptual critique? Want to become a member of the Butterfly Squad εїз? Curious about brainstorming techniques? This is the place to discuss!

If you would like to join the Butterfly Squad Roster of reviewers, please send a wikidot message to (Zyn) stating your interest. You will be prompted to provide a set of examples of recent forum critique you have posted; consistent activity across at least a month is ideal for Roster consideration.

Last edited on 07 Mar 2022 07:14 by Zyn Show more

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Sad Boi Hours 04 Jan 2019 10:51

how do you join the butterfly squad?

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 04 Jan 2019 21:39

Typically joining the team is invitation-only, but we are always welcome to people requesting to be considered for a team position.

The best way to be noticed is to provide high-quality critique at a relatively consistent activity rate. Butterfly Squad members are expected to be both good reviewers and active reviewers.

ETA: updating with some information, as it was brought to my attention that this comment is somewhat out of date.

Staff will occasionally reach out to consistently active quality reviewers to extend invitations to have their name put on the Roster. Staff will also happily take requests for consideration to join the team, whenever a reviewer wishes to put their name forth as someone whom authors can contact to seek feedback from. Any further questions or clarifications about this can be directed to me (Zyn) via wikidot PM.

Last edited on 12 Oct 2019 07:51 by Zyn Show more

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 05 Apr 2019 07:55

Just going to note some helpful resources for up-and-coming concept reviewers, now that the greenlighting policy has brought in a lot more writers asking for ideas help and a lot more concept critiquers!

• http://scp-wiki.net/shanor-ideas-essay
• http://www.scp-wiki.net/yourjouney-part-1

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

DiamondDorsal 21 May 2019 10:19

Does a reviewer need to be a successful author? Or can anyone provide critique assuming they are well written and constructive with their criticism?

I started reading SCPs since the early about the early beginnings of Series III, and I am well read on a large range of SCPs. I only created my account about 2 years ago with my first SCP submission being an SCP-3000 contest entry. Despite not being a successful author, I wish to be a reviewer.

Last edited on 21 May 2019 10:20 by DiamondDorsal Show more

Forum Criticism Team - Junior Staff Post

Shanor 22 May 2019 00:49

Does a reviewer need to be a successful author? Or can anyone provide critique assuming they are well written and constructive with their criticism?

Yes, anyone can provide critique as long as they give constructive criticism (save for people given a cease and desist due to previous problematic critiques). The ability to greenlight however has more standards.

I would suggest however that you take some time to read how other people critique before doing it yourself (The butterfly squad roster is a great place to start. It hosts many experienced members of the forum). Many people need examples of constructive criticism to understand what makes it good.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 22 May 2019 07:44

Does a reviewer need to be a successful author?

Not at all! The chef/food metaphor applies here: while chefs are more likely to give good advice on how to improve food, one doesn't necessarily need to be a chef to comment on whether food tastes good and what can be done to improve a dish (to their taste, at least).

Despite not being a successful author, I wish to be a reviewer.

Excellent! We could always use more talented reviewers on the site.

We do have a number of critique resources available in the Guide Hub, so feel free to reference the writing guides as you get started writing reviews in the forums.

Getting feedback

Lit_Kale 05 Feb 2020 22:04

Hey, I have a question. So, what if your feedback was vague and unhelpful, yet you could still use some review on an idea. As, you can’t post multiple threads for one idea meaning the SCP really only has one shot in the idea section. Also, does someone have to request a sandbox draft or can you add a link to one in your idea critique out of your own choice? Thank you for reading.

Re: Getting feedback

Zyn 06 Feb 2020 05:57

So, what if your feedback was vague and unhelpful, yet you could still use some review on an idea. As, you can’t post multiple threads for one idea meaning the SCP really only has one shot in the idea section.

Presuming that you mean that the feedback you received was vague, and not the feedback you yourself gave was vague, you can and should reach out to reviewers.

If you're having trouble getting further replies on a thread, you can go to the IRC chatroom and ask people there if they can reply to the forum thread, or message a staff member and ask them if they can direct chat attention to the thread. You can also reach out to a reviewer on the Butterfly Squad Roster.

Also, does someone have to request a sandbox draft or can you add a link to one in your idea critique out of your own choice?

If you want to preemptively link a sandbox draft, it has to be optional reading only. Reviewers should not need to read a full draft to understand and discuss the core concept of a piece. An author should be prepared to answer reviewer questions directly, rather than needing to default to asking a reviewer to dig through a full draft for the answers.

Re: Getting feedback

Lit_Kale 06 Feb 2020 13:49

Thank you for your help, I’ll see if I can’t reach out to the IRC chat to get some feedback.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Doctor Reddle 26 Feb 2020 05:28

I assume that official greenlights are only by people on butterfly squad? There was a really cool SCP concept that I would personally give my greenlight to but I felt that would be deceptive.

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 26 Feb 2020 05:41

I assume that official greenlights are only by people on butterfly squad?

Per the policy thread: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-10629348/new-draft-forum-policies

Greenlights can be given by anyone who is on any of the following lists:

• http://www.scp-wiki.net/authors-pages
• http://www.scp-wiki.net/meet-the-staff
• http://www.scp-wiki.net/butterfly-squad-roster
• http://www.scp-wiki.net/reviewers-spotlight-archive

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Dr Remember 25 Mar 2020 18:36

I'm not sure if this is an inconsistency or not. I was confused about who is able to greenlight so I have both posts on the requirements; one from this thread and one directly from the greenlight rules thread. Both are excerpts from posts by Zyn.

+posts

First, from this thread:

[…] two experienced reviewers from these lists:

• Butterfly Squad Roster
• Authors' Pages
• Reviewers' Spotlight Archive
• Meet The Staff

From the greenlight rules thread:

Site members who can greenlight concepts are those who fulfill one or more of the following criteria:

• They are on the Butterfly Squad Roster list of reviewers.
• They have an entry in the Authors' Pages list or they qualify for an Author Page.
• They have been featured in the Reviewers' Spotlight.
• They are a staff member.

In bold is the inconsistency. I want to be absolutely sure about this: if I don't have an author page, but I have three or more positively rated pages, can I greenlight?

Last edited on 25 Mar 2020 18:37 by Dr Remember Show more

SharpEmbrace 25 Mar 2020 19:22

If you have three or more pages that remain above -10 for 24 hours after having been posted, you qualify for an Author Page. You are, thus, able to make one but haven't yet. In that case, you are free to give greenlights.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 26 Mar 2020 05:12

Note in parentheses appended to the post in this thread.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Inkmouth 15 May 2020 03:56

Under the new policies, is it still alright to leave unsolicited crit on threads we find interesting, or is the idea to ensure that prospective authors are taking the initiative to find someone on their own?

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 15 May 2020 05:36

is it still alright to leave unsolicited crit on threads we find interesting,

Totally alright! Encouraged, even. The best case scenario we're aiming for is reviewers enjoying the critique process by finding material that they are enthusiastic about critiquing.

is the idea to ensure that prospective authors are taking the initiative to find someone on their own?

Sort of. The main concern to address was that a lot of feedback simply went effectively ignored, as authors either did not respond to reviewers entirely or immediately dropped a concept after receiving a review that noted changes needed to be made.

By asking authors to take the initiative to reach out, the intention is to establish that the author is a. active and likely to reply to a reviewer and b. willing and able to put in more than just the bare minimum effort to get a concept review.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Herbinator 29 May 2020 08:32

Do you have to be part of one of the concept reviewer squads, (Butterfly or other) in order to greenlight an idea. if so, if you have been giving consistent feedback, do you have to submit a request or will you be invited? if you have to submit a request how do you do that?

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

sirpudding 29 May 2020 09:03

See Zyn's reply to her top post for the list of lists of greenlighters.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 24 Jul 2020 05:23

As a general note, the Butterfly Squad is the only group of reviewers who handles critique of material before it is posted to the mainsite, and they review drafts and concepts, not just the latter.

Butterfly Squad is typically invitation-only, though I will take requests for consideration to join the Roster. Simply send me a PM noting you are interested in being considered—I will then respond with the criteria (generally links to recent reviews, and some statements about different aspects of the forum experience) to provide for staff to look over and determine if the reviewer should be added to the Roster.

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

PenOrSaber1 19 Sep 2022 23:26

So by concept reviewing, do you mean I say what I like about their ideas, and what I don't like/what they can do better? I don't have to edit their writing if I want to be a concept reviewer?

---

See you in Dreams! - Pen

Re: SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONCEPT REVIEWER?

Zyn 20 Sep 2022 07:07

I say what I like about their ideas, and what I don't like/what they can do better?

This is what the top post of the thread says, yes. You can click the red text reading "Click to show some more detailed instructions" to open the collapsible with more information.

I don't have to edit their writing if I want to be a concept reviewer?

While you're not expected nor required to correct copyedit material like spelling and grammar, quality reviewers will tell authors if their concept template is presented with too many basic errors. A lot of greenlighters may refuse to give a greenlight if they are not confident in the author's writing/drafting ability.