Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Inheritance cycle.

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Reviews: Part 2

When a Reviewer that's Reviewed Everything... Suddenly Stops Reviewing.

I've noticed something recently in the reviewing world, and I thought it'd be a good idea to write it down here in this nifty-little guide.

So you've started a story, right? And there's this really nice writer, usually one that writes really - really - good reviews, that's reviewed every single chapter so far.

They like you're story.

Probably really like it, but they still see a few errors - or a lot, depending - and point them out to you.

They're awesome. You type up a chapter, post it, and sit in front of the computer eagerly awaiting this guys review. You're on the edge of your seat waiting, and when it comes - it always does - you squeal. And you're never disappointed with what they have to say, even if it does involve criticism.

Then they stop.

You upload a chapter, and after five days, there's still no review from them. You shrug it off, a little disappointed, figuring they just haven't been online lately.

Then you write another chapter. And another. Suddenly, your at chapter 38, and they haven't reviewed since chapter 26.

This is the case of the disappearing Reviewer.

This is that person. They loved your story from the beginning! They've always reviewed!

You might get tempted to check their profile, see when they last updated a story. If they have recently you begin to worry. What if my work isn't good enough? Have I done something wrong? And if they haven't posted anything since you updated your own stuff, you think they've off and abandoned their account and get even more worried.

Often these cases occur with an experienced, aged fan fiction writer reviewing for a - and I mean this nicely - noob.

It's happened to me. Hell, I did it to more than a few people. They just up and disappear, and you're left wondering what you did wrong.

Nothing. That's it, the answer is nothing.

You did absolutely nothing wrong.

An experienced fan fiction writer stumbles upon a new story - brand new. The writer just signed up a couple days ago, maybe even that day, and they're fresh on that sight with 0 views, 0 favorites, 0 followers and an empty profile page. But the story. It's probably not very good, the concept is there, but maybe the plot is all over the place, or the noob is struggling to bring across a nice, strong voice, or give the characters a goal worth the reader's time.

The experienced Fan fiction writer sees this, remembers back in the day when they were like that and decides to read through, at least liking it somewhat, and leaves a long, lengthy review - many times the first and only - for the noob to read.

This repeats with every chapter, much to the noob's delight. Every chapter the experienced writer leaves a new, fresh opinion for the noob to gulp up.

Then it stops.

What happened? Many things. Many, many things could have happened:

1. They just got tired of it. Tired of your story, tired of leaving the multi-paragraphed stories, tired of both, who knows. They're simply tired. They no longer have the energy to type out all of their opinions and critiques, because they no longer think it's worth it, which can be a good thing... and also a bad thing.

2. You're story wasn't what they thought it was. Maybe they expected something great. You're plot seemed awesome in the beginning, but then... it was no longer what they were looking for. Maybe you didn't deliver what you promised. Maybe they were simply mis-leaded as to what your story would end up becoming. Maybe this story just wasn't for them, as they originally thought it was. There's nothing wrong with your story, just the reviewer that choose to read it.

3. They don't need to anymore. This can be good and bad. They no longer feel the need to review because either a) you've developed so far in your writing ability they no longer feel the need to leave a review, because you're doing everything you need to, or b) they think you're writing is crap, and that there's nothing left for them to say that can help you. If it's a, congrats! If it's b, I'm sorry. Not everyone is going to like your work, and this person just doesn't like it anymore. Don't worry, if you keep trying and developing those skills, there will be others, even if that one person who was always there disappeared after chapter ten.

4. They're not on fan fiction at all. Something happened - or maybe nothing, they just don't go on - and they're no longer on the site. This can be pretty easy to spot after they miss ten or so weekly updates in a row on a story they never miss an update on.

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Whatever the reason is, don't let it bring you down, and especially don't let it stop you from writing. For all you know they're still reading and loving your story, they're just doing so silently. Don't take it personally, just keep going and don't stop until you can click that 'complete,' button.