Sunflower Book Club

Comments

As specified in the "How It Works" chapter, we require that a certain level of feedback is met in the comments members leave their partners. We noted that some people struggled with this and decided to give some pointers to help distinguish between a good comment and a bad comment.

🌻

Comment Requirements

Standard Sunflowers

- Leave at least seven in-line comments & a final comment (1-2 sentences long) for each chapter

OR

- Leave one 5+ line final comment for each chapter

- For whichever option you choose, the final comment is mandatory

- For chapters less than 1,000 words, these requirements can change as long as adequate feedback is provided

- Please use #SFBC when doing your final comment

- Comments must be constructive and give adequate feedback to help the author improve. If your comments do not give any feedback they do not count towards your assignment.

Advanced Sunflowers

- Leave detailed comments (we recommend inline and final comments both be used, but inlines are not required as long as the final comment is large). Generally we expect one 7+ line final comment and multiple inlines. Fewer inlines, the more detailed your final comment should be. But there is no set amount, so long as your feedback is very detailed.

- For chapters less than 1,000 words, these requirements can change as long as adequate feedback is provided.

- Please use #SFBC on all comments.

- Comments must be constructive and give adequate feedback to help the author improve. This includes reader engagement if it's helpful information. If your comments do not give any feedback they do not count towards your assignment.

🌻

How to Leave Helpful Feedback

Good comments...

- Help the writer improve their story.

- Provide unique insight on the story that the writer might not have seen.

- Can give a writer insight into their story and clue them in to the experience the reader is having.

- Let the writer know what they're doing well.

- Offer suggestions when pointing out a place for the writer to improve.

Some tips for writing good comments...

- Think about what you enjoy in the story and elaborate on that. Did you laugh out loud at something? Did your heart swoon at a romantic moment? Did something make you have an emotional response or sympathize with the character? Note that and make sure you explain WHY.

- Try to relate to the characters and put yourself in the story. Knowing how a reader is engaging with the character is very important to a writer! Do you not understand what is motivating a character or why they're making the choices they're making? You can note that.

- What do you struggle with as a writer? Can you find examples where your partner struggles in a similar way and note those things for them?

- Is there something that paused your read or pulled you out of the story? When you "bump" on a story in this way, this could be a flag that there might be something to critique. Ask yourself - why did I bump on this?