When I began to take my six-year-old granddaughter to gymnastics, I marvelled at her passion. The centre hosting these classes is a professional gym, training athletes for competitive trials as well as offering the community recreational opportunities.

At any given time, there are between fifty and seventy children in the gym between the ages of six and eighteen. Alexis stared in wonder at girls, just a few years older, doing cartwheels on the beam and a progression of back flips across the matted floor. I encouraged her, explaining that with practice, she too would be one day able to perform those acrobatics.

Her first two sessions were amazing to watch. She attacked the opportunity to participate with zealous passion, to the point that I told her father we should consider having her evaluated for competitive training. For ninety minutes, she gave it her all. I was exhausted just watching the energy, the sinewy definition of her muscles as she practiced on the parallel bars.

Now, flash forward six weeks. She still goes to class with enthusiasm, but she's afraid of the beam and doesn't want to follow the instructions. She spends more time mucking in the chalk athletes use on their hands, rather than work the bars. She's a kid, not a competitor--at least not in gymnastics. And that's okay. I buy her a muffin and chocolate milk and ask her if she had fun.

We have much the same situation here on FanStory. We have both competitive and recreational writers. When I refer to a competitive writer, it does not mean to indicate an author who is scrambling up the ratings chart or entering every contest. Needing a better label, I think of competitive writing as an earnest effort to hone skills and improve one's own literary abilities.

At the gymnasium, the kids involved in competitive training, all wear the same leotard, brown with an orange floral top. The recreational kids wear whatever they want. I wish we had uniforms here to identify the serious from the hobbyists. It would make life infinitely simpler.

Lately I've become somewhat disenchanted. I read many stories, and review some, but not all. Appreciating how much help I've received and acknowledging how far I've come in the five years since I joined, I like to give back.

It's much easier to give a pasteurized review, passing over flaws and poor story construction, than to actually take the time to offer insights that will enhance the story. Regardless of FS's reviewing guidelines, I have my own.

I am miserly when it comes to six star accolades and always humbled when I receive one, considering it a high compliment. I don't subtract points for minor typos or small grammar infractions, but if I'm giving you a six and notice errors, I'll list them or draw your attention to the weakness. Most weeks I retire, at least some of my six star assets, unused.

Three star (or less) reviews don't exist in my vault. If it's that bad, I probably quit early. If it's horrifically bad, I might actually read the whole thing--for my own amusement--but I don't comment.

As several others have said in the past, the four star review is likely the most honest and helpful review for new writers. And, of course, an insult to the seasoned writers on site.

Yes, I get these dull twinklers from time to time, usually accompanied by some variation of the following: 'Didn't see any spag. Well written but I don't like sad endings...I disagree with everything you said...I don't like this genre."

Oh well, I understand where it's coming from and don't get my feathers ruffled, but if I very deliberately dish out a four, it will come with a full explanation and most likely some examples. Never have I graded work as four without back-up.

Five star reviews are catch basins and can mean anything. In my book, they always mean that the writing is generally good. But let's face it, there is good and very good, fun and hysterical and the only thing that keeps the scale from tipping over into a six-star review is that it is not publish-ready.

But back to my disenchantment. I no longer know who wants to grow on site, wants the help or appreciates the reviewer's investment. I'm reviewing far less as a direct result of my bad judgement. There is no single incident and certainly no confrontation that has led up to this ennui, but rather an accumulated sense that in most cases, I'm wasting my time as a reviewer.

There are members on this site who will attest to my sincere interest in their writing, who will in fact praise my efforts as part of their learning curve, but there are just as many or more, who will tell you that I've hurt their feelings. Many people who write on FanStory do not fantasize about being published, but simply write for the joy of expression. They need to be appreciated and treated differently than the writers in the brown leotards.

To that end, I am in the process of setting up a mentoring program that will begin next year. My intent is to offer a coaching program to individual writers who feel they may benefit from my support. If you are interested, please contact me and I will forward the details when I work out the plan.