TECH: What do you expect in a review?
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writercisesOriginal Posting May 4, 2016
On one of the websites I follow (Baen's Bar), someone was bemoaning the fact that they easily dashed off a short review of a book recently when someone asked about it, but if they sit down to write a review, they find themselves stumped as to what to say. Now, aside from the possibility that this person has what I tend to consider performance anxiety holding them back, I got to considering that I haven't seen much guidance on how to write a review. Not that I've looked very hard, but...
Then I started thinking about what I would suggest as guidelines for writing a review of a fiction book. I think the first thing might be simply to let us know what kind of a book it is, what genre, or perhaps what books it resembles. After all, some of us prefer science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, or some other brand. And even there... A fantasy reader might prefer urban fantasy, epic fantasy, or some other splinter of the field. Letting us know fairly quickly what style of book this is helps.
Related to that, you may want to talk about who would like to read this book. Young adult, person looking for light entertainment, someone who wants a heavy puzzle? Some hints as to the kind of person who will enjoy this book.
Then there's the meat of most reviews, a general sketch of the characters, setting, plot... The bones of the book. Do avoid giving away any really important surprises or twists, okay? I mean, if you start describing the plot, and then the surprises -- stop after getting us interested in the plot, and let us be surprised!
Hum. If the book is part of a series, it's probably worth pointing out whether this volume is an entry point for new readers, a standalone book that doesn't need knowledge of the others, or one of those that really requires you to steep yourself in these others to understand it.
Who would be interested in this book, and why would it interest them? I suppose those are the two key questions as I see it that provide structure to a review.
What do you think? Do you write reviews of books you have read? What do you do with them? What structure, questions, or whatever do you use when you write one?
tink
On one of the websites I follow (Baen's Bar), someone was bemoaning the fact that they easily dashed off a short review of a book recently when someone asked about it, but if they sit down to write a review, they find themselves stumped as to what to say. Now, aside from the possibility that this person has what I tend to consider performance anxiety holding them back, I got to considering that I haven't seen much guidance on how to write a review. Not that I've looked very hard, but...
Then I started thinking about what I would suggest as guidelines for writing a review of a fiction book. I think the first thing might be simply to let us know what kind of a book it is, what genre, or perhaps what books it resembles. After all, some of us prefer science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, or some other brand. And even there... A fantasy reader might prefer urban fantasy, epic fantasy, or some other splinter of the field. Letting us know fairly quickly what style of book this is helps.
Related to that, you may want to talk about who would like to read this book. Young adult, person looking for light entertainment, someone who wants a heavy puzzle? Some hints as to the kind of person who will enjoy this book.
Then there's the meat of most reviews, a general sketch of the characters, setting, plot... The bones of the book. Do avoid giving away any really important surprises or twists, okay? I mean, if you start describing the plot, and then the surprises -- stop after getting us interested in the plot, and let us be surprised!
Hum. If the book is part of a series, it's probably worth pointing out whether this volume is an entry point for new readers, a standalone book that doesn't need knowledge of the others, or one of those that really requires you to steep yourself in these others to understand it.
Who would be interested in this book, and why would it interest them? I suppose those are the two key questions as I see it that provide structure to a review.
What do you think? Do you write reviews of books you have read? What do you do with them? What structure, questions, or whatever do you use when you write one?
tink
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