How creative people perceive reviewers.

Creative people have a love/hate relationship with critics. On one hand, it’s hard to have somebody pick apart your work. On the other, you rely on that criticism to gain exposure for your work. In best case scenarios, they act as your marketing department, endorsing your work to your potential audience.

I’ve been writing book and movie reviews for over a decade now, and my posts are always thick with sensitivity. Being a writer myself, I know how hard it is to read even the tiniest criticism of your work. We focus on the negatives over the positives, yet those negatives are crucial to producing a legitimate review. 

But reviewers don’t have it easy either. When I put on my reviewer hat, I have a major responsibility to relay an intelligent, accurate, and honest review. Whether it’s paid or not, my legitimacy is on the line as well, and it’s a fine line to walk. Here’s my process for writing gentle yet honest book or media reviews.

Organizing your reviews.

How you organize your review depends on your writing style. Do you want to break up your piece into distinct sections where readers can access your particular points, such as your overall opinion, rating, pros, cons, etc.? Or do you want one point to flow into another so that it creates a long narrative of main points and reactions?

I suggest you read some reviews from top reviewers in their field and try to decide which writing style you want to mimic and what is going to sound most like you.  You might always use the same subheadings. Maybe you’ll create your own rating system (stars, grading, thumbs up, etc.). Or maybe you’ll tailor each review to fit the piece that you’re reviewing. Setting an organizational style is going to give you a nice template to work off of whenever you write a new review. 

Individual platform formats.

What platform are you using to write your reviews? Are you writing for a website, your blog, or are you just posting on Amazon or Goodreads? Each platform has their own style and format that will dictate the space, content, and rating system for your reviews.

I write movie reviews for Horrorscreams Videovault, and they have a star rating system, a very specific way of titling the piece, and a capsule format for the body of the review. So, they need to be short but sweet. I submit my pieces in a Word document and submit them via email to be formatted and published on the site by someone else.

When I review books for LitPick, I use their website to submit my reviews. They too have a star rating system, but their titles are already pre-filled, and the body of the text is separated by summary and opinion sections. Each section needs to be at least six sentences long. Once I submit the review, an editor looks it over before it is published on the site.

Then, when I write a review on my blog, it’s on me to decide the format, edit, and publish the piece myself. This gives me a lot of creative freedom, but it’s also a lot more work. When I review books, I like to include a link to my post on Goodreads. Reviews on this platform really help out authors, and their guidelines are pretty relaxed.

If I purchased the book on Amazon, though, I like to leave an Amazon review as well, but they have their own guidelines for posting reviews. Links are prohibited. So, I have to condense my review to a few sentences. This can be tricky, especially when you have put so much effort into a long and thorough review on your blog. But learning to write in multiple formats can be beneficial when you are looking for writing gigs that require you to adhere to strict guidelines.  

The plot synopsis.

Now, let’s get into the basic structure of a review. When I took a movie review writing class in college, the first thing we were told to write was a summary of the film. Of course, you leave out spoilers. This can be hard, though, when the last thing you saw on screen is the first thing you remember. It’s also tempting to reword the summary that you find on IMDB, Amazon, or on the back cover of a physical copy of the book or movie.

Really good reviewers can work in the plot synopsis in more creative ways. You can sometimes tell whether or not they liked the book or movie by how they word the synopsis. If they find the main character annoying, they’ll be sure to describe them as such in their introduction. If they find a plot point ridiculous, they’ll make fun of it right off the bat.

Whether you decide to write a straightforward synopsis or a more lively one, be sure to keep it short. Review readers don’t need a play-by-play of each act or chapter. I’ve seen blog post reviews where the synopsis took up two-thirds of the post, leaving a tiny paragraph left for a brief and generic overview of the reviewer’s verdict. Just a few sentences will do. Just be sure to:

• Name the principal characters (at least their first names), and spell them correctly!
• Include the general setting and time period (if not present day).
• Describe the central conflict.

As for wrapping it up without giving away the ending, try a cliffhanger approach.

Synopsis ending examples.

Example 1:

 “Will (main character) be able to find the magic wand in time?”

Example 2:

“(main character) enlists the help of her two best friends to track down the magic wand and use it to save the world before it’s too late.”

In both examples, you give away the conflict without giving away the resolution.

Your analysis.

I like to analyze the story before giving my definitive opinion. This might seem a bit like stalling or dragging the reader along before you get to the point of your review, but I think it’s important to try to understand the creator’s intent and whether you think they pulled it off or not.

I tend to start broad and get more specific in my points as I analyze the story. This could mean talking about the central theme, the motivations of the main character, or how the story unfolds. Here, I also start to hint at my personal opinion of the piece as a whole. Still, I try to understand the point of the book or movie and let the audience know what type of story they’re in for, should they check it out based on my review.

Your opinion.

A brutal critic isn’t going to wait till the end to tell you they hated the work that they are reviewing. Some audiences may appreciate that, but from the perspective of someone who produces content as well as reviews it, I tend to find those brutal reviews to be narrow-minded and somewhat unfair. It’s important to keep in mind while you’re reviewing a piece that you are not the singular authority on the piece. And if you didn’t like it, was it because it wasn’t good or was it just not for you?

I’ve read plenty of books and seen plenty of movies in genres that just do not appeal to me. However, I try to put those personal beliefs aside in order to focus on the quality of the piece as a whole. Sometimes even the best dialogue, story, and characters can’t transcend my prejudices toward a particular genre or story.

Still, I never lie about my opinion of a piece. I may choose to focus on what I feel are its strengths or recommend it to fans of a similar popular book or movie. I will even say that a certain element just didn’t appeal to me personally or I didn’t think that a story hit the right beats or the characterization wasn’t strong enough in certain ways. Even when I liked a book or movie, I find that it’s important to point out a slight weakness, just to keep my opinion well-balanced.

Having done this for so long, I find that it’s easy to nitpick and think of what I would have done differently. But it’s unfair to criticize the person who built a story from the ground up by pointing out every little mistake made along the way.

So, keep your criticisms to relevant, but be understanding of the process. And back up your valid criticisms with supporting details.

Opinion examples.

Example: The dialogue didn’t feel authentic to me as someone who has grown up in the south and has listened to southerners speak my whole life.

or

The villain was a little weak because you never learned much about them and what motivated them to rob the bank at the end of the film.

Your rating.

There are so many ways to rate a review. Like I said above, you can use stars, a grading system, your own creative system, or even no rating at all. Just make sure that your words reflect your rating, particularly your final sentences which wrap up your overall opinion of the book or movie.

If you choose a rating system, stick with it. Make sure that it’s easy to find, includes clear guidelines for your readers to follow, and that it’s consistent with every review that you write.

Pay attention to how you are reviewing each piece. Do you ever give the highest review on your rating system? Do you ever give the lowest? If all of your reviews have the same rating, is it even worth having a rating system?

Also, decide on the size of the spectrum of the review rating system you want to give. Do you need the option to give half star ratings, or is a thumbs up or down all that’s required? This says a lot about how you view the quality of a book or movie. To some, a book or movie is either good or bad. To others, it’s more complex.

Let your writing style and personal opinions shape this decision, and own it. After all, your opinions are valid, as long as they come from a genuine place and you put the effort into considering the quality and entertainment value of someone else’s work.

What is your process for reviewing books and/or movies? Leave your answers in the comments below!

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