Ah, a Review! What is a Review Really?

I think by now, some of us all have an idea of what a review is. There are different types of reviews such as book reviews, movie reviews, art exhibition reviews, restaurant reviews – the list goes on and on. In fact, reviews can be written about almost anything, including products, services, hotels, cars… You name it and it can be written!

Before becoming aware of the writing industry, I was always under the impression that reviews were simply written by anyone from all walks of life. Anyone who has tried and tested the product, anyone who has watched the movie or the show at the theatre. To me, it seemed like just an honest opinion from anyone who perhaps has “physical experience” about certain things. For example; someone who writes reviews for restaurants… I always thought this was someone who was just a “foodie” and therefore had the experience to write restaurant reviews.

I have even considered doing this at one stage, especially with social media being what it is. Facebook, Twitter, and all other social media sites give us a platform to share our personal experiences and some might even see those “shared experiences” by family and friends as reviews. As much as those shared experiences by friends and family on our social media timelines shed light about certain products, books and restaurants, it is not really what we call a review.

Key Ingredients to Writing your Review

A review is a written article, in most cases, by journalists, who use a particular structure called critical reviews in the writing industry. A critical review is a piece of informative text written to give readers an expert judgment on what is being reviewed. The structure used to write these reviews is clearly defined by a set of guidelines. A review should have specific components and key ingredients before it can be seen as a formal review.

Review Information

The reader should be provided with factual information regarding the book, film or art exhibition that you are reviewing. There should be background information that clearly describes what you are reviewing. The author and publisher’s name are good forms of background information. The director name of a movie and the genre of the movie are all good forms of background information. The theme of the art exhibition or anything else that gives readers some form of in-depth knowledge and description of what you are reviewing is critical when writing a review.

Expert Review Judgement

When writing a review, the expert judgement of the reviewer should be clearly recognizable, honest and unblurred. There should also be facts to substantiate the reason for the expert judgement.

Review Argumentation

This refers to substantiating the review as mentioned above. The reader should be able to understand and see the reasons for the expert judgement. There should be direct links to the attributes of the work itself. Perhaps even references made to certain attributes, which indicate why the reviewer implies certain things. It is also suggested to use references directly from a book such as a book extract, describing a scene from a movie vividly, while stating your reasons and substantiating your review. Making use of comparisons is another good way of substantiating your argument. Compare the book or movie to other books and movies from the same genre and mention distinct differences.

Expert Judgement Criteria for Reviews

You should clearly state criterion when making a judgement about the work you review. Your readers should know exactly what criteria and standards you used to judge the quality of the work. Mention even the smallest details that kept you intrigued!

Have knowledge about the genre of the work

All types of work have certain elements to them. Horror movies should be bone-chilling and art should portray emotion. Ensure that you hold enough knowledge of the genre and take this into account when writing your review.

Review Tone

When writing a review, please consider that in most instances, you are not writing this for subject matter experts. These are columns found in newspapers which are read by people from all over. From millennial kids to older folks who just want a simple explanation and opinion. Shall I say writing in layman terms might do the trick!

What not to do

Please do not tell the entire story in your review. Providing readers with information about the Author of a book, the director of the theatre production, the actors in a movie is all fair and well as this information is easily accessible, should they show interest. Outlining the entire movie or book is not okay! Readers should be able to make a decision based on your review but still watch or read without knowing what will happen next. No Spoilers!

Conclusion

Next time, while writing or perhaps even reading a review, pause, stop and look for these ingredients! They don’t only serve as a guideline but also as a checklist for your review.

Author Bio:

My name is Melissa Davids a 32 year old female, residing in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. I have completed my second year in Communication Science and Psychology – (BA Degree) at the University of South Africa, I will complete this degree next year. I have a huge interest in the writing industry as it is only through communication that we stay abreast of current matters! And on a personal level, we get share a part ourselves through communication!