FRankly my own revus dont adhere to the points I have written down here sometimes, but that is just what I wud like to see in my own future revus or are the positive facts I have learnt from reading others reviews or viewpoints.This revu is no advice on how to write a revu(infact there is no hard’n fast rule)but just my observations .So let me take some popular categories:
Movies:
Infact I hate writing revus on movies but luv reading the same.One important thing is, everybody’ve their own likes and dislikes, so its necessary that u need to identify the set of reviewers over a period of time, whose tastes matches yours’n trust their revus’n there is no point in blaming someone(but I’m guilty of doing the same in the past, anyway its easy to advice right?) if their views doesnt match yours.As for the revu, whether to reveal a story or not, it depends .For eg, if I’m reviewing’Dil Chahta Hai’ today, when there r already some hundereds of revus, there’s absolutely no point in narrating the story, after all who doesnt know abt it? But if I’m the first to revu a movie I beleive there’s no harm in revealing the story just in that right proportions to give an idea to the readers as to what is expected. But the emphasis shud be more on ur opinion rather than dealing exhaustively on the film’s script . Same extends for caetgories like top 10/20 movies/actors/directors etc, I’m frankly not interested to read abt when the actor was born, who were his parents or when did he win the oscars, but just a plain justification of facts as to why he makes it to ur top 10 .
Music / Books:
Another popular topic. I frankly believe I should have a suffecient hang of the style’n knowledge of author’s /artists previous works before I can actually write a revu on a particular novel/album, so that I can really compare it with other works from the same author/artsit or with those of the same genre.Else the revu just boils down to narrating the storyline or listing the songs in the CD.Eg, If its a case of a management or those typical’10 ways to .’ kind off a books, its necessary to interpret the authors viewpoint by co-relating it with practical examples .
Fashion:
When I am writing a revu on a particualr brand it may not necessary that I just stcik to that particular brand. You can always give the best possible mix-n-match option available to the reader.For eg when u write about denim pants u always spice up ur revu by telling with T-shirt fitts well with it . Or if its about shoes, its better to give out options available in its rival brand . Just make ur revu trendy’n fashionable’n use ur own ingenuity.
Travel:
Travel revus without any personal touch to it can be very boring to read. Nowadays anybody can find the info of a particular place by searching the internet, so there’s no point in explaining the obvious, like, in Agra u have to vist Taj Mahal kind of a stuff or explain how tall Qutb-Minar is or who or when was it built.Personal recommanations like the best hotels, accomodation, do’s’n donts or if u r just a mere tourist to the palce, ur own expereince’n observations is more interesting to read rather than a revu which looks like a travel catalogue.
However there is one puzzling thing which I have found to be missing from most airline reviews so far.It would be better if one can higlight the discount or best bargains available for getting the best deals for airfare, the best travel operators who can provide the best deal, the frequent flier options etc .
Electronics/Computer/Cars:
The best way to revu a product is to compare it with some known popular model and higlight the distinguishing features compared to it. For eg if the product is’Fiat Palio’ and if I have never ever seen it, I may not be able to visualise if someone keep prasisng it to skies by saying the looks r smashing’n the interiors r very good’n the fuel effeciencey is blah, blah etc.So the best way wud be to compare it with some known models like Santro or Zen’n give comparitive measurement criterias which may give me some idea as to why the product is good or bad.The same applies to mobiles which is another popular topic .
Sometimes it would be better if u can give a brief intro to the technology used, especially if its very unique to that particular product.But care should be taken that it remains with the understanding framework of a layman and that right balance of not loosing the focus on the subject matter should be taken care.
Length of the revus:
Ofcourse its always advisable to keep the revus short, concise’n to the point to keep the interest/attention of the reader . But a well researched, well presented long reviews are equally enjoyable to read.Ofcourse some may be boring to me, but who knows there may be some person to whom it may be really useful. Also some subjects may need a good debate to prove the pro’s and cons, so under such cases you just cant curtail the length of the review and compromise on teh quality of the review.Brewity with half baked treatment to the subject serves no purpose.If I dont have the patience to read it, well its my problem, atleast I should not rate it(well this is another topic)low just becasue I was bored to read it.(Anway if I have done it dont nail me now, it was a mistake)
VERY IMP:Dont loose ur originality:
I always love to read the first few initial raw reviews of new members, bcoz frankly it has that originality’n genuine reflection of their own thoughts.But somehow after soemtime on the site, there is that growing tendency(without even realising it)to write with some particular member(s) views in mind thereby loosing your originality.(’n beleive me it shows)Its always important to write a revu just the way you wrote ur first revu on this site, ofcourse its a positive thing that we improve on our formatting, presentation skills etc but somehow never get biased by what other’s think’n dont write keeping anybody in mind.
Miscellaneous:
Let the revu has that formal appeal as tho’ u r having a conversation with ur friend rather than making it feel like a stiff military colonel addressing his subjects or like a politician .
Then the golden rules which u all know, use proper formatting, no slangs(I myself am a big culprit), use simple words, etc etc
Finally to end, I think each one of u can add lots of ur viewpoints to make my review a complete one.