Review Writing

Writing reviews
For films, books, TV, Theatre, Art exhibitions, music events, recorded music, restaurants, sports events, etc...

Analysing professional reviews

To begin the session, we were set the task to read and analyse reviews across several different types of media, such as magazines and newspapers. Whilst we read these reviews, we were reminded that in order to grasp the aims of this task and begin to understand review writing, we had to look at a range of professional writers and a range of different areas of interest. We aimed to look at the styles of writing and the use of industry knowledge to help improve our own writing.

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https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/19/saltburn-review-emerald-fennell-barry-keoghan-rosamund-pike-indulgent-country-house-thriller

An example of a review that I looked at was about a newly released film called 'Saltburn' by Wendy Ide from the Guardian. The title of this review describes this film as an 'indulgent country house thriller', which is a bold introduction that contains a snappy synopsis of the film, whilst using descriptive words to lure a reader in. After recapping the plot and main events of the film, Ide goes on to state her opinions of the film in a blunt, honest fashion. She Critiques the actors and the overall rhythm of the film, whilst giving an insight into why she doesn't think highly of this film, whilst using the director's other work to prove her point in an informative and persuasive way. The uses constructive criticism and honesty to talk about the film, which is effective in telling the reader whether the film is worth watching or not.

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What do you know?

Our next task was to discuss and note down our initial thoughts and expectations of a review. This helped better my understanding of review writing as a whole, as my and my classmate's ideas aided my answer to the following questions.

• What is a review?

A review is a report or a critique of something​ in a professional way. A review can be about anything, whether it be a form of media or a physical place.

• What does the reader or viewer expect from the reviewer?

The reader expects the reviewer to tell us about what they are reviewing and their thoughts on it. Opinions from the writer are important, as well as honesty to inform the reader. Comparisons and context are also important attributes.​

• How do you deliver these expectations?

It is important to thoroughly research what you are reviewing and include relevant facts.​ You should hold strong opinions on what you are writing about, and be the expert when it comes to this.

• Who do you go to when you want to find out about a song, a film, a match, an exhibition, a concert, etc.?

Online sources, such as an online magazine/newspaper or social media. Physical media is also a relevant place to find information.​

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Steps of writing a review

Step One - Decide what to look at

The first thing you need to do before starting a review is decide what aspects of the item you are going to evaluate. For example, when watching a film, you can look at the acting, the special effects, the camera work, and the story, among other things. Those are all items you can examine and decide if they are well or poorly done. Anything that you are reviewing has qualities you can analyse and evaluate; you just need to find out what they are.

Step Two - Decide what makes things good or bad

Before you can decide what makes something good or bad, you have to find out what you mean by 'good' and 'bad'. Do you like stories that have a lot of action or a lot of character development? Do you like acting that is realistic or acting that is wild and nutty? Whatever you like, apply those standards to the thing in which you are reviewing.

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How to do it

1. Open with an introductory paragraph that catches the reader's attention, identifies the thing that you'll be reviewing, and identifies the author, star, or director if appropriate.

2. Write a full paragraph about each of the aspects that you want to examine, making sure each paragraph does these things: 

• Opens with a topic sentence that says what the paragraph is about​

•  Has several detailed sentences that prove the point you are trying to make

• Use quotes or examples from the book or film to prove your point.

 3. End with a conclusion paragraph that does the following:​

• Briefly restate the main ideas of the review

• Make a judgment about the thing that you are reviewing, saying whether it is good or bad.

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Extended steps for writing a review

• For journalists, reviews are informed judgments about the content and quality of something presented to the public

• Critics - The first goal of a critic is to be objective and not be swayed by who is acting or who directed the film/or who wrote the book. Ignore any rumours or discussions you may have heard, and be prepared to compare what you are writing about to something similar.

• Ground rules:

-The review should be concise and to the point​

-Leave out unsure details and absolutes like 'never' and 'always'. Let the audience know what they should expect

• The format:

- Appraisal of the work​

- Intent of the artist/author

- Synopsis of the work, performance, and exhibit

- Evidence supporting your appraisal

- Artist's intent accomplished or not accomplished

- Suggestions to your readers

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Research and record persuasive writing tools

• Opinion - a personal viewpoint often presented as if fact.

• Hyperbole - exaggerated language used for effect.

• Personal pronouns - ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘we’.

• Imperative command - instructional language.

• Emotive language - vocabulary to make the audience/reader feel a particular emotion.

• Statistics and figures - factual data used in a persuasive way.

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As we covered specific aspects of many types of review writing, below are tips and steps to write a good music review and Sports review/Journalism.

Music review writing

• Try and be the first

• Discover new bands and songs

• Know the Genre - do your research and know the band and the fans

• Focus in on aspects of music, the band and the songs

• Be specific about the instruments, venues, the artist and the fans

• Make it stand out and use appropriate language

• Put us in the venue: Use all five senses

• Put us in the studio/venue: let us see and hear the instruments being played

• Take photos and videos and take notes when you are there - capture the moment!

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How to write good sports Journalism

1. Be prepared when recording facts for your sports story or article. Carry a notebook when interviewing an athlete. This can prevent misquotes from happening and can ensure accuracy.

2. Figure out what your audience doesn't already know

3. Tease the audience when preparing your sports story or article. You want people to be entranced enough to find out what you have to say. 

4. Talk with people in charge of photos and ask them to run a picture with your story. It helps put a face with the name or event you are covering.

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Task - Teenage Clicks article

Teenage clicks – a century of British youth culture caught on camera | Photography | The Guardian

For this task, we had to read the 'Teenage Clicks' article and answer a set of questions that we were given.

• What is the article about and how do you know this?

The article is about a photography exhibition that revolves around British Youth culture and young people throughout the years. This is stated in the title and introduction of the piece and is reinstated throughout the review by the use of photographic examples.

• What W's are in the lead/hook?

During the lead of this piece, the author hooks the reader immediately by answering who it is about (British Teenagers), What it is about (The clicks of British youth), and when (Throughout the centuries).​

• Structure of the piece?

The structure of this article uses short paragraphs to explain a range of points and ideas which are broken up with photos relating to the story. This structure creates an easy and informative read and helps to explain different perspectives of people talking about the exhibition using quotes.

• How do the images and their placement support the story?

The images and their placement help to support the story, as they bring the article to life using real-life examples of British teenagers through the years. The placement is effective as after a particular story is told, a relevant picture is placed, which adds to the emotional and reminiscent tone of the article.​

• What Journalistic and persuasive tools does the piece apply to help the reader understand the message, the story, and the human interest?

The use of anecdotes within the piece helps readers to relate to the story being told, alongside persuasive tools such as a short, yet effective hook that draws readers in and interests them into wanting to read more about something that they could perhaps relate to or sympathise with.​

• What do you take away from this piece as a whole?

Overall, the message that I get from this piece is a powerful reminder of youth culture in Britain and a touching insight into the experiences of real-life people, using quotes from those people themselves. It is a reminder of the importance of communities, the ways in which things have changed, and how they haven't.​

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Writing our own reviews

Write a review of two different mediums/forms. For this task, I chose to do a book review and a restaurant review. The book review was something that was ultimately within my comfort zone to write about, though the restaurant review was slightly more challenging. Despite this, I found it helpful to choose two contrasting topics to write about as towards the end, I found that it had helped me to expand my knowledge as a writer and inspired me to write about different things that I wouldn't usually choose.

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For my first piece, I decided to review the book 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh. I chose this book to write about as it is one of my favourite books and I felt there were a lot of aspects to cover when writing it.

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The classic sad, rich girl trope - a taste of delusion that is oddly relatable

'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh is a polarising, satirical piece, that is strangely intriguing and darkly hilarious, yet leaves you questioning why this is such a relatable read.

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Ottessa Moshfegh is an American Novelist, and undoubtedly one of the great modern satirists of our time, who incorporates a sharp, modern feminine perspective into renditions of classic tales. Moshfegh has proven an exceptional ability to craft alluring and complex characters, beginning with her debut novel, Eileen, and more famously, the fantastic novel that is 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation'.

The premise of this book follows the life of the nameless protagonist,  a wealthy woman in her mid-twenties, living in New York City in the year 2000. Evidently depressed in her current stage of life, we learn about her plan to numb this utter exhaustion by sleeping for an entire year. Stricken by an empty void of loss, dead parents, and a hefty sum of inheritance money, Mosfegh begs the question - Is sleeping your life away a cowardly escape or a spiritual rebirth?

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We are given a gripping insight into the life of this young woman, including the outlandish characters in her life, those whose appearances are bizarrely hilarious, and an insight into the views and opinions that the main character holds. Her best friend Reva who is usually seen as an annoying inconvenience is a character who doesn't hold much depth within the story, yet comes across as a steady rock in the main character's life. The bulimic, sprite-drinking, not-so-best friend, working at the World Trade Center at the time gives us a constant insight into the protagonist's mind and her current view on life, relying on how irritating she is written in a particular scene. The author uses this insightful point-of-view/perspective writing to convey a sense of arrogance that the main character holds, a laughable naive outlook on life that warps her opinion of those closest to her. I think that Moshfegh has intentionally written this character to come across as deeply unlikeable at times as a self-reflection method targeting many readers; as confusing as the protagonist's intentions may be, it ignites a painful familiarity amongst many men and women alike and is an intriguing way of portraying an undeniable sadness surrounding modern human life and what is valued - disappointment and longing that is hard to avoid.

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This spiral of an obsessive need to sleep is greatly fueled by the narrator's wacky, largely unethical therapist, who prescribes a mountain of pills and potions to aid this year-long hibernation. This therapist, who goes by 'Dr Tuttle' reinstates the darkly hilarious tone of the novel, due to her total obliviousness of her patients and their lives. A moment from the book that highlights the outrageous characters Moshfegh has created is the moment when our nameless narrator jokingly says that she murdered her own parents, in which dr Tuttle dismisses this statement, notes down something illegible, prescribes another dozen handfuls of Xanax and calls it a day.

There is no doubt that our main character has no stable support, and those around her seem to be only promoting her dark depression, although it does ask one question - is her life really that bad? Being a rich, skinny, blonde white woman living in a nice area in upper New York City is something most readers would envy, though this character paints it out to be nothing but endless turmoil. This trope is something that has been seen in countless other classic novels throughout time, which is a fascination of privileged young women, who see nothing good in their lives and rebel against their very nature by being extremely depressed and viewed as 'ungrateful'. While this element of the book is largely controversial, it is also intentional. Moshfegh is often penalised for writing about 'gross' things and using 'shock value' to draw in readers, though In my opinion, she is simply magnifying the cruel, unpleasant parts of life that we would rather gloss over. This once again reinforces the harsh realness and relatability that is a difficult skill to convey well, but something that Ottessa Moshfegh has proved she can do.

The eventual conclusion of the novel is one of the most important turning points of the story and jolts the reader awake as they begin to slump into a mindless sleep state along with the protagonist.

Moshfegh's character work and development is a crucial element of the ending, as the book is very much character-driven rather than plot-driven, and we are reminded of this due to a drastic change of psyche within the main character, although her life events have not progressed much. This creates a compelling narrative and makes you feel as if you have embarked on an emotional and spiritual journey alongside the narrator. As her hazy, drugged hibernation comes to an end, it is just before 9/11, which is a shocking wake-up call to the readers themselves. Life is finally returning to a sense of normality when an unknowing life-changing event is about to proceed, and we can only cover our eyes and reflect on this emotional final event that the main character's year of misery has been leading up to. As her best friend passes away in the World Trade Center, Moshfegh brutally reminds us of how unpredictable life can be, and how worthless wasting away in one's own misery can be. As the novel comes to an end, the whole point and message of the book aligns and you reach clarity as you finish reading about this miserably pretty rich girl sleeping her life away that has an additional profound message surrounding human nature and the funny, yet dark elements of what depression and utter numbness can do your mindset.

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If you're looking to read something that is brutally honest, tender, and utterly heartwrenching that will have you chuckling to yourself, 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' is a must-read. From delving into the gritting intensity of the young female experience to bizarre characters that make you question why you resonate with them, Ottessa Moshfegh has once again written a phenomenal novel that speaks to young adults around the world and done so in a unique style that is one hundred percent worth delving into.

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Evaluation

This week's sessions covering review writing were something that I found particularly interesting and engaging, as I had little experience writing reviews before. I found reading a variety of published reviews enhanced my understanding of how to effectively review something, and how different the structures were. I enjoyed writing my own piece about something I was passionate about, using the skills and techniques I acquired during these sessions. If I could do something differently, I would put more effort into researching and interviewing relevant context into what I was writing about, as it is important to have different perspectives and human interests. Overall, after this week I have effectively learned how to write a review and all of the skills that come with it.