Review Etiquette and Rationale |
Post Reply | Page <123 |
Author | |
dreadpirateroberts
Forum Groupie Joined: 26 Mar 2012 Location: AUS Status: Offline Points: 82 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Well said, Jonas. Your reviews are great indeed.
And that "disrespectful/better knowing attitude" is indeed of limited use to a person actually seeking information about an album. I write reviews based on mood - sometimes I start and it's garbage so I give up for weeks on that album, so I have a dozen half finfished albums. More free time would help so, so much. Often if there's a classic album that has dozens of reviews I attempt a slightly different angle.
|
|
We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
|
|
dtguitarfan
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 19 May 2012 Location: Chattanooga, TN Status: Offline Points: 481 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
That's a great formula, Jonas. And I wouldn't have guessed English was your second language from the things I've read by you either.
|
|
Diogenes
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 06 Nov 2010 Location: Undecided Status: Offline Points: 877 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
That's a great write-up, Jonas. The formulaic "skeleton" idea is probably something I'm going to switch over to sometime in the future, even if I want to write longer reviews. It is definitely a great way to beat writer's block.
And if this means anything, your English is better than that of half the people I know. |
|
UMUR
MMA Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team / Retired Admin Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 18088 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I found PA by chance in 2007 and started writing reviews almost imidiately. My first reviews were for "...and then there were three (1978)" by Genesis and "Into the Everflow (1992) by Psychotic Waltz. I had never written a review before and actually had no writing experience whatsoever, so basically I just read a lot of reviews and tried to take the good ideas I found and use them in my reviews (not sentences but ideas on how to write). To tell you the truth there are only few of the first couple of hundreds of reviews I wrote that I�m still proud of today and I try and go back when I have the time and edit/re-write the worst of them. I started out writing reviews for my favorite albums and artists I knew something about before trying my hand at releases I listened to for the first time. A hard challenge bearing in mind that English is my second language and the words don�t necessarily flow easily when I�m writing about things I don�t know too much about, but also an important challenge, which has helped me broaden my musical horizon but has also made me a more skilled reviewer. After writing a couple of hundreds of reviews, I started to get dissatisfied with my writing style and also my at times disrespectful/better knowing attitude. So I said to myself: "What is it You want to read when you read a review?" And I soon came to the conclusion that the below review "skeleton" is basically what I want to read when I read a review and therefore that�s basically how I write reviews and have done for a couple of years: 1. Introduction to the album: 2. Description of the music: 3. Musicianship: 4. Sound production/mix 5. Conclusion That�s basically it. It�s a formula, that I�ve come to appreciate. A formula is especially good to fall back on if you are having difficulties getting the words out. Then it�s nice to have some basics you can talk about and then boom you have a review written. I try and keep my reviews between 200 and 500 words. My own attention often wanders when reading reviews that are more than 500 words long. I simply start skimming them instead of giving them proper attention. Some reviews take me 10 minutes to write, some take hours, some take countless hours spread over the course of years. Sometimes the muse is there and sometimes it�s not. I have a notepad document I carry with me all the time, where I have drafts for reviews. Sometimes I write a sentence on a review and then go back to writing on an entirely different review. Depends a lot on my mood what kind of music I want to write about. I only write about albums I have very recently listened to though and that goes for albums I know very well too. Edited by UMUR - 28 May 2012 at 2:42pm |
|
UMUR
MMA Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team / Retired Admin Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 18088 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I love this idea. It�s something I�ve thought about doing myself but just never got around to. Now you�ve opened the box and I�m certainly interested in contributing. Just give me a little time to write something down.
|
|
Diogenes
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 06 Nov 2010 Location: Undecided Status: Offline Points: 877 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
This may turn into more of a survey than a blog, but...
Here at MMA, reviews are strongly encouraged. There are guidelines, but generally the rules and regulations for reviews are more lenient than those of other websites, and everyone with an opinion is allowed to share it. This is great for a general audience and it's very user-friendly, but letting everyone do their own thing will inevitably raise questions about one's review process, writing style, and so on. Basically, it's tough not making comparisons and assumptions when you see a 100-word review and then a 1000-word review of the same album; however, I think it's safe to say we all have our own rhyme and reason for writing the way we do, and I think it would be cool to share some of it, both to get different perspectives and to get to know each other a little better. So I ask you: what's your reviewing style and process? What's your logic behind writing reviews the way you do? Me, I love writing. I always have and I always will. It's something that I do when I'm bored, spending hours on end just plugging away at whatever's on my mind, but I don't take it very seriously; I've been a very informal writer since I was a kid (too many comic books, I guess), and at almost every grade level, I've had points taken off on my papers because they weren't written in a "professional" manner. This is something I found ridiculous and frustrating, and I finally stopped writing on my own for a while because it was no longer fun. I felt as if my creativity was being squashed. When I found MMA, I figured I would try my hand at reviewing; I love music and the site didn't seem to have restrictions on how to write, so why not? I quickly found that it was something I really enjoyed. I could write about whatever the hell I wanted, however the hell I wanted, and be making a contribution somehow. I would just keep writing, and writing, and writing, without much of an idea about what exactly should have been written. The other problem with this was that I would go through long droughts of just not having any inspiration, since how I wrote reviews drew so heavily on whether I was in the mood to ramble or not. Lately, I've tried to make my reviews more concise; it doesn't come as naturally to me, but it's a hell of a lot easier to read, and I feel that I can be a more productive reviewer (although I'll never be on Jonas or Kim's level when it comes to quantity). Still, I never want to force myself into writing something I'm not interested in writing, because then it might as well not even be my work. I wish I could say that I have a specific review process, but I don't. It's really something that depends on how many listens it takes me to "get" and album. Oftentimes I will begin a review, get hung up on how to write something, and then I won't touch it again for a week or so. That really sucks! What about you? What are your thoughts on reviewing? Pet peeves, interests, changes in style, etc. I'd really love to get everyone's take on this. Post whatever you feel! Edited by Diogenes - 28 May 2012 at 12:39pm |
|
Post Reply | Page <123 |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You can post new topics in this forum You can reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You can vote in polls in this forum |