Jul 26, 2006 12:30 PM
1453 Views
(Updated Jul 26, 2006 01:15 PM)
After writing eighty reviews reviews on MS, I feel I am fit enough to write a review on how to write a review. This art is not in-born at all, anyone with enough practice and effort can come up with a good review. But the art of making a review unforgettable is another matter. To do this, you need to be funny yet not over the top, you need to state facts yet not rant on about statistics. Above all, it is the sincerity with which the review was written determines its greatness. But here a few pointers for review writers and the MS management:-
1. Understand Why You Are Writing This Review
According to me, there are three reasons why everyone writes reviews:
When someone is satisfied or dissatisfied with a product or service
When someone feels that he can add something else to what has already been said on MS.
When someone wants to thank someone on the website (like I did in my mouthshut review).
Anyone writing for some other reason, no matter how justified he or she is, is not widely appreciated. People who write just for the sake of writing and churn out one review after another just for kicks (I did it earlier on when I wrote 8 reviews in one day!!) do not serve any purpose and write for their own selfish reasons. These members need to be reminded that mouthshut is a community of friends, and not their father’s ancestral heritage. It took me also sometime to ralise this.....and my reviews have subsequently improved too.
*2. How To Go About Writing the Review
*Well, copying from one person is plagarism and lifting information from different sources is research. :-). But really, MS writers are amateurs and not professionals. We have to write what we see on TV, hear on the radio or read in newspapers. Facts, figures and even a few phrases can be copied from professional sources. The idea is to inform others and not to work yourself up researching information for a review. The internet is good for other titbits like information on celebrities and latest gossip going on in all industries. But remember, personal experience is the best source to quote from. The simple reason being that it is exclusive and only yours. That makes it innovative.
*3. The Don’ts Of Writing
*Here are some points to avoid while writing a review:-
Do not insult anyone personally. In the case of celebrities, insult their skills as an actor but do not call the actor himself a moron.
Do not fabricate information in order to generate sensationalsim. Courting controversy is a strict no-no.
Lifting the work of other MS writers is simply unforgivable. Never even ATTEMPT it. If you aren’t suspended by Faisal, you will be boycotted by fellow members.
If you do not have a sense of humour, don’t try and fake it. It looks really wannabe and disgraceful. Try to be funny in an intelligent way rather than playing the clown.
If writing on a book or movie, never reveal the climax.
*4. DETAILING
*God certainly lies in the details. Do not simply skim over the topic but provide important details and the finer points of the product/ service. This really helps a prospective buyer decide on which product to buy. Do not stop writing after breaching the 150 words barrier. Continue writing as a review can be deemed good only if it has adequate information. Simply stopping gives an abrupt and unsatisfatory ending to the review. But avoid running around the bush as it is simply a waste of time and net space. Be clear, concise and organised while writing your reviews.
SOME ADVICE TO FAISAL & CO.
Prominent memebrs including magicalsummer and juhita_88 have begun to voice their concerns about the disintegration that is taking place on mouthshut. The website is growing stagnant and all those reviews which criticise it are being deleted without any sort of prior notice or information. This is simply unacceptable. Agreed that MS is the only site of its kind in Asia, but does this monoply allow them to get away with anything? Although recent upgrades mean that members can upload photos of the products in their reviews and know when they are exceeding their 8000- character limit, there is still no provision for background colours or font colours. I have said this earlier and I am saying this again: allow members to maintain photo galleries of themselves on the profile page: it really does help. And please do something about SORT technology which is supposed to select The Review Of The Day. The basis for this should me member votes and NOT some silly fabcy-name technology that selects reviews written two months before half of the time. Arise and awaken, Faisal and Jasmine, if you want more and more active writers!!
PLEASE RATE & COMMENT
