How to; write review posts
Heey ! 👋🏼
Are you one of thoses bloggers who are a bit sluggish/find it hard to do review posts?
Well my guys, you are in luck 😘 I decided to give you my advices onto how I, myself, write my reviews and how I get to save so much time that upon finishing a book, I only need to fix a few stuff, decide when I wanna post it and tada!! Done!
Unless said book has been DNFed, or I *reaally* don’t know what to say about a book, I choose to review them all on my blog. Of course if you want to do that or not, it’s your choice.
As you may know already, my brain kind of tend to forget stuff 🙈 which is not really helping my cause in reviewing ahah.. so here’s what I do;
1- I start by reading a few chapters.. this is mainly where I see if I wanna continue reading/like it/have things to say,etc.
2- After being a few % in said book and all go well, I will start my “skeleton” of my review. I’ll start what I want in my intro; if it’s an arc I may wanna say I got it from Netgalley, when it’s being published, by which company.. I may add to that later aswell. Next, i’ll put the “read more” and link the Goodreads’ page as I don’t wanna do my own synopsis anymore 🙈, and leave the note on 5 blank. Then I like to include a list of my thoughts as I’m still reading to help give the readers a better opinion of my review/not forget stuff which will help my general idea at the end.
3- When the skeleton is ready, I simply save it onto my wordpress drafts. After every reading session, I will then update my goodread’s with where I stand in my book (pages or %, depends if its an ebook or a print) and if I have something to say and don’t wanna forget, im gonna head to my draft and add that in there. Don’t forget to save !!
I will continue doing that until I reach that point where my brain go “!!!” And I can add a note /5, and start creating my general idea, which is the very last part of my review and what I will copy and paste to Goodreads/ retail websites/ etc.
If I have a deadline or a good idea of when I’ll finish it, I will then start programming my post, add the tags, the message that’s gonna go upon sharing .. all that good stuff.
** even at that point, I can totally go back and fix a few things before it publishes. It may happen that I have ONE thing I think the most, finish the book and bam actually I was wrong. Which is not so bad, as it’s like 95% done at that point 😂 so it end up way less time consuming and is ready to go in no time.
I love to take a few days off reading after I finish a book; to get myself to get out of that book hangover and step out of that universe; but even if I didn’t and read multiple books at the time, I think having them on drafts and writing as you go is so much easier!! That way you don’t have to pause all the time to take note (im bad at this.. I hate writing in my books AND i’ll probably lose my train of imagination) and you won’t forget what was for which book you read/forgot to write something down and end up not putting it in you review, etc.
Also the time you save ! It prevents yourself of pushing it to later, and later.. to completely forget about it and potentially have to reread again as you forgot the whole thing 😂 ..which is a bad, bad thing.
Hopefully my post helped you a bit! remember you can always tweak and modify some things so it works better for you 💕
How do you write your review? Do you have a “plan” like I do, or do you go in more carefree ? Do you review most of everything you read?
Absolutely love this! I relate so hard to the emboldened “Don’t forget to save”–I always forget to save LOL! Thanks for the amazing tips!
ahaha I’m generally good, but one time something did not saved ! left me a bit confused onto why it wasn’t as I thought I left it ahah
Thank youu ! Happy you liked it 🙂
I’m more carefree. But I also found that I forget to include things about the book that was important to me. I really like your idea…
Feel free to give it a shot ! If you don’t like it, you can always go back to your method after 🙂 I always fear of forgetting something, so that way I feel a bit more confident
I write it in a journal first, that serves as a base for my review online. Then I continue on from there. 🙂
Also a good technique!
im Just too lazy to fetch it as I read in the middle of the night.. xD ahaha let alone even turning the light on if im e-reading
I usually take notes in google docs. Sometimes i sit on them for weeks 😀
ahah well, it’s the thought that counts eh 😂
Hi Kristina! I either highlight if I am reading on my Kindle either not pages on my phone. Once i’m finished reading I will write the review and download the highlight to make it even better 😉
Well thats an idea ! I still dont really highlight un my ebooks – though ive seen it can be linked onto goodreads 🤔 I shall try thar
I love how different this is to me!
I switch between using the Notes app on my phone scribbling on bits of paper and using them to bookmark the pages when reading.
I also have a template for all of my blog post types, so my reviews one outlines the review: overall rant, story line, writing style, characters, diversity inclusion/problems, over view. I did this a couple of months ago and it helps SO MUCH when I’m struggling.
I try to review everything but find that my three-stars tend to get missed. Because I just don’t have much to say…
yeah.. I get that. Unless it’s NetGalley, I usually won’t review thoses ..
I should use templates, but too many stuff in drafts makes me panic xD so eeh.. and, idk – as i’m not a writer, it can be difficult for me to talk about writing style (specially in english), diversity and such.. I’ve never reallet been thought that way; and i’d be scared to be totally off track !
Oh really? I currently have 22 drafts and only 4-5 of them are templates haha
That’s fair. I don’t always strictly follow my template but it helps to have the prompts so I don’t forget those things if I want to comment.
yiikes xD
yeah, I usually go check my past ones to see my templates rather than saving them- and just like… write it alongside it
Oh I like this idea. I’m a newer reviewer and I tend to just go with the flow for now haha. Definitely looking for a more structured style because that blank doc can be scary!
Specially at first, yeah !
remember you can always create your own mark 🙂 try new things, and adapt them for what you wanna do, personally.
My first reviews were horrible.. hahah just, no point watsoever and yelling about said book. Then I tried this method, but with a made up resume of my own. Which I ended up dropping as.. aint nobody got time for that x) That’s what i’ve been doing now; which i’m pretty proud of ! it works for me now, but I can’t say i’d stick to it in a year from now – and that’s totally okay !
I also take a few days before writing a review, since I want to be able to relax and really think about the book first. 🙂 I don’t really have a “plan”, but I always take notes of important details, and then the rest of my review’s just me winging it and writing down whatever I can remember. xD
– Aimee @ Aimee, Always
Hahah yeeah I can be bad with that 🙈 i can basically wake up next morning and go « eeeeh.. i dont remember .. » so hence why I try to write right away .. just in case
Great post! I have a set structure I follow when it comes to my review posts, but I always end up writing them up after I read the book because I always forget to do it. One day I’ll be more prepared for my review posts!
Ahh- well, as long as you still remember what you read; you should be fine!
I have a good memory so it’s not all that bad and I take notes on my phone for major points I want to write about!
I love how you break it down and use goodreads for your reviews!
Great tips Kristina! You are smart to be right on top of it. I need a few days to mull over the reading and solidify my thoughts. Notes are important to keep track of characters and plot.
I just am really scared to forget xD
I can’t take notes as I go though, as i’ll step out of it ..and maybe wont be able again. So I just do it after im done for that moment.
The way you review books sounds awesome! I don’t review much on my blog as of now mainly because I have so much trouble figuring out how to do it. Right now I use a notebook and make bullet points of things I might want to talk about and hope it forms complete thoughts!
Aww, my first two ones were awful xD so dont be scared to just do them and adapt along the way. !
I see alot of people doing bullet reviews, so no worry if it doesnt ! Sometimes it may be preffered instead of longer ones
Great advice! Especially for people like me who forget a book three days aftyer reading it….
I’ll admit I’m one to take notes as I read, since I read on kindle there’s no need to move or lose my train of thought.
Yes!!
I dont forget as much as I used to.. but I prefer not taking any chance… all my books I own from years pasts I cannot review on my blog unless I reread them as I truly have no idea anymore 🙈
Same! There are some old books that I know I loved but can’t review it because it’d be something like: “This book is good! I don’t know why! Read it!”
Ahahah right?
This is some really great advice. I definitely agree with you about needing to take a few days after finishing a book before starting the review (though given how behind I am I’m at the three-month waiting period between finishing a book and starting the review for it!)
Also I love how you essentially start writing the review as you read a few chapters too. I may have to go back and re-read the opening chapters of some of the books I have but between this post and what other people have said about writing notes I may be in a place when I can churn some of these reviews I need to write out! 🙂
Great post. 🙂 <3
Thank you ! 🙂 happy this could help you even a little !
That’s all right. 🙂