How do you manage your time when writing reviews?

When I write reviews, I don't really set myself a timer. I write until I feel like I have clearly conveyed my personal experience and thoughts on the matter. If it's a book review, I like to make the review active - including my own notes and thoughts when I was reading. If it's a restaurant review, I genuinely talk about my experience and encourage others to make their own experiences at the restaurant as well. If it's a service review, I like to talk about how my problem was solved. Relate to the audience in a manner that they'll want the same service or solution that you found.

I always make sure to take any and all notes when possible and asap! And then I make sure that I save time aside to write the full review, whether that be 60 words or 600. I go through the main areas of what I want to say and section them off first, the good or bad and then any themes I want to mention. I then read each section and try to make sure they all flow together. For me the key is reading it over and over and making sure it sounds right and that it makes sense. I’m also a perfectionist so it has to be correct as well, but that’s neither here nor there. Short and sweet and to the point is the best way, but when it comes to being creative, you have to try and not waffle and only throw in as much creativity as the piece needs.

In my view objective of reviewing is to inform. Therefore, I think that before setting goals. Knowing audiences type and the deadline for delivering review is more important.

I feel I have a great responsibility to do justice to the product I'm reviewing and the reader who might take a decision based on my views. I have to be very honest and clear what I feel about the product and which of my biases might have influenced me. Identifying my internal biases helps me to be fair to the product and the reader.

Taking notes while you read the content and highlight the top ones. This helps save time and get to the review in an agile manner. It is easy to forget a point or two when working on big books or any other pieces. By taking notes while reading them simultaneously, we're saving much time and ensuring not a single point goes unseen in the review.

I personally don’t feel anyone should write a review if they haven’t done the research, read the book, tried the product, etc. Your reviews should always be authentic and come from a place of knowledge and experience.

In my opinion, an authentic source of information contains name of author, publication date, publisher name their respective cities.

I use a lot of sticky notes to highlight paragraphs that I want to talk about in the review. I also scribble my thoughts alongside the pages so that when I sit down to write the whole review, I am not drawing a blank. These notes help me get started and then it becomes easier to jump from one point to another throughout the review.

Everyone has their own note-taking system that works best for them. If I'm doing a book review, I like to start off by reading the work through fully, before reading it a second time, this time more slowly, annotating the margins and taking notes. Researching the author is so important and really adds colour to a review: make sure you make time to do this. It adds human interest and grounds us as readers.

It's true that having a clearly defined outline can help with the drafting stage of the write up. But I feel that the formula of introduction - summary - evaluation - conclusion - is too clinical. The introduction and conclusion must be there, naturally, but make sure any summary isn't longwinded, or you'll drop spoilers or, worse, bore your readers.

It is important to keep in mind the places you aim to publish this piece so that you can then consider their templates and follow them to the T. Alternatively, you can also pick some common aspects from each of them and then tailor it further once you receive an acceptance from any of them.

For general reviews, I usually prepare three themes or categories. From these three themes, I will have a positive and negative point to discuss. In this way, readers will see different perspectives in a connected manner.

My reviews typically short and to the point so that people can get a snapshot instead of a novel. Most people will skip the long reviews just because they don’t want to take the time to read.

I always revisit a review a day or two after I have written the first draft. It helps in looking at it with a fresh pair of eyes and avoid any redundancy that might creep up in the writing.

Always take breaks, and once a first draft is in place, have a night away from it. Rest and take time before returning to it. One of my university professors used to read essays aloud: I strongly recommend this technique, as hearing your work read aloud can really help you to identify flaws and shortcomings.

No one wants to read a long, rambling review. Get to the point quickly and clearly and even if you had a negative experience, there's no need to be rude or offensive in your review. Remember that the people who created the product or service or film etc are likely to read your review, so be respectful of their time and effort.

I think this is the most important step if you're writing short reviews like I do. Get it out there! No one will ever see your content and it won't be useful if people never see it.

Share widely, but don't overdo it. Once your piece is published, have a break and work on other things. Reviews can always be shared again at a later date, further down the line.

Always share a well-rounded review which includes feedback on what worked and what did not. Focusing only on the positives is not a great review.

Who is your intended audience? This is a crucial consideration when deciding upon language and tone. For example, is specialist jargon appropriate or does it need explaining? What is the expected level of prior knowledge of your audience? Are you aiming for formality or a more familiar, even colloquial, register? We rarely write a view with an entirely generic feel; an awareness of audience does not have to narrow your expression either, just be mindful as you draft your ideas.

Writing a review is a time-consuming task as it is not just about penning down your thoughts but also about studying the content to be reviewed, understanding it and then reviewing it as per the goal of the review. Before you start you must assess the time you will need to go through the content. And divide it in practical slots. Like, if you are to review a 300 page book, you must shell out time for let's say 50-60 pages a day.. so that you can finish writing the review by the end of a week. If you are to review smaller writeups, you can set a fixed time that you can dedicate to it. Select the writeups to be reviewed on priority. If you are hard-pressed for time, you can even read the content in small breaks and review it later at ease.