How To Write a Book Review: Tips and Tricks

When you want to write a book review, the question often arises: how to start? And more generally, how to succeed in writing regularly, and where to draw the inspiration to guide your writing? How to avoid the famous anguish of the blank page?

In theory, if you have a literary project, you have already started to think about the book you want to write about, recalling the plot and the characters. The first essential step before writing a book review is to ask yourself the right questions and have a plan. You may read other authors’ reviews to understand how to start and what are the essential components of the writing project. There’re many excellent and professional writers whose works serve as a true inspiration. Some of them, for instance, writers with relevant qualifications from https://essayswriter.org/, can prepare a top-notch and engaging book review specifically for you.

Here are tips for writing a book review and getting off to a good start:

Prepare the ground for your book review

Define the subject of your book, its genre, and its style. You must understand whether it’s a biography, a detective story, a romance, or a children’s novel with an adapted lexicon, gossip, and format. It would be best to mention it in your review from the first lines.

Discover the essential elements of a book review:

• informative elements: a biography of the author, previous novels, critical reception, etc. It is a matter of selecting the relevant parts. You can use the notes you took when you read the book.
• narrative elements: to tell the synopsis of the work and explain the subject it deals with. The amount of information given depends on the novel, but you should not reveal too many aspects of the plot;
• argumentative elements: to present the critic’s opinion. Aspects of content and form must justify this opinion. The criticism is subjective – as it reflects personal feelings – but it must be based on elements/passages that can be verified and shared with other readers/critics of the book. The “argumentative” dimension of the criticism corresponds to a literary analysis highlighting the book’s originality and giving rise to a judgment (positive or negative);
• finally, a few well-chosen quotations punctuate the text of the review to illustrate and make the reader want to discover the book.

Generally, the narrative and informative elements are mentioned at the beginning of the review, but they are part of a coherent and homogeneous critical discourse. If you note something, it makes sense in terms of the point of view you are taking.

Don’t put pressure on yourself

Set aside time in your schedule regularly to devote yourself to writing. In the evening, during your lunch break, on the weekend, at dawn: it’s up to you to find the right moment. But sometimes, finding time is not enough to find inspiration. If regularity helps to gain fluidity in writing, there is no need to stay for hours with your eyes riveted on the blank page.

If you are stuck, get out, clear your mind, and focus on another activity while you let your ideas settle.

Conclusion

Starting the process is a challenging but exciting step. We hope reading this article has improved your understanding of how to write a book review. Your mission is to pick up a book and a pen and work on your writing project. Have good luck!