I was thinking about this question the other day after seeing someone tweet out that they were super behind on reviews. I thought I had already written a discussion post on this, but I guess not so here we go. I actually see this on Twitter quite frequently. A lot of bloggers saying that they're spending the whole day catching up on reviews. And I just don't get it.
Because I'm the type of person that has to review a book right after reading, normally before I start my next book. Now there are exceptions. Like sometimes if I finish a fantasy and a contemporary is up next on my list, I'll read it first, but for the most part I review right after reading.
And that's because I have book amnesia. Even after just one or two days I startto get fuzzy. The feels that I experienced while reading are a distant memory. I can't remember all the exact details of why I liked the book or why I didn't like the book. And then I feel as if I'm not doing the book justice and I'm not giving my readers a good overview of the book. Now sometimes it's not always plausible to review immediately after reading. Sometimes I'm on a long flight and I finish a book and want to start another one right away. Normally in cases like that, I'll either jot down some notes or write a rough review via my Evernote app and edit it later. But I have to write something down or I'll lose all my initial thoughts and feelings.
I also don't spend a lot of time on my reviews. That sounds horrible. It's not that I don't care or don't want to spend the time on them. I am just the type of person that gets my words down quickly. Reads it over once. Makes a couple tweaks and/or changes and then schedules it. I don't really agonize over my reviews being perfect. I want them to be raw and honest. I don't need them to be the most gorgeous thing ever written. I just want to share my thoughts and feelings as if I'm having a conversation with my readers.
That's not to say that those gorgeously written reviews aren't great. They are. I follow a lot of bloggers who write these beautiful, jaw-dropping reviews and I love reading them. That's just not my style.
I'm curious, how many of you write your reviews immediately after finishing a book? Or do you like to wait and get a bunch stacked up and go on a review writing binge? How does that work? Do you ever find yourself forgetting all the little details? Do you spend a lot of time on your reviews? Or are you like me, just word-vomiting your feels and then moving on to the next book?
I'm the same way, if I don't write a review pretty much right after I've read the book, I'm not going to remember anything and so that means I don't end up writing a review. I have the absolute worst book memory, I remember almost nothing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't spend much time on my reviews (and I'm sure it shows). I just want to share what I thought, felt, etc. and I also want this to be fun and not a lot of work so I don't really edit or revise, it is what it is. ~Pam
I'm the same way. I feel bad not remembering things, but I read so many books that it's impossible to keep them all straight in my head.
DeleteI'm the same way with my reviews. I write it, read it over once to make sure there aren't any glaring spelling or grammar errors and then I schedule it. If I spend too much time it starts to feel like work and I definitely don't want that.
I definitely forget. But I hardly ever write the review right away. I always want to start another book right when I've finished one, for some reason. And I have 2 kids, so I can't always sit down and write a review right after finishing a book. It's not too hard for me to read with a baby in my lap, but pretty hard to blog that way!
ReplyDeleteBut I've always been that way, because I've always taken notes. I have at least 6 notebooks full of notes on the books I've read. So my notes make it much easier to write a review after the fact. But without those notes, I would definitely have to write the review right away. But I kind of wish I wrote them right away anyway, because you're right, you lose something when you wait, and that happens a lot even though I do have notes. Great post!
Yeah, that's very true! I don't have kids so I don't have that problem.
DeleteI always find it interesting when people take notes when they read. I've tried to do it and I can't. I hate breaking away from the story to write things down. It just doesn't work for me. I don't even update GR all that often when I'm reading because again, I hate to press pause on the story. I'm the type of person that likes to sit down and read a book start to finish. I wish i could take notes though. maybe it would help with my horrible book amnesia.
One of my blogging resolutions for this year was to write down reviews or initial thoughts RIGHT after finishing the book, but I haven't been doing great at that :/ I do get a bit of book amnesia for specific events, but I usually remember around when it happened so I can find it again in the book. Sometimes I just find it really hard to articulate my thoughts on the book. It's something I've been thinking a lot about because reviews take me so long to write and I usually end up procrastinating them. I actually just reviewed Everything, Everything in a different "high level" format. I'm still experimenting with the idea now, but I like how easy it is for me to write and I think readers will like the overview style with less fear of spoilers that can come up in a in-depth review. I admire that you can write reviews so quickly! I'm definitely not good at that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's so hard for me to remember everything since I read so many books that I have to write them right away. And sometimes looking back, I'm like, "oh I should have mentioned that," so I guess that's the downfall with writing them quickly, but I mostly just want to get my initial thoughts down and then move on to the next book. I'll have to check out your new review format!
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