Is the REVIEW a formal writing?

[ReyvrexQuestor Reyes]

by Beth KG

I have a degree in Communication and Journalism and was taught while in school that "And" and "But" were acceptable sentence starters in some instances, although this had long been frowned upon. Because it was considered an error in my first review, I won't do so in this forum again, lol! I do think, however, these usages should be considered in terms of context and readability rather than as a hard and fast rule. Enjoying all things Oline Book Club, so far. Thanks!

Good for you.
I remember Shakespeare making up new words. But then, who is to edit his work, especially when English was yet in its formative years? And also because a living language has a dynamicity ...err, dynamism, that makes it prone to change, it being a tool for communication. What better way to convey an idea than to speak the current language, albeit, an innovation of the older version.

[Beth KG]

Thank you for your comments! I see that I made a spelling error in my original post. Thank goodness for editors and constructive criticism, lol!

[Mallory Porshnev]

I consider the reviews to be formal.

[P Reefer]

The review definitely is partial to formal yet engaging writing. When I used informal words in the past I was advised by my assessor to place them in quotation marks.

[garima597]

This topic discussion has been very helpful to me as i am going to write my first review. If you have any suggestions for me please reply to this post. Thank you.

[Mary WhiteFace]

This topic discussion has been very helpful to me as i am going to write my first review. If you have any suggestions for me please reply to this post. Thank you.

Hi garima597,

Although I only have a couple of reviews under my belt, I have learned a few invaluable lessons. The most important one being...Do not skimp on the proofreading.

I proofread multiple times. Once when I first finish. Then, each time I make a change, no matter how small, I start proofreading again from the top. I continue this process until I can read through the whole review without making any adjustments. At that point it may seem perfect, but then put it away overnight, and then read it one more time before posting it.

Once you copy/paste the review to the Private Review Team Forum, be sure to use the option to "Preview" before "Submitting". Not only is that where you will italicize the title, but it gives you one last chance to read through the review before it's too late to make any changes.

Mistakes I've made: While in the Preview mode, I made a last minute change. Thinking that the one little thing I did wouldn't make much of a difference, I Submitted the Review without doing another read-thru. It was only one sentence that I added. BIG mistake. The sentence included the name of the book, and I got one word wrong. Of all places, in the title. I laugh about it now, but at the time it was devastating.

Also, in a different review, I used it's instead of its. Spell check will not catch this one as a misspelling, as both are spelled correctly. Another example: Using worn instead of warn. Two different meanings, similar sounds.

Both times, I didn't do that final proofread before submitting the review. That's why I know how important it is.

When you first start doing reviews, don't rush yourself. Take your time. Remember, you will become faster over time. The more reviews you do, the easier it will get and the sharper your skills will become.

I hope my tips will help. Remember, proofread, proofread, proofread, and when you think it's perfect... Sleep on it and proofread again.

Have fun with it. If you're not having fun, it's just not worth it.

[garima597]

This topic discussion has been very helpful to me as i am going to write my first review. If you have any suggestions for me please reply to this post. Thank you.

Hi garima597,

Although I only have a couple of reviews under my belt, I have learned a few invaluable lessons. The most important one being...Do not skimp on the proofreading.

I proofread multiple times. Once when I first finish. Then, each time I make a change, no matter how small, I start proofreading again from the top. I continue this process until I can read through the whole review without making any adjustments. At that point it may seem perfect, but then put it away overnight, and then read it one more time before posting it.

Once you copy/paste the review to the Private Review Team Forum, be sure to use the option to "Preview" before "Submitting". Not only is that where you will italicize the title, but it gives you one last chance to read through the review before it's too late to make any changes.

Mistakes I've made: While in the Preview mode, I made a last minute change. Thinking that the one little thing I did wouldn't make much of a difference, I Submitted the Review without doing another read-thru. It was only one sentence that I added. BIG mistake. The sentence included the name of the book, and I got one word wrong. Of all places, in the title. I laugh about it now, but at the time it was devastating.

Also, in a different review, I used it's instead of its. Spell check will not catch this one as a misspelling, as both are spelled correctly. Another example: Using worn instead of warn. Two different meanings, similar sounds.

Both times, I didn't do that final proofread before submitting the review. That's why I know how important it is.

When you first start doing reviews, don't rush yourself. Take your time. Remember, you will become faster over time. The more reviews you do, the easier it will get and the sharper your skills will become.

I hope my tips will help. Remember, proofread, proofread, proofread, and when you think it's perfect... Sleep on it and proofread again.

Have fun with it. If you're not having fun, it's just not worth it.

Thank you for your invaluable advice. I will keep it in my mind while writing a review. Actually, I have submitted my first review and you are absolutely right that proof reading is very important. I regret to say that I have lost some points in my previous review due to lack of proof reading but It will not happen in future.

[Mary WhiteFace]

This topic discussion has been very helpful to me as i am going to write my first review. If you have any suggestions for me please reply to this post. Thank you.

Hi garima597,

Although I only have a couple of reviews under my belt, I have learned a few invaluable lessons. The most important one being...Do not skimp on the proofreading.

I proofread multiple times. Once when I first finish. Then, each time I make a change, no matter how small, I start proofreading again from the top. I continue this process until I can read through the whole review without making any adjustments. At that point it may seem perfect, but then put it away overnight, and then read it one more time before posting it.

Once you copy/paste the review to the Private Review Team Forum, be sure to use the option to "Preview" before "Submitting". Not only is that where you will italicize the title, but it gives you one last chance to read through the review before it's too late to make any changes.

Mistakes I've made: While in the Preview mode, I made a last minute change. Thinking that the one little thing I did wouldn't make much of a difference, I Submitted the Review without doing another read-thru. It was only one sentence that I added. BIG mistake. The sentence included the name of the book, and I got one word wrong. Of all places, in the title. I laugh about it now, but at the time it was devastating.

Also, in a different review, I used it's instead of its. Spell check will not catch this one as a misspelling, as both are spelled correctly. Another example: Using worn instead of warn. Two different meanings, similar sounds.

Both times, I didn't do that final proofread before submitting the review. That's why I know how important it is.

When you first start doing reviews, don't rush yourself. Take your time. Remember, you will become faster over time. The more reviews you do, the easier it will get and the sharper your skills will become.

I hope my tips will help. Remember, proofread, proofread, proofread, and when you think it's perfect... Sleep on it and proofread again.

Have fun with it. If you're not having fun, it's just not worth it.

Thank you for your invaluable advice. I will keep it in my mind while writing a review. Actually, I have submitted my first review and you are absolutely right that proof reading is very important. I regret to say that I have lost some points in my previous review due to lack of proof reading but It will not happen in future.

The best thing we can do is learn from our mistakes. Each one serves to help us improve. One day, we will be able to go back to our first review and see how much we have grown as writers. I'm already laughing about the mistakes in my first review.

Welcome to the team.