Site Reviewer Applicant Guidelines

[VivisQueen]

So you want to be a site reviewer?

That’s great! We’re always looking to recruit good writers to the Anime-Planet team. For more information on our recruitment drive, please go here! However, before you make a submission, read the following to ensure your writing is up to par.

Grammar, syntax, and spelling:
Firstly, to qualify, you’ll need to demonstrate that you can compose fluid and largely error-free writing.

* Always spell check! This should be a no brainer. If you submit a sample review with excessive spelling mistakes, I guarantee it'll get turned away without a second glance.

* Underline or italicize the title of any anime or movie you mention in your review.

Example: "My favorite anime is Haibane Renmei." or "My favorite anime is Haibane Renmei."

* Make sure your verb tenses agree! Once you've started a paragraph with a specific tense you need to stick with it. By constantly mixing up tenses, your writing can be jumbled and very hard to follow, not to mention that it just reads badly in general.

Example: "I liked Ichigo, he is very funny." should be "I liked Ichigo, he was very funny."

* When it comes to sentence structures, try to mix things up a little! Reread your prose to ensure consecutive sentences don’t start with the same word or phrase.

Example (Bad): "It sucked when my girlfriend dumped me. It made me depressed."
Example (Good): "It sucked when my girlfriend dumped me. In fact, I actually got depressed; who would have thought?"

* Another common mistake is the use of run-on sentences – sentences which are literally too long and consist of too many segments separated by commas. Break them up whenever possible.

Example (Bad): "My cat is so weird, he reaches into the food bowl, grabs a piece of kibble and drops it on the ground, then eats its before doing it again."
Example (Good): "My cat is so weird. When he eats he reaches into the food bowl, grabs a piece of kibble, and eats it after dropping it on the floor. Then he does the same thing again until he's done with his meal."

* Don’t use the word “you” too often in a review; remember, your review should be as professional as possible, and overusing this word makes it sound too casual.

* Make sure not to overuse the verb "to be" either. This includes the words "is" and "was" i.e. ‘the ball is red’ or ‘the anime was boring’. There's nothing wrong with the verb in general, but if you overuse it, your writing will sound rigid and unnatural. There are many, many ways you can avoid its overuse, ranging from using a different verb to altering the sentence structure so you don’t have to include it.

Also, one major, major problem that accompanies the overuse of "to be" is the use of passive voice. The easiest way to explain the difference between passive and active voice is this: in passive voice the subject of the sentence receives an action, whereas in the active voice the subject of the sentence performs the action. If you're not familiar with the concept, make sure to pay strong attention to the following examples!

Example 1 (Passive Voice): "The man was bitten by a dog."
Example 1 (Active Voice): "A dog bit the man."

See how the verb "to be" was completely taken out of the sentence? Here are two more examples:

Example 2 (Passive Voice): "His wallet was swiped by a pickpocket."
Example 2 (Active Voice): "A pickpocket swiped his wallet."

Example 3 (Passive Voice): "Anime-Planet is run by an awesome administrator."
Example 3 (Active Voice): "An awesome administrator runs Anime-Planet."


Scoring and objectivity:
It’s true that no two people rate exactly the same; however, for your ratings to be useful to your readers, you will need to use them correctly:

* Reviews are a balance of opinions and facts - they're not 100% objective or 100% subjective. When somebody reads your review, they're looking for two things: Did you like or dislike the series and why. The like/dislike aspect of your review should cover your opinions, and the why part should support your opinions with facts. Don’t write just facts (a scene-by-scene description of what happens and who the characters are), but ensure your review is substantially composed of what you think the anime does well and where it falls short.

* Your review must reflect your scores. If you rate something as a 9.0 overall, it needs to be one of the very best anime you've seen; likewise, if you rate something a 2.0, it needs to be one of the worst.

* Remember, you're rating on a scale of 1-10, and you need to have enough room in your scale to distinguish your anime from one another. As a rule of thumb, it's best not to submit your favorite series for your sample review - the site staff want to be able to evaluate your scoring in addition to your review.


Writing skills:
Finally, your writing skills in general will require some personal traits that nobody can teach you, but can only have been gained through practice.

* Firstly, make sure you have a very strong vocabulary! You're going to need to demonstrate that you have a wide range of both verbs and adjectives at your disposal and can use them naturally.

* Editing your own work is very important; while we all make mistakes, they should be minor and easily fixed. Having somebody else look over your work is always a good idea, but you should be able to identify and correct the majority of your own mistakes before posting. Keep in mind that if you submit a review with a substantial number of errors, we’re likely to turn you down.

* Having a lead-in to your review is critical; you should avoid jumping straight into the story section. It can be an analogy, a witty comment, a joke, or even just a simple statement - almost anything can work.

* Do not write rigidly to the template if at all possible. Remember that it's very flexible, and you can say just about whatever you want. Trying to limit or restrict your writing simply due to the review format is never a good thing!

* You will also need to have your own writing voice. This is something that comes naturally with practice; chances are, if you don't have at least a year or two of writing experience under your belt, you haven't yet developed the skills we're looking for.

* As a final point, although we get many applications, not everybody is cut out for site reviewing. Although this should not discourage you (you could very well be the next addition to our team!), keep in mind that it is a tough position that requires a level of writing that most people can’t meet. As it stands, every site reviewer has a thorough background in writing as well as being educated to at least sophomore level on English-taught courses. Your writing should, without a doubt, be at this level!

Ready to go? Apply now!

[madcomic]

The final paragraph discouraged me to apply...

Wouldn’t have read the whole post if I knew you wanted that high a level of spelling.

And lets face it, my English isn't even my first language.

[vivafruit]

I just realized:

Example: "I liked Ichigo, he is very funny." should be "I liked Ichigo, he was very funny."

These sentences are both run-ons! And in the grammar tips section, to boot.

[Gundevil]

Originally Posted by vivafruit

I just realized:



These sentences are both run-ons! And in the grammar tips section, to boot.

He's got a point. That should be a complete stop, not a comma.