I don't think my last comment was as clear as it could be, so just a bit of clarification: just tell me when you've written your second review (after posting your first somewhere). I consider posting your first review sort of an emotional milestone, and want you to do that BEFORE you have someone nitpick your work. They both come with their own share of stress so it's better to spread it out! :)
I'd be willing to look over a review of yours. HOWEVER, I don't want to read your first one.
As I said before, the best way to get good is to just write a ton, and figure out for yourself what works. In my experience, people tend to obsess too much over their first work, editing and editing and reediting forever and never getting off the ground. The proofreading process is important, but really what is more important is learning how to write a good first draft. Imagine writing a review as building a house. A proofreader can patch up the holes and add a new set of paint, but he can't fix a bad foundation. Rather than obsess over the same bad work, build a couple crappy houses, then leave them to rot and use that experience to go build better ones. :D
Furthermore, it's also possible you'll write a review, then realize review writing isn't for you. Of course that's fine, but if that's the case, I don't want to waste my time.
So I have a request: if you want me to look at a review, go ahead and write one, proofread it, and then SUBMIT THAT BAD BOY to A-P or anidb or whatever. Then, if you feel like it, write another one, proofread it once or twice, and I'll read that one.
Haha, that's the same for me! I've been visiting this site for some new anime ideas I don't know how long, yet I just made an actual account about 3 days ago. :)
1. Be passionate! It takes a lot of commitment to become good at reviewing. If you don't care deeply about writing you will probably never get good at it (as evidence: nearly everyone on the internet is a terrible writer!). As a note, writing anime reviews is nice, but your long term rewards are going to be becoming a GOOD WRITER PERIOD, not just a good anime reviewer.
2. Read a lot of reviews from professional writers. A-P reviewers are just amateurs - skilled amateurs, but amateurs nonetheless. To see true quality you have to look elsewhere. In particular I'd recommend googling Peter Travers, Roger Ebert, and James Berardinelli. They are my favorite movie reviewers, and all of them have a very distinct writing style (my style is closest to Berardinelli's). Pay attention to the vocabulary they are using, their overall structure, patterns in their writing, etc. Most writers start by emulating writers they admire, then gradually developing their own unique style later.
3. WRITE. A LOT. It doesn't matter if your writing is crap; in fact, it probably will be. I wrote more than 100 terrible reviews on animenfo before my writing began to be reasonable. Remember that writing is not easy for ANYONE. You just have to work at it. I'd recommend putting them here, on myanimelist.net, or anidb.net. Just try the three sites out and see which ones you like.
4. Not all of these will apply, but I wrote some generic tips here:
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I don't think my last comment was as clear as it could be, so just a bit of clarification: just tell me when you've written your second review (after posting your first somewhere). I consider posting your first review sort of an emotional milestone, and want you to do that BEFORE you have someone nitpick your work. They both come with their own share of stress so it's better to spread it out! :)
I'd be willing to look over a review of yours. HOWEVER, I don't want to read your first one.
As I said before, the best way to get good is to just write a ton, and figure out for yourself what works. In my experience, people tend to obsess too much over their first work, editing and editing and reediting forever and never getting off the ground. The proofreading process is important, but really what is more important is learning how to write a good first draft. Imagine writing a review as building a house. A proofreader can patch up the holes and add a new set of paint, but he can't fix a bad foundation. Rather than obsess over the same bad work, build a couple crappy houses, then leave them to rot and use that experience to go build better ones. :D
Furthermore, it's also possible you'll write a review, then realize review writing isn't for you. Of course that's fine, but if that's the case, I don't want to waste my time.
So I have a request: if you want me to look at a review, go ahead and write one, proofread it, and then SUBMIT THAT BAD BOY to A-P or anidb or whatever. Then, if you feel like it, write another one, proofread it once or twice, and I'll read that one.
Haha, that's the same for me! I've been visiting this site for some new anime ideas I don't know how long, yet I just made an actual account about 3 days ago. :)
I hope you like it here on Anime-Planet! :)
Here are my thoughts on becoming a good reviewer:
1. Be passionate! It takes a lot of commitment to become good at reviewing. If you don't care deeply about writing you will probably never get good at it (as evidence: nearly everyone on the internet is a terrible writer!). As a note, writing anime reviews is nice, but your long term rewards are going to be becoming a GOOD WRITER PERIOD, not just a good anime reviewer.
2. Read a lot of reviews from professional writers. A-P reviewers are just amateurs - skilled amateurs, but amateurs nonetheless. To see true quality you have to look elsewhere. In particular I'd recommend googling Peter Travers, Roger Ebert, and James Berardinelli. They are my favorite movie reviewers, and all of them have a very distinct writing style (my style is closest to Berardinelli's). Pay attention to the vocabulary they are using, their overall structure, patterns in their writing, etc. Most writers start by emulating writers they admire, then gradually developing their own unique style later.
3. WRITE. A LOT. It doesn't matter if your writing is crap; in fact, it probably will be. I wrote more than 100 terrible reviews on animenfo before my writing began to be reasonable. Remember that writing is not easy for ANYONE. You just have to work at it. I'd recommend putting them here, on myanimelist.net, or anidb.net. Just try the three sites out and see which ones you like.
4. Not all of these will apply, but I wrote some generic tips here:
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=animeatt&aid=357&previewmode=1&attid=4715
Good luck! I hope you become an amazing writer. ^^