From: [mac 7] at [po.CWRU.Edu] (Michael A. Chary)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info
Subject: Mike's arrogant guide to reviewing
Date: Wed, 29 May 96 05:21:50 GMT

Here's my views on reviewing. They are shaped by my views on objective
aesthetics and my views on economics. This is in ways similar to Jim Drew's
guide. Jim's a buddy, but it's not the same thing he'd do. His guide is in
the rac faq. It's prolly superior to mine, but there you go.

1. When you write a review you *are* telling someone whether or not to buy
something or to acquire it or watch it on television or to eat it or whatever.
Don't pretend otherwise. If you don't intend for that to happen, and
there's a chance that someone might think you are doing that, it's at least
nice of you to put a qualifier of some kind (like "This is not a review" or
"Don't listen to me, what the hell do I know?" on the document somewhere.)

2. If you don't have an opinion, don't review. Ambivalence is not the same
as not having an opinion. If you don't care about a book, that doesn't mean
it wasn't any good. If you finish it, and you have no comment at all,
*that's* not having an opinion. Thinking it has good points and bad points,
otoh, is worth sharing.

3. Don't be a wuss. Tell your audience what you think. Make it clear. Don't
be a drama queen. There are some critics like Gene Shalit and that guy on
NPR who I swear go around looking for things in a movie to make clever
comments about. Give the work a fair hearing, and then say what you think.
If you think it deserves to be mocked publicly, do so. If you think you
should drool on it, do so. If you had a visceral reaction you can't
explain, say so. Others might have the same reaction. But for the love of
Pete, be honest and clear about it. These people might decide to spend
money based on your review.


4.  Write for the consumer.  The creator isn't going to buy his work again.
You're trying to tell people whether or not to spend their
money/time/effort/thought on the object.  The creator already stuck it out
there.  If he wants constructive criticism, he has an editor.  Or he can
ask a buddy, or maybe he can ask you.

5. Be rational. Your tastes are fine, but try to articulate reasons for
your likes and dislikes. Your audience might not know you. Let them know
what led you to your opinions even if it was predilection or chance.

6.  Don't reproduce the artifiact you're reviewing.  Plot information is
necessary.  Your audience should have some clue what the thing's about.
They should know whther the eggs florentine you're reviewing has spinach in
it.  They might never have heard of it before.  They don't need to know how
much spinach, though they might need to know *too* much spinach.  They
should know if Aquaman shows up in this issue of Superboy and maybe even
why, but if they care more than that, they should buy the book.

7. Finally, be prepared for abuse. Some yahoo out there is going to
disagree with you and take your review personally. Either ignore him or
abuse him back, but don't worry about it.

Have fun :)

--
Court Philosopher and Barbarian, DNRC http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~fchary
"I am the last one." Draco, on the decline of the internet
"There aren't many things that would make me say. 'No, thanks, crucify me
instead,' but that's one of them." - Tom Peyer on Balkan impaling.