This article was posted earlier and received a lot of great comments. Also, some of the editors asked for specific things that needed to be added. Based on that, I've revised it and broken it into two articles, which will also appear in the Yahoo Bulletin Board Files (for Blogcritics members). This article focuses on the issues more broadly. The second article, Guidelines for Critics, is a list of points for each media to which people can refer when they're writing a review. My thanks to all those who provided such great feedback.
Introduction
One of the problems trying to explain how to write a review is that there is no one way to do it. It’s not like someone climbed a mountain and returned with stone tablets from “you know who” with the absolute last word on being a critic. They’re more like thin layers of soft clay that keep getting crunched and messed up.
For someone just starting out, don’t let all the junk here intimidate you. Read the article for the major points, and, as time goes by, you’ll be able to incorporate more and more - adjusting it to your own style and tastes. For more experienced reviewers, treat the article like a refresher course. Maybe there’s a gem you hadn’t thought of before, or an idea that will help you better break the rules.
And just as I’m incorporating comments from people when I posted this on BC, if you see something you disagree with or that I missed, send me an e-mail. I’m always willing to revise this article.
When I posted this article on BC, Che had some excellent advice. He also wrote, “Rules are good. Breaking rules is better.” He’s absolutely right. I love breaking rules. But...you can't break the rules if you don't know what they are. The Picasso museum in Paris is organized chronologically. Among the paintings from his "Blue" period was an incredibly realistic painting. It was as if Picasso was saying, "Look, I can paint realism, I know all the rules of composition, color, perspective, etc. I just don't want to do that anymore." But he was able to paint such incredible work because he'd learned the basics of painting.
What follows will integrate suggestions based on how most critics write reviews, and absolute, unbreakable rules that apply most of the time except when you decide to ignore them. Also, in a separate article, I list guidelines for each art form to help you keep track of what things to consider.
Article comments
1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Mark, you had me at "Bad, Naked Girls With Kinky Tattoos." I laughed, I cried, I learned, dammit.
Good stuff, well-expressed. To quote you: You "started with a clear idea of what you wanted to communicate to your audience [and] you created a smooth-flowing analysis that helps the reader understand that idea."
2 - Nicholas Stix
I'm just putting my mark on this so I can find it to read later today.
3 - mschannon
Gordon,
Thanks. I do appreciate the comments. I put more time into this *&%$^& article than into my doctoral thesis--wait a minute, I never wrote a doctoral thesis. Well, you get the idea. Glad it's appreciated.
In Decaf Veritas
4 - chantal stone
Mark...as soon as I buy some printer ink, I'm going to print this out for reference. Great job, and THANKS for the advice!
5 - mschannon
Chantal, bless you, my dear. All compliments welcome--and needed.
6 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Mark, excellent article. Much of this advice holds for writing any article, and a lot of the things you write here also go for writng a short story s well. Reminds me an awful lot of the kinds of things that Emily Crofford used to teach is in a junior high in east Saint Paul 25 years ago...
She didn't drink decaf, though.
Ha'emét nimtzá b'kafé hafúkh
(in 'Kaffee mit Schlag' veritas)
7 - mschannon
Ruvy, good writing is good writing, regardless of the form...point well taken. (By the way, I haven't ignored your two e-mails--I've just been too buy to give them the time they deserve, but I will read them.)
I'm sorry, though, Kaffee mit Schlag sounds German...I ain't doin' no German tag line. Plus, at some point, I'm going to drink again & I can return to the truth...
In Jameson Veritas...
But thank's anyway.
8 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
"...Kaffee mit Schlag sounds German...I ain't doin' no German tag line."
Well, I think, sir, that I'll use a Hebrew one.
Reshít Hokhmá yir'át Hashém
The beginning of wisdom is fear of G-d
9 - mschannon
Ruvy,
I guess I'm dumber than a rock. I refuse to be afraid of God. If I ever make the leap of faith, I may learn to respect, admire, love, be in awe of....etc. But fear...never.
Life should not be dominated by fear...of God or anyone/anything else. Life is a blessing, a gift--who know's from where--and should be cherished for what it offers even in the face of everything that would cause one pain.
I don't know if you've read John Spivey's articles or books, but I believe he is on the right track, and I'm even considering giving up my curmudgeon status in my spiritual quest. John tells the story of the Bhudda holding up a flower and only one person in the crowd smiling--understanding the significane.
I once understood it, and John's example brought it back to me. It's not deep, metaphorical, spiritual...it's not cosmic consciousness. It's a simplicity of appreciation for the flower for what it is, asking nothing more from it but to be allowed to appreciate its beauty.
Every step on our journey offers moments of awe that sound trivial. A rock in a garden that somehow just fits right. A smile from a stranger. An upwelling of joy just for the privilege of being alive. Helping another for no other reason that it's a good thing to do.
Where in all of that could a fear of God exist? (Hmmm. I'm on my way to an article here, I think.)
I keep coming back to that Thoreau quote: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to their graves with the song still in them."
Fear of God? Doesn't that foster desperation? The last few years have been difficult for me, and for a while I gave in to desperation. I've worked my way out...with some help from John.
I will learn to fear nothing...not through strife or struggle but through acceptance of myself and the world in which I find myself.
Ruvy, I'm afraid your God and the one I wished I could believe in are very, very different. I hope you find comfort, peace, and tranquillity in yours--but at least from what I've seen of American Jews, that's something we're not very good at.
Know, however, how much I value your friendship and knowledge.
10 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Mark,
The common translation of the word yir'á is "fear." A more apporpriate translation of the sense of the word is not so much "fear" as "awe." In other words, one stands in awe of the Almighty - and this is the beginning of wisdom.
Example. A man sits on a bus and fears - very nearly trembles in fear - over the coming shut-off of his electricity if he fails to pay the bill. And he hasn't got the money and doesn't know where h will get it. For a moment, he calms himself and asks "what is he supposed to learn from all this?" And he has the "ahah!" moment of realizing that rather than being in fear of the electric company and what it can do to him, he should be in awe of G-d and how He can help him. A sense of serenity and clear-mindedness returns and he is able to try to formjulate what he should do.
Standing in awe of the Almighty is the beginninig of his wisdom.
Reshít Hokhmá yir'át Hashém
11 - mschannon
Ruvy, now you tell me after my long diatribe!!!
I'm perfectly happy being in awe of God if only He'd show himself. Awe is good. Fear is bad. Except (there's always an except) I have trouble with this notion of God interceding on our behalf. But that's another diatribe, and it's time for dinner, LOL.
Thanks for the clarification.
In Awe Veritas
12 - chantal stone
Mark...wow...you really should expand #9 into an article. Very good, indeed.
In diet coke Veritas
13 - mschannon
Thanks,Chantal. I was actually doing that when Ruvy pulled the rug out from under me by substituting awe for fear. However, there's enough religion based on fear of God that it still might work.
Those sneaking Israelis!
In Decaf Veritas
14 - chantal stone
it'll definitely work...go with it
in pinot noir veritas
15 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Mark,
G-d shows His wonders (if not Himself) to those who put faith in Him. The grace after meals pulls a line from Jeremiah to illustrate the idea. "Blessed is he who trusts in G-d for G-d shall be his security."
I've seen this in my life and my wife's life - far too many times to be mere coincidence or good luck - this comes from a former atheist, Mark, not some yehiva boy.
16 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
And don't forget the line, Mark.
Reshít Hokhmá yir'át HaShém.
17 - mschannon
Ruvy, a born-again Christian arch conservative web-friend who I happen to like and respect a lot asked me to read this book about how God's hand was apparent in the founding of America. The two authors were Yale-educated and the book was well-written.
The problem with the book was what can only be called unconscious selective evidence. (In individuals, its unconscious selective recall.) They picked examples of when bad things happened after people fell from a state of grace and what good things happened when they regained it. But they ignored the good things happening to people who never met Grace & vice versa.
If one prays and lives a good life according to the laws of God, good things will happen to them. Sometimes bad things will happen. If someone lives a bad life, ignoring God, the same thing will happen.
There's an old philosophical theory called Occham's razor which states that the simplest explanation is the correct one. Also, an extraneous parts of a theory have no value to the theory.
Translated, everything one's experienced in life can be explained without God's intervention--hence there's no rational reason to include Him.
That doesn't mean He doesn't intervene. It just means it cannot be proven by rational methods, which, for religious people, should be a positive. If one could rationally define God, then He wouldn't be God.
And I haven't forgotten the quote--I'm just choosing another path.
(Damn, I wish we could sit down and talk for about 2 days--or 3 or 4. You should come visit the U.S. I'll even fall off the wagon so we can drink and be merry as we argue into the wee hours of the morning.)
In Decaf Veritas
18 - temporal
mark:
can you post this at desicritic also?
19 - mschannon
Temporal, absolutely, as soon as I figure out how.
20 - temporal
aaman will help you join and set up passwords etc.
have sent him an email
21 - Matt SUGRUE
my wife says I cant be a critic but Hello... Cabin boy was possibly the most underated film of the century
22 - Matt Sugrue
hope to trade opinions about all entertainment related coolness