I have found, since probably sometime in January, that writing reviews aren’t coming as easily as they have in the past. (Or at least I remember them coming in the past.) I can safely exclude the idea of blog burnout in this problem; I’m still like blogging, and I want to write the reviews. It’s just that when I sit down to type up my thoughts, I find that I either 1) can’t gather them up sufficiently (maybe they’re on hiatus?) or 2) find myself typing the same old limpid platitudes (Oh, I have wanted to use that phrase for a while now. Who’d of thunk it’d be in reference to my own reviews?!) over and over again. Yes, we all know the book was compelling, engaging, thrilling, exciting, fantastic, fabulous, boring, . Find some new words, Melissa.
So, I ask you, my fellow book bloggy friends, what do you do when you have writer’s/reviewer’s block? Keep writing, even if the reviews come out sounding blah (at least to you)? Give up? Go on hiatus? Use the thesaurus more?
An an additional question: how do you go about writing your reviews? Is there something you do to make sure they end up sounding as good as they possibly can?
The Book Nut 
I'm feeling the exact same thing right now! I too am not in a blogging slump, but find myself really hitting the wall when I sit down to flesh out my reviews. Glad someone else is in the same boat as I am right now. I've been taking a look at the discussion questions/readers guides if the book I am reviewing has a set for some jumping off ideas for my review. That seems to help…
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I get that way sometimes, too, but when that happens I tend to also get sick of reading books, so it melts together. I try to take a break for awhile, a week or two, and use pre-scheduled posts. Not sure that'll help, though.
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I do occasionally get to the place where I keep staring at a book and trying to write a full review of it and… not being able to do it. I guess I tend to combine a few books in one post and just write short reviewy blurbs. And hope for the best for my next set of review books!
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I have the same issue myself. Usually I'll just try to be patient, give it time, and write the review when I'm feeling ready. But I've also found that when my reviews seem crappy to me, others don't seem to feel that way – sometimes I even get more comments on the reviews that I don't like than the ones that I do! Keep in mind that we're all reading the blog because of you, and because we want to hear about the books you're reading, not necessarily because we need or want beautifully written, over-the-top reviews. ๐
Good luck!!
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I use the summaries that are on B&N and Amazon (I'm not proud) and then add a few sentences of my own thoughts. Which makes for a lame review, but since I'm really just trying to keep track of what I read, I figure it's better than nothing.
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I tell myself that not every review has to be worthy of an award. That gives myself the freedom to use clunky sentences or limpid platitudes (love that phrase!) a few times. I don't want *all* of my reviews to end up like that, but some books either just aren't worth the extra effort to pull out the thesaurus, or I just resign myself to the fact that this particular review isn't going to get me any new followers, and move on to doing something that does energize and excite me (blog-related or not!)
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I felt that way a big chunk of 2009 and it's just something I had to work through. I kept on writing and they weren't all gems but that's just how she goes. I found that if I read something completely different then I had something new to say and I could go back to my old reads refreshed.
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Ah the critic in my head, is always nagging me when I write anything. I just started blogging a few months ago and have already changed my need to be long-winded. My biggest problem was writing the summary, until I started using the bookjacket(which I know is a cope out), but I was spending so much time on them, I couldn't seem to get to the review. I also frequently ask myself, “what do I have to say that someone else hasn't or won't say better,” but since I am doing this for myself (primarily), I just keep typing along. I use the thesaurus too.
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Taking notes as I'm reading has helped me to get rid of this problem altogether. That might sound weird, but when I'm completely engaged in the book, writing down a few words is a good reminder and usually, I can just steal from my own notes (I use fewer meaningless phrase). Most of the time, the notes get the little details that I really don't want to forget but end up forgetting when I don't write notes.
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Angela: Limpid platitudes really is a wonderful phrase, isn't it?? Not stressing and moving on is some good advice, though. Thanks!
Chris: Your comment reminded me of Dori from Finding Nemo (watched it recently with my girls…): just keep swimming, just keep swimming… And the idea of going back… why didn't I think of that?!
And the rest of you, thanks so much for your advice and thoughts and support. They are much appreciated!
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You are definitely not alone here. I too find that I'm good to go for blogging in general but when it comes time to sit down and put thoughts to paper about a book I fall short.
I'd started taking notes as I read but found it was too distracting as I was trying to read. I think I just need to catch up on my reviews and not read a new book until I write the review of the one before it. That might help.
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I just had thoughts about this the other day, wondering if I had already said those words in a different review. I think I just decided that if it says what I want to say about a book, that has to be enough. I try to be creative but somedays I just need to get my thoughts out and move on ๐
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I write what I call “reviews”, but a lot of times they're just “book thoughts”. What did this book make me think about? How did it impress me? When I'm writing that sort of review, with maybe a brief summary at the beginning, it seems easier. If the book didn't really make me think about anything, then it's harder.
I really don't like writing negative reviews. For those books that didn't care for, unless I have something very specific to write about, I just list it and go on.
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I think I do book thoughts too, rather than reviews. Mostly I want to be able to go back and see what I thought about a book. I think if I were writing more for other people that I'd be more concerned about what I write. And I do hate to summarize the book or talk about the plot since there are so many places that do that boring job. I also feel that my reaction to a book is very personal and it wouldn't necessarily apply to anyone else.
You could just do what Julie does- her one sentence reviews often say more about a book than a longer review.
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I haven't been in the mood to write reviews for the second half of 2009. So I pace myself better. I'll make sure I write a Nonfiction Monday or Poetry Friday because I don't have to do analysis. I keep up mini-reviews at Booklights, which I still enjoy doing. I'll get involved in other stuff – like Comment Challenge or KidLitCon or news write ups – until a book hits me that I want to talk about. You're certainly not alone.
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