Question for Bloggers! How long does it take you to finish a review?

Book bloggers, I have a question for you.
How long does it take you to finish a review? Minutes? Hours? Days?

I was trying to write a review for a particular book. I have opened Word and was about to type something, but then I realized that I don't know what to type! I think I ended up staring at the screen for what seemed like half an hour before I gave up and went YouTube browsing.

Then the day after that, I was watching TV and suddenly, I had an idea what I was supposed to write for the review! I don't know where the idea came from, but I easily finished a paragraph in less than two minutes, but after that I didn't know what to write again anymore. I tried racking my brain for more ideas, but after ten minutes, I gave up.

I still haven't finished the review until now.

Oh, and this is not the first time this happened.

More questions:
- Does this also happen to you?
- What do you do when this happens to you?
- Should I stop this review and move on to another?

Help!

10 comments:

  1. I think it totally depends on the book! I've had reviews that I put up in just a couple of minutes, and some that I've had to walk away from and come back to.

    I'm sooo not a writer, so it takes me a while to put into words how I feel about a book. I also try not to post any spoilers, and that limits what I can say.

    I'm still new at book reviewing, so some of it is me trying to figure out how I want my reviews to go.

    Jennifer of Little Shelf

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  2. It definitely depends on the book. There are some books I can review in 15 minutes flat because I am still flying high on the last pages of the story, and others that I spend 30 minutes just staring at the screen. (Usually those are the ones that I neither loved nor hated, so I can't think of anything in particular to say.)

    Usually when I get stuck I just walk away and end up forcing myself to write it at the last minute. (Probably not the best method.)

    If I move on to another review before finishing the one I am working on, chances are it is never going to get finished. But that is just me. :) (I probably have about 10 unfinished reviews sitting in my drafts folder.)

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  3. I set up the template for the book review as soon as I start reading the book. Then I either jot down notes as I read or I type in thoughts throughout the time I am reading the book. When it is time to write the review, I tend to know where I am going with it.

    It still takes me about 30 minutes though.

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  4. This happens to me sometimes too. In fact, I've been trying to write a review for 3 days but I keep giving up by either catching up on TV shows I'm behind or Youtubing. I would suggest reviewing another book and coming back to the one you're stuck on. That often helps for me.

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  5. I write about as quickly as I read, which isn't very quick at all! I usually take about an hour to write a review, but sometimes more. And this is after a day or two has gone by since I finished the book. I used to write reviews right after I finished the book, but I found I had even more difficulty writing the review then because I didn't allow myself enough time to let everything sink in.

    I'd say, write a review for another book and come back to the one you're having trouble with later. There is no reason to put reviews on hold because of one book =]

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  6. @Jennifer A: we're about the same! I'm new at reviewing books too and I'm not a writer either. English is not my first language. I only started really learning it about 2 years ago when we moved to TX. But even so, I only use english outside the house (which is not often) and on the www.

    @Lieder: that's why I'm reluctant to start another review, because I tend to not finish the one I'm currently working on.

    @Alexis: i did that before but when I started writing the review, I ended up not using the notes. X(

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  7. @A Canadian Girl and Jackie: I've done that a few times before and I ended up not finishing the review i was working on. Sometimes, the second I finish a book, I get excited to write a review. But once I sit in front of my laptop, I tend to get blogger's block.

    If I wait for days for the story to sink in, I get restless because I feel like I'm wasting time trying to rack my brain for nonexistent ideas when I can use the time to read books! Then once I read another book, I'll completely forget about the book I'm supposed to be reviewing.

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  8. Yes a book I didn't care for much that I kinda forced myself to read was the best review I ever did I think anyway. Then I'll read a book I liked and sit not knowing what to say about it.

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  9. @Jessica: I know! It's so much easier to review a book you didn't like than a book you loved. The thing is, I don't post reviews of books that I don't like.

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  10. Sometimes, it takes me a really long time to finish a book review. Other times, I finish faster. I usually try to wait a couple of days before reviewing. This also gives me time to ponder what I want to say and put little pieces together in my head. When I sit down to finally write the review, I'm not at a complete loss and link the notes in my mind into a sort of road map for the review.

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