Hello loves!  Time for another Coffee Break post which is inspired by my blogger friend, Bree over at inloveandwords. She does TeaChats which are monthly posts where she pretends to have a cup of tea (with her readers) and chat about what she’s been doing lately. Such a cute idea right?! So, with Bree’s TeaChat inspiration in mind, I decided to do Coffee Break with you and talk about… well, I guess anything that’s on my mind.

Today’s topic is

How Do You Write Your Reviews

So, lately I’ve been feeling kind of MEH about writing book reviews and I just feel like I’m not being creative with my words, or critical enough with my analysis or something and I don’t know… I just feel like sometimes my reviews aren’t that great or they sound really juvenile or they all sound pretty much the same. I mean I mostly read romance stories and 80% of the time I like/love them for similar reasons. How many different ways can I really say “Oh the romance was addicting, swoony, and heartwarming” OR “I really love the chemistry because it was irresistibly cute and sexy”??? I feel like I’m saying the same things quite a lot, and it just bothers me. Does that ever happen to you? Do you ever feel this way when you write your reviews?

I also tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist… okay a lot actually. I usually take notes as I read… Not a lot, but just a few things I want to remember. By the time I’m done reading, I have a few bullet points and I do a quick draft of my review. After that, depending on when I have time, I’ll probably spend another hour or two just editing my review. Then, I format my blog post, do another reread and revision, wait a day or two before scheduling to post and do one last edit. When I’m pressed for time because of due dates, I still do the same, but just in a shorter time frame. No matter what though, I don’t post my reviews unless they’ve been reread and revised at least 3-5 times. Crazy right?  You know what else? Sometimes, I don’t even change my review that much. Sometimes, it’s just a few words here and there and I would spend hours. I seriously think I have OCD or something.

It’s just kind of difficult to write reviews when I read a lot of books that are similar in one way or another. That’s why sometimes I feel a little unsure about my reviews. BUT, I’m trying to worry less cause I don’t want to spend so much time in front of the computer and miss out on other parts of my daily life. So, I’ve been pushing myself to just write as if I’m just having a discussion with a friend and sharing what I thought about the book. It seems to be going okay, but I still feel like I’m running out of creative ways to express myself. I use FEELS and SWOONS all the time… I don’t think there’s a review where I didn’t use those words. When my significant other reads my reviews (cause I ask him every now and then), he teases me about the word FEELS. Now, whenever we watch something, he would tell me “Whoa, that scene totally gave me the FEELS!” We’d laugh it off, but I do really use that word a lot LOL.

Writing reviews can be really fun, but also very challenging and time consuming… at least for me.

How do you write your reviews? Do you edit them or just write out whatever and post? How long does it usually take you to write your reviews?  Chat with me and let me know.