I love posts where we get a glimpse of how a blogger organises their blogging life. So today, I’m going to share all my reviewing habits and I’d love to hear your system too.
There are a couple of things I do religiously when I start a book :
· I update my currently reading status on GR. This is a must do or I can’t relax. If there are problems with the GR site, I feel wrong reading the book until my status is updated. This is a weird quirk that only started a few months ago but it’s like I feel it’s not official until GR says so.
· I update my spreadsheet to show what book I’m reading. This I’m less rigid about but I do still like to do it.
· I open a new page on my blogging journal and write down a few details like the name and author
Then there are my while-reading rituals:
· I highlight like a maniac when I’m using my kindle or tablet. The yellow highlighter on my tablet makes me particularly happy, what can I say I’m easily pleased!
· If it’s a physical book, I mark key pages with post-its or mark down the page number in my blogging journal
· I tend to jot down key feelings as I read. Not all the time but I find the more I note, the easier my review is to write.
· If I get really excited or annoyed, I might add a status update to GoodReads or Twitter. I like the interaction while I read.
And finally my post-read and reviewing rituals:
· If I haven’t made much notes while reading, I tend to flick through the book again and make some notes now.
· I review my GoodRead statuses and mark book as finished. Again this is a must-do-asap!
· I update my excel spreadsheet to show the book is ‘read, awaiting review’. I get to play with colour codes here, yes you guessed it, this pleases me!
· I try to write reviews fairly soon after finishing the book. Ideally within 24 hours, I used to be great at this but now I’m not as good. It is often 2-3 days. And I find the longer I leave it, the harder it is to sit down and put the review together.
· I make up a big mug of coffee, grab my journal, kindle/book. I tend to think about my reviews after finishing the book and before writing them and have an idea of how I’m going to write the review.
· I make up a big mug of coffee, grab my journal, kindle/book. I tend to think about my reviews after finishing the book and before writing them and have an idea of how I’m going to write the review.
· I draft my review in word. Delete half of it, rewrite sections. Sigh a lot and edit again. Repeat until I’m someway satisfied that it is a true reflection of my feelings for the book.
· I then copy on to GoodReads, format my blog post and schedule. I tend to do this as soon I’ve the review written as I like to know that everything is updated and I can mark this book off as completed on my excel spreadsheet.
· And then I give myself a pat on the back! I get a feeling of accomplishment for every review I write and this is why I continue to do them. And then the really good bit is comments from other people, I love hearing the feedback and the chance to chat a bit more about the book.
It might sound like a lot of steps but I do this without even thinking about it. It works for me and I like my little rituals while I read such as highlighting and making notes, they help me to absorb the book better and really think about why I love or hate the book. Plus they are great for refreshing my memory if I leave the review for a little bit. Also I tend to have multiple books on the go at once so this helps me keep them all straight in my mind.
Bookish Chat : So that’s my system. How do you organise your reviews and keep your thoughts fresh in your head until you get your review written?
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