Anticipate the Question - Writing Outdoor Gear Reviews
Oct 04 '06
The Bottom Line The key to writing an effective review is anticipating the questions. The essential elements in answering those questions are: Opinion, Information, Experience, and Organization.
"Don't write for the money – no one is going to get rich writing reviews for Epinions."
"The emphasis is on fun when writing reviews for Epinions."
"Remember, you are helping others make informed decisions about products they are thinking about buying."
Sound familiar?
These are examples of what you hear in virtually any essay related to writing reviews for Epinions. Such phrases sound sage, helpful, and encouraging. And, they are true enough - so far as they go. However...
Although there is a "community" atmosphere that membership in Epinions encourages with things such as write-offs, meet & greets, comments, etc., when creating a review to contribute, the one thing that you should always have in the back of your mind is that this is a business. While you may develop friendships with fellow employees at any work place and management may encourage a certain, 'relaxed' atmosphere of fun and conviviality, you are still expected to get the work done; i.e., generate the product(s) and/or provide the service(s) consistent with the company's mission statement.
What Is The Product Or Service For Epinions?
Every enterprise, organization, business, etc. has a mission statement. It is a means of expressing why the organization exists - to both employees and the general public. Epinions is no exception. If you click on the "About Epinions" link, you will find the following:
What we do:
Epinions helps people make informed buying decisions. It is a premier consumer reviews platform on the Web and a reliable source for valuable consumer insight, unbiased advice, in-depth product evaluations and personalized recommendations.
Why we do it:
Epinions is a service of Shopping.com, Inc., a leading provider of comparison shopping services. Shopping.com's mission is to help consumers anywhere use the power of information to find, compare and buy anything.
What then follows is a list of "How We Do It" or a more detailed explanation of key aspects within the mission statement; unbiased advice, personalized recommendations, comparative shopping, the right incentives, and transparency. In short, what you have on the page "About Epinions" is the company's mission statement; one that is pithily stated on the site's homepage in the catch phrase:
"Unbiased Reviews By Real People"
In the comments section for one of my reviews, a couple advisors and I got into a facetious go 'round regarding the length and comprehensiveness of that and other reviews. [Remember the standard advice about "fun" in review writing? :o) ] In a sense of self-parody or self-satire, I engaged in a bit of deconstructionism as related to "unbiased reviews by real people." Though intended to be a sarcastic and facetious means of 'taking the point,' it does provide a certain utility when it comes to the product/service Epinions provides.
Allow me to reprint the end result here...
This would mean that "Unbiased Review" would be defined:
A detailed, systematic inquiry and analysis, which is formed by the practice of compiling or assembling basic, constituent information in a series of useful operations or give an approximate opinion, judgement, or appraisal expressing or involving the merits and faults of "something" so as to change or preserve and communicate the knowledge or skill acquired from actual participation or training in an activity or event or insight, affecting actions.
While this sounds complicated, it really isn't. Put more simply, what you are expected to do is provide, in an organized way, information about a specific 'product' in conjunction with your opinion about the product predominantly as a result of your first-hand experiences with the product. That's the primary service Epinions is in business to provide.
Opinion, Information, Experience, and Organization
I encourage everyone to peruse those sections of the Member Center that deal with writing reviews and submission guidelines. They are very useful in defining the parameters and limitations for your reviews. What they don't do very well is provide insight into how to write an useful review.
Note that I do not say "helpful," "very helpful," "show," etc. These are ratings given to posted reviews based on other members' perceptions of how useful that review is in providing information about the 'product.' If you are worried about "writing for ratings," you're worrying about the wrong thing; like worrying about where the horse is going to run off to if you leave the barn door open rather than focusing on closing the barn door so the horse can't run off in the first place. In a more "outdoor gear" turn of phrase: If you worry about the ounces when loading a backpack, the pounds will take care of themselves.
So, what should you worry about before you write your review and while you're writing it? Four words... Opinion, Information, Experience, and Organization.
Opinion - Good, bad, or indifferent, you have an opinion about the product or you wouldn't be writing a review about it. Right? Well, maybe. There are times when I can't tell what that opinion really is and there are other times when I get it - a snoot full of it - but not much else.
Your opinion is the basis of your review. It's why you give it one to five stars; which is the first thing any reader sees related to your review, even before they click on "Read the full review." That's why vitriol or exuberance related to a product or service must be tempered with the logic or rationale behind that perception - the Why? behind the negative or positive assessment. Simply saying, over and over and over and over and over and over and over that "I really like/dislike this product" is not very illuminating and actually ends up nullifying your message.
Remember the infamous phrase - "Me thinks thou dost protest too much?" I already know from your single or two star rating that you weren't overly impressed. What I want to know is why.
Likewise, have you ever seen a kid with a new toy that they really, really liked. They want to show everyone the toy, usually at the most inoppotune time. They like it, you should to; and right now. How long before you get a little turned off or try to send them off to play somewhere else? Anywhere else.
Information - When explaining the "why" of your opinion, you need to start with information about the product. Don't assume readers already know the specs, the features, the details. If they already knew all of this, they probably wouldn't need a product review so much as a product recommendation. That is why, to my mind, Epinions provides "Regular" reviews and "Express" Reviews. The former provides information coupled with recommendations and the latter largely serves to provide recommendations tied to very limited information due to space constraints.
In terms of information, you need to think in the context of questions. The very first question should be: "Do I have enough information about the product to flesh out a Regular Review or am I primarily interested in proffering a recommendation?"
Sometimes all that is needed is what I call "carton information;" e.g., that information that comes on the package. Suppose you've decided to write a review on a particular tent. On the 'package' (or in the catalog, owner's manual, et. al.), you should be able to find details such as: weight (minimum, packaged, trail or other), dimensions, number of poles, maximum number of occupants, number of guy points, etc.
These are all useful pieces of trivia that help bolster or 'flesh out' your opinion and observations (experience). For instance, if you say the tent is "heavy to carry," you have conveyed a certain amount of information generally, but not necessarily usefully. If you were to work in a limited amount of 'carton information,' your observation would be, potentially, a bit more useful. Juxtapose "It was heavy to carry" to "At a packaged weight of 10 lbs., 6 oz., the tent was heavy for me to carry." Which provides more useful information, creates a better sense of what you mean by "heavy," and sounds more 'professional' in terms of "getting the job done?"
Using terms such as heavy, light, far, near, short, tall, thick, thin, low, high, good, bad, soft, hard, et al. gets you into a type of literary quicksand that I refer to as "the meaninglessness of undefined opposites." All of these words are, to one degree or another, defined by their opposite when stated as a subjective abstract. It becomes a word association test that derives meaning only insofar as the individual interprets the terms. Thus, the meaning of what you've said becomes highly dependent upon the reader's perceptions rather than the reviewer's intended meaning.
In a sense, when writing a review, you need to 'anticipate the question.' What do I mean by that? For years, when taking tests or doing writing assignments, I advised students - "If I have to interpret what you mean, you haven't said it." In other words, if your statement(s) leave or create a question, then you haven't said what you needed to say. Just like the tent example...
If you say it was "heavy to carry," then I am immediately left with the questions: What do they mean by 'heavy?' Is it heavy or only heavy for them? How heavy is heavy? Did they try to carry it by themself or split it between two people? How big was the tent? Were they trying to carry a two or three person tent for only one person? Why? Were they traveling ultralight or expedition or base camping? What is their experience level? Were they in the mountains or on the level? What else were they carrying? How many stakes? Did they need the stakes? Did they have the rainfly?
See how many questions come up (and I could go on) by using such a subjective term as "heavy" without providing some sort of objective information that helps define the term? By anticipating the question and preemptively answering it, you can actually use the 'carton information' to frame, lead into, explain, enhance, flesh out, and otherwise provide a certain context for your experiential information.
Now, there is no way to anticipate every potential question. There's always going to be something you didn't think of. But, you should be able to anticipate the basics. How? Once you've written a statement, sit back and read it as if you weren't the writer, but the reader. Did it leave you with a question? If so, then answer that question!
Experience - At the core, this is the difference between reviews written by "real people" and reviews written by professional reviewers, copywriters, and industry professionals. It is the difference between the theoretical and the real world. It is the difference between 'carton information' and 'use(ful?) information.' It is also the utilitarian aspect of Epinions reviews.
A rep for a sleeping bag company, a copywriter, or a professional reviewer will quote the published temperature rating. "This sleeping bag is rated down to 20 degrees F." In the fine print, you will see a series of caveats - temperature rating is based on use in a tent, with a suitable sleeping pad, and can be influenced by such things as sufficient hydration, caloric intake, and individual metabolism. Huh? I don't know about you, but that leaves me with a question!!! To wit: "Does this thing work down to 20 degrees F or not?!"
Someone with experience actually participating in activities that require real world use of the product might write... "Although rated at 20 degrees F, I nearly froze to death, in a tent, using X brand sleeping pad, despite being a warm sleeper, having eaten a full meal, being fully hydrated, not being overly tired and with the thermometer never dropping below 52 degrees." Or, they might write, as I did in a review of one of my favorite sleeping bags...
...The second night, I forwent the lean-to and just laid the bag out on the Thermarest pad alongside a boulder and in between two trees, thinking this would form a nice wind break at 6,700'. Boy was I wrong. The wind blew all night with 15-20 mph gusts and the temperature dropped to 24 degrees F in the valley two thousand feet below. I didn't take the temperature where I was at, but the water bottle (inverted so I could, hopefully, keep some water liquid) was frozen solid in the morning. By cinching the insulated hood down to a reasonable sized face opening (but not all the way down), I NEVER ONCE felt the cold throughout the entire night; despite the ice on the zipper tab (which I'd inadvertently left out from under the velcro zipper tab and flipped inside the hood) from my frozen breath.
This type of information is the fundamental strength of Epinions. It is this experiential information that provides a contextal utility or relevance for the abstract, 'carton information.' It is also what moves your opinion beyond a subjective recommendation and makes it an useful (or 'helpful') review.
How often do you see a review that states "I just bought it today, but here's my review/opinion of the product..." and immediately ask: "How much can they actually know about it if they just bought it?" It's the same frustration one has in buying a pair of hiking boots. How are you supposed to discern the 'trail worthiness' of a pair of boots by only walking on the carpet in the store and at home? You gotta get them puppies out there and scuff 'em up, stubbing your toe on a few rocks, tripping over the boot laces, popping the blisters, and standin' in the "crick" to see if they really do the job. - What was that about 'anticipating the question?'
Organization - We've all heard the advice: "Think before you speak." No where is this more true than when writing a product review. "Before You Begin Writing A Review," make a plan; even if it is only roughly laid out in your head. Yes, a 'writer writes' and a 'story tells itself.' But, you only get there if you at least have a rough idea of where there is. Or, as I often phrase it when asked how it's going - "I think I'm getting there. What scares me is where there might turn out to be."
There are all kinds of 'tricks' that you can use to organize your review. We've all had them at least mentioned to us in school. Outlines. Narratives. Similes. Acronyms. The "five paragraph essay." Something you can relate to. Ad infinitim.
A perfect example of the 'something you can relate to' approach was the episode of Happy Days where Potsie was fearful of not being able to pass an anatomy exam because he just couldn't memorize the material. Since he related to music, they created a song around the test material entitled "Pump Your Blood." (Yep, the one used on a recent television commercial for something or another.)
The five paragraph essay is just what it sounds like. The first paragraph tells the reader what you're about to say; i.e., defines the topic. The next three paragraphs provide the discourse; e.g., explains your logic, details your observations, discusses the methods, presents the evidence, and so forth. The last paragraph summarizes what you just said.
Acronyms are things like MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital), STOP (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan), IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), and similar. Here's a site with over 500,000 acronyms and their meanings - http://www.acronymfinder.com/ - pick one. A good, basic choice for outdoor gear would be a variation of one that you learn in a Basic Algebra class for working with a quadratic equation; and, yes, it pains me to say that.
The acronym is FOIL - First, Outside, Inside, Last. FIRST, talk about the product basics; the 'carton information.' Then expound upon your actual use of the gear. Outdoor gear is used OUTSIDE, right? Give us the INSIDE scoop; i.e., what is your opinion of the product's performance vis a vis the intended use. LAST, sum up your recommendation based on the information you just presented.
Websters defines simile as: "A structure of speech which is used for the purpose of comparing two things that are often unlike." How does that apply to writing a review? I once used the structural components of a military review for the purposes of organization. How about organizing things in book chapters? What if you were to lay things out as an instruction manual; maybe the "Dummies Guide for..." In other words, you are using one type of structure as a point of reference to organize both your writing and the way the reader assimilates the information presented in your writing.
Narratives simply mean a 'story well told.' You're basing the product review on your experience. Tell the story of how you actually used the product. The story becomes the vehicle to carry the information. Just picture yourself, sitting around the campfire, toasting marshmellows, being too hot on the side facing the fire and too cold on the side away from the fire, with the smoke always blowing your direction, and start telling your story.
Outlines are useful for organizing your thoughts before you write, but they are only guides when it comes to the actual text. The applicability of an outline insofar as writing a review (or anything else for that matter) is found in reminding yourself what it is you wanted to say; i.e., notes related to your major points and the information used to support them.
Style, Grammar, and Getting It Said
Not long ago I made the following comment in response to an observation regarding the extended length of one of my reviews...
I guess it all depends on the consumer as to whether any product review is "useful" (or, "Helpful/Very Helpful" or...). Some will want a concise, 'nuts & bolts' entry. Others simply peruse for a paroxysm of platitudinous or pernicious posits to pretense or preempt a percolating purchase. Then there are those who may desire 'contextual' information, beyond the immediacy of the actual product, to assist in their decision making. Of course, there are those who want none of these three types or all three, somehow, in a single review.
To one degree or another, any product can be reviewed in a manner consistent with these wishes. But, any particular product either lends itself to or dictates for a specific approach. In the end, all the reviewer can ultimately do is "write it as they see it;" i.e., write it the way they'd want to read it. Thankfully, there are those who seem to appreciate reading it the way I do.
Style - Everyone has a different way of writing, a different 'style.' As I've noted too many times to count... If you can say it in 100 words, good. If it takes 4 paragraphs, fine. If it takes 4 pages, so be it. If you require 10 pages, then it'd better be good.
Length very much depends on the relevant information and the need for context related to the product. What questions need to be answered vis a vis the product's intended audience? (Note the length of this essay!!!) This is where your 'anticipation of the question' must be tempered by the questions themselves. As I've noted in various classes, there is no such thing as a "dumb question." However, there are questions that: needed to be asked, should have been asked, shouldn't have been asked, and shouldn't have had to have been asked. Judge accordingly.
Grammar - This can be a pet peeve of mine and many other readers. Epinions is NOT a chat room. DO NOT use abbreviations or e-mail/chat room acronyms such as BTW, IMHO, or similar. Such insertions break up the flow of the writing and you CANNOT assume that everyone knows what they mean.
Complete sentences are, well, complete. Remember, anticipate the question. Complete sentences aren't, of necessity, long sentences with unrelated bits of information and a multiplicity of conjuctions or prepositional phrases. Complete sentences are, of necessity, fully developed, cogent, and comprehensively expressive; whether they consist of three words or twenty words.
Long ago, when I was in school (meaning K-12), complete paragraphs had a minimum of three sentences. Think of each paragraph as expressing a single idea or concept. It is much like the five paragraph essay - here's the thought, flesh out that idea, here's the point. Once you've finished the thought, move on to the next idea - start a new paragraph.
Try to make the review fffllloooowwww. No one really likes reading something that makes them feel like they are bouncing over speed bumps. For example:
I like this pack. It is a good pack. It is a bit heavy. I can pack a lot in the pack. The belt is kind of small. The shoulder straps pinch. I can't fit my big sleeping bag inside. It was sort of expensive. I've used this on three trips. My friends think this is a good pack. The warranty is good. I like this pack.
Now I've got a headache and require an eye exam and need a vacation and...
Bear in mind that words have meaning and are often not interchangeable. Believe it or not, there is a difference between the words "they're," "their," and "there." I know it appears that some feel they are synonymous. But, trust me, they are not. For a look at some of the more common "boo boos" when it comes to this type of thing, take a gander at this website: http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/classicerrors/confused/?view=uk
It is easy to proffer the advice of "proofread things X amount of times, then proofread it again before posting." While the advice is sound, it ignores the fact that proofreading is as much an art form as it is a technical skill. Good proofreading requires an awareness of certain things; proper grammar, content, etc. Most significantly, it requires a certain ability to step back and "read what you've written." In other words, you must be able to divorce yourself from what you think you've said or what you intended to say and recognize what it is you've actually written.
The human mind is a fantastic tool; better than any computer. Among the myriad functions it serves, the human mind attempts to create order from disorder. It does so through the use of patterns; 'organization' if you will. (Think about that in context of the above discussion...) Take the following paragraph -
Rievwes slhuod be wertitn crlaely and in porepr psroe. Ccehk yuor gmarmar cfraeluly. Mkae srue trehe are no wrdos slleped icrnorctley. Pfoorraednig is eteissanl. Waht you tghuhot you wotre and waht you atalulcy wotre may be two dfnefiret tinhgs.
Could you read that without too much effort? When we first learn to read, we are taught to "sound out the word." Therefore, we begin by looking to the letters. As we become proficient, we actually read by scanning; the mind picking up what the words are IF the first and last letters are correctly positioned and the remainder of the word's letters are included (no matter the order). Therefore, in anticipation of the question - Did you say it or do you only think you said it?
As for typos - We've all got 'em. The old rules of thumb from the bygone era of typewriters are now largely moot. I mean, we have grammar check and spell check, right? Forget it. Grammar check is a guide and not an absolute. READ IT and decide whether you actually understand it. As for spell check, bear in mind that it will only tell you whether the word is spelled correctly, not whether it is the proper form of the word or even the proper word to begin with. READ IT!!! In the end, you might not catch them all, but you should catch most of them. What was that about anticipating the question and "If I have to interpret it...?"
Anticipating The Question
"Are we there yet?"
We're almost there...
In the end, Epinions isn't looking for professional or 'accomplished' writers. They don't require people to spend a 40 hour work week creating a final draft for a six paragraph product review. In fact, a certain 'funkiness' or 'nonprofessional' lilt to your writing can actually cause it to be better "accepted" by readers (both members and nonmembers).
However, bear in mind that a certain standard of communication is expected; whether writing a 150 word Express Review, an extended Regular Review, or an overtly loquacious "Writer's Advice" piece. What you are trying to communicate is a relevant opinion, based on information and experience, in a fashion so organized as to be readily understood by the average reader. If you can do that, then you should be able to answer the final question...
"Are we having fun yet?"
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Epinions.com ID:
morilla
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 in Sports & Outdoors |
 in Sports & Outdoors |
 - Top 1000 |
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Location: West of the 100th Meridian, USA
Reviews written: 199
Trusted by: 60 members
About Me:
Fears vanish as soon as one is fairly free in the wilderness. - John Muir
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