This is an article to help people understand the components of a good 'review' and the basics in writing a review that has value to the reader. There are four basic areas that every review should include; 1) identify what is being reviewed, 2) explain some details on things that will most likely stay the same, 3) share the emotions of your personal experience, and 4) conclude with your opinions of the overall experience and how you could improve it.
When a review begins, it is very important for the reader to understand what is being reviewed. For example, if the writer begins with details of a 'dive destination' and then goes through a review of a specific 'dive operator', it can become confusing. Within the first few sentences, the writer should identify the specifics on what is being reviewed. You need to stay focused on the topic and organize your notes and thoughts in a logical manner. When you read good reviews, you'll quickly notice that they follow a very logical pattern. Staying on topic is important.
In order for a review to have value to the reader, you'll need to discuss the things that should stay the same. These are details that will benefit someone else who visits or tries the same thing you are reviewing. For example, a travel review generally will be able to describe certain landmarks, procedures, and shortcuts that will remain the same for a future visit. This part of a review will be the most valuable because it allows the reader to apply your comments to their plans. For this portion of the article, the writer needs to be sure to stay accurate and honest. These 'facts' are going to be from your observations and experiences which add value to the review.
The third aspect is where you share the specifics from your experience. Be sure to let the reader know the transition between 'facts' and 'feelings'. This part of the review can be read as the 'what can I expect' portion of the article. Writers should share some of their emotional feelings in this portion of the review. If your experience was predicated on the weather, be sure to include some details here and explain whether or not these are typical. A funny example of this happened a couple of days ago, when a boat captain took a group of us divers out. I knew that we had 'exceptionally good' seas with waves less than 6 inches. Since I knew this was not the normal, I would never suggest that this is the 'expected sea condition' in a review. When a tourist diver returned to the boat and while climbing back on the ladder asked; "Is it always this rough out here in the Atlantic Ocean?" Thinking this was a joke, the captain replied with something like; "We keep two people on the boat to keep walking back and forth to create a realistic rocking of the boat." While the writer is sharing their experience in this portion they need to help the reader determine if this is something that will likely be the case again.
Conclusions are generally short with some comments on the overall experience. Remember that your written words may be around for a long time. Drawing conclusions from your personal experience should take into consideration that things keep changing. People want to hear about the highlights and good points when you make your conclusions. If there were negatives or areas that a reader needs to be warned about, the writer should state these items clearly. Then the best thing to do would be to offer ways to either eliminate or improve the situation to solve the problem. On a personal note, if I encounter a negative or problem area, I'll first present it to the manager or business owner. As a customer, they should be willing to work through the issue and help solve it. If they are unwilling to help solve the problem, then I'll work on development of a solution for them. "What if you did... would this help solve the issue?" Whenever something goes wrong it seems that the blame game starts going into action. Observe things from your perspective and realize that there are other observations from other perspectives.
Good business owners need good customers. In order for both to be satisfied, the experience needs to be a win-win situation. By writing a well formatted review, your reader will become a better customer and in the process help them find the good businesses to work with. Whether the review is about a destination or a specific tour/dive operator, it is important that these four simple basics are covered to create value. A review is not a travel log with details of an itinerary with diary details.
I could write about and provide vivid details about a 'wall-drift' dive with 300' visibility and abundant fish and creatures of all sizes. The reader would have a personal 'vision' of the experience. Then I could produce photographs or a video of the same dive and they might have a better understanding and 'vision' of the experience. However, until you actually experience this dive for yourself, you'll never get to have the true 'vision' of the experience. A good review will provide realistic expectations and help the reader start a 'vision' of the experience.
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