Advice to TV Recappers For This and Other Sites

The following is some advice I have for writing recaps and reviews for television series
Before I start let me say this:

Don't stress over rules. If you can't recap or review every episode, that's ok. We're not paid staff and if you can't write about each episode or don't want to review every episode that's fine. You can take a page from Vacelts playbook and just review and recap shows periodically, focusing on a particular angle or theme.

First, record the show you are watching multiple times either through dvr, videotape or whatever. More on that in a minute. If you watch the program you are reviewing multiple time jot down your first impressions because what seems funny the first time might not seem as funny the fifth time.

Second, use examples. Don't just say the show has weak or clichéd dialogue. Better to give examples. To do that you may need to have a recording of the show as suggested above. When recapping House, for example, I like to quote from the show and to do that I have to listen to some parts more than once.

Third, watch for plot holes or plot twists. Another reason to have a recording is that something that may not seem important in the first act may turn out to be crucial in a later act, or vice versa. Now that is not likely to be a problem when recapping American Idol but could easily happen in shows that contain twists.

Fourth, watch the show with an open mind. That means that if you're, say, not a fan of cop shows and you're watching and recapping the show in order to prove your argument true… well, if you do that then admit that bias in your preview. Better yet, don't recap a show you are not a fan of because a) you are not going to enjoy it and that will likely shine through to the reader and b) you will be looking for examples to hate on the show. The obvious exception to this is American Idol, the show everyone loves to hate. Some of the best pieces I've read about Idol come from people who don't like it. But that's the exception not the rule. Generally I'd say if you, like me, are not a fan of the Law and Order franchise then don't go recapping it because I don't think that will be enjoyable to write or to read. Believe me, I know from writing and reporting that if the writer isn't enjoying what he's writing then the reader won't enjoy it either.

Fifth, don't recap without reviewing and don't review without recapping. Let me explain: In my experience, the hardest part about writing reviews and recaps of TV shows is knowing how much to focus on summarizing a show and how much to focus on giving your opinions on the show. I've learned this the hard way. I once tried recapping the Daily Show. I don't know what I was thinking - there are few things less funny than talking about why a joke is funny or trying to summarize a humorous premise. On the other hand it's hard to analyze and review a show without explaining what exactly happened.

Here's the problem in a nutshell: You can't assume the reader has seen the episode. So naturally you need to recap the show somewhat. But if you focus too much on just recapping the show then the reader who has seen the show will wonder what the value was on reading a summary of something they have already seen. There's no magic formula or equation that says how much should be a summary and how much should be an analysis.

Sixth, read other recaps and reviewers. For example, I like to read Television Without Pity's reviews of all shows I watch. I do this partially because the writing there is consistently funny and snarky. But I'm also curious to see what they got out of it that I didn't.

Seventh, get a second opinion and be open to constructive criticism. I think many reviews can benefit from having someone else read them. Actually almost anything you write can benefit from having someone else reading them but it is especially true when writing about a program which you saw which others did not see. The easy trap to fall into – one writers often won't realize they are falling for – is to assume that the readers will know what you are referring to because you are more familiar with the series or the episode than they are. Better to over explain than under explain.

Lastly, please edit your copy. Don't just write it and publish it. There are multiple tricks to editing your copy and if there is interest I can write a follow-up piece on some of those, which range from reading it printed out (you'll see things you didn't see on the screen) to reading it backwards – start at the last paragraph and work your way up. The idea in both cases is that you will see where you have skipped over words or sentences which you have inserted mentally and you can then fix it.

Like it or not people will take your copy more seriously – and MSNBC will be more likely to pick up your article – if it is free of distracting grammatical errors.

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Tips for Writing TV Reviews

vacelts

Wed May 7

34