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Review article template

A review says what the thing is, what using it is like before any judgment, what works and what does not with the same specifics, how it compares with the alternative the reader is weighing, and who should get it. The verdict comes last, once the reader can trust it.

A bowl of ramen steams on a restaurant counter while the cook works behind it.

When to use it

  • You review books, products, films, restaurants, or software.
  • Your reviews are all praise or all complaint. Give both sections equal weight.
  • Your reader is choosing between two things. Name the other one.

The 6 sections at 1,200 words

The marks assume 1,200 words, because most published reviews run 600 to 2,000 words. Each chapter starts at an even share of the whole; yours will run longer or shorter. The story structure calculator works them out for any length.

  1. What It Is The thing itself: what it is, who made it, what it costs.
  2. First Impressions What using it is like before you have an opinion.
  3. What Works The strongest case for it, with specifics.
  4. What Does Not The failures, with the same specificity.
  5. How It Compares The alternative a reader is probably weighing it against.
  6. Verdict Who should get it, and who should not.

A worked example

A review of a new ramen shop on a street that already has two.

  1. What It Is. A twelve-seat counter, one broth, and bowls at fifteen dollars.
  2. First Impressions. A forty-minute line, and a kitchen you can watch from every stool.
  3. What Works. The broth, cooked for eighteen hours, and noodles made in the window each morning.
  4. What Does Not. The eggs are underseasoned and the only vegetarian bowl tastes like an apology.
  5. How It Compares. Richer than the shop on the corner, and slower than the one by the station.
  6. Verdict. Worth the line for the broth; if you don't eat pork, go to the corner.

Open this template in Tabularia

Start a new project, choose Article, and pick the Review shape. Each section arrives with its heading and its note beside it.

Open in Tabularia

Or take it away

The Word file has every section with its note and mark, a line under each for your own plan, and the example above. It opens in Word, Google Docs, Pages, and LibreOffice.

Download for Word