: Re: Writing a bad review in a tactful way I have a blog which sometimes features bad reviews based on my personal research and point of view. Please help me know how to say something critical

@Pierce369

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Even though the details of the question are off the topic of writing, I think that the question itself is sound. Writing reviews is writing. And if you're going to be a well respected writer, you have to be honest. If you're going to be honest, you're going to have to give some bad reviews.

In my opinion, the best you can do is remember this: honesty without tact is brutality. So long as you're not mean spirited and "punch down" on the person who created the thing you're critiquing, you should be fine. If you still show basic respect for someone while you are giving a negative review, they should be better able accept it than if you're just ripping them to shreds for fun.

You must remember, however, that there are some people that take bad reviews very personally and become deeply offended even at he most objective and tactfully written opinion. I can't remember the author who did this, but I was a great fan of hers up until she had a very nasty public temper tantrum on Twitter about one single negative book review. It wasn't even that bad. The reviewer said that it was basically a good read, but it just didn't live up to expectations. Anyway, she got so furious that she posted the personal email and home telephone number of the reviewer and encouraged fans to harass the reviewer and shame them for giving a bad review.

That incident was entirely the fault of the author. The reviewer was just doing their job. If you've been fair and honest, attacking the work instead of the creator, you've done the best you can do. If someone spazzes out and acts incredibly immature over it, it's their problem; not yours.

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