Being professional is something many of us aspire to be in all aspects of our life. While the concept originally referred to the way members of an actual profession – such as doctors and lawyers – comported themselves, today we think of a large variety of positive characteristics associated with being professional. This article focuses in on how to showcase these characteristics in your reviews, not only to benefit the reviews but to benefit your reputation as a reviewer as you continue to work into the future. Let's begin by examining the most immediately apparent mark of being a professional – editing!

Self editing is time consuming, annoying, and downright boring. It's also far less effective than having another person do the editing, as we are often blind to the errors we make while writing. Despite these many problems, you must edit your reviews. Whether you can gain the assistance of a friend or are stuck self editing this is a crucial step that no reviewer should pass up on. With that said, let's take a look at the various qualities that make up a good editing job.

First off, the review needs to be readable. This means at least basic formatting to break up some of the information. Truly exceptional reviews make frequent use of formatting to set aside headers, examples, and otherwise break up information so that the review is easily navigable with the eye. Avoid odd fonts, lack of text/background contrast, a wall of text, or any other quality that could discourage the reader.

A closely related consideration is that the review needs to be enjoyable to read. While your reviews will draw many consumers who are doing little more than researching a potential purchase, even this fact-minded audience may lose interest in your review and stop reading if it lacks flow. I encourage you to find a mix of fact, opinion, commentary, and humor to make your reviews more than a scholarly analysis. At the same time, consider brushing up on transitions, text organization tips, and basic language mechanics. If you're going to invest the time into providing a review then take the time to make sure it's something most folk will want to read.

Speaking of mechanics, modern text editors have gotten pretty good at pointing out all the basics to us. They even helpfully correct misspelled words with the click of a button. Unfortunately, this is not always to the writer's benefit. Misspelled words may be corrected to incorrect words, and text editors can do nothing to help out with missing words or incomplete statements. These are all problems that crop up from time to time, so while a text editor is a valuable tool to use while writing be sure to actually read the review at least once before publication.

Well written, edited reviews are just the first step towards being professional in your review authoring. The next is even more difficult than text editing – self editing. If you're publishing your reviews to a site where you can receive feedback, or where you regular contribute posts, then the fact is that the way you conduct yourself in your other communications will reflect on your status as a reviewer. I encourage you to maintain a generally upbeat perspective online, at least while posting where your reviews are being hosted. While you're at it, expand that signature and let people know you're reviewing. There's no need to hide your work, and you never know who might be reading what you just posted.

While we're talking about self editing I feel the need to stress that the most important place to self edit is in responses to reviews. I have written a column dealing with this specifically, Coping with Review Problems, but it's worth mentioning here as well. Most people responding to your review are well meaning, and even those who are riled up and most something less than friendly can be brought around to at least being civil with a few friendly comments. Your goal in reviewing isn't to push your opinion on others, but to offer up a critical perspective for those that want to seek it out. If no one disagrees with you along the way then you're doing something wrong.

One great reason for both editing reviews and self editing internet posts is that the internet has a long memory. The worst review you ever write will continue to turn up in Google for a very long time, and the most embarrassing post you ever compose may be one of the top results for a specific search. It's unlikely, but I have been continually astonished at how far my review comments have spread throughout the online RPG community at times. Just keep in mind while you're composing reviews and comments that both may stick around for a very long time.

One final note, and this has to do with comped reviewers in particular, is that sometimes the internet is not the only place to be professional. There are some companies I could never reach by email or message board posting. What did I do? I picked up the phone and called them. I knew exactly what I wanted to say when I called, I was friendly on the phone, and because of my willingness to do that I've developed several positive relationships with publishers that I would never have had had I not stepped outside the internet for a moment. Being professional sometimes means turning off the computer and picking up the phone, so keep in mind that where a polite email to a publisher about reviews fails a polite phone call may succeed.

Being professional makes everyone's life better. You'll find your readership increase, the quality of responses to your opinions improve, and greater success with soliciting support for your reviews. Adding a quality contribution to the hobby is something worth taking pride in, no matter how small that contribution is.