Where to start from? First of all let's get one thing straight: there is a certain difference between writing a report and writing a critical book review. A book report is completely factual. It includes information on the author, title, place, and year of publication as well as a summary of the content of the book. A book review, on the other hand, is much more personal. It is an expression of the reader's opinion of the work or of specific aspects of the work.



Successful report writing depends firstly on the book. If you are not assigned one, it is better to pick a book that you like or at least don't feel negative about. This way you can avoid too much criticism. To write a good report, it is important to read the selected book cover to cover. You will probably want to take notes while reading, to highlight the places you will talk about.

Once the book is read, it's time to organize and outline your thoughts. Write down facts about the setting, time period, main characters, and the plot of your book. This is your next step to good report writing. You will let your reader know, whether the story takes place nowadays, or the author of the book placed it into the future; whether the setting is real, or imaginary; finally, what kind of a person the main character is and what happens to him.

Writing a book report helps you practice giving your opinion about different aspects of a book. One more key to effective writing is using the draft. This way you will set the exact order of your material as well as write down your thoughts and ideas.

Your final step in writing a successful report is putting everything together.

If you need help with report writing, note one thing: it can be a plot summary, a character analysis or a theme exploration.

Report Writing: Plot Summary

When you are writing a report on a plot summary for your book you don't want to simply retell the story. You need to explain what your opinion is of the story and why you feel the plot is so compelling or unrealistic. If you are writing this type of a book report, make sure that you use plenty of examples from the book to support your opinions.

Report Writing: Character Analysis

If in your book report writing you choose to talk about the main character, you can explore his/her physical and personal qualities and the way his/her actions affect the plot of the book. Explore the way a character dresses and what impression that leaves with the reader and what positive characteristics does the character possess? Try taking examples of a dialogue and analyzing the way a character speaks.

Report Writing: Themes

Exploring the themes in a book can be a great way to write a book report because picking a theme that you care about can make the report easier to write. Try bringing some of your thoughts and feelings as a reader into the report you are writing as a way to show the power of a theme. Before you discuss your own thoughts, however, be sure to establish what the theme is and how it appears in the story. Make sure that you talk about each example or quotation you've included. Make a direct connection between the theme and the example from the book.

If you have followed the advice on these pages you should be ready to write your final report. Thoroughly familiarize yourself with your draft before you put fingers to keyboard. All of your revisions should have been made on your draft, so your job now is to make sure that your presentation is correct. Remember: good report writing depends on correct grammar and spelling as well as on the content. Make sure that your thoughts are clear and that you include examples from the book to support your opinions. Do not hesitate to include own critical analysis and thoughts, as book report writing is not barely a summary; instead, this is critical writing. Book report writing helps you learn to summarize, compare and contrast, make predictions and connections, and consider different perspectives - skills you'll need throughout your life.