Could You Write Performance Reviews For Money?

by: Niall Cinneide

Writing performance reviews can be an excellent way to earn a living. Who wouldn’t want to go from place to place watching actors, singers, and chefs perform at their best (and maybe their worst)? Getting paid to do something like this just seems like fun, doesn’t it? But, in reality, these jobs are not easy to come by nor are they easy to do. A writer will need to have many qualifications and have to write very well in order to establish themselves as worthy candidates of this type of work. Writing reviews is a little more complicated than just telling what you thought of the show.
For example, writing play reviews can be a challenge. Sure, the overall show may be interesting and exciting, but what about the individual characters? In writing the reviews, the writer must have strong understanding of how the play works, who is who, and why certain things are done in certain ways. They must be fluent in the arts and understand what is good and what is bad. It is not simply their opinions that matter but their opinions will in fact determine how well the play does. Who will come see a poorly reviewed play? But, if the writer’s ideas are wrong and misguided, who will look to them again for advice on whether or not to see that play?
There is a lot of weight on the shoulders of individuals who do this type of work. Writing reviews for large newspapers and organizations may take a long time to get into.
The writer will more than likely start out as a nobody, and often do the work for free long before they earn a single dime at it. Their talents will only be trusted once they have proven their skill and having the right ideas and the writing abilities as well. Many people are who do this work as freelance writers. Often, these writers work for magazines, newspapers, and online.
The field takes much perseverance and a true love and devotion, not to mention experience in the arts to make it come to be.