Transition Times: This week, Louise Holden gets some reviewing tips from the professionals

Everybody hates a critic, right? Well judging by the volume of music and film criticism in last year's collection of SchoolMag competition entries, you're quite happy to put your musical opinions on the line. A number of magazines last year focused almost exclusively on providing readers with reviews of the latest CDs and films - or fresh reviews of old releases. The entries displayed a passion for sharing the message of music and film among school-mag wirters, and this year will be no different. To guide you in your writing, here are some tips on music criticism from Irish Times music critic Kevin Courtney and on film writing from Entertainment Editor Hugh Linehan.

Reviewing music

•Love your subject, but be objective. "If you like everything you hear, your musical radar is not working," says Kevin. Just because you're passionate about an artist doesn't mean you can't step back from their material.

•Have a good knowledge of the rock scene and a decent understanding of music history. "Knowing about music past also helps in spotting what is influencing music present," says Kevin. Lovers of Scissor Sisters, for example, could do well to delve into 1970s disco greats, such as the Bee Gees, for a bit of perspective before reviewing Ta-Dah.

•Develop your own style of writing. "Avoid simplistic descriptions - 'very good', 'great', 'brilliant'." You can do better than that. Draw your readers into the music by using evocative vocabulary that shows insight.

•Expand your subject. "If you're reviewing a gig, observe and describe the crowd." You can tell a lot about a band by their following.

•Compare the work with previous albums by the same band. "By all means be scathing in your assessment, but don't get nasty and don't get personal," says Kevin. You'll undermine your credibility

•Be open-minded. Writing off genres and bands without listening to them is a necessity for the general listener but a cardinal sin for the music critic.

Reviewing film

•What are your objectives? You will need to describe the film. Define the genre and an introduction to the plot, but don't just give a dreary repetition of the plot - and, whatever you do, don't give away the twists.

•See the film early and review it before the readers have beaten you to it.

•Pay attention to features that can really make a film but are often overlooked or taken for granted by the audience. As a critic you need to understand the language of film: how lighting and colour send messages, how camera angles shape perspectives and how editing leads the viewer. Musical scores, costumes, sets, script all feed into the language of film.

•Know your films. Compare the work under review with works by the same director, films in the same genre and other performances by the same actors.

Don't just pan a movie; that won't help the reader. Explain why you think it fails.

Next week - Where are you now? A SchoolMag Christmas checklist in the last of the cut-out-and-keep series. Also, look out for our end-of-term iPod Shuffle competition