#222 Hurt Feelings: A Look At Negative Reviews

As an indie writer, it's imperative that we get reviews.  Completely necessary.  Reviews help connect readers with your work.  Reviews prove to people that your book is worth the time needed to read it.  So we can all agree that reviews are good, right?

What about bad reviews?  Are those good?  Of course, our books are our children.  We don't want people speaking ill of our children.  Our words express our inner most thoughts and desires, and to have a stranger criticize that is to have them criticize our very souls.  A negative review can hurt.  Bad.  So, what can we do when we receive a negative review?  How can we address the pain and anguish that accompanies other people's judgements?  Well, let me tell you.

Nothing.

There isn't anything you can do about a negative review.  You shouldn't respond.  You shouldn't lash out.  You shouldn't try to explain why your book had too much description or that your verbose sentence structure was a stylistic choice because Faulkner is your favorite writer.  You don't need to explain that you ARE good, or that your story IS actually good.  All you can do is read the review and try to understand where it's coming from.  If you do this, if you take in their criticism with an open mind, you MIGHT actually hear what they are saying and you MIGHT actually improve your future projects.

For my first book Exchange Day, I heard a couple of people say there were too many characters.  I wanted to tell people that my project was an epic that would span 5 books and that I needed all my characters.  I wanted to point to Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Star Wars and say, "They have a lot of characters too!"  But I didn't.  I didn't say anything.  I nodded my head and understood why they were saying it.  I had too many characters.  My readers were having problems keeping up.  Maybe my characters were not unique enough to stand out.  Maybe I introduced them all too quickly.  Maybe my story is boring and they were looking for a polite way to draw attention to it.  Either way, if there is something wrong with my story, I NEED to know.  It's the only way I can get better as a storyteller.  If there is something wrong with your story, you NEED to know.

I know criticism of your work can feel like a personal attack.  It isn't.  Unless someone is throwing their kindle at you.  Read all your reviews.  Especially the bad ones.  Read them carefully.  Understand them.  And then move on with your life.  Keep doing what you love, and everything else will sort itself out.

#221 Old Projects Versus New: A Random Surfer Analogy

Over the last 15 years, I've started a dozen writing projects that fizzled before they were finished.  Some were as short as 6 pages.  Others, as long as 600 pages.  For one reason or another (mostly work, lack of time, or dissatisfaction) I abandoned these projects and left them collecting dust on an old computer or hard drive.

Recently, I spoke with a writer friend of mine who asked me about the writer life.  We talked for more than an hour about what we were working on, and I was intrigued by the difference of our two approaches.  He had 4 or 5 older projects that he'd written and wished to revisit for potential publication, while I had 3 or 4 new ideas that I wished to start, but wasn't sure which one to explore first.

So I spent Wednesday night with a bottle of wine (actually two) reading through several old manuscripts to see if I might be making a mistake by exploring new projects.  I'm conflicted.  I had some ideas that intrigue me.  They seem solid to me and I already have a base of work done on them, so perhaps revisiting them might be like beginning a project on second base instead of standing in the on deck circle.  Seems smart, right?

Here's my issue.  Writing a novel is more like surfing a wave to me than scoring a run in baseball.  I sit on the board in the middle of the ocean and wait for the right one to lift me up and carry me back to shore.  Sometimes I see one I like, and I jump on.  I ride it as long as possible, but some projects throw me back into the ocean.  So I paddle back out and look for another one.  Sometimes, I find a good one, and I ride it gloriously into shore, and in the end, I have a finished project.

My stack of old manuscripts represent waves that threw me off my board.  I couldn't ride them all the way back.  To revisit these old projects is like trying to catch a wave that's already begun to break.  I already gave that wave a shot and fell.

Is this too much surfer analogy for one post?

What about you other writers?  How often do you revisit old projects?  When it comes time to start something new, do you gravitate toward new ideas, or do you explore old manuscripts for unfinished gems?

#220 A Lesson In Fashion. And Writing

A week ago, or so, a friend of mine invited me out for some day drinking at one of the hip, trendy bars.  The Texas heat hadn't settled in just yet, so I decided to go, to step away from my computer and my piles of chapters that I'd been revising and re-revising for weeks.  I ironed a shirt, which I hadn't done in months, slicked my hair back, and headed out of the house.

The patio teemed with young people drinking beers and laughing, girls sitting on boys laps, couples hovering over tables waiting for some place to sit down, and several others yelling at the TV.  This one guy fell down a few feet away from us and rolled into a wooden pole.  The entire patio cheered.  At some point in the conversation, a guy I'd just met points to me and says, "I don't mean to be rude, but do you have some sort of sweating problem?  I mean, how come you're wearing an undershirt.  I don't understand.  Who wears undershirts except people with sweating problems?"

I said, "Well, I definitely sweat, but that's not why I'm wearing an undershirt.  I've always worn an undershirt.  It feels inappropriate to me not to."

The guy shrugged and muttered something about how ridiculous that sounded, so I asked the rest of the table if I was truly ridiculous for wearing an undershirt.  The table agreed.  They'd all noticed and didn't want to be the one to say anything.  But they all wondered why in the world I would wear an undershirt, unless I had some kind of sweating problem.

That night, I called my friends and told them this story.  They each said they wore undershirts when they went out and that they feel inappropriate not wearing one.  So what's the deal?  Is it a generational thing?  Is it a geographic thing?   I grew up in Houston, but now live in Dallas.  I was born in the 70s, and the people we were out with were born in the 90s.  People coming from different places and times think differently about fashion, right?  Or was I always ridiculous?

This got me thinking about my writing.  Knowing and understanding your audience is key to being able to reach them with a message.  I'm currently writing a series geared toward a younger audience, yet clearly there is a disconnect between me and the youth of today.  Don't worry, my series is not about a bunch of kids running around inappropriately wearing undershirts.  But still, there's something disingenuous about writing books for a segment of the population about which I actually know very little.

I tell this story not because I have newly learned insight into the America's youth.  Instead, I'm telling this story as a warning to other writers.  Think about your audience before you start your next big project.  Who are you writing for?  What do you know about them?  You must understand who you are trying to reach, otherwise you are going to be the only person at the party wearing an undershirt and everyone will be staring at you, wondering if you are simply ridiculous or if you have a weird sweating problem.

Book Review: The Clay Lion by Amalie Jahn

I'd recently read 11/21/63 by Stephen King, and that led me to Time and Again by Jack Finney, as well as watching all the Back to the Future movies in one weekend.  After all that, I still wanted more time travel and so sought out books dealing with time.  I found Trapped In Time by Bree Wolf, which I read and reviewed.  And then I found The Clay Lion by Amalie Jahn.  I read it and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Following is my review:

• Setting: The story is set in a future where time travel is not only possible, but it's accessible by common, everyday people.  The story revolves around a loving family going through a tragedy,  and Brooke Wallace, the story's heroine, desires to change it.  When writing in a genre so specific as time travel, it's important to address the genre in a unique way, to bring something new to it.  Amalie Jahn succeeds in doing that with The Clay Lion.  I'll not go into it more so as not to spoil the story for you.  I will say this: with time travel, my suspension of disbelief is awfully flexible.  So I don't get bothered by the physics of it or the potential space/time conflicts that could arise within the story.  If you do, then you might not like this one.
• Character Development:  The story follows a typical American, suburban family, and relates to readers in a way that we can easily insert ourselves into the story and imagine what we would do to save a beloved family member.  Jahn does a good job of developing the relationships between these characters.  The family felt genuine, and their struggles together felt realistic.  This crosses the boundary into literary fiction, which makes the story that much better. 
• Writing Style:  Amalie Jahn writes in a friendly style that embodies the down to earth spirit of her characters.  She captures the sadness and hope of Brooke Wallace, and takes us seamlessly through her ups and downs as she fights to save her brother.  The style doesn't get in the way of the story, which moves quickly from chapter to chapter.
• Climax: The climax of The Clay Lion was a bit subdued, which actually fits the tone of the novel.  I thought the ending was one of the best aspects of the story.  I don't want to go into it so as not to upset expectations.  All I can say is that endings are important.  A writer must leave an impression on the reader, and Amalie Jahn does this with The Clay Lion.
• Book 1 of a series: This novel definitely stands on its own, so don't avoid it simply because you don't feel like committing to multiple novels.  This one is worth reading, and if you learn you like the world and the style Amalie Jahn presents, then you'll be able to find more novels in the series.

So the final word, check this novel out if your interested in a fairly confined story that centers around love, family, and of course, time travel.  

#219 Confidence and Writing

Life isn't easy.  Or as Wesley says in The Princess Bride, "Life is pain, Highness.  Anyone who says differently is selling something."  Circumstances in life can change quickly and can, and often do, affect a person's confidence.  As with most things, writing suffers greatly when a person's confidence is low.  So what are writers supposed to do when life happens?  Stop writing?

I've been struggling through my personal life these last few months and have seen how much it's affected my writing.  It's harder to motivate myself.  It's harder to concentrate.  I can't sustain as many hours writing at a time.  I get restless or distracted.  I actually have less I want to say.  And when I do hone in on something, I have trouble finding the right words.  All of these issues are devastating for writers.  But what's even more devastating, is when a writer stops writing.

I've been paying attention to my own struggle.  I've thought about how to regain confidence and how to get back into writing.  I can't say I've learned a magical secret.  There's no quick and easy solution to address something as complex as self-confidence.  Life will always be life.  But following are some things I've done to help get me back at my desk, because I still have stories to tell.

• Really, the only true way to address the problems in life, is to identify the specific problem that's plaguing you and tackle it head on.  If you are stressed about bills, that stress won't go away until you figure out how to pay those bills.  Or if you're having trouble concentrating because you're hungover too much, then you must address the drinking.  Or if you hate editing, and you've just finished your first draft, which is sitting on your coffee table mocking you.  Then, you must pick that manuscript up and start editing it.  There are thousands of stresses in life, and some of them you can affect by changing behavior.  So the first step is identifying what is causing the stress, or the loss of confidence.  Hopefully you'll find it's something YOUR behavior can change.  Once you identify it, change it.
• If you learn that your stress is not something you can change easily, or you're unable to understand why your confidence has suffered.  Or maybe you've had trouble with confidence for so long that there isn't one underlying cause that can be addressed.  This situation is much tougher, and it happens to be the situation in which I currently find myself.  So what do we do? Here are my thoughts:
• Take It One Day At A Time:  This is one of the biggest cliches in the world.  But it's important to remember when your confidence is low.  Don't take in the big picture.  Don't think about a lifetime spent alone, or how much it's gonna cost to repair your roof or how your child isn't coordinated enough to play your favorite sport like you'd always dreamed.  Don't think about all the bills you have to pay, plus the yard work and house work that need to eventually get done.  Don't stress over the 1000 page novel you've started writing, but you're only on page 37.  Just think about today.  What can I do today?  Make a list and pick one thing to do. That's it.  Nothing more.
• Write Something:  Everyday you must write something.  Anything.  Start a journal that works through the problems you're facing.  Write a short story about a beaver born with no front teeth, and the other beavers just laugh.  Write a blogpost on how much you like puppy videos, and list out your favorite ones.  Write a poem.  Sometimes when I'm having trouble and can't concentrate enough to do any of that, I'll open up a book written by one of the masters and just type it out.  There's something about transcribing the work of a master that helps the neurons in the brain start firing.
• Eat Regularly:  I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but when your confidence is down, changes in your eating patterns can affect your body's ability to stabilize.  I know that sometimes you don't feel like eating, or you don't feel like making food.  But it's important to figure this out.  No matter how annoying it is, just do it.  Eat at the same time every day.  Feed your body and your mind, and that will make a big difference.  This is also a great opportunity to change your diet.  If you don't feel like eating, but you're going to force yourself anyway, might as well force yourself to eat something healthy.  I've been cooking 4 chicken thighs in the oven and then will eat one for lunch everyday.  I break the chicken off the bone and put it on a salad, make a sandwich out of it, turn it into a BBQ chicken taco, or I'll eat it straight out of the oven with ranch-style beans and mac and cheese, which is one of the comfort meals I ate growing up, so it always cheers me up.  Figure out what works for you, and eat at the same time everyday.
• Take Walks:  This has helped me tremendously.  Over the last few months, I've not been able to sit at my desk as long as usual.  I found myself pacing around my house, turning on the TV, or worst yet, taking a nap.  TV and naps are the worst if you're dealing with confidence and motivation.  Don't do them.  The lack of production and stimulation drives you further into depression.  So I take walks.  Sometimes I walk so far away from my house that I get lost.  Sometimes I take my dog for a leisurely stroll around the park.  Sometimes I run.  The physical activity is good for the brain and is good for the heart.  We should be doing it anyway, but it helps when you're having problems with confidence especially.
• Schedule Things With Friends:  This has helped me more than I thought it would.  At first, I didn't feel like getting out or having to talk with friends.  But I learned that just having something on the schedule organizes the day in such a way that writing just happens.  So, if I know I have lunch with a friend, I don't mope in the mornings as much.  I feel like I have something coming up, so I must get some writing done before I go.  Or if I scheduled soccer with the guys that play in the park, I make sure my writing's done so that I won't be late.  Schedule anything.  Drinks.  A trip to the bookstore.  Watching your friend's kid play basketball.  Get out of the house, and do it consistently, and you'll see how it changes things for you in a positive way.

Life is a marathon.  So is writing.  There will be hiccups along the way.  The trick is to keep moving forward.  I'm still not done struggling and probably won't be for awhile.  But I have begun writing again.  In fact, my newest installment in the Exchange Day series will be to my editor within the next couple of weeks.  That's huge.  The things above have helped me work hard on it, and getting through the steps in my writing process has also increased my confidence.  I'm not where I need to be, but I'm getting words on the page.  And that's all us writers need to keep doing.