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.
No comments:
Post a Comment