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Joined: 10/13/2011
Posts: 12
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I am not just talking about emotionally. I have a thick skin and I realize that some reviews are not going to be favorable. Also, I realize that some of the people who review my work are not really fans of the genre so the material might not work for them.
Having said that, how much credence should a writer put in reviews? Should writers pay attention? If reviewers have concerns or complaints, should they be addressed? Are they likely to be indicative of overall impressions, or are they just opinions of individuals and should be treated as such?
My first book is out and I am working on revisions on the sequel, so this is very much on my mind...
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Forget what they say so far as fixing the story, because it will be the fix they would use, which may or may not be appropriate for your story/genre. What matters is that someone stopped reading and commented.
If we do our job the reader stops seeing words, as words, and experiences the story directly, in real time. That’s the gold standard, the thing we aim for. Each comment, however, indicates a “lump” in the prose—a place where the reader fell out. And that’s what you need to focus on and fix, especially if more than one reader comments at that same spot.
As for the actual advice: of what use is advice on how to get published from someone not having success in selling their own work? The advice could be exactly what you need. It could also be what’s holding that writer back. You don’t have the knowledge to tell. And they, demonstrably, must be doing something wrong.
One thing you can do is to look at their work to see what following that advice might look like Another is to take the approach that since people seem to be finding problems, it wouldn’t hurt to do a bit of reading on how the pros handle that aspect of telling a story on the page. Then, after a bit of practice, see if the comments drop in number.
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R.P.-
I take a look at the recommendation and consider if their idea will improve what I am trying to say. If not, I consider is there another way to say it (obviously I may not have done a good job the first time). I do this whether or not I like the recommendation. After all this consideration, I may not change anything. Or a revision happens. Maybe not totally the way the recommendation wanted, but what fits the overall story according to me, the muse and the characters.
Remember, you are the author and your story is in your head. Every review comes from someone different who has placed your story into their head and thus now has their own version.
Jay-
I disagree with paragraph 3 only that perhaps the person is not yet to the point of selling their own work and thus is not giving advice from the publishing pov, but from that of a reader.
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• I disagree with paragraph 3 only that perhaps the person is not yet to the point of selling their own work and thus is not giving advice from the publishing pov, but from that of a reader.
But everyone, when giving advice, is really saying, “This is how I would do it,” be that person a beginner or a pro. Readers, in general, say only “I liked it” or didn’t. As Sol Stein observed: “Readers don’t notice point-of-view errors. They simply sense that the writing is bad.”
Writers, on the other hand, will tell you how to fix what
they see as “wrong.” And that’s the problem. You have no way of telling if the advice is good or bad, and logic, which might say the advice makes sense, only works when you have all the factors. The safest, and best method is to go with the pro.
Writing is the only profession I know where we all believe
that we graduate high school with all the skills we need. But they offer four year majors on professional fiction writing at the universities, and they’re not snap courses. And though we take math in school we’re not mathematicians. Nor are we historians, physicists, or biologists. We don’t graduate ready to be
a playwright or screenwriter, and our journalist skills are primitive. Why believe that having learned a general skill called writing we’re as qualified as any professional writer in the mechanical aspects of writing? The skill and the profession bear the same name, but that’s all they have in common.
Fully seventy-five percent of what’s submitted to the average agent of editor is rejected within a page because it’s unreadable, from an acquiring editor’s point of view. But that’s not because of story or plot elements. In one page there’s been on story. It’s the writing that’s causing the rejections, but if we all graduate with the necessary skills that wouldn’t be happening.
The problem is that what we learn is a generally useful
skill, that works for everyone, on the job and at home. And since most people do only nonfiction writing we’re taught more how to report than how to build suspense.
I’m not trying to start an argument, just point out that education is never a bad thing. And, that if we need no more in the way of writing skills than school gives us, most new writers would be very talented new grads.
Me: http://www.jaygreenstein.wordpress.com/about
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
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Good question R. P.
If you try to please every reviewer nobody is going to like your book. There is no such thing as universal acceptance here because even if you write a bestseller, someone is going to hate it.
My strategy for bad reviews is to read it two or three times then walk away from it for a few days to think it over. Some of the harshest reviews I've gotten nailed a lot of issues that were bothering me about the book. Think about the review and if there is advice that is pertinent to you and your story, take it!
If you think the reviewer may be off base, check his or her previous reviews and the books they have posted. If the reviewer writes Sci-Fi and your book is a Romance you can think maybe that just isn't their genre. Or if they regularly give bad reviews and give the same advice to everyone cut and paste style? Shrug it off and move on.
The best way to think about it is to think that these are the honest reactions readers are having to your story. These may be the same reactions agents/editors/publishers have so pay attention. Watch and see if there is a pattern to the suggestions.
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Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
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I also wait a day or so before I respond to a review. It allows the initial reaction to wear off and let's me look at the review carefully.
If the person raises a question about something that had been bugging me, I take it as proof it needs to be changed. If more than one person raises the same question/concern, I give that aspect priority. If numerous people say the same thing, than I didn't do my job correctly in that place.
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