Leigh Bardugo's Blog, page 237
July 10, 2016
initiative-cobra:
jesper x wylan roman holiday AU, or as i like to call it, wesper on a...
jesper x wylan roman holiday AU, or as i like to call it, wesper on a vespa
AHAHAHAHAHA. My love for this is powerful.
July 9, 2016
Maggie, I just found reviews of your books on Goodreads, and I was absolutely appalled at the negative reviews, and then slightly pleased I had read them. The people who said you have slow plots were probably looking for the explosions and sex they see on
First of all, thanks! I’m revoltingly pleased that you like my writing. I know you didn’t ask a question about reviews, but I’m going to answer a question about them anyway, because I have a few related asks in my inbox.
I once heard that writers should ignore one star reviews and five star reviews, because they’re both lies.
I actually think they’re both true. They are the purest, most unchecked reaction to a novel. Right before my first novel came out, I went onto Goodreads and I read both the good and bad reviews for several of my favorite novels. I wanted to remind myself that if my favorite novels to read didn’t appeal to everyone, surely mine that I’d written wouldn’t either. The thing I realized about the one star and five star reviews, though, was that they often said the same thing. The five star would praise the anti-hero narrator; the one star would harpoon the unlikable narrator. The five star would admire the thorough exploration of the mother’s backstory; the one star would ask why the book had to slow for someone as unimportant as the mother character. The five star would praise the energetic pace; the one star would complain that there was no description.
Same book, different tastes. I do think a book can be done badly, sure. But even a book done very well can’t please everyone. And the more specific a book is, the more polarized the reviews are.
I figured out then that my goal isn’t to write a book that everyone likes. It’s to write a book that some people love — which means some people are also going to hate it. The more passionate my reviews get, good and bad, the happier I am.
So even though you didn’t ask a question, I’m going to answer one for aspiring writers: learn to love your reviews of all stripes. Learn how to read them for the true, objective bits, and decide for yourself if those bits match the kind of novel you’re trying to write.
Maggie, I just found reviews of your books on Goodreads, and I was absolutely appalled at the negative reviews, and then slightly pleased I had read them. The people who said you have slow plots were probably looking for the explosions and sex they see on
First of all, thanks! I’m revoltingly pleased that you like my writing. I know you didn’t ask a question about reviews, but I’m going to answer a question about them anyway, because I have a few related asks in my inbox.
I once heard that writers should ignore one star reviews and five star reviews, because they’re both lies.
I actually think they’re both true. They are the purest, most unchecked reaction to a novel. Right before my first novel came out, I went onto Goodreads and I read both the good and bad reviews for several of my favorite novels. I wanted to remind myself that if my favorite novels to read didn’t appeal to everyone, surely mine that I’d written wouldn’t either. The thing I realized about the one star and five star reviews, though, was that they often said the same thing. The five star would praise the anti-hero narrator; the one star would harpoon the unlikable narrator. The five star would admire the thorough exploration of the mother’s backstory; the one star would ask why the book had to slow for someone as unimportant as the mother character. The five star would praise the energetic pace; the one star would complain that there was no description.
Same book, different tastes. I do think a book can be done badly, sure. But even a book done very well can’t please everyone. And the more specific a book is, the more polarized the reviews are.
I figured out then that my goal isn’t to write a book that everyone likes. It’s to write a book that some people love — which means some people are also going to hate it. The more passionate my reviews get, good and bad, the happier I am.
So even though you didn’t ask a question, I’m going to answer one for aspiring writers: learn to love your reviews of all stripes. Learn how to read them for the true, objective bits, and decide for yourself if those bits match the kind of novel you’re trying to write.
"People will kill you over time and how they’ll kill you is with tiny harmless phrases, like ‘be..."
- Dylan Moran (via wordsnquotes)
