Mixed Reviews
I just received a five star rating for On His Own Terms This was a legitimate review, from a reader I don’t know, and I felt she “got” the book. The previous rating was a one star and the reader took time to explain why she bailed out without finishing the book. I’ve also had a generic four star review and feedback from friends that covered the range of responses from “I would have quit if I didn’t know you.” to “I couldn’t put it down.”
My Brother-In-Law has trouble with mixed reviews. He’s a former machinist who has worked on every kind of engine from antique John Deere tractors to drag racers and diesel truck engines. If he did the job right, the customer was happy. If he did it wrong, the customer was upset. There was no middle ground.
As writers, we don’t always have that clarity. Although some writers crank out formula books, others of us have a more complicated relationship with our works. We want readers to like them, but we also want to write something that is deeply personal and satisfying. It’s a balancing act and the balance point is constantly shifting. Lean too far toward personal expression and the reader drifts away. Lean too far toward formula success and the soul drifts away.
Reader feedback indicated that I went too far into my personal interests of bicycling and geology. I couldn’t drop those subjects, because they are important to me, but I could look at them from the perspective of a reader with less interest in the subject. That perspective allowed me to pare away words, sentences and even full paragraphs. I did it tentatively, in a different document, and compared the new to the old. If the new won out, I inserted it.
By the end of the exercises I had struck a new balance between my needs and those of readers. Well, almost. Some of the changes haven’t made it to the published copy on Amazon because I’m not convinced they’ll make a difference to the reader.
In the digital world of publishing, it is all too easy to tinker endlessly with a book. The exercises will inform future writings, but On His Own Terms will have to stand on its own, and I have to get comfortable with mixed reviews.
My Brother-In-Law has trouble with mixed reviews. He’s a former machinist who has worked on every kind of engine from antique John Deere tractors to drag racers and diesel truck engines. If he did the job right, the customer was happy. If he did it wrong, the customer was upset. There was no middle ground.
As writers, we don’t always have that clarity. Although some writers crank out formula books, others of us have a more complicated relationship with our works. We want readers to like them, but we also want to write something that is deeply personal and satisfying. It’s a balancing act and the balance point is constantly shifting. Lean too far toward personal expression and the reader drifts away. Lean too far toward formula success and the soul drifts away.
Reader feedback indicated that I went too far into my personal interests of bicycling and geology. I couldn’t drop those subjects, because they are important to me, but I could look at them from the perspective of a reader with less interest in the subject. That perspective allowed me to pare away words, sentences and even full paragraphs. I did it tentatively, in a different document, and compared the new to the old. If the new won out, I inserted it.
By the end of the exercises I had struck a new balance between my needs and those of readers. Well, almost. Some of the changes haven’t made it to the published copy on Amazon because I’m not convinced they’ll make a difference to the reader.
In the digital world of publishing, it is all too easy to tinker endlessly with a book. The exercises will inform future writings, but On His Own Terms will have to stand on its own, and I have to get comfortable with mixed reviews.
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