On the verge of giving up
I just read yet another lovely review of my work on Amazon. The Fall is, according to the review, boring and badly written tripe. That's two bad reviews in one day and it's really starting to get to me now. I admit my work isn't the best in the world but I never thought it was boring. Right now my confidence is shot to hell and I'm staring at the manuscript for The Fall and my work on its sequel and I'm wondering what I did wrong and if I just shouldn't give up this whole writing lark and become a monk or something.
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Tawna
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Apr 16, 2012 06:19PM
I would say that you shouldn't give up. There's that cliche about practice and also everyone is going to have differing opinions. Personally I hate fishing and think it's boring as all get out, but there are fishing fanatics out there who love it. I would say give yourself more time.
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Reading reviews is sometimes a really, really bad idea. They tend to come in clusters (at one point my recent novel, The Rebuilding Year, got 5 one-star reviews in a row) and it feels like someone telling you your child is ugly, ill-mannered and stupid.Writing a novel takes time and energy and imagination, and someone writing six lines in three and a half minutes shouldn't be able to take that away from you. If you had beta readers, maybe you can look back at their comments and remind yourself what they liked. You have some 5-star reviews here. So clearly there is a difference of opinion. Some people hate dystopian fiction (unfortunately it's not a favorite of mine so I haven't read your book myself.) Sometimes the reason a book gets slammed is all about the reader, not the writer.
I'd advise a moratorium on reading reviews for a week, while you work on the sequel and remind yourself how much fun it is to just write. If you can't make yourself do that then some kind of moral support (chocolate, booze or a fuzzy cat) but don't let a couple of reviews have that much power if you can help it. Best wishes.
Don't give up. Just take a break. I can guarantee you that for every one peron that gives yo a bad review, two will give you a good one. I thought my stories were horrid- my professors would say that they didn't know how to classify it or it was too advanced for the class, so I pulled back nd waited. I found myself a really good editor who read my stuff and was blown away. So, don't give up and don't stop writing.
I suggest that you print out Kaje's comment in large type and put it by your computer, especially the part that says, "Remind yourself how much fun it is to just write." All best.
I'll just quote myself here:Pride & Prujudice: 2 stars (26390) | 1 star (15269)
Game of Thrones: 2 stars (2856) | 1 star (1500)
Twilight: | 2 stars (95767) | 1 star (108279)
The Hunger Games: | 2 stars (7614) | 1 star (3202)
Harry Potter: | 2 stars (31241) | 1 star (17797)
The Great Gatsby: | 2 stars (68527) | 1 star (30791)
1984: | 2 stars (30242) | 1 star (14482)
Slaughterhouse 5: | 2 stars (22056) | 1 star (15660)
The Cat in the Hat: (yes, DR. SUESS) | 2 stars (4099) | 1 star (1159)
Next time an author sees a negative review, they can reference this and know that they're in good company.
Go look at books you absolute admire and think are the world's best fiction and all your friends love it. Then read some of the one star reviews on it. =) Promise you'll feel better.
Everyone has different taste, different enjoyments, different flavors. Look at the hype around 50 Shades of Grey. It's a best seller and a large number of romance review sites are talking about how awful it is and denigrating. It's all subjective.
You're all right, every one of you, and I thank you for your positive comments. I do feel a lot better now, especially seeing all those wonderful books that have 1 stars (1984 has all those 1 stars? Really?)
Just keep us posted on how you are doing! And good luck!
