25,000 reviews. What have I learned?
Here on Goodreads, my novels have collectively received somewhere around 25,000 ratings and 4,000 reviews.
What have I learned from these as a writer?
I think my answers to that might be interesting to writers and readers alike, if for no other reason than it's a chance to look behind the curtain and see what's happening. Most people here are not novelists and yet comment on them all the time (usually for the benefit of other readers). Getting at least once glimpse of how a novelist reacts could be fun, or enlightening, or infuriating I suppose. I don't agree with the aphorism that "it takes all kinds" but we surely have them.
I don't read all of them. At this stage of my career, I'm also not that interested or that fussed either. I'm found no particular correlation between my success and earnings and opportunities as a writer and what reviews I'm getting. In some ways this is heartbreaking because — rather immodestly, perhaps, but accurately — all my novels have been critically acclaimed. Even poor RADIO LIFE which has not had its day in the sun yet, still received glowing reviews from THE FINANCIAL TIMES and THE SUNDAY TIMES in the UK. My latest, HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK was a finalist for the NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD and only lost to the book which won the Pulitzer Prize that year, and yet no one read it.
Why? Well … it's hard to say. But one coincidence I can't ignore is that the publisher who published it — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt — was going such a pathetic job at selling its fiction that it's reputation in New York for doing so was so bad that one agent I know refused to sell books to them at all. And next year it was bought out and dismembered by HarperCollins.
So yes, I think I will blame them. Why not?
What this means for writers is that you shouldn't worry too much about the reviews, or the popular reviews. Great ones don't lead to fame and fortune, if they ever did, and bad ones might draw more fun and attention than good ones. In a sense, reviews are what you make them. People read for many reasons, and one compelling reason is to be part of the conversation. The one about society, art, politics, life. Many of us don't read to escape: we read to participate. To join. To become one with something larger than ourselves. How this interpretation lost to the "escape" argument I have no idea.
Why do I read them? The professional ones (NYT, Wall Street Journal, FT, Kirkus, etc.) I do because I have to. The private ones, here, I do to get a broad sense of things and so see whether certain thoughts or observations by readers cluster.
If they do cluster I ask myself one key question: Can I learn something from this to be a better writer? If the answer is yes, I try and learn it. If not — if there's a prevailing opinion that differs from my own? — I shrug it off and move on.
What else?
Most reviews, and readers, are women. At least 70% of my readers are women. After serious consideration I have decided to do nothing different as a result of this. Attracting men seems pointless, and the women are here already, so pandering to what I think they might want makes no sense. My books have both male and female protagonists ranging from 12 year old Sheldon in HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK and 15 year old Massimo in THE CURSE OF PIETRO HOUDINI through 70 year old Lilly in RADIO LIFE and 82 year old Sheldon again in NORWEGIAN BY NIGHT. Some are American, some French, Italian, Iraqi, Norwegian, Spanish, German, Swedish … on an on. The only ones not included in my novels, thus far, seem to be aliens. Given all the talk about UFOs these days, it might just be a matter of time for them too.
What I've learned more than anything after reading thousands of reviews over the years is that I need to continue to trust my judgement and refine my tastes. Aside from creativity, one of a writer's greatest assets is discernment. There comes a moment in every day of writing when the mind grows tired and the first thing to go is discernment: you just don't know whether something is any good anymore. Once you can't tell, it's time to stop writing.
And if anyone or anything is threatening your own sense of judgement … remove that person or thing from your life. Your ability as a writer to know that your work is improving —not merely changing — is the essence of professionalism and maturity. Young writers don't know whether their work is getting better. Experienced writers do. If reviews put you in doubt of what you know to be the case, stop reading them.
Meanwhile, readers may write anything and as much as they would like.
Best from Barcelona, Spain.
Derek, August 14, 2023
What have I learned from these as a writer?
I think my answers to that might be interesting to writers and readers alike, if for no other reason than it's a chance to look behind the curtain and see what's happening. Most people here are not novelists and yet comment on them all the time (usually for the benefit of other readers). Getting at least once glimpse of how a novelist reacts could be fun, or enlightening, or infuriating I suppose. I don't agree with the aphorism that "it takes all kinds" but we surely have them.
I don't read all of them. At this stage of my career, I'm also not that interested or that fussed either. I'm found no particular correlation between my success and earnings and opportunities as a writer and what reviews I'm getting. In some ways this is heartbreaking because — rather immodestly, perhaps, but accurately — all my novels have been critically acclaimed. Even poor RADIO LIFE which has not had its day in the sun yet, still received glowing reviews from THE FINANCIAL TIMES and THE SUNDAY TIMES in the UK. My latest, HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK was a finalist for the NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD and only lost to the book which won the Pulitzer Prize that year, and yet no one read it.
Why? Well … it's hard to say. But one coincidence I can't ignore is that the publisher who published it — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt — was going such a pathetic job at selling its fiction that it's reputation in New York for doing so was so bad that one agent I know refused to sell books to them at all. And next year it was bought out and dismembered by HarperCollins.
So yes, I think I will blame them. Why not?
What this means for writers is that you shouldn't worry too much about the reviews, or the popular reviews. Great ones don't lead to fame and fortune, if they ever did, and bad ones might draw more fun and attention than good ones. In a sense, reviews are what you make them. People read for many reasons, and one compelling reason is to be part of the conversation. The one about society, art, politics, life. Many of us don't read to escape: we read to participate. To join. To become one with something larger than ourselves. How this interpretation lost to the "escape" argument I have no idea.
Why do I read them? The professional ones (NYT, Wall Street Journal, FT, Kirkus, etc.) I do because I have to. The private ones, here, I do to get a broad sense of things and so see whether certain thoughts or observations by readers cluster.
If they do cluster I ask myself one key question: Can I learn something from this to be a better writer? If the answer is yes, I try and learn it. If not — if there's a prevailing opinion that differs from my own? — I shrug it off and move on.
What else?
Most reviews, and readers, are women. At least 70% of my readers are women. After serious consideration I have decided to do nothing different as a result of this. Attracting men seems pointless, and the women are here already, so pandering to what I think they might want makes no sense. My books have both male and female protagonists ranging from 12 year old Sheldon in HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE DARK and 15 year old Massimo in THE CURSE OF PIETRO HOUDINI through 70 year old Lilly in RADIO LIFE and 82 year old Sheldon again in NORWEGIAN BY NIGHT. Some are American, some French, Italian, Iraqi, Norwegian, Spanish, German, Swedish … on an on. The only ones not included in my novels, thus far, seem to be aliens. Given all the talk about UFOs these days, it might just be a matter of time for them too.
What I've learned more than anything after reading thousands of reviews over the years is that I need to continue to trust my judgement and refine my tastes. Aside from creativity, one of a writer's greatest assets is discernment. There comes a moment in every day of writing when the mind grows tired and the first thing to go is discernment: you just don't know whether something is any good anymore. Once you can't tell, it's time to stop writing.
And if anyone or anything is threatening your own sense of judgement … remove that person or thing from your life. Your ability as a writer to know that your work is improving —not merely changing — is the essence of professionalism and maturity. Young writers don't know whether their work is getting better. Experienced writers do. If reviews put you in doubt of what you know to be the case, stop reading them.
Meanwhile, readers may write anything and as much as they would like.
Best from Barcelona, Spain.
Derek, August 14, 2023
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Adrienne
(new)
Aug 19, 2023 05:09AM
For the record; How to Find Your Way In The Datk is an absolute must-read. I enjoyed it at least as much as Norwegian by Night. I truly love your books, Mr. Miller! They make me laugh and cry and they are meaty without being dense. I will happily read anything you write.
reply
|
flag
