A Word on Negative Reviews

There's more to the truth than just the facts. ~Author Unknown

So yesterday, comments by an author who completely self-destructed online due to what she perceived to be a negative review (I read it ... it wasn't that negative) went viral. Be warned, if you read this, when she runs out of ways to argue, she just drops the F-Bomb...

The blog owner finally shut off comments (after 300+) but what's mind-boggling about the whole thing (and this is something we see far too often on the Internet now) is that the author simply didn't think twice before hitting send. And, as a result, she alienated thousands of potential readers.

I saw a comment elsewhere that she's now garnered hundreds of negative reviews on Amazon, and this person said that the author must be laughing up her sleeve because that many people bought her book. Sorry, commenter, you don't have to buy a book to leave a review on Amazon.

She even had a coffee mug created in her "honor".

My point in sharing all of this is simply this: authors will get negative reviews. It's the nature of the beast. From Jane Austen to Louis L'Amour to Stephen King, all authors get negative reviews. Period. It's how one deals with them that makes the difference.

The owner of the blog (above) actually has a post about negative reviews that I think is very well written.

EHow has articles on it.

I found other article about the subject here and here . I'm sure there are more.

How have I handled it in the past? I've thanked the reviewer for taking the time to review my book (when it's been possible to thank the reviewer -- as a side note, I really hate sites like Fictionwise that don't allow space for reviews ... the biggest benefit to a negative review is finding out what someone didn't like) and moved on.

I'm a super critical reader. I like only about half the books I pick up, and I love only a few. I understand how one person's opinion can differ wildly from another's.

Bad reviews are a fact of life. If you're going to be an author, get a thick skin or get out of the business.

I feel sorry for the author, above. She's going to have a rough time getting past this debacle.

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We're quiz free today ... the one today was stupid.

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Pure Silliness

"Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer." - Barbara Kingsolver

As most of you know, I've been struggling with my writing for some time now, though setting a small goal of 250 - 500 words a day has helped. Even so, writing that little bit had become a chore and my story was showing it. Not a good thing since it's supposed to be just this side of romantic comedy (my own genre that I call "romance that doesn't take itself seriously"... not "laugh-out-loud" funny, but still light-hearted).

A few days ago I decided that was enough. One of the ways I always got through my NaNoWriMo books (back when I actually won NaNo regularly) was by taking silly "dares" and popping them in -- whether I thought they forwarded the plot or not. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't (and were edited out), but mostly they just kept me writing, made me think outside the box (how can I add six live chickens to a book set in the city? How can I give my alpha male hero a frilly pink girl's bedroom set?) and made it fun.

We've all heard the adage: You can't edit a blank page.

So, agonizing in my first draft as to whether something is really important, whether is forwards the plot or not, staring at the keyboard worried that what I'm writing isn't appropriate for the story, thinking about the fact I might just have to take it out again, or that it might lead the characters down a road I wasn't expecting ... That had to stop.

The past few days, I've written the silliest things I can think of. IMHO they work within the story, they're fun to write (and hopefully to read) and I just don't care if they're moving the plot forward (though so far, I think they do). I start each writing session with the thought, "What can I do that's just plain silly in this scene? Something unusual, unexpected, possibly even out of character?" And then I do that thing.

Whether or not the story ultimately gets published, whether or not I end up red-lining half of what I've written, I don't care because it's slowly bringing back the joy in writing for me. That's something that's been missing for a long, long time. And then maybe once that's accomplished, I can be more productive. But for now, I'm just happy I'm writing.

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You Are a Strawberry Milkshake

You are a patient and compassionate person. You are willing to accept people as they are. You have a natural sweetness to you that others appreciate. You have a sense of humor about everything. You are easily delighted and inspired. You think life is pretty great. If things don't go your way, you always believe that you will persevere.

What Flavor Milkshake Are You?

About half right ... I do like strawberry milkshakes though (as a strong second to chocolate).