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OK, for about a year now I have been debating in my head about the wisdom of reading reviews. At a retreat I was at last year, a bunch of writers said they no longer read reviews and had no "Google Alerts" sending email to them about on-line reviews. They said it only made them crazy, that they made too much of the good reviews and too much of the bad ones, too.
At the time, I thought that I did a good job of discounting most of the good reviews and most of the bad reviews, and that there was something to be learned in reading reader responses. I think I may have changed my mind on this, though. The reason is a simple one: that book is finished. As a writer, you spend years writing each book, from the first stage of it budding inside you, to the final galleys when you still pour over every word, and try to get it all exactly right.
And then the reviews come. But if, as I said recently, each book is its own book, what can you learn from criticism of the last book? You learn that you weren't perfect. That you could have spent another five years making the book better. That you have certain characteristics that come out in your writing and that some people are annoyed by them and others love them, just like when you meet someone, you don't know if they will like you or not.
Do you learn what mistakes not to make in your next book? I don't know. That is the kicker. I think I am leaning towards the thought that you don't, that you just become more anxious about things that don't have anything to do with this book, and make it the best it can be in the amount of time allotted for this book. See, the thing is, a working writer doesn't have time to make a book perfect. You've got a deadline and you need to meet it.
I remember in college that one of the professors I knew had the gall to say that the best thing Shakespeare could have done was write fewer plays. Well, guess what? Shakespeare had to eat, and so do I. It's the real world. Not every thing you write is going to be just the right book for everyone who reads it. Will it be the best possible? I think that is the thing I need to focus on, not on a reader who says that my character was a "wuss" and that I didn't have enough "action scenes" in my book. I know my book better than anyone, so why am I listening to those other voices?
At the time, I thought that I did a good job of discounting most of the good reviews and most of the bad reviews, and that there was something to be learned in reading reader responses. I think I may have changed my mind on this, though. The reason is a simple one: that book is finished. As a writer, you spend years writing each book, from the first stage of it budding inside you, to the final galleys when you still pour over every word, and try to get it all exactly right.
And then the reviews come. But if, as I said recently, each book is its own book, what can you learn from criticism of the last book? You learn that you weren't perfect. That you could have spent another five years making the book better. That you have certain characteristics that come out in your writing and that some people are annoyed by them and others love them, just like when you meet someone, you don't know if they will like you or not.
Do you learn what mistakes not to make in your next book? I don't know. That is the kicker. I think I am leaning towards the thought that you don't, that you just become more anxious about things that don't have anything to do with this book, and make it the best it can be in the amount of time allotted for this book. See, the thing is, a working writer doesn't have time to make a book perfect. You've got a deadline and you need to meet it.
I remember in college that one of the professors I knew had the gall to say that the best thing Shakespeare could have done was write fewer plays. Well, guess what? Shakespeare had to eat, and so do I. It's the real world. Not every thing you write is going to be just the right book for everyone who reads it. Will it be the best possible? I think that is the thing I need to focus on, not on a reader who says that my character was a "wuss" and that I didn't have enough "action scenes" in my book. I know my book better than anyone, so why am I listening to those other voices?
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