James’s Comments (group member since Jan 17, 2012)

James’s comments from the Q&A with Matthew Williams group.

Linda wrote: "On most counts, I absolutely agree. However, readers who offer reviews should remember that the writer gains no insight whatsoever when a number is clicked on without any specifics given."

Agreed, Linda.... Except that... well, I don't consider slapping a number on something as a review... that's a rating, and without more specific guidelines on what folks are rating, I pretty much ignore those as worthless information. I've noticed my own reading tastes don't follow any regular pattern when I compare the books I liked (or disliked) with the ratings here at Goodreads. There's also a fair amount of "haters" out there who just want to screw things up with their unfounded negativity, and others (to a lesser extent) who will inflate their rating numbers. The only reviews useful to writers that can be found here (or anywhere else, for that matter) are those that have some written content that makes note of the whats and whys that prompted the reviewer's opinion...

So, as Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors" would demand: "Feed me, Seymour!"

Linda wrote: "...How do you handle negative reviews?"

Well, the simple protection from negative reviews (not necessarily the easiest thing to come by, however) is to develop rhinoceros hide. Every writer needs to understand that each reader will see each sentence a little differently, and that they're entitled to their individual opinions.

Where all those individual opinions can become a bit of a problem is when there are overwhelmingly negative responses to the writing - that means one of two things, and it is critical to know which it is:

(1) the work is so radically different from other works that the reading public will need some time to get used to it and come to accept it, or

(2) the work may not be as wonderful as the author had originally hoped.

Unfortunately, probability somewhat favors the latter. Chris Jackson's suggestion of (honest) beta readers and a someone-not-a-friend editor is without doubt an effective means of warding off the likelihood of negative reviews.

In the end, though, the thick-skinned author is the author who can benefit the most from reviews of all sorts. Keep in mind that feedback of any sort is a tool to be used to better one's writing.