Improving Your Craft discussion

I have to watch the "that" problem, too. I was a technical writer for 11 years, and my boss was always pointing it out.

But I have to disagree with your theory about reviews based on my own experience as a reader BEFORE I became a writer. I often enjoyed a book without bothering to go online and leave a review. Now I always leave them for books I enjoy, but that wasn't always the case.

I never noticed (that) "that" is a problem in your novels, it sure isn't the reason for the lack of reviews.

Most people just don't write reviews at all. I didn't until 2 years ago.

My sister thinks (that) she's not eloquent enough to do so. Others see no need for reviews because it's the publishers' job to do the advertising. Still others won't ever find a self-published jewel, because they think (that) if a book is good it'll find its way to a publisher who is going to place it on the market.

I've read a lot of books (that) are found on bestselling lists (that) have thousands of reviews (that) I wouldn't call "good" books.

Don't ever start believing your books aren't good because of the lack of reviews. They just haven't been found by the reviewer crowd.

Some people enjoy writing "bad" reviews, perhaps because they got the feeling of having wasted their time. Others of course want to give praise if something was extraordinarily good. The less likely are reviews for "average" books. Why write a review if nothing stood out?

I only hesitate to write a "bad" review when I had personal contact with the author. I prefer to tell them what I didn't like and why.