My first novel has been blessed with favourable reviews over the last two years, for which I am exceedingly grateful. Perhaps it also made me spoiled because I was unprepared for the negative review I read this morning. The reviewer said they “abandoned the book half-way through.”
I felt like abandoning my writing career there and then. This singular bad review shoved all the praise from good reviews aside. My brain only had room enough for the flares of imposter syndrome and self-doubt; the jarring realization that someone had discovered the humiliating truth: that I was a terrible writer, poorly suited to my calling.
Of course, I read the bad review again. We’ll skim over the number of times I read that review. The sting does not soften, but my wife has convinced me that abandoning my craft is not a viable option. I am starting to think about what can I learn from that bad review. Is there feedback that can help me be a better writer? That can help me communicate better with my target audience? Anything that can minimize the chance I will need to hide under my desk like a child in a 1950s atomic war safety film in the future?
Firstly, I have to come to terms with the fact that there will be people that do not like my book. Probably a disheartening number of them. There are certainly best-selling authors whose work I do not enjoy. This does not make them bad writers; it just means their work does not connect with me. This helped me take a less defensive posture with this review.
Let me share some of the critiques reviews to explain how I processed the review, and I welcome your comments and feedback as a fellow writer or a reader.
This critic’s first complaint was that the book contained too many Americanisms. I have British heritage and grew up in a Canadian home that was culturally quite British, but now I live in the United States. Americanisms are part of my writing style because I am a product of life in three nations and my voice, which the reviewer disliked, is the result of my journey through those three identities.
Clearly, this reader expected this book to be very British and written from someone who was 100% British. There is nothing wrong with the reader wanting this, so the question I ask myself is “Did I do anything to mislead the reader about my writer’s voice?”
I don’t think so. I reviewed my author bio on my page, my book blurb, my bio in the book. My author bio talks about my background and where I live now. I do not pretend to be living in Britain today or present myself as a British author. But this reader did not like Americanisms. Fair point – if that’s not something the person was looking for in an author, then I may not be a good fit for that reader. At least I know I did not deliberately mislead her or him.
In a similar vein the reader complained about too many American spellings – well, I will have to go back and scour my manuscript. I tend to use Canadian spelling, which features a lot of British spelling (neighbourhood, favour, valour) but I may be guilty of using American spellings as well. (I think I use recognize vs. recognise) – which is a product of my own multi-national background. Should I be more rigid about holding exclusively to one spelling format or the other? Or is it okay to be a hybrid? Perhaps I need to give that deeper consideration. My voice is my voice but is it jarring to use different spelling conventions? (Perhaps you can comment with your own opinions about that.)
The one point in the review where I disagreed with the critic was their interpretation of a character. They felt a British 12-year old girl would not use a certain piece of American vernacular. I thought about this seriously and I even reached out to British friends. Because I know this character very well and I know something of her journey both off the page and on it, I think that whether or not is was appropriate for a British child, it was appropriate for her.
This is because the character is fully developed in my imagination, and she has been removed from her native country and is growing up in a Caribbean nation where she herself is exposed to multiple cultural influences. This too, is rooted in my own voice and her experience reflects in a small way my own.
IAs a child transplanted from Britain to Canada, my Britishness quickly became entangled with both Canadian and American cultural influences. (Many television programmes on Canadian television when I lived there were American). Happy Days, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Captain Kangaroo filled my head with American cultural influences as quickly as Canadian shows like The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dressup. This is Sophie Cavendish’s experience, too – in fact I talk specifically about her exposure to Disney television programming and American pop music in the book.
The central characters in this book are not British, they are British ex-pats, and their identity has been shaped by their life experiences and will continue to grow and change as they continue building their lives in a new country that is far removed from their homeland. I never intended these characters to retain a purely British identity. They will adjust and assimilate, as we all do when we spend a long period of time in a new community. I intended these characters to be people that readers would like and empathize with and continue to read about.
Based on the favourable reviews, and the generous comments people have made on my Facebook posts or on messages to me, I mostly succeeded in doing that.
Am I claiming this reviewer does not have a right to their opinion? Absolutely not. I regret they were disappointed, but the they took a chance on my book, for which I am grateful. Perhaps in the future they may pick it up again and give it another chance. In another moment, perhaps they will, and find themselves enjoying it. I hope so.
If there is a moral to this story, it’s that not every reader who gives our work a chance is going to like it. To misquote Captain Picard, that does not mean we did anything wrong, that is life. The more people who purchase our book and read it, the greater the risk that some of them will find our work wanting. Often, we may not understand their reasons, or we may disagree with their reasons, but there is nothing we can do about that.
I believe we need to honestly assess the review and decide whether or not there is something we need to do differently. I have looked at this review to see what I can learn to do better. But then, we must fold that bad review up, put it down and let it go. We can’t let it be a reason to stifle our voice or stop creating our worlds.
We can’t let the readers who dislike our work become louder voices in our heads than those who keep asking us how long they need to wait for our next book. The writing journey is about finding the connection between your work and your readers. Not everyone you meet is going to become a fan, and we shouldn’t expect them, too.
I cannot close without pointing out that after convincing me not to abandon my craft, my wife encouraged me to come and write this blog to share with you my experience. (She’s actually been on my case to resume blogging for a while, so perhaps this bad review was serendipitous.)
I’d love to hear how you feel about bad reviews, or your thoughts on how I processed my very bad day, or if you think I create false expectations for my work. And remember that we are never going to be everybody’s favourite author – but we are all destined to be somebody’s favourite!
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