Reviews can help you be a better writer, if you listen.

Authors can become obsessed by reviews, but there is more there than good or bad. Reviews give you a lot of insight into what the reader expects in a book.

This morning, Amazon sent their latest book reads offer for $1.99. One book caught my attention, not to read, but I liked the cover, so I went to the product page to take a screen shot for my “cover ideas folder.” And, as always, I read the reviews, starting with 1 star and up to 3 stars. I never read the 4-5 stars.

Here’s a few reviews of the book, and I’ve highlighted crucial elements that we ALL need to consider in our writing. Granted, not every book is for everyone, and there were plenty that voiced that in the review section, but the following points are valid and things we need to be conscious of when writing.

Know that the book “appears” to have done very well. More than 80% positive with a 4.2 star rating and over 1400 reviews. And I am sure they sold thousands. Also, the following comments are not the opinions of everyone, but they are readers (potential customers), and so, need their say in “writing court.”

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“I haven’t read this author before, but I hope this was his first book and he gets better. This one had repeated lines, left out words, and so much head-hopping, it was distracting. One point of view per scene, please! Some of the plotting didn’t make sense. It’s a small town and everybody is searching for the boy and later the girl, but nobody looks at the abandoned mine shack sometimes frequented by teenagers? That would be the first place they’d look. They’d have turned the town upside down. I found some of the emotional scenes overdone. Too much telling and not enough showing. The reader should feel the emotion without being told. That said, the storyline was good, intricate, and shows a depth of imagination. I wish this writer well.”

“. . .The story started off good. A murder investigation and then her daughter goes missing okay.. but then it just got confusing. Too many characters are introduced with no ties to any of the main characters. There is no time line of what is going on and what connects to what. I am not normally someone who cares much about spelling mistakes but there was a ton that I picked up on. Also, the main character Emily is not likeable at all.. which is rare for me, I normally really like the main character in books, even if they are “cold” or distant but this lady is just rude and entitled. She is self-centered and all about herself. I think maybe if there was more detail on her thoughts and how she felt rather than details about things that aren’t important the book would have flowed better. This is my honest opinion.”

“The detective main character is an idiot. She comes across the first homicide her small town has had in over twenty years and – keep in mind she’s the ONLY detective the town has – she decides it’s a great time to just go home for the night and leave the scene to her rookie partner. Then she throws a fit like a spoiled brat when the next morning she finds CSI people actually doing HER job and processing the scene. Just stupid.”

“It is hard to stay interested when there are so many things that don’t add up. In the last chapter, how does a lantern become a gun! Waste of time and money!”

“Most of the book was okay, suffering from the same lack of editing/proofreading that plagues most written works these days. I’d call it a fair-to-middling read right up to the “climax” and epilogue, when it took a nose-dive into the “I wasted all this time for THAT?” category. Hint to author: Ignoring all the other misused terminology, you don’t “aim the trigger” of a gun…”

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So, who was the author? Well, I don’t like to name names, but I can say that the there are a New York Time Bestselling Author who has written over 40 books.

Summary:

The storyline was good and intricate, however . . .

• Editing is crucial. Readers will forgive a few typos and grammatical errors – every book has them. But understand that each one is like a mini-roadblock and can stop the flow of reading. Too many, and the reader will stop in frustration.
  Editing is not just YOU proofing your own work. You NEED another set of eyes. The best option is to:
  • Have ALPHA Readers. They will point out any oddities to the flow of the story and errors
  • THEN HIRE an EDITOR. I know it’s a cost, but well worth it. Writing is a career, not a hobby, at least for most authors, eh?
  • THEN go to your BETA Readers.

• NO Head hopping. This refers to moving from one point of view to another in the same scene. If your character is looking at a sunset, and thinking how wonderful it is, they cannot know what a man walking on the beach is thinking. They can only see the man and assume: anger, happiness, drunkenness. One point of view at a time.

• Show don’t Tell. Showing puts the reader into the character’s life and situation. Telling is like watching a neighbors vacation slides, “… and here we are in Madrid. That’s a seagull and there’s a bull fighter.” (Granted, telling has its place, but not throughout the entire book.) Immerse your readers into the scene through the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste.

• Too many characters introduced at once. This is a problem if you have a book with a lot of characters. Think of your work as a stage. Only so many can fit there at one time. Lord of the Rings is a good example—we are introduced to each character, slowly, and in a timely order when needed.

• Unlikeable Main character. This isn’t a problem, per se. Some main characters are “unlikeable” – but we are still drawn to them. The characters, and not just the villains must have balance: flaws, bad habits, and good habits. Even a villain has a soft spot.

• Lastly get the facts right: if you are writing anything, you must get the terminology right. Of course, when we are self-editing we make mistakes, as in the above review referencing “aim the trigger” of a gun. I assume it was originally “squeezed the trigger.” However, through editing, these embarrassing things can be eradicated.

Even best-selling authors get horrible reviews. Remember, we don’t write for the world, we write for our targeted readers, our Super Fans. Your writing will never be for everyone, but you want to receive a “rejection” based on the readers’ taste (not my cup of tea), not because of problems that you can fix.

Photo Blog page (c) Tumisu @Pixabay. Used with Permission.
Photo Blog post (c) geralt @Pixabay. Used with Permission.