Accentuate the Positive

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

                                                                                                         Sylvia Plath

               If I had a thousand good reviews and one bad one, I’d concentrate on the bad.

               Recently, I’ve heard from three writing friends who’ve had negative comments on their work. One was from agents, another from a family member, and the other a critique partner. All three felt like the comments were unwarranted, but they were still upset.

Why do we dwell on bad comments? It seems that we all do. Is it that self-doubt cretin that sits on our shoulder telling us that we’re not good enough, not smart enough, not creative enough to be a writer? Are we so convinced that it’s right that we have our feelings confirmed when someone says something is wrong?

I’ve heard many times that a bad review is just one person’s perspective. I’ve even said it myself. And it’s true, but it still lingers in our mind for days, a month, a year until we get enough distance and move on. A great review never stays in our mind that long!

               One of my writing friends never looks at her reviews. I think that’s smart, but I’m too nosey. I have to know what people say. Most of my written reviews on Amazon have been good, but I’ve gotten some one or two stars. Those never come with a written review and usually come when a book is first out. The last time this happened my book had only been out for a day. I don’t think they had time to read it before they went in and gave it a one and two star. Other authors I’ve talked to have had the same experience. Are there trolls out there who just love to mess up an author’s reviews?

               My books are on Goodreads, but I’ve never really paid a lot of attention to the reviews. The other day I went on their website and looked and there were a couple reviews that were hard to read. Did they have merit? Maybe if I look closely at what was written but I’m still dealing with the condescending way the writers gave their opinions. 

               I know we need to try and take the good out of a bad review and move on. But, oh my goodness is that hard to do. It’s the same with being rejected. They both sting.

               When I decided to write this article, I went online and typed “famous authors whose books were rejected” into google. There was quite a list. What if they all quit before they received a yes? We’d be missing some great literary works. J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Dr. Seuss, John Grisham, Madeline L’Engle, and Frank Herbert to name a few. Some famous writers gave up on traditional publishing and went on to self-publish and were discovered and have gone on to have great success. What if they’d given up instead?

               My dad loved Louis L’Amour’s books. He read them all many, many times. So many that we’d tease him and tell him there were other authors out there who were just as good. He agreed, there was also Zane Grey, and he read his books over and over too. I don’t know about Zane Grey, but Louis L’Amour was rejected 200 times and went on to sell 330 million copies. My dad was glad he persevered.

               I guess the takeaway of this post is don’t let one bad review or a hundred rejections determine whether your book or short story is good or not. It’s your story. You know in your heart whether it’s good or not. And I’m certain that if you love it, there will be readers out there who will also love it. Everyone has opinions and likes and dislikes about stories. Just like a painting. You may look at a painting and think it looks very amateurish, while I look at it and think it’s amazing.

               I’m sure that we all feel the sting of a rejection or a bad review but try to put it in perspective. Don’t let one bad comment define your work. Do the best you can and keep sending your work out into the world. It will find its way to someone who will love it.