Better the Devil You Know

I've had a busy summer, what with the rain of plot-bunnies and falling ill no less than three times. As such, I haven't written a blog post with any real meat in a while. Looking at my drafts, I've started six posts but none with anything more than a starting sentence. I've already gotten past that with this post... let's see if I can actually finish it, shall we?

We've all read or probably written reviews of books that say something like "I wish this had happened instead" or "that's not the way it should have gone". Everyone's reading experience is different, and that is the fun of being unique creatures. Life just wouldn't be as interesting if everyone thought or felt the same way. Hell, I don't even watch the endings to some of my favourite movies because I disagree with how it ended (*cougharmageddoncough*).  That's perfectly fine and I can't fault anyone for it.

We live in an interesting time where authors (and other artists, public figures, rock stars... the pope) are that much more accessible to their fans. We authors are encouraged to interact with folks on social media... and I've seen discussions between readers about how an author's failure to engage their fans is a detriment to their career in the long run (now, I don't know if I believe that. Certainly having an online presence helps the indie author, but I'm not sure if not being there is a detriment. Personally, I just like hanging out. And... well... the enthusiasm I encounter is rather heartening. [love you guys])

The other side to this, of course, is that fans and readers in general are more accessible to the author. Once upon a time, you only got feedback about your book through professional reviewers, or people you knew, or from readers writing to you. Now, without a lick of effort, I can just skip on over to somewhere like Goodreads and see that one hundred and thirty four people (as of today) have written something about Caged. The vast majority of those are good reviews (woo!) but there are some bad ones among the bunch (and yes, I read them all). 

I find that negative reviews, in general, fall into two broad (and sometimes overlapping) categories.

1. They didn't like the writing style, weren't invested in the story, don't like the characters, thought the book was about something else, etc.
2. Or, there were grammar problems, typos, obvious plot holes, structural issues, formatting, etc.

The important thing is this: as an author, you should tell the story you want to tell.  All those things in #1? You'd do best to ignore them. Those are just the opinions of others, and if you find yourself altering your words to fit the opinions of others at the cost of your story's "authentic voice", you're doing yourself a disservice. It is your story, your writing. If you want to kill off all the main characters half-way through the book? So be it. If you want to write something in first person POV, go for it! You want to end on a cliffhanger... bully for you! Hell, if you WANT to write stuff based on other people's opinions of what and how you should write... you are free to do that too. Seriously. Be the writer you want to be. Tell the stories you want to tell.

The criticisms in category 1 are there for other readers, not you. It's frustrating when they're based on misunderstandings or biases, yes, but not everyone is going to come to the same conclusion. As much as folks seem to be swayed by popular opinion, I'd like to believe that most can and do make up their own minds about something (like the time everyone and their dog was telling me that Jupiter Ascending was a stupid, shitty movie but I watched it anyway... twice now... and thought that it was a really fucking fun movie. Don't judge.) If someone thinks your book is shitty because it didn't go the way it "should" or because there are historical inaccuracies in your fictional world (hehe)... that's their problem, not yours (and for god's sake... don't reply to reviews. Stay out of reviews. I've seen some really crazy shit happen in the year and a half I've been doing this author thing, and it almost always resulted from someone correcting someone else in a review. Don't do it. Walk away.)

Now... you'd be a fool not to pay attention to the second category. Heh - when I first published Caged, it hadn't been professionally edited. I basically waited until it had made enough sales to pay for editing before getting it done. Not recommended, but hey, everything worked out in the end, right?

What I'm trying to say with all this is: you should concentrate on telling your story. No one else can tell your story. If you let all the complaints in the first category get to you, it's going to stymie your writing. It's going to choke you... and that's bad. You can't be a writer and not write, can you? Have confidence in your story. Have pride in it. Embrace the fact that your story is going to make some people really uncomfortable/upset/bored/horrified/disgusted/disappointed. No one knows and loves your story the way you do.

Write the story your way and fuck the rest. :)

At least that's how I feel about my own writing. I love my stories, and no one's opinion can diminish them but my own. I write them the way they're meant to be written. Point finale.

(Now - I didn't write all of this to have comments about the whole Author vs Reviewer thing... let's stay away from that, hm?)

Anyway - in other news:

Three books in less than two months (woo!), if you're not up to date on the happenings over here at Bey's Funhouse Emporium of Doom (shit... that's what I should have called my blog) here is some information. A big, huge thank you to everyone who has read and left reviews!

Published August 20, 2015 A bite-sized trans* love story. Amazon Smashwords

Coming September 12, 2015 Love story in the Caribbean Amazon Smashwords

Coming October 1, 2015 A dark, demonic read. (info here) Will not be available at Amazon Will be available at Smashwords

Next... well, I'll keep y'all posted.