Why Does It Matter if Someone Doesn’t Like What You Wrote?
How do you know if your writing is good?
How do you know if what you’ve created actually matters?
How do you know if people will want to read your story?
That’s the struggle for every writer, I think. We all have moments when we think, What if no one likes my book?
It’s a bit traumatizing. You start second-guessing yourself. You start imagining the negative reviews before the book is even published. You may even stop writing for fear of the worst: people thinking your writing is garbage.
I want you to read this review from Goodreads before I say my little spiel. Please, just read the whole thing.
“So far, I have found that this book is complete drivel. I don’t understand the mass appeal to this novel, nor do I understand how it managed to go down in history as an amazing piece of America [sic] literature. This book has no plot, no point, and no real characters. As soon as I am done with this sorry excuse for a book, I am either going to tend to my fireplace using the pages as kindling or stash this book in the far corners of my basement where it will live out the rest of its days in darkness. I am not afraid to say with all honesty that this is possibly one of the most terrible wastes of paper I have ever laid eyes on.”
— 1-star Goodreads review of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I had thought about riddling this article with 1-star reviews of the most important books in history to get my point across, but honestly, I think that review above is enough of a gut punch, eh? I mean, sweet Neptune, who hurt you, lady?
Anyway, do you understand that your favorite book in the whole world, maybe even the one that inspired you to write, has 1-star reviews? Go look up your favorite book on Goodreads or Amazon. Click the negative reviews. Bask in the atrocity. I did it for Stephen King’s memoir, since it was the book I read at age 16 that inspired me to become a writer. A book that was pivotal to making my whole career a reality? Yeah, lots of people hate it.
Ergo . . .
Of course there will be people who don’t like your writing. That’s just part of the game.
You are a creative, and creatives will always, always have people who just don’t get their work.
And to this I say,
Who cares?
Why, just tell me why, it matters if someone doesn’t like what you wrote? Give me a reason. I’m not even being confrontational. I genuinely want someone to tell me why it matters if someone does not like what you wrote.
It is mind-boggling to me how many writers will stop writing, will cry, will stress just because their spouse or friend or parent or sibling or some random Goodreads reviewer says, “I don’t like it.”
Again, who cares? Why does it matter in the grand scheme of things?
Answer: It doesn’t.
Despite knowing that the greatest writers in the world have faced harsh criticism, guess what writers — yes, you, reading this now — will still say?
“Will anyone want to read my book? Is it good enough? Am I even a good writer?”
You will still, still, still convince yourself that you’re not a good writer. All because of what some moron said long ago or even recently. Who cares what they say? Block. It. Out.
This is what I’m getting at: I have met dozens of writers who firmly believed their writing was no good just because their confidence was practically nonexistent. It had nothing to do with talent. It had everything to do with lies they were told by people who had no idea what they were talking about.
So how do you rewire your brain? How do you gain confidence in your writing ability and find a way to shrug off people who don’t like your writing?
It starts with knowing that the first draft is always garbage. Charlie Jane Anders said regarding NaNoWriMo, “Your task is to create a first draft. Or in other words, to make a glorious, beautiful, breathtaking mess.” If you can remind yourself of that every time you write, you’ll be able to slowly let go of perfectionism. (And um, ’scuse me, but I am the Queen of Perfectionism. Bow to me.)
Okay, step 1, in case that wasn’t clear: Commit to complete garbage when writing a first draft. Then, if it winds up being less garbage-y than you thought, go celebrate!
Next, as you get to drafts two and three and so on, you’ll want to get beta readers or join a critique group. Did you know investing time in this can save you big bucks when it’s time to hire an editor? No, for real! When writers don’t have the budget for my more costly editing services, such as developmental editing, I tell them to get beta readers and join a critique group, then come back to me. The ones who have done this? No lie! They have come back and have paid a fraction of the price.
While we’re on the topic of drafts, you must, must, must actively be reading in your genre if you’re going to write a book. I do not know why I have to keep stressing this. It’s just so bizarre to me. It’s like going to a restaurant, ordering the halibut, and finding out the chef has never tried halibut before. Well, then how in the blue blazes does he know if his halibut is good? He does not! Probably couldn’t tell a bass from a perch, I tell ya.
If you’re writing a book, but you do not read books in your genre, you need to stop reading this newsletter right meow and go buy some books. Set aside time to intently read them and study them.
**breathe**
Okay, okay. I’m good. Now where was I?
While you’re writing and rewriting, educate yourself as much as you can. I remember when Shari Bower, author of Before They Executed Him: A Wife’s Story of Death Row, asked me, “When do I stop educating myself? When is it enough?” She was undecided on attending a workshop on marketing. She had already been doing research on marketing and had attended a different workshop. Was it necessary to educate herself more?
I said, “I’m going to be very transparent here: I still take classes. I still do courses (juggling three right now). I still read books on industry topics. I still subscribe to newsletters that help me. I’m obsessed with education and always want to stay on top of things and learn, learn, learn. So really, it’s not about ‘when do I stop taking classes and start doing?’ It’s a balance of both. You learn and you do. Example, although I’ve been in this industry for 9 years [at the time] and have worked on 300+ books [now 400+], I am taking Margaret Atwood’s Master Class on fiction writing. I am taking an Instagram course too. Then, I work on my books! I learn and I do.”
If you’re worried your writing isn’t at a level you want it to be (and not because of what someone said to you but because you want to better yourself), then keep educating yourself. But beyond that, even when you’re feeling less like a novice, still continue to educate yourself. It’s what sets a so-so writer apart from a WOW writer.
So here are the answers to the earlier questions:
How do you know if your writing is good?
Considering how many phenomenal books have 1-star reviews out there, “good” is subjective. What’s good to me won’t be good to you. You must understand that as a creative. Once that’s clear to you, you can get feedback from beta readers, critique groups, and editors. Constructive criticism is a must when creating art.
How do you know if what you’ve created actually matters?
Maybe you’ve figured out that your writing is good, but the Publishing Path is next on your authorly journey. Is it worth it to invest time and/or money into this book? If you received feedback and applied that and revised and put your education to work, then it probably is valuable. The only way you can know if what you wrote is valuable is to put it out there into the world.
How do you know if people will want to read your story?
I get this question a lot, but I think you need to reword it: How do you know if the right audience (target market) will read your book? Hopefully because you did your research and you’ve been reading in your genre. If I’m writing a psychological thriller (which I am), and I tried to market it to romance readers, they would not purchase it. There’s a second answer to this: You don’t know. I can’t know for absolute certain that people will flock to my upcoming poetry book in droves. But I can know something else. Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” I know I want to read my poems, so I will write them.
Listen. I can’t make you all more confident. I can’t make you ignore the haters. I can’t make you read in your genre. I can’t make you do all these things above. But I can tell you the truth as someone who has been in this industry for 10 years:
Who the heck cares if some people don’t like your book? Who the heck cares if your sibling never reads a page? Who the heck cares if you’re not the next Suzanne Collins?
Why in the world would that stop you from using your God-given talent? It shouldn’t. So shut out people who hate your work, get constructive feedback from people who know what they’re doing, and never stop educating yourself. If you can do that, then I don’t see you spending the rest of your author life asking, “Does my writing suck?”
I see you saying, “My writing is getting better and better every day.”
An expert editor, best-selling author, and book marketer, Shayla Raquel works one-on-one with writers every day. A lifelong lover of books, she has been in the publishing industry for ten years and specializes in self-publishing.
Her award-winning blog teaches new and established authors how to write, publish, and market their books.
She is the author of the Pre-Publishing Checklist, “The Rotting” (in Shivers in the Night), The Suicide Tree, and #1 bestseller The 10 Commandments of Author Branding. In her not-so-free time, she acts as organizer for the Yukon Writers’ Society, volunteers at the Oklahoma County Jail, and obsesses over squirrels. She lives in Oklahoma with her dogs, Chanel, Wednesday, and Baker.
