Sue Knott's Blog: Knott The Screaming Type - Posts Tagged "fiction"
On the Importance of Reviews Vs. Ratings
Sites like this one can be an invaluable tool for finding books that you will love. But, mere ratings -- rather than reviews -- can be deceiving. And a review need only be a few words to make it valuable. (I've offered suggestions for such words below.)
What Ms. Highbrow finds entertaining may not be what Ms. Lowbrow enjoys. And vice versa (though, Ms. Highbrow may be fooling herself and it wouldn't hurt Ms. Lowbrow to reach. Just a string of one-word comments can be far more helpful than a star rating. Some suggestions:
Gripping. Sophisticated. Funny. Amusing. Page turner. Eloquent. Tear jerker. Heart wrenching. Thought provoking. Spellbinding. Delightfully naughty. Disturbingly filfthy. Coarse. Boring. Predictable. Violent. Action-packed. Juvenile. Sophmoric. Chilling. Depraved. Immplausible. Inventive.
You don't have to tell the reader what the book was about. You need only tell them how it made you feel and why. The words you choose should give the reader an idea of your taste. (Ms. Lowbrow will likely choose common words, whild Ms. Highbrow will gravitate toward multisyllabic behemoths that will have us reaching for our dictionaries.)
If you have things you look for in a book (sexy, spunky, plot twister, etc.)...why not leave a comment that might help the readers (all 6 of them) of this post write their next review.
What Ms. Highbrow finds entertaining may not be what Ms. Lowbrow enjoys. And vice versa (though, Ms. Highbrow may be fooling herself and it wouldn't hurt Ms. Lowbrow to reach. Just a string of one-word comments can be far more helpful than a star rating. Some suggestions:
Gripping. Sophisticated. Funny. Amusing. Page turner. Eloquent. Tear jerker. Heart wrenching. Thought provoking. Spellbinding. Delightfully naughty. Disturbingly filfthy. Coarse. Boring. Predictable. Violent. Action-packed. Juvenile. Sophmoric. Chilling. Depraved. Immplausible. Inventive.
You don't have to tell the reader what the book was about. You need only tell them how it made you feel and why. The words you choose should give the reader an idea of your taste. (Ms. Lowbrow will likely choose common words, whild Ms. Highbrow will gravitate toward multisyllabic behemoths that will have us reaching for our dictionaries.)
If you have things you look for in a book (sexy, spunky, plot twister, etc.)...why not leave a comment that might help the readers (all 6 of them) of this post write their next review.
Knott The Screaming Type
I suppose this will be musings about writing, books and writing books...maybe even about booking writers. I suppose, since it is my blog, I'll also throw in whatever else I think you, dear reader, mig
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