On writing: Thinking out loud about reviews
Funny how there are a quite a few reviewers (completely unknown to me) of my last novel, "Thomas Jefferson, Rachel & Me," who make a point of saying the book is well written — but then there are a few who make a point of saying the writing is not good.
Wish I knew what they meant. None offer specifics.
I'm an old editor. I've seen some bad writing, let me tell you, including some by one of these very same reviewers (the 2nd kind I mean). I don't think TJRM suffers from it. There are certainly things in the book the sharp critic can fairly target but, compared to a lot of books out there, TJRM is in a class I'd call well crafted.
There's always room for more editing; I don't mean to suggest it's perfect, although I've tried to get it there with many revisions over the past two years. The Kindle, Nook and Smashwords editions now include the latest polishes; the paperback will soon.
But I do wonder sometimes if a group mentality might be at work, perhaps people from writing or reading groups, virtual or actual, who get herded into conformity, or perhaps even bullied, by one outspoken member who has some kind of axe to grind.
To me, "good writing" isn't a subjective thing (while whether or not one "likes" a book certainly is). Good writing is a technical thing, like a good fly cast or crosswind landing, even though there is plenty of art in both.
This is why it annoys me to be accused of something I don't believe I am guilty of.
Just tell me the writing style doesn't work for you, for whatever reason, and I'll shut up. Can't argue with THAT!
Wish I knew what they meant. None offer specifics.
I'm an old editor. I've seen some bad writing, let me tell you, including some by one of these very same reviewers (the 2nd kind I mean). I don't think TJRM suffers from it. There are certainly things in the book the sharp critic can fairly target but, compared to a lot of books out there, TJRM is in a class I'd call well crafted.
There's always room for more editing; I don't mean to suggest it's perfect, although I've tried to get it there with many revisions over the past two years. The Kindle, Nook and Smashwords editions now include the latest polishes; the paperback will soon.
But I do wonder sometimes if a group mentality might be at work, perhaps people from writing or reading groups, virtual or actual, who get herded into conformity, or perhaps even bullied, by one outspoken member who has some kind of axe to grind.
To me, "good writing" isn't a subjective thing (while whether or not one "likes" a book certainly is). Good writing is a technical thing, like a good fly cast or crosswind landing, even though there is plenty of art in both.
This is why it annoys me to be accused of something I don't believe I am guilty of.
Just tell me the writing style doesn't work for you, for whatever reason, and I'll shut up. Can't argue with THAT!
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Hey Harv! Thanks for your comments. I don't even remember what the "one word answer" problems refers to ... did I set up some sort of password before I can be friended? And I have to admit I am not a very good member of the TT group, having joined because some people felt the TJ book was time travel (I never thought of it that way when I wrote it but technically it qualified) and I wanted to be in on any discussions, votes ... I also hoped joining would inspire me to read more SF/TT, which I theoretically wish I did more of. I end up reading a lot of history, which I always used to think was something old doomed white men do a lot of. However, I look forward to looking into your work and I await my GR friend Paul Sherman's next book as well; I did enjoy an Extended Journey. Cheers to you! It was fun to actually draw a comment on one of my blog posts! PS --- (BTW, there is one review that continues to rankle me if I indulge in thinking about it, a lecture that was posted all over the internet on historical novel sites, as well as on Amazon, Goodreads and Nook, and it keeps popping up if anyone searches for my title, on how to write, how my book should have been written, and a lashing for some ham-fisted writing ... this by an author whose 2 books I checked out a little and found unbelievably bad in the writing department, amateurish and embarrassing, something that a few GR and amazon readers have noted in their reviews although many others lavish these awful books with praise. Basic lesson: many readers are not fussy about the writing and don't even notice it's really bad.)
I know, shouldn't have even mentioned it ...
Cheers!
Peter, if someone doesn't hate your work, and go out of their way to explain exactly why and how your work sucks, you're not doing your job as an artist. (You're boring.)My theory? It is your SHARP EDGES that will draw in fans and repel foes. Your fans will TALK ABOUT YOU & WRITE ABOUT YOU. Your foes will TALK ABOUT YOU & WRITE ABOUT YOU. Just make sure the people who are trashing your name spell it correctly.
I read & reviewed Paul Sherman's AN EXTENDED JOURNEY. I pissed him off because of spoilers. I thought Paul's writing was smooth but low-key. He held my interest; he kept me reading. His ending doesn't work for me, though. Several sequels might be necessary to persuade me that slavery was actually ended early. I also was looking forward to reading about how the 2013 time period was improved by having slavery in the USA ended decades early. It was also not clear to me that the time traveling family would even have a 2013 to return to that they would call home, after the changes that they had caused.
None of this is important criticism; just my personal impressions.
Cheers!
@hg47
Even though I really enjoyed Paul's book, and was impressed by the smooth ease and graceful precision of his writing, I don't disagree with you about some problems that I figured he might run into with some less pre-sold readers. Ugh -- I am guilty of some of the same things I blame other reviewers for.
My bias is a long association with and fondness for Colonial Williamsburg so I had fun seeing Paul employ that setting. Likewise all things Jefferson, despite the man's many foibles and delusions if not outright evils.
The innocence of the whole Extended Journey concept I found charming.
Love what you say about the sharp edges. Yes indeed. I have experienced the whole thing often as a local newspaper editor.
Am looking forward to reading your stuff when the dust clears on some writing jobs and current reading list ....
Best to you Harv
Inside Out: a not-so-smalltown editor's life
Bits and pieces from my newspaper column as well as some riffs on the horrors of novel writing and trying to get one's work the attention it deserves.
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I think you're right when you say: "Just tell me the writing style doesn't work for you."
Some writers "work" for me. Others don't. I can't read Robert Ludlum. I don't care how many hundreds of millions of books his work has sold. Plot? A+. But at the sentence level? C-. Other writers, like Tom Robbins, are so spectacular at the sentence and paragraph level, that their shenanigans distract me from the story they are trying to get me to fall into and fully experience. Haven't read your TT stories yet. (I'll look at yours, if you look at mine.) Wait, stop looking! My paragraphs are not tiny! They are properly proportioned!
But I wouldn't look to reviews of your books for hints on how to change what you are doing.
When the audience tells the artist how to create…
Cheers!
@hg47