Reviews

YeetusFeetus

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2020
Messages
37
Points
58
So, just recently I received my second review, the first one wasn't really great. But, I was able to live with it, I thought that maybe the second one might be a little bit better, but no. I just read my second review which is of 1*, I understand that my novel ain't really great. But, this time the review sort of... well, took me off my writing mood today. I understand that I mustn't take criticism too seriously, because that may affect me in both negative and positive ways, but I still wish to take some advice from them, so that I can improve.

So, here I am asking: How can I deal with a negative review?
 

Pujimaki

Padoru trash writer
Joined
Nov 2, 2020
Messages
377
Points
103
You have to, if you love what you're doing then criticism will be nothing to you. Dude, I'm a writer and English is my second language, I always make mistakes and some people even criticized my works saying that " Ah, my eyes are burning reading this, Imma out of here bye!", then left one star on my novel. But I don't care, as long as you are happy then fuck the people who hate your novel. I'm doing this for myself, not for those ungrateful bastards, my tip is just write and write. Do what you want and be happy. Note: I'm actually just ranting, don't mind me. 😇😇😇
 
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ArcadiaBlade

I'm a Lazy Writer, So What?
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
886
Points
133
We did not grow up with skills of a novelist but a writer with an interest in writing. Our tongue might not be made of english but we still express it through our hand. Writers aren't born with skills of a god but a dreamer with an interest in the way of ink and paper.

I don't think you need to think negatively of it unless your me and you use that negativity to procrastinate.

Improve? Then do better. Procrastinate? I don't blame you. Give up? Its your choice.

As long as you have the interest in writing, you only need to write and nothing else matters. Thats what webnovelist are. We just write for the sake of sharing our creative mind in a form of webnovels. You don't need to force yourself to improve unless you want to but just take out the stress part of writing and have fun, thats what being a freelance writer is. If its for money, then write to earn more. If its for fame, then improve. If it is just for a hobby, then you decide to either abandon it or continue. Its your choice and I can only give you an advice as a fellow writer to have fun writing and express yourself.

TL; DR - Just have fun and take out the stress in writing. A webnovelist is just to express your writing through a novel and be yourself.
 

HanYang

Active member
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
Messages
2
Points
43
Chin up. Keep writing. Wait until reviews have a pattern to pay them any attention. That's how I look at it with over 1500 amazon reviews and 38 books published.
 

hauntedwritings

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
112
Points
83
I'm a rookie, but I'm going to shamelessly state my opinion as if I know something.
Writing is hard. It's not something you simply can or can't do from the start, it's something you learn. Like most things in life.
I have not had any reviews myself, but I imagine it would become quite the blow to the ego. But as I've read from some posts on the forum, it's important to lose you ego fast as a writer. Here are some things to consider however, some of which you are already aware of.

1. Reviews can tell you about problems in your writing. The important thing to take from them is the lesson, if they hold one. Yes, it hurts. Like all critizism does. Because your creation is a part of YOU. And we don't want to be told that we have flaws. But recognizing that you aren't perfect, is an important lesson to learn in life.

2. Your reviwers might not be from your target audience. Who are you writing your story for? That is an important thing to remember. Every story does not suit the tastes of everyone. And our tastes can change over time - stories I loved in the past I can't re-read because I only see the flaws, a result of me changing with the years and the stories remaining intended for the same audience.

3. The most important audience of a story is yourself. If you are writing for other peoples' approval of your story, it will be dependent on it. If you are writing for yourself, to see where your story leads you, it will be independent from your readers. You can go back once your story is complete, and take any lessons from reviewers to heart as you read your own story from start to finish. Rewrite it, or use it for your next story.

Ofcourse, this is but shameless advice. In reality, I know nothing.
 

Saileri

Your Friendly Neighborhood IT Guy
Joined
May 6, 2020
Messages
625
Points
133
Focus your mind on those who enjoy your work. No matter how good you will make things, there will still be people who either completely miss every single mark in your story, giving you the feeling as if they read it blindfolded or something, or those who will just drop negativity due to it being completely not up to their alley but they still arrived at the title and felt like flaming it. At some point, those reviews or comments will just make you smile or laugh while you read them. I just got an awesomely long rant-review with a 2 star after 6 months of writing which points out literally everything that is completely different from how they perceived it. Sometimes I wonder how is that possible, but hey, one in a few thousand people will see things differently.
 

Horizon42

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 28, 2020
Messages
89
Points
58
So, just recently I received my second review, the first one wasn't really great. But, I was able to live with it, I thought that maybe the second one might be a little bit better, but no. I just read my second review which is of 1*, I understand that my novel ain't really great. But, this time the review sort of... well, took me off my writing mood today. I understand that I mustn't take criticism too seriously, because that may affect me in both negative and positive ways, but I still wish to take some advice from them, so that I can improve.

So, here I am asking: How can I deal with a negative review?
If the criticism isn't valid or understanding on some level, then don't worry about it. I had some of the same problems with my 1st 1-2 reviews where they didn't really read my work, and if they did, they weren't trying to understand it. If people don't want to like something, they won't like it. Those reviews weren't completely wrong, but they weren't trying to understand or appreciate my writing, so I don't want them reading my work anyways. I just took what limited criticism they had and threw them as readers away.
 
D

Deleted member 29316

Guest
I took a look at the reviews of your work, and those are pretty helpful feedbacks.

Though, of course, it's perfectly normal to be affected. No one should fault you for feeling demotivated. But, here's what I do whenever I receive 'negative' reviews: I log off from every device I have for several days, sometimes weeks, just not to see the reviews. Avoid them like hell for the duration of the pain. And then when you think you can finally take a look at the feedback, get the tips YOU ONLY NEED.

In connection to this, having a couple of 'beta-readers' (like friends) could help you fix the initial problems of your story.

Hopefully this helps. Hang on your work, you can always re-edit and re-write.
 

LinXueLian

Always Handsome
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
522
Points
108
Awww. First off, I'm sorry to hear you've gotten harsh reviews. They're always hard to swallow, especially when you don't feel confident.

But if it helps, reviews are something written by readers for readers - they're not typically something meant for the writers themselves. A story usually moves itself in its own trajectory. Most published works don't sway with the audience. This is because the authors who do so might lose the audience who actually like how the story is written and how it's going, since they'll end up swaying it to please one or two of the more vocal people. I'd suggest getting more reviews or comments first before deciding on what to change.

There are a few things internet self-published writers hit snags with, which we can also learn from. I'm not sure if your reviews mentioned them, but these are the two I can think of from the top of my head.

If we're constantly getting negative comments or reviews about our grammar, which is something a lot of authors seem to get, it's not a bad idea to look into editing our work or having proofreaders go through it. If you can't afford it, get a beta reader. I'm from the fanfiction world and folk in fandom pockets are pretty big on helping each other out by proofreading works before they're put out. If you write for a genre, even if it's original work, you can try looking for beta readers who want to help you improve, and offer them something as a trade - fanart you can draw for them, a story they can request from you, adding them as a character in your story, etc.

If you're consistently getting negative reviews about consistency with characterization, bestiary or the world, you can try keeping a log or project folder for each character, world, beast, etc. You won't be able to remember most things several chapters down the road, so keep it around to flip through it. Your outlines and your notes will be your best friend. Having notes will also help with pacing. You'll know how fast or how slow you're going if you have a "where am I right now" jotted down in a timeline you can see.

I know it's exciting to delve into just getting words out over an lovely idea we have, but spending time to study and look at tips as well as reading published books from a bookstore pays off in a lot of ways. Works put out by publishing houses often have a lot of editing and proofing done already, so they're a very, very good source to learn from. I'd also recommend reading the classics.

Don't be afraid to take a hiatus, buy hard cover classics and curl up with them in bed. In three to five weeks, you might find yourself writing very differently indeed. The reviewers who left those comments before dropping your work may not see the change, but folk still following you will.

You might leave them breathless and awed!
 

Ai-chan

Queen of Yuri Devourer of Traps
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
1,413
Points
153
So, just recently I received my second review, the first one wasn't really great. But, I was able to live with it, I thought that maybe the second one might be a little bit better, but no. I just read my second review which is of 1*, I understand that my novel ain't really great. But, this time the review sort of... well, took me off my writing mood today. I understand that I mustn't take criticism too seriously, because that may affect me in both negative and positive ways, but I still wish to take some advice from them, so that I can improve.

So, here I am asking: How can I deal with a negative review?
If receiving negative reviews really bothers you, then for the time being, don't look at the reviews. Sure, you would lose helpful reviews with that, but if you have a thin skin, it's best not to look at it as it will kick down your motivation to write. What matters is to continue to write and to improve and if reading negative reviews stops either of that, just don't look at it. Ignore every notification.
 
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