Dear Fellow Writers –
I have to be honest here. I have read some terrible books in the last few months that I have avoided reviewing on line because I just feel like it’s not the right thing to do. Bad-mouthing another writer, no matter how ill thought out their plot is, or how flat their characters may seem, is just something I have been really wanting to stay away from.
My friend (and one of my critique partners), go back and forth on this issue. Neither of us want to bad mouth fellow writers (some of these guys are on New York Times best selling lists….WHAT?). I know, it is unbelievable.
I guess it’s okay to give constructive criticism, but what if that writer ends up having to write a blurb for you once you are published? Yikes.
And don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be mean or anything on my reviews, I just want to be able to point out some “craft technical difficulties” with the story. Oooohhh…..did I just come up with a great way to critique a novel I had a hard time following? Yes! I think I have. Because it is the craft technical difficulties that really get me after all (plot structure, flat characters, and story)! There is nothing wrong with that…is there?
Oh no, I think I am back at the start again. I think there is something wrong with that. Darnit!
But what about….there is no bad press? Am I not doing sort of a service to the writers by simply just writing about them…even if its not flattering? Somehow, I don’t think that “no bad press” thing works for publishing books, since all we have is our word.
So I digress. I will continue reading books that I will not review on my blog because I didn’t particularly like them. Now, all you have to wonder is…..hey, she didn’t review Alyson Noel’s The Immortals…I wonder if she didn’t like it?
I guess we’ll never know.
