Well, it is with great pleasure that I welcome writer Hazel Gaynor to Swirl and Thread today for Irish Writers Wednesday.
Hazel has been adopted as one of our own, having lived here for over fifteen years with her husband, two children and a cat!!!
Hazel has written a very insightful piece for us on reviews and the effect, both positive and negative, that these can have on a writer.
An excellent post so I’ll hand you over to Hazel now….
Wanted: Thick Skin
or,
We Need to Talk About Reviews
Strange assumptions occur when you become a published writer.
For example, people assume you live in Monaco on a yacht and have a butler to top up your gin. (I live in hope!) But perhaps one of the strangest assumptions is that writers are born with thick skins.
Thick skins? Writers? Those sensitive creative souls who sit in quiet anonymity with only their words and wavering self-belief for company?
It seems like a bit of a misnomer, doesn’t it.
Having handled the Dark Labyrinth Of Rejection™ on the road to publication, you could be forgiven for thinking writers would be more than ready to handle a few rough reviews that might follow.
We’re not. We’re never ready. Not really.
You see, reviews are tricky things. Great reviews are wonderful, but we cringe if we talk about them because it all seems too showy-offy. Bad reviews are … well … baaaaad, and we certainly don’t want to talk about them. Nope. Never happened. Nothing to see here.
IT. HAPPENS.
My first experience of a bad review came quite early in my published career (and, yes, I bawled at the desk while the cat sympathised). The euphoria of finally being publishing was demolished in moments and I decided I would never write again. Ever. I learned the hard way that far from being made of armadillo hide, my skin is made of rather more fragile stuff. However, I also learned that a bad review is just an opinion, and that’s okay. I got over it (aka drank wine).
Many lovely reviews followed.
I wrote again.
Of course there’s no accounting for taste and Mary in Dublin* who dislikes my books immensely is clearly delusional – said no sane writer, ever! I’ve struggled with the biggest best sellers, and I’ve raved about books my friends hate.
Difference of opinion is totally normal, yet while it’s okay to know that people might hurl your book across the room in private frustration, it’s something else entirely to read their vitriolic reaction on a rainy Monday morning when you’ve already asked the kids to put on their shoes a billion times, and cleaned up cat sick in the process (yes, the glamour is real).
Reviews can pop up anytime, anywhere and we are rarely prepared for them. Yet reviews, in all their forms, are an essential part of the publication dream so we have to learn to accept them, handle them with dignity, and – above all else – not dwell on them too much, no matter how fabulous or dreadful they might make you feel.
As Elizabeth Gilbert says in Big Magic: “If you dare to create something and put it out there, after all, then it may accidentally stir up a response …” She also very wisely says, “ … people’s judgements about you are none of your business.” She’s right. They’re really not. And while part of me wants to believe this and toughen up, part of me also hopes I never find a skin thick enough to not care.
I want to always care what people think about my work. In fact, the day I stop caring is the day I stop writing, and I have absolutely no intention of doing that anytime soon. Sorry, Mary!*
Whether the verdict is good, bad, or indifferent, writing a fair and balanced review is a real skill in itself, which is why great book bloggers are so valued by authors and publicists. Anyone can say, “This is terrible. My toddler could have done better.” What isn’t easy is to express that in a way which shows respect to the author (who, remember, might be dealing with cat sick, or 5th class maths homework when they read the review).
Glowing reviews are also tricky to write well. It’s easy to say a book is brilliant, but to explain why, in an original way that excites other readers, is definitely not easy. Kudos to all the bloggers and reviewers who do this so well.
For the record, I am hugely grateful for every review ever written about my books, especially those that made me ugly cry because they were so extraordinarily touching, and yes, even those that made me ugly cry because they were so extraordinarily cruel.
Reviews, in all their forms, mean people are reading my words, stepping into my fictional worlds and interacting with my characters.
And that?
That means more to me than any yacht or gin-pouring butler ever will.
(*Mary is a figment of my imagination. No Marys were harmed in writing this post.)
Hazel, thank you so much for writing such a wonderful feature for Swirl and Thread today. It was very interesting to read about the impact reviews can have on an author.
Also I’m delighted to read about your feeling toward the blogging community. It’s always lovely to hear such positive affirmation for myself and all my fellow bloggers. Always so very appreciated!!
Author Bio:
HAZEL GAYNOR is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Memory of Violets and The Girl Who Came Home, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award.
Her third novel The Girl from the Savoy was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail Canada bestseller, and was shortlisted for the BGE Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year.
The Cottingley Secret and Last Christmas in Paris will be published in 2017.
Hazel was selected by US Library Journal as one of ‘Ten Big Breakout Authors’ for 2015 and her work has been translated into several languages.
Originally from Yorkshire, England, Hazel now lives in Ireland.
You can find out lots more about Hazel at http://www.hazelgaynor.com/
And on Social Media
Twitter @HazelGaynor
Facebook @hazelgaynorbooks
Such a good point about reviews popping up anywhere and at anytime. I received a scathing review on Christmas Eve! It was horrible, I was so full of festive cheer until I read that and felt my chin start to wobble! But that day I had to make a decision not to let these ‘hit and run’ reviews (as I call them) upset me anymore. Great post 🙂
I can’t even begin to imagine what it is like. I’d be completely ruined!! Fair dues to you all. You are a group of amazing folk. Thank you Evie for your support and feedback. Always so greatly appreciated. xx
Gah – Christmas Eve?!! I love that phrase ‘hit and run’ reviews. Great description. As you say, you have to make the decision to let them be and move on. Never easy though. 🙂 x
What a great guest post! When writing a review, I always keep in mind that someone has put their efforts, soul, and sweat into the story I have read and that it takes a lot of courage to put one’s work out there for everyone to see, so good or bad, my reviews stays respectful and, I hope, balanced.
It’s always the same with me as well Donna. I reread my review so many times before I post it. My OH is dragged in to listen and I always hope that it is balanced and as you rightly say respectful. Thank you so much for your feedback!! xx
I think that’s lovely, Donna. It isn’t that authors expect all reviews to be favourable, but there is real skill in writing a respectful and balanced review. Kudos to all of you who do that so well! 🙂
the Dark Labyrinth Of Rejection – ha!! yes can relate to all of this
I try to enjoy the good reviews and take the not so good ones in my stride, as one can’t write something that pleases everyone. Easier said than done though.
It must be so hard Jennie. I expect there definitely is a certain thick skin to be developed although you need to hang onto the creativity at the same time ~ a challenge I imagine!! Thank you so much for sharing the post and the feedback. xx
Never easy, Jennie and it doesn’t get any easier with more books under the belt either!
Brilliant interview- I so have to read the girl from the savoy, I’ve been meaning to get it for ages!
Thanks Katherine. Savoy is such a lovely read. Pure escapism. I certainly recommend. x
Thank you, Katherine, and I hope you enjoy The Girl From The Savoy when you get chance to read it. x
Great interview, Mairead, Hazel is such a wonderful and generous author, I loved Girl from the Savoy … so evocative …looking forward to her new one too!
Sometimes I can take a positive from a bad review, particularly if they mention something specific like plot, pace or character. It can make you think, and that’s a good thing. After squeezing whatever positive drop you can from it though, my advice is mentally bin it and NEVER go there again.
On the other hand, a positive review popping up from nowhere can completely pull a writer back from the brink of never touching a keyboard again … it’s happened to me, lots.
Thank you so much Adrienne for your wonderful comments. It must be so difficult to read a less than positive review. It takes a certain mindset to be able to handle the feelings that inevitably ensue. But yet you all keep on writing!! How wonderful. x
Thank you, Adrienne! So pleased you enjoyed the post. I totally agree about looking for positives and also mentally binning it. And yes, those unexpected delights that lift you so much on a bad writing today. Yin and yang, as they say. x
Hazel,
Really appreciated your sharing the feelings a bad review can bring on. Gotta buck up. Or, as you so politely said, handle it with dignity.
I think, most importantly, and again in your words, “And while part of me wants to believe this and toughen up, part of me also hopes I never find a skin thick enough to not care.”
Keep on providing insight for all of us writers out there.
cheers,
David Liscio
Author of Deadly Fare
Thank you David for your feedback. So very appreciate your time and comments. Hazel is such a lovely writer and I was delighted she joined me today. x
Thank you, David. So pleased you enjoyed the post. It’s important to talk about the ‘bad stuff’ as well as all the great stuff. All part of the job. Best wishes with your writing.
Fabulous post. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like. Also totally laughed out loud at the Mary disclaimer.
I know Dee. I now love *……best use of a symbol…EVEEER!!! Delighted you enjoyed. xx
Thank you, Dee! So pleased you enjoyed it. Poor Mary* 🙂
Such a great read – not a topic I’ve seen covered before, and something I’m nervous about with two months to go until publication of my first book. My current plan is to never read any review ever. Or maybe to get my husband to read them and only tell me about the good ones. I suspect this is not a great plan. I LOVE the point at the beginning – about people assuming writers have thick skin, when of course it’s entirely the opposite. Great post.
Andrea thank you so much for your comments. So very appreciated and delighted you enjoyed Hazel’s post. Wishing you all the very best with your debut. xx (and for what it’s worth most bloggers try to be very balanced in reviewing books so I’m sure you’ll be just fine) xx
Thank you, Andrea! I so often hear that writers need a thick skin but it’s such a contradiction to the creative souls we are to write a book in the first place! Enjoy the excitement of publication. It’s such a special time. x