To Review or Not to Review, That is the Question

"Oh no," I hear you say as you sigh, "not another whining author complaining about a bad review."  Well no, actually, it's not.  Today I'm wearing my reader/reviewer hat, not my author bonnet, to share my latest dilemma.  

Anyone who visits my blog regularly will realise that I've been AWOL a fair bit recently.  No, not busy writing, sadly, but doing the next best thing, reading.  I read for pleasure, and also for a couple of review sites and there is a vast difference between these recreations.  When I read for pleasure, I choose for myself, and I'm experienced enough and discriminating enough to make choices that rarely disappoint.  If they do, I stop reading, simple as that.  Life's too short to plod through a book I'm not enjoying for the sake of publicly humiliating the poor author with a negative review.  

But when I'm reading for a review site, both the element of choice and ease of switching to something else are taken away from me.  We all know reading is subjective (as are reviews) and what delights me may bore you and vice versa.  I'm not a nasty person and I would do my utmost to avoid being unpleasant about someone else's hard work, even if I couch it constructively.  

So what are the cardinal sins of writing that invoke wrath from readers/reviewers?  I'm sure everyone has their pet hates and I'd love to hear yours, but here are just a few of mine.

Poor editing

Surely that has to be everyone's number one?  It seems to be the most common insult hurled at self-published authors, though rather unfairly, in my opinion.  Many of the smaller presses are just as guilty of this as authors, more so, in fact, because they take payment in the form of royalties from the author for this very purpose.  An author (or publisher) who can't be bothered to edit his work simply insults his reader.  Poor editing pulls the reader out of the fictional world with a rude jolt; it can often hinder understanding or even create misunderstanding.  Either way, it spoils the flow of the writing and damages the reading experience.  

Wrong or Poor formatting

This can have the same effect as poor editing, jerking the reader out of the story at the wrong time.  There is also no excuse for it in this internet-driven age, where the answers to every problem under the sun are available at the click of a mouse.  

It's also up to the author to send the reviewer the format requested.  Your publisher should send you the appropriate copies for this very purpose, or if you self-publish, then the onus is on you to create the files from your original word document.  There is a plethora of free software out there to help you.   

Mary Sue Characters

Leaving aside all the other potential problems with characterisation, this one really is my pet hate.  As an English teacher, I often received reams of creative writing samples from students (usually teenage girls) that they handed to me with faces aglow with pride or excitement. They loved writing it; it was the best story they'd ever written and so on.  I didn't have to plough through many paragraphs of their self-indulgent fantasising to realise why. Self-insertion is usually a sign of immaturity; it creates superficial, unbelievable and unlikeable characters no one wants to read about, except the writer and possibly her bezzies.  

Unrealistic Dialogue

Convincing dialogue comes alive in the reader's head, therefore speech or conversation should sound natural. When talking, we don't say 'I do not know,' or 'I do not think so,' (unless for specific emphasis) yet so often I see such formal styles being adopted in casual dialogue.  It's not true to the character and can grate on the reader.

Stretching Credibility

I'm willing to suspend disbelief when I pick up a novel, but I resent being asked to accept fabrications because of the author's ignorance or laziness.  When a character performs unimaginable feats without any pretensions to super-human powers, I grizzle. When I'm presented with an event or situation I know to be inaccurate, I feel cheated.  Nor do I take kindly to lies because the author didn't research the truth.  I want a modicum of verisimilitude in a story, no matter how far-fetched its plot.  It may not be probable but at least it should be possible (unless it's fantasy, about which I have no opinions since I rarely read the genre).

For you it may be poor plotting, POV problems, telling not showing or any number of other hurdles we as writers have to manoeuvre   Do leave a comment and let me know, while I ponder over my dilemma of whether to tell the author I can't review his work, or simply leave him a negative review.

Readers Writes - All About Reading from a Reader's POV

Emily Eva Hetherington

After a little break last week, I'm very pleased to bring back Readers Writes today, especially because my guest is Emily Eva Hetherington, who is not just a discerning reader but also an excellent editor.  That makes her opinions doubly worthwhile and interesting.  You can find out about Emily's editing services via her website.  In the meantime she's here with us today to talk about her reading habits and preferences.  Here are her answers to some of my standard readers' questions.

Did you have a favourite book or author as a child?

There were so many that I enjoyed as a child, but Tony Ross stands out above any others. I loved all of his books and read them countless times. When I was a little older I enjoyed Anne Fine’s books among others.

Yes, I'd happily recommend Anne Fine's books to any young readers.  Do you have a treasured book from your childhood?  If yes, what is it?

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, which was given to me when I was a baby.

It must be very special for you to have preserved it.  How important was reading to you as a child?

It was extremely important. Our parents read to us frequently and my sister and I both learned to read at a very young age and loved it.

Music to my ears!  I do believe all parents should read regularly to their children to instil a love of reading from a very early age.  How important is reading in your life now?

More important than ever! I now work as an editor, so I’m reading every day for that, but I also currently have two books on the go at once that I’m reading for pleasure.

Have you ever revisited books you read in childhood to try to recapture the magic?

Of course! All the time! Unfortunately I had to leave a lot of my childhood books in my old place and can’t get them back now, but if I could have brought them with me I would still be reading them now, without a doubt.

What a shame.  I've moved around a lot too and of all the things I've ever regretted having to leave behind, books are highest on the list. 

Have you ever wished you could change places with any character from a story?

Occasionally, when I read a good romance novel, of course. Usually, though, I picture myself as the main character, but I don’t often wish I could change places with them. It’s enough just to lose myself in their world for a while.

Ah yes, definitely the sign of a good story.  Is there a fictional world you would love to visit or live in?

Discworld. You just have to!

Snap!  That would be one of my choices too. 

Do you think the young of today read enough, and if not, how might you try to encourage them to read more?

I don’t think they do read enough anymore. I would first target the parents and urge them to read with their children more often. Reading should be fun, but when certain books are forced on older children for schoolwork, the fun is often removed. They need to be taught that reading isn’t just for boring school stuff and then hopefully they would want to read more often.

I couldn't agree more.  Do you have a favourite book or author as an adult?  If so, who/why and have you read it more than once?

Jenny Twist. Now, I may be a little biased as this is my grandma, but I do truly love all her work to date. Most people would say that her first novel, Domingo’s Angel, was the best one, but I think her latest novel, All in the Mind, just tops it. I’m reading it for the third time now!

I love Jenny Twist as well and All in the Mind is certainly a lovely story, but Domingo's Angel must be one of the best books I've ever read.  Do you have a preference between print and e-books?

I do prefer print books in theory, but for practicality and convenience (never mind cost) I find e-books are far easier and I rarely read print books these days.

A sign of the times, perhaps.  What are you currently reading and in what format (hardback, paperback, e-book)?

All in the Mind by Jenny Twist – paperback, and a friend’s unpublished book – e-book

Lol, best of both worlds.  Do you think e-books will ever totally replace printed books?

No. I think they might come close, but there is still a lot of love for print books. I would have them even if they only sat on the shelf and looked good! It encourages me to read more when I have books on display anyway.

I know what you mean and actually, when I've read an excellent book on my Kindle, I sometimes buy a hard copy just to sit on my bookshelf. 

What about films?  Do you think books transfer to films well?  What is your favourite/worst book-to-film transfer?

My thoughts on that often depend on how well I know the books. In general I think that the films work well, but there are almost always small deviations from the book or details have changed a little. Usually that doesn’t bother me because I have a terrible memory for the details. If there are obvious changes that I feel were unnecessary then it does annoy me.

Have you discovered any new writers you'd recommend to other readers?  If so, what was great about their work?

Apart from yourself (the lovely Lynette Sofras) and my grandma (Jenny Twist), I’d say Tori L. Ridgewood, Tara Fox Hall and Daphne Olivier. All of whom are very clean, succinct writers who make reading their work effortless. You just escape into their world. The characterisation is great, the descriptions are great, and the plots are great! (Same goes for Lynette and Jenny!)

It's a good job you can't see my face right now - thank you for the compliment.  Now let's change the subject.   Is there a book you know you'll never read or found impossible to finish?

At school, when we had to read Wuthering Heights, Little Women and Pride and Prejudice, I found it really hard to follow the plot. It was hard enough to get my head around the language – it’s surprising just how different the language was then! However, I would like to try reading all of those again to see whether I find it easier now. Who knows whether I’ll manage it or not!

Oh I think you should, especially the first and last.  Some of the dialect in Wuthering Heights is a bit tricky to read but once you've got the hang of it, you can hear it very vividly in your head.  Pride and Prejudice has such beautiful prose and gentle wit, I do hope you'll give them another go. 

What is the most memorable or exciting plot or story opening to any story you can recall?

The first to spring to mind is Daphne Olivier’s latest (which I don’t think has been published yet), in which a man stumbles in a greenhouse breaking the glass dome surrounding one of several strange plants proceeds to have some sort of reaction. He calls for help, but when people arrive they are wearing strange suits, they ignore him lying on the ground and they start a fire before leaving, closing the door on him as they go. That’s just in the prologue! I was hooked before the first word of the main story!

It sounds awesome.  Do let us know the title - that's definitely one to watch out for.  Do you think there is anything new and exciting in modern fiction, or has it "all been said before"?

As hard as it might be to believe, there are always new ideas. Granted, some plots or ideas have been done again and again, but there are new ones out there and I believe there always will be.

I certainly hope so.  Emily, it's been wonderful chatting with you and thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us.

Don't forget, for details of Emily's editing services, click: http://emilyevaediting.weebly.com/index.html

And if you're an avid reader and would like to air your views about books on this blog, please contact me at ManicScribbler@gmail.com 

Edit Me Pretty

"Hmm, so is 'a week nod' one that takes seven days?"

As an English teacher, I was all-too-often handed stories and essays so badly written that they were difficult to decipher and impossible to read with any sense of enjoyment.  When I pointed this out to students they invariably said: “I didn't worry about mistakes because I was concentrating on my ideas.”  What they were really saying was that they couldn’t be bothered!  And the problem with that is that when a reader has to work her socks off just to understand what is being said on the very first page, many of those excellent ideas will fail to shine out beyond the first paragraph.

Literary agents and editors don’t have to be kind in their rejections, of course.  They have polite but firm standard rejection letters, which none of us want to receive.  To avoid them, therefore, we need to feel confident that when we release our literary babies, we are giving them the best possible chance of delivery onto the bookshelves of the world.

Editing is the co-parent in the literary process and cannot be denied access to the progeny.  Readers are unforgiving and, quite rightly, consider themselves as experts - they know what spoils their reading enjoyment and are generally quite willing to advertise that to the world.  Agents and publishers are no different – but they don’t have to resort to negative reviews – they just give the thumbs down. 

Every writer knows how difficult it is to edit one’s own work, but getting it right – especially those early pages – could well pave the way for the child of our creation into the big wide world.  We owe it to ourselves and to everyone we want to take us seriously as writers, to do our best to get it right so it shows off our skills to their best advantage.

Badly edited work is a sure way to alienate your readers.  I've done a lot of reading recently for review purposes and whilst I've read many truly delightful stories, there were some that left my teeth jangling in my head in amazement.  They were worse than the first drafts of some of my less accomplished students and left me baffled that the writers seriously expected readers to tolerate such gibberish, much less pay them for the insult!

I read about engaged couples practising their marital vowels, about someone who had sweat dripping from every auriferous and about another who repapered (when he should have reappeared).  I’ve been faced with novels in which every single paragraph is dense with mistakes and these are not just from self-published authors, sadly.  It seems a number of online publishers are letting their authors down when they promise an editing service which they can’t deliver.

Whenever I read badly presented work from authors who expect their readers to pay for the privilege of reading their stories, my hackles begin to rise.  I don my teacher’s hat and wag my index finger severely – but sadly in vain.  Badly edited novels continue to be churned out and foisted upon the trusting (but no longer unsuspecting) public.  It really isn’t fair to expect readers to flip backwards and forward between pages to ensure they’ve understood what is being said or read a sentence three times to work out its meaning.  Enjoyment interruptus is a definite no-no!

I edit work for a small group of clients and am currently unable to take on any more.  However I would urge all writers to shop around to find a reliable editor before unleashing their masterpieces onto the paying public.  Edit and edit and edit again. The most useful and comprehensive resource I've found in recent years is Writer's Companion by Carlos J Cortes & Renee Miller. This guide covers just about every editing question imaginable and will allow you to self-edit with confidence.

I’d love to know what editing blunders spoiled your reading experiences.